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Massachusetts town with state’s first EEE human case since 2020 urges sports to move indoors

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Massachusetts town with state’s first EEE human case since 2020 urges sports to move indoors


Days after learning it had recorded the state’s first human case of EEE in four years, a town outside of Worcester has recommended sports practices be held outside of evening hours and moved indoors if possible.

Oxford is one of the four towns where the state Department of Public Health raised the risk level for EEE to critical last Friday after an 80-year-old man was exposed to a mosquito infected with the disease.

Oxford’s neighboring towns of Sutton, Webster and Douglas are also at critical risk.

The recommendation to finish outdoor activities before “peak mosquito biting time” – before 6 p.m. through Sept. 30 and before 5 p.m. starting Oct. 1 until the first hard frost – came during a heated Board of Health meeting on Wednesday.

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Oxford schools will be following the recommendation, which health board Chairwoman Kerrie Singer and Director of Public Health Services Rike Sterrett stressed is not a ban on outdoor activities after those times.

“The hope is they, when able, will move the activities to those indoor locations or move practices up or move them to the weekend,” Sterrett said. “I understand this is not ideal for anybody, but we take this really seriously.”

Private and recreational leagues or organizations that decide to use town property and not follow recommendations must “complete and file an indemnification form with and provide proof of adequate insurance coverage to both the Recreation Commission and Town Manager’s Office.”

That’s according to a memo Town Manager Jennifer Callahan wrote to the Board of Health. In it, she explained she’s been in touch with a family member of the individual diagnosed twice within the past week. The man remains hospitalized, “courageously battling this virus,” she wrote.

“They want people to be aware this is an extremely serious disease with terrible physical and emotional consequences,” Callahan wrote of the family. “They want residents to take the public health recommendations … seriously.”

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Other recommendations to keep safe include applying insect repellent and mosquito-proofing homes, consistent with the state Department of Public Health. Sutton, Webster and Douglas have also implemented the guidelines.

Singer said the board learned about the EEE risk being raised to critical last Friday, and Wednesday’s meeting marked the first discussion on the development and protocols.

“I would ask that you give us the opportunity to please discuss this and not interrupt us during this meeting,” she said. “I think you would be very enlightened to hear what we have to say and be educated about this.”

Within minutes, Singer found herself in an exchange with a resident, repeatedly saying “I’m going to ask you to please sit as we continue.” The resident responded “Madam chair, I’m just asking to make sure that we will be heard tonight,” and then “Madam chair, I’m trying to be as professional as possible.”

Singer did not allow comments from the public, calling questions from residents an “open meeting violation.” The board chair recessed the meeting for roughly 10 minutes.

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Before Oxford became designated as a critical risk, the state had collected mosquito traps and sampling about every two weeks. Trapping is now being conducted much more often, Sterrett said.

Though rare, EEE is serious and a potentially fatal disease that can affect people of all ages, according to state health officials.

There were 12 human cases of EEE in Massachusetts in 2019 with six deaths, and five human cases with one death in 2020. There were no human cases of EEE in Massachusetts in 2021, 2022, or 2023.

The first symptoms include high fever, stiff neck and a lack of energy which typically occur within 3 to 10 days after being bitten by a mosquito infected with EEE, Sterrett said. Symptoms could progress to encephalitis, the swelling of the brain, she said, adding how 22 people have died in Massachusetts within the past couple of decades.

“Those who do survive Triple E will often be permanently disabled due to neurological damage,” Sterrett said. “Few people who get Triple E, who are diagnosed with it, recover completely. That’s why, knowing all of this … we do take this very seriously.”

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Massachusetts

How Mass. leaders are responding to Trump's mass deportation promises

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How Mass. leaders are responding to Trump's mass deportation promises


Elected officials in Massachusetts are reacting to President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to deport hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants by declaring a national emergency and using military assets.

Trump campaigned on a promise of the largest mass deportation in U.S. history, and he says he intends to deliver on it.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, who declared a state of emergency around migrant arrivals last year, says something needs to be done, but she expressed concern about communities being uprooted.

“I think it’s absolutely appropriate that there be enforcement and deportation of individuals who commit crime, including violent crime. That’s very, very important,” Healey said. “We recognize it would be devastating if there were mass raids, here and across the country, that took out people who’ve been working in this country for a long time, who have families and kids here.”

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While Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state, it has eight sanctuary cities.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu called attention to the Trust Act, passed in 2014. It distinguishes the difference in roles between Boston police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

“We know that the fear of someone who might be living, coming from an immigrant family, not then reporting crimes or not speaking out about different issues, actually then makes the entire community less safe,” Wu said.

