The Newton School Committee and Mayor Ruthanne Fuller voted unanimously Thursday to approve a new teacher contract after a weekslong strike.
The Newton Teachers Association voted Jan. 18 to go on strike. Schools in the Massachusetts city were close…
post
Mass budget cuts concern charity supporting families of homicide victims
Gov. Maura Healey’s plans to slash $375 million from Massachusetts’ budget is continuing to cause concern among local organizations.
The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, based in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, says the proposed cuts would reduce its funding by a third for Fiscal Year 2024, impacting hundreds of families across the commonwealth.
In the last five years, from 2018 to 2022, nearly 250 lives were lost to homicide in Boston. The institute says that these budget cuts would affect the grieving families it supports each year.
“It was really unfortunate to see that,” said Alexandra Chéry-Dorrelus, co-executive director at the institute. “We have heard over and over again how much the state respects the work of the organization.”
Chéry-Dorrelus says burial costs, survivor outreach and healing support are among the services the organization provides for families.
She knows, first-hand, the trauma they have experienced.
“Back in 1993, my brother, Louis Brown, was murdered on Dec. 20 on his way to a Teens Against Gang Violence Christmas party,” Chéry-Dorrelus said.
Rachel Rodrigues, who is also a co-executive director, said it needs $1 million in state funding, with $400,000 of that going to burial costs alone.
“We normally receive $300,000 from the Massachusetts, and we work statewide,” Rodrigues said. “This would mean a $100,000 cut in that funding.”
The Executive Office for Administration and Finance says the $200,000 proposed is consistent with last year’s budget, as well as Fiscal Years 2020, 2021 and 2022. It added that the $300,000 it received this year included a $100,000 earmark for grants to be awarded by the institute to other organizations.
The institute says it will continue helping the community in over 91 cities and towns across Massachusetts.
“If we are sending the message that people are not worthy of receiving access to their basic needs, they cannot heal through trauma,” Chéry-Dorrelus said. “They cannot get through the rest of it.”
In a statement, Healey’s office said it respects and appreciates the work done by the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute to support victims of violent crime.
More on Gov. Maura Healey’s proposed budget cuts
As Roxbury migrant shelter nears capacity, officials eye additional Boston locations, state rep says
As a migrant shelter in Boston’s Roxbury shelter edges closer to capacity, the Healey administration says it’s looking at additional locations for overflow.
The center at the Melnea A. Cass Recreational Complex on MLK Boulevard can hous…
New details on Mass. hit-and-run crash seen on shocking dashcam video
A police report sheds new light on the under-the-influence joyride that resulted in a hit-and-run in Bellingham, Massachusetts, last month, all of which was caught on shocking dashcam video.
The report from police in West Greenwich, Rhode Island, d…
Investigators release age-progressed image of Maura Murray 20 years after disappearance
Two decades after her disappearance, New Hampshire authorities have shared an image showing what Maura Murray may look like today.
Murray, a 21-year-old from Hanson, Massachusetts, was last seen Feb. 9, 2004. Her car crashed on Route 112 in Haverhi…
Driver hospitalized from crash with Mass. State Police in Boston
A Massachusetts State Police cruiser was involved in a crash in Boston Thursday that led to the other driver being injured, police said.
The crash happened about 11:23 p.m. in the area of Commonwealth Avenue and University Road, which is near the Boston University Bridge, a police representative said.
Further details around the crash, like how badly the driver was hurt and what happened, weren’t immediately available.
This story will be updated once more information becomes available.
