Northeast
New York prison guards fired for ignoring deal to end strike, thousands set to lose health insurance
New York officials have begun firing state prison guards who failed to abide by a deal to end their illegal labor strike, which has now extended into a third week.
The state’s homeland security commissioner, Jackie Bray, said terminations began on Sunday and that the state started canceling health insurance benefits on Monday for correctional officers who continue to strike as well as their dependents.
Fewer than 10 officers have been fired and thousands are slated to lose their health insurance benefits, according to Bray.
“None of these actions we take lightly,” Bray said. “We have tried at every turn to get people back to work without taking these actions.”
NEW YORK INMATE DIES IN PRISON AS GUARDS CONTINUE STRIKE DEEMED ILLEGAL UNDER STATE LAW
Officers at the Auburn Correctional Facility continue to hold the line on the third day of their strike to protest unsafe working conditions in Auburn, New York, on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP)
On Thursday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a binding agreement between the state and officers’ union to end the strike. Under the deal, officers were required to return to work by Saturday to avoid being disciplined for picketing, as the labor action violates a state law prohibiting strikes by most public employees.
This comes as state police launched an investigation into the death of an inmate at one of the state’s prisons over the weekend.
Messiah Nantwi, 22, who was housed at Mid-State Correctional Facility, died Saturday at a hospital in the city of Utica.
Nantwi entered the state prison system in May and was serving a five-year sentence for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection with a 2021 shooting involving police officers. Nantwi, who had been represented by the public defender’s office, was also awaiting trial in the shooting deaths of two men in 2023.
Officials have declined to provide additional details on what led to his death, but other inmates told The New York Times that Nantwi was brutally beaten by correctional officers.
“True, he was incarcerated, but he was still entitled, like all of us, to basic human dignity and safety,” Stan German, executive director of the New York County Defender Services, said in a statement. “Instead, he suffered a violent senseless death at the hands of state corrections officers operating within a toxic culture that our society mainly ignores.”
The corrections department said 11 staffers have been placed on administrative leave, pending the results of the ongoing probe into Nantwi’s death.
Mid-State is across the street from the Marcy Correctional Facility, where six guards have been charged with murder in the December beating death of Robert Brooks.
Correction officers at Auburn Correctional Facility picket on the third day of their strike to protest unsafe working conditions, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, in Auburn, New York. (AP)
NY CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS REPEATEDLY STRUCK HANDCUFFED INMATE, PICKED HIM UP BY HIS NECK BEFORE HE DIED: VIDEO
Another inmate, 61-year-old Jonathon Grant, was pronounced dead last month after he was found unresponsive in his cell at the Auburn Correctional Facility amid the ongoing labor strike, although it is unclear if prison staffing played a role in his death.
The manner in which Grant died will be determined by a medical examiner. The public defender’s office that provided legal counsel to him expressed concern that the strike may have impacted medical care for inmates.
Officers began walking out on Feb. 17 to protest working conditions at the state’s prisons.
Jose Saldana, the director of the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, said guards were striking as a “distraction” from the attention on inmate abuse.
“To put it more bluntly, guards are holding hostage tens of thousands of incarcerated people, whose basic survival needs are often going unmet, in order to demand even more power to harm those in their custody,” Saldana said.
The deal between the state and officers’ union to end the officers’ strike included ways to address staffing shortages and minimize mandatory 24-hour overtime shifts. The agreement also offers a temporary increase in overtime pay and a potential change in pay scale.
Correctional officers and their supporters demonstrate in sight of Coxsackie Correctional Facility in the Hudson Valley., Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, in Coxsackie, New York. (AP)
A 90-day suspension of a law limiting the use of solitary confinement was also included in the agreement. During the pause, the state must evaluate if reinstating the law would “create an unreasonable risk” to staff and inmate safety.
Hochul deployed the National Guard to some prisons to fill in for striking workers.
Corrections Commissioner Daniel Martuscello said Monday that the number of facilities with striking workers dipped from 38 to 32, although visits remained suspended at all state prisons.
“No matter when this ends or how this ends, our long-term plan must be and is to recruit more corrections officers because our facilities run safer when we’re fully staffed,” Bray said. “That work can’t really begin in earnest until folks return to work and we end the strike.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to New York Homeland Security and the officers’ union, the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
David Heidrich lives in Augusta.
From the cliffs of Acadia to the woods and waters of Katahdin’s national monument, Maine’s public lands are more than scenic, they are the backbone of our economy and way of life. Anyone who has spent any amount of time in these or other public places knows that they offer more than just natural beauty. They are central to our identity, drawing visitors from around the world, supporting small businesses and sustaining jobs in communities across the state.
As someone deeply invested in the success of Maine’s outdoor recreation and tourism industries, I know that investing in our public lands will support thriving communities for generations to come. But maintaining these places requires more than appreciation, it requires sustained investment and action.
In 2020, Congress recognized that many of our country’s national parks and other public lands were suffering from decades of deferred maintenance. Roads, bridges, water systems, historic structures and visitor facilities were aging faster than they could be repaired. In response, lawmakers passed the Great American Outdoors Act, which created the National Parks and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF).
