[This story first appeared on Boston Restaurant Talk.]
A growing chain of chicken places is further expanding into the Greater Boston area, opening in the space where a location of a shrinking chain of chicken spots had been.
According to a post…
Massachusetts
System to bring cool air, rain this weekend as it continues to move through northeast
A system continues to move through the northeast, bringing us some waves of rain through part of this weekend.
Continuing Friday, the main line of heavy rain and wind has moved through Friday morning. We will see some clearing skies this afternoon…
Largest office-to-housing proposal downtown wins BPDA approval
The Boston Planning and Development Agency board on Thursday approved the largest office-to-residential conversion to date in the city’s program to incentivize the creation of more housing downtown and in surrounding neighborhoods.
KS Partners got…
Harvard again requiring standardized test scores for those seeking admission
Harvard University announced Thursday that it is reinstituting standardized tests as a requirement for admission beginning with the class of 2029, joining other colleges that are again mandating tests for those hoping to enter the schools.
In June 2020, Harvard began a temporary test-optional policy under which students could apply to the college without submitting scores. The change was adopted as access to standardized testing during the pandemic became limited.
Other schools like Yale, Dartmouth, Brown and MIT are also again requiring standardized tests for those seeking admission.
Harvard had initially said it was going to maintain its test-optional policy through the entering class of the fall of 2026.
Under the change announced Thursday, students applying to Harvard for fall 2025 admission will be required to submit standardized test scores from the SAT or ACT exams to satisfy the testing component of the application.
In what the school called “exceptional cases” when applicants are unable to access SAT or ACT testing, other eligible tests will be accepted, including Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exams.
School officials said test scores are weighed along with information about an applicant’s experiences, skills, talents, and contributions to their communities, as well as their academic qualifications in relation to the norms of their high school, and personal recommendations.
Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi Hoekstra said in a news release that standardized tests are a means for all students — regardless of background or life experience — to provide information that is predictive of success in college.
“In short, more information, especially such strongly predictive information, is valuable for identifying talent from across the socioeconomic range,” Hoekstra said.
The school said that all along it welcomed those seeking admission to submit test scores if they had them. Most of those accepted into the college during the past four years submitted test scores, according to the school.
The school also pointed to research that they said found that standardized tests are a valuable tool to identify promising students at less well-resourced high schools, particularly when paired with other academic credentials.
Man wanted in connection with Worcester shooting that injured 3 teens
A 20-year-old man is wanted in connection with a shooting that injured three teenagers in Worcester, Massachusetts, police said Friday.
The shooting happened on April 7 on Clarkson Street, Worcester police said.
Joshua Pittman is wanted for armed assault with intent to murder, unlawful possession of a machine gun and unlawful possession of a large capacity firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm, police said.
Pittman, according to authorities, is most likely in possession of a gun and should be considered armed and dangerous.
He was described as 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighing about 140 pounds with brown eyes and black hair.
Earlier this week, Levon Atupem, 23, and Jordany Alejo, 19, were arrested in connection with the shooting.
Three teens, two 18-year-old women and a 17-year-old boy, were shot and taken to the hospital, police said. Their conditions haven’t been released.
Anyone with information about Pittman’s whereabouts should contact the Worcester Police Department at 508-799-8651.
Final pre-trial hearing Friday before Karen Read trial
We are just days until the eyes of New England turn to the courtroom for the murder trial of Karen Read, which begins Tuesday.
Friday marks what’s presumed to be the final pre-trial hearing before the official trial gets underway. Both sides are trying to get the judge to limit or shape what information the jury is allowed to hear.
Jury selection starts in Read’s case on April 16 but before that, Judge Beverly Cannone is set to take up nearly 40 motions Friday from prosecutors and the defense — many of them not unexpected in a trial like this one.
Read, 44 of Mansfield, is accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, in 2022. She has plead not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of an accident, causing injury and death.
According to The Boston Globe, many of these motions were filed by the prosecution team and the notable ones deal with DNA records, Aidan Kearney or Turtleboy‘s involvement in this case, cell phone records and trooper Michael Proctor‘s involvement and history with those involved in the case — as he was the lead investigator on the case.
The next big step will be getting a jury impaneled. Some expect as many as 150 potential jurors will be brought to the Dedham courthouse each day.
Newly released court documents may indicate how the defense plans to poke holes in the state’s case at trial, claiming the grand jury was misled while investigators lied about the involvement of certain witnesses — raising reasonable doubt without presenting an alternate theory of the murder.
This information came to light after the release of the defense’s argument that Read’s indictment should be thrown out — a motion Cannone has already denied. With the case going to trial, it’s likely that argument will be repurposed.
The judge will take up those remaining motions Friday morning at the Norfolk Superior Court.
