A man accused in a deadly double stabbing in Brockton, Massachusetts, has been arrested in Vermont, authorities said Wednesday.
Kevin Digregorio, 33, was arrested after he was found sleeping in his car on the road in Lunenberg, Vermont on Wednesday…
Massachusetts
Families could face removal from state emergency shelters starting Sept. 29
Families living in the Massachusetts emergency shelter system will begin receiving notice to leave starting in July, giving some families a deadline to move out by Sept. 29, the Healey administration said Wednesday.
The notice comes as part of the new nine-month cap on the length of a stay for families in the system, which was approved by lawmakers in April. The Emergency Assistance Family Shelter System, or EA, is intended to support families with children or pregnant women experiencing hopelessness. State officials say they have seen an influx of migrant families seeking support, overwhelming the system.
Families already in the system will receive notice that their benefits are expiring starting in July. The notice will give them 90 days to find new housing or apply for an extension. This means families may be kicked out of the system starting on Sept. 29.
The Healey administration said about 150 families will be affected by the first round of notices.
Extensions will be considered based on a range of factors including employment, training program participation, veteran status, disability status, school enrollment, imminent risk of harm due to domestic violence, or imminent placement in housing. For the full guidance, click here.
The system has been at its capacity of 7,500 families since last summer, with hundreds more on a waitlist. The Healey administration noted that they have been working to support those who rely on the system through various programs, including a focus on work authorizations, job training and placement and English classes for those with a language barrier.
According to the governor’s office, since November 2023, the state has worked with 3,716 immigrants to apply for work authorization and expects that the vast majority were approved. There are 1,063 immigrants enrolled in the English classes, and 1,114 residents have found jobs in the past few months.
State officials also noted that the number of families leaving the system has been steadily increasing, with 331 families leaving in May.
Mayor Wu reports ‘better, safer’ situation at Boston’s Mass. and Cass
The epicenter of the region’s substance use disorder, mental health and unsheltered homelessness crises at Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard is “in a different and better, safer position” than one year ago, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said Wednesday, but an influx of individual migrants is now stressing the city’s shelter system.
Massachusetts has been under a declaration of an emergency for nearly a year as the increase in homeless families migrating into the state pushed the state’s emergency family shelter program over capacity. The state is statutorily required to provide shelter for homeless families, but the mandate does not apply to homeless individuals.
Boston is seeing “a lot of individual adults who are arriving … as part of the flow of migrant individuals who are moving all around the country,” Wu said on “Java With Jimmy,” adding that it’s the city’s responsibility to operate a shelter system for everyone who doesn’t qualify for the state’s family shelter system.
“We had, at last count, I think it was about a third of our beds are now, at the individual shelter system, are now newly arrived migrant individuals. And so the strain, as we see more people arriving who have needs for recovery and treatment with the opiate crisis, is now … there’s even less space given the additional need that has been introduced from new immigrant individuals as well,” the mayor said. “And so everything’s kind of coming together all around this recognition that we just don’t have enough housing in the city for everyone.”
Wu said the city’s push in November to remove tent encampments, and connect people without housing who had been living at Mass. and Cass with services and shelter made the city’s infrastructure “bigger and stronger,” but that a longer-term solution is still needed. She acknowledged the situation is “a different challenge with a different number of people” in warm weather compared to the cold months.
“Not having the tents there permanently still is putting us in a different and better, safer position than we were a year ago this time,” she said. “Obviously, the long-term solution is having dedicated treatment space for people to stay for many months at a time. Long Island and all the permitting process and how many years that’s taken is absolutely ridiculous, but we are still working through that.”
Summer stunner turning scorching, then stormy
We’re in for a nice and seasonable day Wednesday as highs approach the mid-70s. There will be a sea breeze at the coast cooling down towns near the shore into the low 70s, but there are abundantly blue skies Wednesday.
The humidity should…
Savenor’s Butcher Shop and Market in Boston’s Beacon Hill is closing
[This story first appeared on Boston Restaurant Talk.]
A Boston institution for high-end meats and more is shutting down, though its other location will remain in operation.
According to a poster within the Friends of Boston’s Hidden Resta…
Man dead in apparent shooting in Pittsfield, police say
A man was found apparently shot in a vehicle in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, police told NBC affiliate WWLP.
The agency said it is investigating the Fenn Street death as a suspected homicide.
Police were called to Fenn Street, near Eas…
