Massachusetts
Sudbury may be next Massachusetts town to take down ‘one-sided’ historical signs
Sudbury is exploring whether it should become the next Massachusetts town to remove signs commemorating the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and if there’s a better way to present the complicated history.
What to do with the tercentenary markers has long been a topic of discussion in Sudbury. The conversation has ratcheted up over the past few months after three signs came down in neighboring Concord in late January.
In 1930, the Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary Commission distributed 275 cast-iron markers to 95 cities and towns across the Commonwealth to recognize the 300th anniversary of the original colony’s founding.
As time has gone on, many signs have been lost or fallen into a state of disrepair. The markers have also become a talking point as communities grapple with whether they convey an accurate history or fall short.
Michael Wallace, tasked with leading discussion on the issue for the Historical Commission, moved to affluent Sudbury, a Greater Boston suburb of roughly 19,000 people, in July 2023 and joined the Commission last November. The conversation around the historical markers predates his time in town, he said.
Sudbury, incorporated in 1639 with a population of 476, is one of the oldest towns in New England, according to its town website.
Wallace told the Herald that it’s “Impossible to say” how far away the town is from seeing its five markers come down if it takes that route.
“The goal is to build consensus,” Wallace told the Herald in a phone interview on Friday. “This is about our town’s history and its public history. It’s the history that we tell about ourselves.”
“It’s good to reach a position where everyone feels good about that,” he added. “100% of the people can’t feel 100% happy, but to arrive at some place where there is a consensus that what we are doing is reflective of our town and our history.”
The Sudbury Clergy Association, in a letter in January 2022 to the town’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commission, said it was “concerned about the representation of First Peoples (Indigenous People) in public markers.”
Three of the signs, clergy members wrote, “suggest, without providing any context, that during the so-called King Philip’s War, colonial settlers were defending their land from attacks by First Peoples.”
The conflict, known as the Sudbury Fight, was fought in town in 1676 and could be looked at differently than in 1930, clergy members added.
“Since First Peoples resided on this land for thousands of years before colonial settlers arrived, in the broader context,” the letter states, “they can be understood to have been defending their ancestral land from invasion by colonial settlers.”
Wallace said a tercentenary marker that commemorates the establishment of the original Sudbury plantation is “controversial in the sense that it’s only speaking about the Puritans … It doesn’t reference the fact that there’s a Native American population that was here long before any white settlers.”
The state Department of Transportation notified the Historical Commission in the spring of 2023 that it planned to “remove, restore and reset the Sudbury Fight” marker on Route 20. Members responded with a letter requesting the sign not be put back up.
The controversial marker was reinstated because MassDOT only has a say in repairing and maintaining the signs and not removing them permanently.
A local nonprofit, Athina Education, held a forum in April 2023 on the markers, which included Nipmuc citizen Andre Strongbearheart Gaines Jr. as a panelist. He said the signs are one-sided, highlighting how none of them convey that after King Philip was killed, his skull was placed on a rod for over 20 years.
“We’re talking about taking signs down, this is what I’m thinking about,” Gaines said. “How do you think our people felt walking by that skull every day? It’s the same thing with these signs.”
“They’re grim reminders of the assimilation, the colonization … the brutality that was set forth in law,” he added. “Why is it so hard to understand that these signs are signs of brutality?”
Critics have also taken exception to the signs carrying a depiction of the Massachusetts state seal originally adopted in 1898. It features a disembodied arm of Plymouth colony military adviser Myles Standish holding a sword over the head of a Native American figure in a peaceful stance.
A state commission tasked with rethinking the seal and motto disbanded without any specific recommendations after two years of work.
Concord officials removed their three tercentenary markers in late January after their Historical and DEI Commissions argued the signs had harmed Indigenous people and didn’t accurately reflect what happened when settlers founded the town in 1635.
State highway crews restored 21 historic markers found in 10 cities and towns, all in central or western Massachusetts, in 2019. At the time, the agency recovered roughly 174 of the original 275 signs.
One sign in the Cape Ann town of Gloucester, on the North Shore, was unveiled in July after it received a fresh restoration. It had “rusted and disintegrated almost beyond repair,” officials said in an advertisement for the event.
