Massachusetts
‘That comes with a price tag’: How snow removal is busting town budgets – The Boston Globe
“The way we experience climate change is through extremes,” said Shel Winkley, a meteorologist at Climate Central. “All of that comes with a price tag.”
Across the region, officials are trying to figure out how to pay that price. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has already spent more than $185 million on snow and ice removal this winter — about $20 million beyond what was spent during the “Snowmageddon” winter of 2015. State officials are weighing whether to seek aid from the Trump administration.
Providence has had to cap spending for the rest of the fiscal year after record-setting snowfall. In Boston, where officials have trimmed the snow removal budget, the city was on track to spend nearly double what it had set aside for winter cleanup — even before the February blizzard hit. Cambridge has spent $6 million, more than 10 times the placeholder amount it budgeted for winter cleanup.
“This is an additional pressure point on an already pressurized budget situation,” said Adam Chapdelaine, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association. “In some communities, it’s likely going to force some hard decisions.”
In Edgartown, officials want to tap into budget reserves to make up the cost, a step that requires voter approval. If voters don’t support that move, it could mean raising taxes, said James Hagerty, the town administrator.
Local officials said federal funding would help, but they’re not counting on it. Some worried that partisan disparities in which states have received disaster funding under the Trump administration would put Massachusetts at a disadvantage.
“We are hopeful that the state and federal government might step in to assist, but it’s just waiting at this point,” said Gregory Berman, Chatham’s director of natural resources.
The skyrocketing costs are yet another reminder that winters here don’t feel the same. New England is largely trending toward shorter and milder winters. Massachusetts has lost about 30 days of snow cover each year over the last few decades.
However, experts say the relationship between climate change and total annual snowfall is more complicated. Think of it as two competing forces. On one hand, global warming increases the amount of moisture in the atmosphere; when conditions are cold enough, this added moisture can fuel heavier snowstorms. On the other hand, rising temperatures mean that winter precipitation falls more frequently as rain than snow.
The data reflect this mixed picture. An analysis of historic snowfall totals by Climate Central, a nonprofit that conducts climate change research, found that annual snowfall has actually increased over the past 50 years in Boston and parts of coastal Massachusetts, while inland areas have seen declines.
Looking ahead, researchers project that the most intense storms may become even heavier, producing more snow than blizzards past. This shift may already be underway. In the past 40 years, Boston has recorded 10 snowstorms that produced at least 20 inches of snow. In the eight decades prior to that, there were just three.
These massive storms can trigger extra expenses, as municipalities have to pay for equipment rentals, contractors, and overtime for cleanup around the clock.
Julie Wormser, chief climate officer in Cambridge, said that total snowfall data surprised her.
“Based on how quickly the ocean is heating up off New England, my bet is that the next 50 years of data will reverse that snowfall trend,” she said.
Cities and towns in Western Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and the North Shore were hit especially hard. This winter, they received more than two feet of snow above their average.
On Cape Cod, Sandwich officials overspent their snow budget by $250,000, driven largely by the February blizzard. Town Manager George “Bud” Dunham said a day of minor plowing and treating roads can cost about $10,000, but major storms push that figure past $50,000. The town is still cleaning up downed brush and tree limbs.
If not for the storm, Dunham said, the town might have invested in new snow equipment or set aside funds for retired employees’ health insurance costs.
Mattapoisett, a coastal community on Buzzards Bay, also blew through its budget, spending nearly triple what officials had set aside. Still, Michael Lorenco, the administrator, said the town should be able to absorb the hit within its $37 million budget without raising taxes.
“I’m not a scientist, but towns near the coast seem to be getting more snow than they normally would in the past,” Lorenco said.
That doesn’t change the city’s responsibilities.
“Climate change or not,” he added, “we have to clean up the roads.”
Ken Mahan of the Globe staff contributed reporting.
Kate Selig can be reached at kate.selig@globe.com. Follow her on X @kate_selig.
Massachusetts
New Bedford MS-13 Member, Illegal Alien Pleads Guilty to Role in Brutal Murders In Massachusetts, Virginia
Frankli
Police shot and killed a man who officials say rushed officers with a knife during a call in Lexington, Massachusetts, on Saturday.
Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said the situation started around 1:40 p.m. when Lexington police received a 911 call from a resident of Mason Street reporting that his son had injured himself with a knife.
Officers from the Lexington Police Department and officers from the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC), who were already in town for Patriots’ Day events, responded to the call.
Police were able to escort two other residents out of the home, initially leaving a 26-year-old man inside. According to Ryan, while officers were setting up outside, the man ran out of the home and approached officers with a large kitchen knife.
She added that police tried twice to use non-lethal force, but it was not effective in stopping him. The man was shot by a Wilmington police officer who is a member of NEMLEC. The man was pronounced dead on scene and the officer who fired that shot was taken to a local hospital as a precaution.
The man’s name has not been released.
Ryan said typically in a call like this where someone was described as harming themselves, officers would first try to separate anyone else to keep them out of danger, which was done, and then standard practice would be to try to wait outside.
“It would be their practice to just wait for the person to come out. In the terrible circumstances of today, he suddenly rushed the officers, still clutching the knife,” Ryan said.
The investigation is still in the preliminary stages and more information is expected in time. Ryan said her office will request a formal inquest from the court to review whether any criminal conduct has occurred, which is the standard process.