Cambridge is also a sanctuary city — it has been since 1985.

“Cambridge affirms the basic human rights and dignity of every human being and provides education, health and other critical services to all residents of Cambridge, regardless of their immigration status,” a city spokesperson told NBC10 Boston in a statement.

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Leaders in Worcester, the state’s second-largest city, say it will always remain inclusive and will never target individuals based on their immigration status.

At the former ICE detention center in Dartmouth, there are no plans for the sheriff to reimplement any future detention programs.

“This organization has been there and done that,” said Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux.

ICE closed the detention center in 2021 after President Joe Biden took office.

Heroux’s predecessor, former Sheriff Tom Hodgson — a strong ally of Trump who served as the president-elect’s campaign chairman in Massachusetts — blasted the Biden administration and called the center’s closing “a political hit job” orchestrated by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

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Mass. says some police officers have been bypassing required training

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Mass. says some police officers have been bypassing required training


Massachusetts officials have notified police chiefs that some officers have been getting around parts of their online training.

In a letter last week, Municipal Police Training Committee Executive Director Jeff Fanrsworth said officials had learned that some police officers have been “bypassing their TY25 online training by using technologies that override controls meant to prevent fast-forwarding through the training.”

Farnsworth noted that the committee had found “instances where trainings that should take hours to complete are finished in a matter of minutes.”

The committee is working with Acadis, the company that operates the training system, to look into the issue and determine what needs to be done to address it.

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Police chiefs whose departments have members who finished online courses in less than the minimum expected runtime are being notified, Farnsworth said. Those officers will be required to do all their training for this year in person.

“Any officer that has failed to complete any required training in its entirety will be required to attend in-person training and their names will be forwarded to [the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission] for failure to successfully complete in-service training,” Farnsworth wrote in the letter.

The POST Commission, established by a criminal justice reform law in 2020, maintains lists of disciplinary records, suspensions and decertifications for Massachusetts police officers, handling claims of misconduct.



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Deadly E. Coli Outbreak Sickens MA Residents, Prompts Carrot Recall

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Deadly E. Coli Outbreak Sickens MA Residents, Prompts Carrot Recall


MASSACHUSETTS — Public health officials are investigating a multi-state E. coli outbreak that has been tied to multiple brands of recalled organic carrots, and has sickened people in Massachusetts and nearly two dozen other states.

Grimmway Farms recalled multiple sizes and brands of bagged organic whole and baby carrots on Nov. 16 because they may be contaminated with a Shiga toxin-producing E. coli. The carrots were sold at a number of retailers including Target, Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Wegmans, and Whole Foods.

A total of 39 people have gotten sick nationwide after contracting E. coli from this outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One person from California died, and 15 had to be hospitalized.

“The recalled carrots should no longer be available for purchase but may be in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers,” the Food and Drug Administration added.

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For bags of organic baby carrots, the best-if-used-by date ranged from Sept. 11 to Nov. 12.

Brands selling these carrots included 365, Bunny Luv, Cal-Organic, Compliments, Full Circle, Good & Gather, GreenWise, Grimmway Farms, Marketside, Nature’s Promise, O-Organic, President’s Choice, Raley’s, Simple Truth, Sprouts, Trader Joe’s, Wegmans, Wholesome Pantry.

Packages of whole organic carrots were available for purchase in stores from Aug. 14 to Oct. 23, according to the CDC. The brands distributing these carrots included 365, Bunny Luv, Cal-Organic, Compliments, Full Circle, Good & Gather, GreenWise, Marketside, Nature’s Promise, O-Organic, President’s Choice, Simple Truth, Trader Joe’s, Wegmans, and Wholesome Pantry.

There was no best-if-used-by dates on the bags of organic whole carrots, the recall states.

Consumers are asked not to eat these carrots if they still have some in their refrigerator or freezer, and either throw them out or return them to the store. Also, the CDC advises that consumers wash any items and surfaces that may have touched the recalled carrots, using hot soapy water or the dishwasher.

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E. coli can cause serious symptoms, including high fever, diarrhea, consistent vomiting, and dehydration. Anyone who experiences any of these symptoms is advised to call their healthcare provider.

The CDC also said that the true number of sick people in the outbreak is likely much higher than reported, and that it takes three to four weeks to determine if an ill person is part of an outbreak.

Illnesses have also been reported in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Arkansas, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, California, Oregon, and Washington.



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