Gloucester’s three other signs are also being restored at an individual cost of $3,250 in state Community Preservation Act funds. A document outlining the project indicates a local historian provided “more accurate language” for the markers.
“Scattered across the state, these markers punctuate the land with an array of familiar myths,” the document states. “Seen in this light, the restoration of the Tercentenary Commission markers to their original condition is an opportunity for a reexamination of how we interpret and communicate public memory and how we can make our heritage more inclusive.”
In Sudbury, the Historical Commission is set to meet with the Historic Districts Commission in late October to discuss recommendations that will be made to the Select Board, which has the final say on the markers’ fate, Wallace said.
“Whether you think they are discriminatory or not, they were erected in the 1930s in a particular context of slower automobiles and slower roads,” he said. “Around the state a lot of these signs are missing, many are in bad condition. … These aren’t things really engaging to the public anymore, so it’s exciting to think about what we can do that’s better.”
Originally Published:
Massachusetts
“Missed jury duty” scam involving Bitcoin ATMs targets Massachusetts residents, sheriff warns
Two Massachusetts women recently lost a combined $6,700 to a “missed jury duty” phone scam that utilized Bitcoin ATMs, Norfolk County Sheriff Patrick McDermott said.
According to the sheriff, there’s been an increase in calls from scammers who claim to work for local law enforcement and demand money from residents who have supposedly missed jury duty. They threaten to arrest those who don’t agree to pay.
“The Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office never makes calls like this, and neither do local police departments,” McDermott said in a statement Wednesday. “Just hang up on anyone who is demanding money and acting like they are from our office, or another law enforcement agency, threatening you with arrest or detainment for things like ‘missed jury duty’ or an ‘outstanding warrant.’”
Scammers used Bitcoin ATMs
Both of the victims came to the sheriff’s office after sending money to the scammers. One was a woman from Sharon who paid $5,250 via a Bitcoin kiosk.
“She told our officer she was there to clear up an issue about missing jury duty after transferring the money as demanded,” the sheriff said.
The woman said she saw a sign on the Bitcoin machine warning about scams, but the person on the phone told her should would be detained for 10-12 days if she didn’t pay.
Just 90 minutes later, the sheriff said a woman from Dedham came into the office to report that she paid a $1,450 “bond” through a Roslindale Bitcoin kiosk. The scammer reportedly sent her a “fraudulent court document to back up his claims,” the sheriff said, and threatened that she’d be arrested and detained for 72 hours unless she paid immediately.
Scam warnings
The city of Gloucester recently banned Bitcoin ATMs, saying they’re concerned the machines could be used by scammers to prey on elderly victims. And in Waltham this summer, a police officer stopped an elderly man from sending $12,000 to scammers via a Bitcoin machine.
In August, the Federal Trade Commission warned that scammers pretending to be police are calling up Americans and directing them to fake websites to pay a fine for missing jury duty.
“It might ask you to pay up to $10,000 in fines on the site, or send you to a “government kiosk” (no such thing) to pay by cryptocurrency,” the FTC said. “But every bit of this is a scam.”
Republican Sen. Ryan Fattman shut down the Senate’s session after just a few minutes Monday morning, saying he hoped to “send a message” about the Healey administration pointedly blaming President Donald Trump for a lapse in SNAP benefits in official state communications.
With SNAP benefits at risk of lapsing lapsing for about 1.1 million Bay Staters starting Saturday as a result of the federal government shutdown, the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance website says that “President Trump is currently choosing to not issue November SNAP benefits that help you and many families put food on the table,” and the same language went out in emails and text messages to SNAP recipients.
“People need to be adults and act as such,” Fattman told NBC10 Boston. “The immaturity, the political gamesmanship, it all has to stop.”
Senator Fattman halted the Senate’s Monday session by doubting the presence of a quorum in protest of the politicization of this issue.
Fattman told the State House News Service that he has been trying to help constituents access SNAP benefits and started seeing the department’s messaging over the weekend as state-funded emails and text messages started going out.