This landmark legislation provided five years of dedicated funding to address long-overdue repairs on federal lands. Here in Maine, the LRF delivered $54 million for critical repairs to our public lands. These investments supported projects at places like Acadia National Park — improving trails, restoring historic carriage roads and upgrading essential infrastructure — as well as work on national forests and wildlife refuges across the state. These projects have served to protect natural resources, improve safety and enhance visitor experiences while supporting local economies.
Now, with that funding having expired, Congress is considering the America the Beautiful Act, introduced by Sen. Steve Daines of Montana and Maine’s own Sen. Angus King. The bill has received strong bipartisan support, and I want to thank Sen. King and Sen. Collins for their leadership in advocating for this important legislation.
The America the Beautiful Act rises above politics and reflects a shared commitment to conservation and safeguarding the places that help define both Maine and our nation. By continuing to invest in our public lands, we ensure they sustain local economies while preserving natural resources for residents, visitors and future generations alike.
Outdoor recreation is a cornerstone of Maine’s economy. Each year, millions of visitors come to experience our parks, trails, waterways and working forests — supporting roughly 32,000 jobs and generating $3.9 billion in economic activity. That is approximately 5% of Maine’s workforce and 4% of its GDP, respectively. Communities throughout Maine depend on these visitors, and the continued health of our public lands is essential to their continued success.
While important progress has been made, maintenance backlogs on our federal lands persist and require reliable, long-term funding. Congress should pass the America the Beautiful Act because it would provide $2 billion per year for eight additional years to address ongoing maintenance needs across national parks and public lands — without raising taxes.
This is accomplished by: 1) dedicating lease and royalty payments from energy producers operating on federal lands and waters to conservation, 2) requiring federal agencies to identify and dispose of unneeded assets, and 3) leveraging private funding by introducing a preference for projects with a 15% financial match from private stakeholders or nonprofit organizations.
By passing this legislation, Congress can ensure that Maine’s treasured public lands remain safe, accessible and vibrant. If we want future generations to experience Maine as we know it today, we need to invest in it now.
Four Massachusetts companies have announced hundreds of layoffs as residents and businesses flee the state due to what critics describe as soaring energy costs, high taxes, and costly climate mandates.
According to the state’s Worker’s Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) tracker, a total of 283 Massachusetts workers are set to lose their jobs by the end of the fiscal year.
That includes 70 planned layoffs at Innovative Care Partners, which has locations in Northampton, West Springfield and Pittsfield, by June 30; 78 layoffs at Community Health Link at its Webster, Worcester and Lincoln locations, also by June 30; 83 layoffs at Compass Group USA in Boston by July 1; and 52 layoffs at Community Counseling of Bristol County at locations in Attleboro, Brockton, Fall River, New Bedford and Taunton between June 30 and July 13.
These latest notices come as several businesses have been moving out of Massachusetts over the past several months, including some that had been staples of the state’s economy.
In January, the reigning Massachusetts “Manufacturer of the Year,” Curia Global, shut down operations at its Burlington facility. Other notable departures include Thermo Fisher Scientific, Panera Bread, Cape Cod Potato Chips, Zipcar, SynQor, Analogic Corp. and more. Most recently, in April, Takeda Pharmaceuticals announced the elimination of 247 jobs from its Cambridge location.
The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance told the Herald upon Curia Global’s exit that the Bay State has become an increasingly inhospitable business environment.
“The taxes here are high, the climate regulations are pretty extensive and we also have people in positions of power who don’t seem that interested in growing business here,” Executive Director Paul Craney said.
Healey denounces President Trump’s cap on student loans for health care and social workers
Gov. Maura Healey is responding to the Trump administration implementing a rule limiting access to federal student loans for graduate degrees in the nursing, physical therapy, physician assistants, occupational therapy, education and social work fields.
“At a time when people are already struggling with costs, President Trump is making higher education more expensive and harder to access. This rule is going to push students into more expensive private loans, and it blocks pathways into critical careers in the health care and education spaces,” Healey said in a written statement. “As the daughter of a school nurse, I know firsthand how important these jobs are to our communities.”
Healey spoke in opposition to this new rule back in March and continues to warn that it will increase costs and limit career opportunities. She launched a $15 million state loan repayment program for early education and care professionals along with loan repayments for health and human service workers through the MA Repay Program.
The new rule, implemented by the U.S. Department of Education, caps federal graduate student loan borrowing at $20,500 per year for the listed programs the administration deems not “professional.” The Healey-Driscoll Administration estimates that approximately 13,000 Massachusetts graduate students will be impacted.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration calls it a “common sense” regulation that will help control the ever-increasing costs for higher education.
The New Hampshire Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at Saturday, May 2, 2026 results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from May 2 drawing
25-37-42-52-65, Powerball: 14, Power Play: 3
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from May 2 drawing
Day: 6-4-6
Evening: 0-7-6
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from May 2 drawing
Day: 6-3-8-5
Evening: 4-4-5-7
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Megabucks Plus numbers from May 2 drawing
01-07-10-19-32, Megaball: 05
Check Megabucks Plus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 2 drawing
06-17-31-42-50, Bonus: 02
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the New Hampshire Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Pick 3, 4: 1:10 p.m. and 6:55 p.m. daily.
- Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. Tuesday and Friday.
- Megabucks Plus: 7:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Lucky for Life: 10:38 p.m. daily.
- Gimme 5: 6:55 p.m. Monday through Friday.
- Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a New Hampshire managing editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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