Massachusetts

Boston police were seen arresting several protesters after a group of demonstrators blocked traffic at South Station during rush hour on Thursday morning.

Photos showed protesters standing side by side in a crosswalk, holding a large banner and blocking three lanes of traffic on Atlantic Avenue. Another photo showed at least one person being held by a police officer, with their arms behind their back.

Boston police said in a social media post at 8:23 a.m. that traffic was shut down in the area of Summer Street and Atlantic Avenue due to a protest. Motorists were urged to seek alternate routes.

They said in a follow-up post at 8:49 a.m. that they made several arrests, and traffic had reopened. They said more details will be released later in the day.

The demonstration came three days after over 100 people took part in a similar protest on Monday, temporarily blocking traffic on Summer Street.

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Although periodic rain continues through Thursday, the heaviest of the rain has fallen and very few spots are expected to see any new flooding of low-lying areas.

That said, the roughly 2 inches of rain that fell across New England is still running…

A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced in connection with the theft and sale of human body parts taken from Harvard Medical School and an Arkansas mortuary.

Jeremy Pauley, 41, of Thompson, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

He was sentenced Tuesday to two years of supervised probation as part of a plea deal, according to WGAL-TV. If he is deemed to be on good behavior, the sentence would be one year supervised and one year of unsupervised probation.

“To many, the facts are disturbing. To some, the facts are abhorrent,” Judge Albert Masland said in court Tuesday.

Pauley admitted that he bought human remains from multiple people, knowing the remains were stolen, and also admitted to selling many of the stolen remains to others, including at least one person who also knew they had been stolen.

He was among seven people indicted in the case in June.

Trials are still pending for the other defendants, including Cedric Lodge, 55, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, who is accused of stealing dissected portions of cadavers that were donated to the medical school in the scheme that stretched from 2018 to early 2023. The body parts were taken without the school’s knowledge or permission, authorities have said, adding that the school has cooperated with the investigation.

Lodge sometimes took the body parts — which included heads, brains, skin and bones — back to his home while some remains were sent to buyers through the mail, authorities allege. Lodge also allegedly allowed buyers to come to the morgue to pick what remains they wanted to buy. Lodge’s wife, Denise, 63, also faces charges in connection with the case.

Both Lodge and his wife declined to comment on the charges during an initial court appearance last summer.

Bodies donated to Harvard Medical School are used for education, teaching or research purposes. Once they are no longer needed, the cadavers are usually cremated and the ashes are returned to the donor’s family or buried in a cemetery.

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A Boston man was shot and killed while sitting in his truck outside a friend’s apartment overnight in Randolph, Massachusetts.

Randolph police received a 911 call around midnight reporting gunshots heard in the vicinity of Highland Glen Drive…

The man accused of shooting at officers during a SWAT standoff on Cape Cod is due in court Thursday.

Justin Moreira, 30, is facing several charges, including attempted murder.

Barnstable police said they received a call just before 8 a.m. Wednesday, saying Moreira was allegedly holding his mother at knifepoint at home on St. Francis Circle. Several family members escaped out of a window, police said.

Moreira, police said, fired at the SWAT team’s ballistic vehicle for almost eight hours, forcing neighbors to evacuate.

“I heard it from my room then they knocked on the door and told us to get out,” said Isack Gomes, who lives nearby.

This isn’t the 30-year-old’s first encounter with police. Back in 2022, he was arrested after allegedly threatening a shooting at an unnamed school.

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Massachusetts House lawmakers have decided on how much funding they believe should go towards migrant shelters, and how long they should be allowed to stay.

In the meantime, some communities are taking matters into their own hands.

United Way told NBC10 Boston about 80 people will be brought to the new shelter in Boston’s Fort Point neighborhood this week. Supplies were brought to the facility on Wednesday to prepare for their arrival.

This comes as House Democrats voted 121to 33 to approve a bill that would add $245 million in supplemental funds to an overwhelmed emergency shelter system, while capping family stays to nine consecutive months.

Those who can get a job or are undergoing job training, plus pregnant women and people with certain disabilities, could get another three months before needing to reapply.

The system is currently at capacity with 7,500 families, which is the cap Gov. Maura Healey implemented last year with roughly 800 more on a waiting list.

Proponents on Beacon Hill said these measures will help get people jobs and get them out of the system by a deadline and allow others who are waiting to get their chance at some help.

However, Republicans argue the measures don’t go far enough to save the shelter system.

“We’re looking forward to hopefully folks coming in here, staying in the system, gaining some training and being able to come out and be productive members of our economy and continue to help our economy grow,” said Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means.

“We think we need to do more than what’s being proposed here. this may be a small step, but quite frankly, we think it should have been a bigger step taken months ago,” House Minority Leader Bradley Jones Jr.

The bill has now been sent to the Senate where it could see some revisions before it’s put up for a vote.

Meanwhile, eight cities, including Malden, Revere, Everett and Chelsea, have joined forces with local nonprofits to assist their residents with housing insecurity as a way to tackle the shelter crisis from another angle.

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