A man was arrested after he broke into three businesses on Beacon Hill Wednesday night, according to authorities.
The break-ins occurred at 15 Charles St., 53 Charles St. and 103 Charles St., Boston police said.
While at 15 Charles St., police …
Massachusetts
Surge in warnings drives large traffic violation increase in Massachusetts
Massachusetts drivers racked up nearly 40% more traffic violations last year than they did in 2020, driven in large part by a substantial increase in warnings issued by law enforcement, new data shows.
Altogether, motorists across the state received nearly 1.08 million violations in 2023, up from just fewer than 776,000 in 2020, according to figures presented Tuesday by the state board in charge of maintaining driving violation records.
Merit Rating Board Director Sonja Singleton told fellow members of the group, which is part of the state Registry of Motor Vehicles, that more than six in 10 of the violations counted last year were, in fact, warnings. About one-quarter were civil violations, and the remainder were criminal violations.
In addition to making up a majority of the violations counted, warnings also grew at a much faster rate than civil or criminal offenses, the data show.
The Merit Rating Board counted about 429,000 warnings in 2020 and 683,000 in 2023 — a nearly 60% increase. Civil violations increased about 14 percent over the same span, while criminal violations grew about 12% in that period.
But state officials did not offer much explanation or insight into why warnings have grown so much more than other kinds of violations. Asked to detail any possible reasons behind the trends, a Department of Transportation official deferred comment to law enforcement.
One potential factor behind the overall growth in violations is traffic. Far more drivers were on the road in 2023 than in 2020, when many businesses, schools and other facets of public life were closed for extended periods due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Higher volumes could translate into more violations.
Another contributor to the increase — but not the cause of all of it — is a change in state law.
The state in 2020 began implementing a new distracted driving ban that permits motorists to make only a single tap or swipe on a device to activate its hands-free mode while behind the wheel.
That year, which was affected by the pandemic, police issued more than 29,600 citations for violations of the new distracted driving law, according to data Singleton presented Tuesday. The number of citations continued to increase in each subsequent year to more than 44,000 in 2021, 51,000 in 2022 and nearly 54,000 in 2023.
“They’re really trying to do a lot of awareness around distracted driving, but we still continually see those numbers increase,” Singleton said during the board meeting.
As is the case with all violations more broadly, the majority of distracted driving citations are recorded as warnings. About 40,000, or roughly 75 percent, of the distracted driving citations in 2023 consisted of warnings.
While enforcement continues to ramp up, distracted driving did not crack the top three most commonly issued violations in 2023, according to Singleton’s presentation. That list was topped by speeding, with about 275,000 total violations; inspection sticker issues, with about 105,000 violations; and failure to stop or yield, with nearly 98,000 violations.
A single citation can cover multiple violations.
The state in recent years has also more fully embraced electronic citations over paper-only versions. In 2020, paper citations outnumbered their electronic counterparts 323,328 to 265,501, but the trend flipped in 2021 and the gap has continued to widen.
Last year, more than three-quarters of the 808,000 total citations issued were electronic rather than paper. Singleton said the Massachusetts State Police are now fully operating with e-citations, as are 290 out of 351 municipal police departments.
“We are still getting a lot of paper [citations], but you can see that the decrease — it’s exactly what we want to see,” Singleton said.
Boston City Council to discuss Steward Health Care financial crisis
Steward Health Care is now in the crosshairs of the Boston City Council.
The embattled health care system has already been given an ultimatum from Gov. Maura Healey.
Steward — which owns nine health care facilities in the state, including Carney Hospital in Dorchester — is being pressured by elected officials to turn over financial records by Friday or leave the state.
The company is reportedly $50 million behind on its rent, and employees say the financial woes are showing even in the little things such as the shortage of supplies due to not paying their vendors. They also say the company can’t resume construction on the Norwood Hospital that flooded in 2020 because it’s not paying contractors.
U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch on Wednesday visited that hospital and Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital that caught fire last year, which is set to reopen in late spring. He’s now threatening company executives with a subpoena.
“We need to get complete transparency from steward health care about their finances, about their plans,” said Lynch.
“I’m not a financial expert, but I’m certainly making sure that the requests from the congressmen, the letter that the delegation has sent has been forwarded on to Dallas for their review and hopefully for their response,” said Dr. Joseph Weinstein, chief physician executive at Steward Health Care
Weinstein also said that he believes patient care is adequate.
The Boston City Council will discuss how to deal with Steward in a virtual meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday.
More Steward Health Care news
MBTA reveals cause of last week’s massive power outage, work progress
The MBTA is hoping to bounce back after a turbulent week for riders. Frustration is reaching a boiling point for those who rely on the T — and it’s not just shutdowns.
Commuters were crammed into buses Wednesday after a Red Line train caught fire and multiple lines were shut down last week because of a massive power outage.
That power outage, MBTA officials said, was caused due to a “failed joint” in a roughly 7-foot-long feeder cable, which lead to disruptions on the Blue, Green and Orange lines. Engineers said the issue has been fixed.
Still, the T’s issues are rearing its head again after a fire at a Red Line station in Cambridge.
The fire occurred just before 3 p.m. and wasn’t resolved until two hours later. Shuttle buses replaced trains between Harvard and Park Street stations.
Officials apologized and said that the T “remains committed to maintaining and upgrading critical system infrastructure to provide reliable public transit services to our riders.”
Work has been done on the Red Line to remove eight speed restrictions from Alewife to Harvard stations. On the Green Line, work is currently being done to remove nine speed restrictions on several pieces of track.
The Green Line work began two days ago and will go on until March 8.
The MBTA is also making improvements at all the stations, including maintenance, painting and repairs.
Mild temperatures Thursday, with rain to finish off the workweek
Cold temperatures are on hiatus for a bit as we undergo a small warmup. Sun combines with milder air to boost us into the mid-40s Thursday afternoon ahead of a quick-moving weather system that arrives Thursday night and Friday.
Although we̵…
Loved ones remember Gardner woman at vigil 4 months after her murder
Family and friends gathered Wednesday in Gardner, Massachusetts, to honor the memory of a woman killed four months ago.
The vigil for Breanne Pennington, a 30-year-old mother of four, was organized by the Gardner Domestic Violence Task Force.
Pennington was found shot to death on Oct. 22 in her Cherry Street home. Her husband, Aaron Pennington, is charged with her murder and has not been found.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.
Breanne Pennington’s aunt, Brenda Hull, says the vigil was a chance to shine a light on a major problem.
“I don’t want her to be forgotten, I don’t want her life to be in vain,” she said. “There has to be a greater purpose for this tragedy that we can glean a good lesson from.”
The murder set off a manhunt for the alleged killer, including searches by foot, by air and in the water. His car was located off Kelton Street near Camp Collier.
Authorities said at the time Aaron Pennington was considered armed and dangerous. Investigators described him as being about 6’2 and 175 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call state police assigned to Worcester County District Attorney’s Office at 508-832-9124 or the Gardner Police Department at 978-632-5600.