“We’ve seen the federal government play this political game using taxpayer resources to say crazy messages and now Massachusetts is doing it under the Healey Administration,” Fattman said. “I felt that was wrong. I wanted to send a loud message that this needs to end.”
Gov. Maura Healey said that President Donald Trump has the power to distribute federal dollars that serve as a lifeline for many residents, but that Massachusetts does not have the money to cover the benefits if they are lost.
Fattman brought about an early end to Monday’s Senate session by doubting the presence of a quorum. Because a quorum of senators was not on hand and could not be rallied in about 10 minutes, the branch adjourned until Thursday. Sen. Sal DiDomenico of Everett was presiding over Monday’s session and Millbury Sen. Michael Moore arrived in the chamber about 10 minutes after Fattman’s motion.
Republicans and Democrats in Washington have been unable to agree on bills to fund government operations for the last four weeks and leaders of the two major parties have blamed each other for the shutdown.
Healey on Monday reiterated her stance about Trump’s role in the SNAP funding sitaution, and she wasn’t alone among Democratic politicians.
“They’re trying to make their resources stretch when Republicans are cutting food assistance,” Congresswoman Lori Trahan said.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts woman worries for family in Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa could bring mud slides, flooding
A woman in Massachusetts is worried for her family in Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa could bring catastrophic flooding to the island.
Hurricane Melissa is currently a Category 4 hurricane, but could strengthen to a Category 5 before it hits Jamaica and Haiti in the coming days. The storm could bring up to 30 inches of rain to the island and cause damage to infrastructure.
“I am really concerned about mud slides,” Framingham resident and real-estate agent JoAnn Frye said.
Frye owns an Airbnb in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, at Pyramid Point. She said that she has already lost power to her outdoor video cameras and that her home manager moved everything inside in anticipation of the storm.
“I’m very nervous. I’ve been watching this WhatsApp group because that’s how we communicate in the community,” Frye said.
Residents in Jamaica prepare for Hurricane Melissa
Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, urged residents to take the storm very seriously.
“We’ve been prepared for a couple of days now. We have gas generators. We have extra water in the rooms, and then we have some larger tanks of water prepared for that, just in case power goes out. We have some solar lights,” said Frye’s cousin, Mark Walker, who lives on the island.
He plans on hunkering down with his family for the next few days.
“It’s one of those scenarios where it’s not just us, it’s everyone else, but we have a pretty good group of neighbors and friends that are close by, kind of looking out for each other,” Walker said.
Joanne says she’s glad she’s not there, but is praying for her people in Jamaica.
“I’m still scared for the people I know and love there. I’m scared for the community,” Frye said.
She said that she plans to fly down once the storm passes to check on her loved ones and her home.
For more information on Hurricane Melissa and to see its potential path, click here.
Detroit Lions’ Brian Branch talks suspension, spiritual milestone, team leadership ahead of playoff push
SF judge denies mental health diversion for man accused of 2020 double fatal hit-and-run
Dallas Stars nearing extension with defenseman Thomas Harley, reports say
The Miami Heat without their headlining scorer on Tuesday night
Patriots reportedly trade Keion White to 49ers for two draft picks
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
In a Looming Nuclear Arms Race, Aging Los Alamos Faces a Major Test
Whistleblower warns Illegal immigrants are sending ‘shockwave’ through crucial industry
Suspect pleads guilty to murdering former Japanese PM Abe
With food stamps set to dry up Nov. 1, SNAP recipients say they fear what’s next
How and Where the National Guard Has Deployed to U.S. Cities
-
New York5 days agoVideo: How Mamdani Has Evolved in the Mayoral Race
-
World1 week agoIsrael continues deadly Gaza truce breaches as US seeks to strengthen deal
-
News1 week agoVideo: Federal Agents Detain Man During New York City Raid
-
News1 week agoBooks about race and gender to be returned to school libraries on some military bases
-
Technology1 week agoAI girlfriend apps leak millions of private chats
-
Politics1 week agoTrump admin on pace to shatter deportation record by end of first year: ‘Just the beginning’
-
Business1 week agoUnionized baristas want Olympics to drop Starbucks as its ‘official coffee partner’
-
News1 week agoTrump news at a glance: president can send national guard to Portland, for now