News
'Foolish not to use it': Readers want ShotSpotter back in Cambridge
1+ hour, 12+ min ago (431+ words) Cambridge has been grappling with renewed scrutiny of its decision to drop ShotSpotter after the July 4 killing of city worker Xavier Bautista. Police unions have argued that the absence of the gunshot-detection system, which the City Council voted to discontinue…...
Cambridge approves alcohol-to-go, public drinking zones, and extended bar hours
1+ mon, 5+ day ago (429+ words) Annie Jonas is a Community writer at Boston.com. She works on understanding Boston.com readers by centering their voices, answering their questions, and sharing their stories. She also contributes to Boston.com’s Book Club newsletter. Annie was previously a…...
Court docs: Suspected Cambridge gunman waved rifle at parole officer over FaceTime prior to shooting
2+ mon, 4+ day ago (338+ words) Shortly before Monday’s shooting on Memorial Drive, suspected gunman Tyler Brown allegedly made suicidal statements and waved an assault rifle over a FaceTime call with his parole officer, court documents reveal. A criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Cambridge District Court…...
Quincy argues in front of SJC to install 10-foot patron saint statues at public safety building
2+ mon, 1+ week ago (514+ words) The state’s highest court heard oral arguments Wednesday in the City of Quincy’s appeal to install two 10-foot, bronze statues of Catholic patron saints in front of the city’s new police and fire building. Oral arguments began Wednesday, according to…...
Somerville has been trying to fire a police detective since 2018. He's still getting paid.
2+ mon, 2+ week ago (1617+ words) A Somerville police detective at the center of a nearly decade-long battle between the police union, prosecutors, and the city has earned more than a half million dollars in leave pay as the city fights to keep him off the…...
Somerville looks to rally residents to rise up against rats with ‘DeRATification Week"
2+ mon, 2+ week ago (307+ words) Somerville is declaring war on rats. The city kicked off “DeRATification Week” on Monday, launching a campaign to curb its growing rodent population. “Rats are tough and scrappy, but so is Somerville,” Mayor Jake Wilson said in the announcement. “DeRATification…...
Rapper Flavor Flav donates sports equipment to Cambridge youth center
3+ mon, 6+ day ago (203+ words) Rapper Flavor Flav donated a bundle of sports equipment to a local youth center earlier this week in partnership with Harvard College and Franklin Sports. Flavor Flav, 67, gave a variety of athletic equipment to the Frisoli Youth Center in Cambridge…...
North Andover police unions call for 'immediate removal' of chief after Fitzsimmons acquittal
3+ mon, 1+ week ago (477+ words) On the heels of Kelsey Fitzsimmons’s acquittal, the unions representing North Andover police passed a vote of no confidence in the department’s chief Wednesday, citing a pattern of leadership failures including the department’s lack of body-worn cameras. More than 90 percent…...
Land court backs Somerville church’s plan for homeless shelter that raised neighborhood concerns
3+ mon, 1+ week ago (724+ words) A Land Court judge has ruled that First Church Somerville was within its rights to build a 26-bed homeless shelter in its basement, siding with the Davis Square congregation’s contention that creating the space was something “God was calling First…...
Everett moves to rein in data centers as pushback grows across Massachusetts
3+ mon, 1+ week ago (930+ words) As backlash against data center development grows in Massachusetts, Everett is moving to get ahead of it. The Planning Board voted unanimously April 6 to endorse an ordinance that would restrict data centers in Everett’s Docklands Innovation District (EDID), a 100-acre…...