Might 12 (UPI) — Massachusetts on Thursday agreed to pay $56 million in a settlement with the households of dozens of veterans who died amid a widespread COVID-19 outbreak at a nursing residence in 2020.
Gov. Charlie Baker referred to as the outbreak on the state-run Holyoke Troopers’ House a “horrible tragedy” in an announcement saying the settlement. The outbreak noticed greater than 160 veterans contract COVID-19 between March 1 and June 23, 2020, with at the least 84 dying from the virus.
“Whereas we all know nothing can convey again those that had been misplaced, we hope that this settlement brings a way of closure to the family members of the veterans,” Baker mentioned.
Underneath the settlement, households of the 84 veterans who contracted COVID-19 and died earlier than June 23, 2020, will probably be paid at the least $400,000, with a mean cost of $510,000, in line with legal professionals Michael Aleo and Tom Lesser.
They added that one other group of veterans who had been contaminated however survived previous June 23, 2020, will probably be paid at the least $10,000, receiving a mean award of $20,000.
The settlement is topic to approval by the federal district court docket for Massachusetts.
Donald Okay. Stern, a former U.S. legal professional for Massachusetts, will administer the claims fund and make awards primarily based on a overview of every claimant’s circumstances.
Linda McKee, whose father, James Miller, a 96-year-old World Conflict II veteran, died within the outbreak, mentioned she was glad to see Massachusetts “lastly settle for some accountability for what occurred.”
“The reminiscences of how my father was handled on the Troopers’ House won’t ever be erased from my thoughts,” McKee mentioned in an announcement. “It will have been extra humane if he had died on Omaha Seaside in Normandy than how he died on the Troopers’ House.”
A June 2020 report discovered that leaders on the facility made “substantial errors” in responding to the outbreak together with transferring all veterans, together with some who examined optimistic for the coronavirus, from considered one of two locked dementia models into one other locked dementia unit the place they had been crowded with veterans already residing there, a few of whom had additionally been contaminated.
Baker on the time referred to as the findings of the unbiased investigation ordered by the state “nothing wanting gut-wrenching.”
MARBLEHEAD – While Gloucester students went back to school Monday, Beverly and Marblehead kids were out for the 11th and 10th school days, respectively. Both communities are at a standstill in bargaining as the court orders an independent fact finder to help resolve the labor disputes.
Both unions face hundreds of thousands of dollars in court-ordered fines, as a judge held them in contempt after they engaged in an illegal strike. Union leadership says school committees are not negotiating in good faith. Striking teachers are going without pay, as school committee members say it’s illegal to pay an employee who is on strike.
All public employee strikes are illegal in Massachusetts, due to a law introduced in 1973 after a number of strikes across New Bedford and Franklin in which teachers were arrested. Teachers are not arrested in modern day strikes, but rather, their unions face hefty fines.
“I don’t think that a judge wants to put anybody in jail because you don’t necessarily want to make a martyr out of somebody who might not deserve martyr status,” said Glenn Koocher, the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees.
In a press conference Monday afternoon, members of the Marblehead school committee accused the simultaneous strikes in three North Shore communities as being coordinated by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the statewide educators union.
“In this case it is clear that the statewide MTA is coordinating these strikes,” said Jenn Schaeffner, co-chairperson of the Marblehead School Committee.
“Well, I don’t believe there’s any evidence that this is part of a statewide conspiracy, but I can tell that it is unusual that three school districts in the same area would all strike at the same time, use some of the same talking points,” Koocher added. “This significantly disrupts the welfare of children of all ages, and it’s never good not to be in school.”
A Chicago-based attorney is currently trying to change to outcome of teachers’ strikes through lawsuits. Daniel Suhr of Hughes and Suhr Law represents multiple Newton parents in a lawsuit against the Newton Teachers Association for individual damages (childcare, work missed, and more) form the winter 2024 strike that lasted 11 days in Newton. He has four other active similar cases across the country.
“I think the lesson the unions took from Newton is, we can break the law and still make a lot of money,” Suhr said. “That if we make a $53 million collective bargaining agreement, but only pay a half a million dollars in fines, well, if we don’t care what the law is, that’s just profit.”
Suhr alleges that making the unions pay penalties to parents would deter future strikes.
“We want to stop this from happening again,” he said. “Clearly the system is broken. These injunctions from judges are not being respected by the unions. And so, our hope is that a real financial disincentive which is paying these parents and students for the damage they’re causing will finally put an end to this.”
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STERLING – A dramatic, high speed police chase in central Massachusetts came to a peaceful end Monday morning when the driver surrendered to officers.
As seen live via helicopter on CBS News Boston, police were pursuing an SUV on Interstate 190 south in Sterling around 11 a.m. when the car nearly collided with another vehicle, then suddenly pulled into the median, swung around into a U-turn and took off on the opposite side of the highway.
After driving in the northbound lanes for a few miles, with police keeping their distance from the SUV, the driver got off the highway at exit 14 and continued onto Route 12.
Several minutes later, the SUV pulled over to the side of the road near Sterling’s border with West Boylston. Moments later, the car was surrounded by four police cruisers. The driver got out with his hands up, was immediately handcuffed and taken away.
The driver has not been identified yet and there’s no word as to why police were pursuing him or the SUV.
There have been no reports of any injuries.
No other information is available at this point in the investigation.
The Healey administration is aiming to eventually limit shelter costs to $350 million per year compared to the more than $1 billion dollars spent this fiscal year.
Governor Healey announced her plan on Friday that would bring significant changes over the next 19 months.
It includes winding down the use of 56 hotels and motels across the state and cutting down the shelter stay limit from nine months to six months.
Those steps will come with increased resources for finding long-term housing.
Healey is proposing that the rental stipend families can receive under state’s HomeBASE program increase from $15,000 per family per year to $25,000 per family per year.
“The landlord gets payments from HomeBASE. As a family’s income increases, the goal is to get their income so they’re no longer dependent on HomeBASE,” said Jeff Thielman, President and CEO of the International Institute of New England.
The state intends to slash the 7,500-family limit across shelter system to below 3,500.
“To make the Governor’s plan work, the shelter system and all of us who work in it, have to work faster than we are right now,” said Thielman.
The plans to further limit shelter stays would need the approval of lawmakers.
If approved, families considered more capable of supporting themselves could potentially face 30-day shelter limits.
“I think moving to a six-month limit is going to be tricky,” said Thielman. “There is a shortage of available units all across the state.”
Thielman said most of the migrant families his organization is working with in the shelter system have been temporarily paroled into the country for humanitarian reasons.
He said many have applied for or have received temporary protective status.
President-elect Trump has said he plans to end those legal entry programs.
“It’s highly unlikely that President Trump will have the ability to revoke someone’s lawful status,” said Thielman.
Trump has said that the more than one million migrants who are in the U.S. under Humanitarian Parole will be subject to deportations.
While Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state, it has eight sanctuary cities.
Mayors in those communities and Governor Healey have all said that they will not target people based on their immigration status.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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