Six communities across Massachusetts impacted by the ongoing trash collector strike filed a complaint in Salem Superior Court Thursday morning asking a judge to put an end to it. 

“We filed a suit to try and get some relief from the court to require Republic to pick up our trash and recycling,” said Beverly Mayor Michael Cahill. 

Strike began on July 1

The complaint included Canton, Danvers, Gloucester, Beverly, Peabody and Malden. Thursday marked 17 days since the communities received regular trash removal services after union workers walked off the job July 1, demanding better pay and benefits from Republic Services. 

“Residents can’t do this any longer. Our cities and towns can’t handle this any longer,” said Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. “It’s a public safety issue. Republic’s got to get back to the negotiating table.” 

In response to public scrutiny, Republic Services released a statement Thursday emphasizing their commitment to reaching a strong labor agreement that benefits employees and customers. 

“Regarding the lawsuit filed today, it is disappointing that these six communities have taken this route as we continue to work with our municipal partners to address their needs,” the statement said. 

Residents, businesses impacted

For nearly three weeks, Beverly resident and business owner Alex Weatherup says his trash has been piling up. “It does not smell good in my apartment right now. It’s hot, it’s smelly, and it’s not great,” he said. 

Paul Guanci echoed that sentiment saying, “It has affected our business; we’ve actually rented a big dumpster out back for just our recycling.” 

Back in June, Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga and Beverly Mayor Mike Cahlil say Republic warned them of a potential strike.

Promises “unfulfilled” mayor says

However, Cahill says, “They said they were trying their best to avoid it but if one happened that we didn’t have to worry. They promised that they were a big national company, that they would have resources in our communities to pick up our trash and recycling.”

“There were promises made leading up to the strike and there have been promises made and unfulfilled since the strike,” Verga added. 

Both mayors told WBZ that they’ve been in contact with local reps from the company but have yet to hear from the CEO directly. 

“Our health director went around yesterday with our inspectors and took pictures of about 25 dumpsters that were full and overflowing,” Cahill said. 

To get rid of the trash, Weatherup hired a private collection service. “We had to call junk removal services to take out trash for the condos, the shop, the restaurant,” he said.

And while the extra business has benefitted Jared Epstein’s junk collection service, he says “You know, not ideal for our community.” 

It’s helpful for now, but Mayor Cahill says it’s no permanent solution. “Fourteen thousand customers. There’s no way any small businessperson can do that,” he said. 

A hearing for the lawsuit is expected to be held on Monday at 2 p.m. 

The opinions expressed below are Jon Keller’s, not those of WBZ, CBS News or Paramount Global.

These are tough times for venture capital, the funding source relied on by many tech startup companies. And one of the biggest slumps has hit one of the best startup states of past years – Massachusetts.

The state’s promotional videos tout Massachusetts as “a leader in energy efficiency, science and technology, and our economy is the most innovative in the nation.” All that used to make us one of the top draws for venture capital investment in new companies.

But not anymore.

Why is venture capital shrinking in Massachusetts?

Recent research by the National Venture Capital Association analyzed by the Boston Globe tells the story of VC funding shriveling for local startups even as it blossoms in other states like California.

What’s driving it away from here, we asked Peter Cohan of Babson College, an author and startup investor himself? “The success of the companies out there,” he said, the bulk of the venture capital investments these days are going to AI startups out west in part because while the big-idea creators might go to college here, they too often don’t want to stay here. “Talented people want to be where all the other talented people are, that’s the fundamental issue.”

And the bets government and local investors have made on biotech and clean energy technology haven’t always paid off that well. “In Boston, I think investors really like high-tech solutions to difficult societal problems,” said Cohan. “Sometimes those solutions also find a market, and sometimes they really don’t.”

Federal cuts in local research funding are bad news for local startups, a problem that can’t be papered over with cultural spin. While those promotional videos promote arts, culture and cool coffeehouses, that doesn’t speak to the core issue, says Cohan: “It’s nonsense. That’s sleeping, they’re just dozing away, they’ve got their head in the sand.”

How does Massachusetts recover?

Meanwhile, states like Pennsylvania, Washington and California are raking in venture capital funding. What do we need to do to get back in the game?

As Cohan suggests, an end to the war between the White House and higher ed would help. Quantum computing and nuclear fusion are two promising areas where local researchers have a strong presence.

But in the long run it may come down to those researchers coming up with a great idea and deciding to stay here to develop and market it.

Maybe we need a new slogan to get through to them – don’t be a Zuckerberg.

Two MS-13 gang members, including the alleged leader of the Somerville clique, were sentenced to heavy stints in prison for crimes surrounding the 2010 murder of a 28-year-old man in Chelsea.

U.S. District Court Senior Judge William G. Young sentenced Jose “Cholo” Vasquez, who also goes by “Little Crazy,” 31, of Somerville, to 25 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Vasquez is already serving a 17-year and 8-month sentence for a separate 2018 federal conviction.

Young also sentenced William “Humilde” Pineda Portillo, 31, to 16 years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Pineda Portillo, a noncitizen illegally living in Everett, is subject to deportation back to his home nation of El Salvador after his sentence.

Each man pleaded guilty to racketeering enterprise conspiracy, or RICO, charges that were brought last September as the third indictment in a sweeping MS-13 case first opened in 2017. The charges also connect them to the Dec. 18, 2010, murder in Chelsea of Joaquin Aguilar, of Allston. “Murder” is usually a state-level charge, so federal prosecutors often, as they did here, case it as violence related to RICO activity.

Federal authorities first connected Pineda Portillo to the planning of the murder and then connected Vasquez — who prosecution witnesses have described as the leader of the Trece Loco Salvatrucha (TLS) MS-13 clique in Somerville — to it as well, adding that unlike Pineda Portillo, Vasquez personally contributed to the 12 stab wounds Aguilar suffered.

Chelsea Police responded to 6th Street a little after 7 that December evening where they found Aguilar still conscious but bleeding from 12 stab wounds to his head and chest. He would be pronounced dead at Massachusetts General Hospital. Police tracked his blood trail to the site of the violence: under the Fifth Street on-ramp to Route 1 southbound in Chelsea.

“What these men allegedly did to their victims was particularly heinous — so much so that, over a decade later, the circumstances still stand out,” said Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the Boston FBI when announcing this and another murder-connected indictment in the MS-13 case.

MS-13, also known as La Mara Salvatrucha, has deep roots in El Salvador but has transnational operations with cliques pushing its reach throughout the U.S. and other countries like Honduras and Guatemala, according to court filings. Prosecutors say it is known as particularly violent, using “murder, assault, extortion, kidnapping, obstruction of justice and drug trafficking” to further its nefarious business.