There was a large police presence Friday evening in a neighborhood near Cape Cod Gateway Airport.
Police confirmed they responded to Winter Street in the Hyannis section of Barnstable, Massachusetts.
Footage from the scene appeared to show a man…
Massachusetts
Teen shot behind Home Depot in Chelsea, police say
A 17-year-old was shot Friday behind a Home Depot in Chelsea, Massachusetts, police say.
The male victim was shot around 7 p.m. in rear of the store on Revere Beach Parkway, according to authorities.
Police say the victim was taken to Massachuse…
IRS pilot program aims to make filing easier for Mass. taxpayers
The tax filing deadline is a little more than a month away, and millions of Massachusetts taxpayers can now take advantage of a free and easy way to send their returns to the IRS.
The new IRS Direct File pilot program launched this week across 12 states. Taxpayers who have simple W-2s and claim a standard deduction are eligible to use the program.
People with multiple income streams or who need to take certain types of tax credits and deductions do not qualify for the free tool.
The program is part of the agency’s effort to build out a free government service that could replace some taxpayers’ use of commercial tax preparation software.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, has been an advocate for making tax filing simpler and more affordable for millions of Americans.
“Nobody wants to file taxes, right? But when you do pay your taxes, it ought to be easy and it ought to be free,” Warren said. “The average individual filer today pays about $150 and spends about nine hours to get their taxes filed.”
According to the IRS, the program has “no hidden junk fees, live customer support, and initial users have saved hundreds of dollars.”
“More and more and more giant companies have figured out how to just take a little bite out of your pocket,” Warren said. “It’s trying to put government on the side of people and help them so they’re not getting cheated, tricked, trapped, bitten at, and they have more money in their pockets and more security in their lives for themselves and for their children.”
The Direct File program does not support state returns, but the software will guide users from Massachusetts to a state-supported tax-prep tool.
According to the IRS, the Direct File program supports W-2 income, Social Security and railroad retirement, unemployment benefit income and interest of up to $1,500. The credits it can process include earned income tax credit, child tax credit, and credit for other dependents. Standard deductions, such as for student loan interest and educator expenses, are included.
Visit the IRS’ website to see if you qualify for Direct File.
Former Boston Police captain convicted in overtime fraud scheme
A former Boston police captain was convicted by a federal jury Friday in an overtime fraud scheme dating back to 2012, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said.
Richard Evans, 65, of Hanover, was convicted of conspira…
VIDEO: MBTA track workers dodge another moving train, agency reports
MBTA track workers were forced to dodge a moving Orange Line train while performing track maintenance March 1, the agency reported Thursday.
In a meeting of the MBTA’s Safety, Health and Environment subcommittee Thursday, deputy chief safety officer Nancy Prominski said the maintenance crew jumped into cut-outs in the tunnel walls between the Tufts Medical Center and Chinatown stations, which were built into the walls for that purpose, to avoid the incoming train around 10:20 a.m.
The work crew, which included one flagger and four track workers, were unharmed.
Though the investigation is ongoing, the agency believes the incident was caused by a procedural violation by the train operator, who was made aware of the work ahead. As a result, all maintenance requiring manual flaggers has been suspended and will remain so as the agency reviews its procedure for performing track maintenance during service hours.
A draft of an updated maintenance procedure is currently under review by the state Department of Public Utilities, Prominski said. Once the DPU has approved the updated procedure, MBTA employees will be trained on the new protocols immediately.
The incident, which Prominski defined as a “near-miss,” is the latest in a slew of recent train mishaps and close calls. Following a series of five “near misses” and one separate employee injury spanning five weeks, the Federal Transit Administration demanded the MBTA overhaul its procedures regarding employee safety in April 2023 — one of several warnings the FTA has imposed on the MBTA in the last year. Though the MBTA promised to conduct a review of its safety precautions, incidents have continued on all of its lines.
A Red Line train failed to break for maintenance workers conducting track inspections in May, despite being flagged to stop. Then, in December, the MBTA reported two power-related incidents in two separate stretches of the Orange Line that were under repair — one involving an almost-premature reactivation of power in an area occupied by a high-rail welding truck, and one involving wires left live in a temporarily inactive station. The three episodes were declared “near misses,” as no one was hurt.
In the same December meeting, however, the agency reported a track laborer who injured his leg when part of the tool he was using came loose.
More on the MBTA
Despite the potential deadliness of the incident, MBTA general manager Phillip Eng said in the meeting that the fact that workers immediately reported the incident is an example of employee comfort and improved safety culture within the agency. Prominski added that the promptness of the report and candidness of the feedback was vital to the investigation.
“I think what we’re seeing is a cultural shift in our organization where employees are seeing that by reporting things, management is taking a much more hands-on approach to solving these problems sooner,” Eng said. “It demonstrates that if they raise things up, management is taking it seriously.”
Eng was appointed as general manager by Mass. Gov. Maura Healy in late March 2023, shortly before the FTA’s warning. Since he assumed the role, he has been successful in completing many of the preliminary repairs the transit system required and removing some of the slow zones that plagued the Red and Orange lines.
He also revealed new details on the derailment of a Green Line train that occurred over the weekend during the meeting, saying the center wheels of the train slipped off the track. The train was taken to the yard for inspection, and none of the 17 passengers on the train at the time were injured.
Crane crashes down onto building in Norwood
A crane came crashing down on a condominium building in Norwood, Massachusetts, on Friday.
OSHA officials confirmed the agency is investigating the incident at the Eaton Village Condos on Neponset Street.
No one was hurt, but residents were at h…