This happened around the same time as the annual Patriots’ Day Parade, and just hours after a reenactment of the Battle of Lexington, which drew large crowds to town.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Massachusetts
‘An impossible choice’: With little federal help to combat rising costs, Head Start looks to Massachusetts for more help – The Boston Globe
In Massachusetts, roughly 1,300 slots for children across Head Start’s 28 agencies have been eliminated in the last three years because federal funding has plateaued over that time, while the cost of running the program continues to rise, according to the Massachusetts Head Start Association. Nationally, Head Start enrollment dropped from 1.1 million kids in 2013 to around 785,000 in 2022, according to research by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
“If they didn’t get into a Head Start program, they would be sitting at home,” said Brittany Acosta, a Head Start parent in Dorchester.
It’s teachers are drastically underpaid, and there’s a serious need for a rainy day-type fund should the federal government shut down again, the association says. As they’ve done in years past, state lawmakers have offered to provide financial relief, but the Massachusetts Head Start Association’s request for 3 percent above the amount it received last year, an additional $4.6 million to help its staff keep up with the state’s rising cost of living, so far has not been allocated.
Last year, President Trump’s leaked budget proposal revealed he considered eliminating Head Start entirely. Then, in the summer, he cut off Head Start enrollment for immigrants without legal status. And during the fall’s government shutdown, four Head Start centers in Massachusetts closed because they couldn’t access their funding.
Trump’s latest budget proposal shows a fourth year without increasing funding for the program, which was established in the mid-1960s.
Michelle Haimowitz, executive director of the Massachusetts Head Start Association, said the program doesn’t want to eliminate more child slots than it already has, but paying teachers a competitive salary is equally important in order to keep them from leaving for higher paying jobs. Head Start teachers make under $50,000 annually compared to over $85,000 for the average Massachusetts kindergarten teacher.
“It’s an impossible choice,” Haimowitz said. “When we reduce the size of our programs, we’re not reducing the size of the need.”
Massachusetts is one of few states that supplements federal funding for Head Start, and last year it increased the program’s state grant from $5 million to $20 million, adding to the $189 million in federal aid it receives in this state.
“We can’t run a program without giving staff a raise for three years,” Haimowitz said. “Our next fight now is not just for survival, but it’s for thriving and growth.”
The Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday released its budget, which doesn’t grant Head Start’s request of a 3 percent boost. But state Representative Christopher Worrell filed an amendment for additional funding. Worrell, whose district covers parts of Dorchester and Roxbury, said he loves Head Start’s embrace of culture, recalling one visit to a center where he could smell staff cooking stew chicken, a traditional Caribbean dish.
“I’ve been to dozens of schools throughout the district, and you don’t get that home-cooked meal,” Worrell said. “[The state is] stepping up and doing the best we can with what we have.”
At the Action for Boston Community Development’s Head Start and Early Head Start center in Dorchester, the children of Classroom 7 arrived one Monday morning and dove into bins of magnetic tiles before their teachers, Paola Polanco and Leolina Rasundar Chinnappa, served breakfast. Acosta dropped off her 4-year-old daughter, Violeta, before reporting to her teaching position at the center, where several other Head Start parents also work.
“It’s important for all Head Start parents to have the opportunity to give their child an experience in a learning environment before they actually start kindergarten,” Acosta said.
Beyond providing early education and care to children of low-income families, from birth to age 5, the program helps them access other resources, including mental health services, SNAP benefits, homelessness assistance, and employment opportunities.
It also serves as daycare for parents who might not be able to afford it, while they’re at work.
Research has shown the importance of preschool in a child’s development with one 2023 study, focused on Boston public preschools, finding that it improves student behavior and increases the likelihood of high school graduation and college enrollment.
For Rickencia Clerveaux and Christopher Mclean, the Dorchester Head Start center is the only place they feel comfortable sending their 3-year-old son, Shontz, who is on the autism spectrum. Shontz’s stimming — repetitive movements that stimulate the senses — has reduced, and his speech has improved since he joined the center in 2024, Clerveaux said.
His parents say he’s also come out of his shell. Mclean now drops his son off and gets a simple “bye” as Shontz joins his classmates, he said.
He and Clerveaux said they appreciate the specialized attention Shontz can receive from teachers, such as when staff identified that Shontz might have hearing issues. His parents were able to follow up with their doctor and get Shontz to have surgery to improve his hearing.
“It’s a safe net for parents,” Clerveaux said. “There’s so many ways that him being here helps him grow better.”
Without Head Start, Clerveaux said a lot of pressure would be put on parents to find care for their children, “knowing that they’re already struggling or not getting the ends to meet.”
“That’s a burden for everybody in the community,” she said. “If there’s no funding, there’s no daycare and parents cannot work.”
Lauren Albano can be reached at lauren.albano@globe.com. Follow her on X @LaurenAlbano_.
-
Rhode Island4 minutes agoThe Real Housewives of Rhode Island Recap: Wrong Side of the Tracks
-
South-Carolina10 minutes agoSouth Carolina Lottery Pick 3, Pick 4 results for April 19, 2026
-
South Dakota16 minutes agoFCS Football Recruiting Roundup: South Dakota, Montana State Target 2027 Defensive Standouts
-
Tennessee22 minutes agoNashville Sounds and Autism Tennessee partner to host inclusive Beyond the Label Day for local children
-
Texas28 minutes agoTexas A&M Forward Transfer Seemingly on Visit to See Lady Vols Basketball | Rocky Top Insider
-
Utah34 minutes agoGolden Knights vs. Mammoth Game 1 prediction: NHL odds, picks, best bets for Stanley Cup Playoffs
-
Vermont40 minutes agoVermont lawmakers reject digital lottery initiative – Valley News
-
Virginia46 minutes agoVirginia’s special election redistricting battle is next week and has national impacts