Baker Under Pressure On MA School Mask, Vaccine Mandate: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Wednesday, August 18. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• Brian McDonald and his roommate, 43-year-old Joshua Roush, were arguing when Roush attacked McDonald with a weapon and killed him in Malden, according to prosecutors.
• A nurse at Tewksbury State Hospital was "nearly strangled to death" by a patient Aug. 8, according to state Rep. Colleen Garry, who is calling for an investigation.
• A winning Powerball ticket worth $500,000 will expire Thursday if the winner does not come forward to claim the prize.

Scroll down for more on those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Today's Top Story

Add U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley to the growing list of officials and organizations calling on Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker to implement vaccine and mask mandates in schools and other high-risk settings, such as hospitals and prisons.

In a letter to Baker Tuesday, the Democrat wrote that vaccine mandates are a "necessary tool to safeguard vulnerable populations" and said Baker "undoubtedly" recognizes this, pointing to his recent order requiring nursing home staff be vaccinated.

Pressley's letter came on the same day the state's largest teacher's union, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, announced its board overwhelmingly voted in favor of a vaccine requirement for all teachers, school staff and students ages 12 and older in public schools and colleges across the state. The MTA board also voted 46-4 to support requiring weekly testing for all students not yet eligible for the vaccine, or for those students, teachers and staff with a medical exception.

Previously on Patch: School Coronavirus Quarantines Could Be Limited In MA This Fall

So far, Baker has shied away from issuing statewide mandates on vaccines or masks in schools, leaving the decision to local school boards. He said earlier this week it is unlikely there will be any additional statewide mask restrictions beyond the "strong" recommendation that unvaccinated students and staff wear masks indoors, while vaccinated students in seventh grade and older, as well as vaccinated staff, have the option whether to wear them or not.

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Wednesday's Other Top Stories

Roommates' argument preceded Malden murder: Brian McDonald, 34, was found with "multiple sharp-force injuries" on the sidewalk on Presley Street shortly after 10 p.m. Sunday, the Middlesex District Attorney's office said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. McDonald and his roommate, 43-year-old Joshua Roush, were arguing when Roush attacked McDonald with a weapon, the district attorney said. Roush was found inside the Presley Street home and arrested after "extensive communication," authorities said.

Nurse strangled at state hospital: A nurse at Tewksbury State Hospital was "nearly strangled to death" by a patient Aug. 8, state Rep. Colleen Garry told the Lowell Sun. The assault was one of two attacks in under a week, Garry told the newspaper. Garry is calling for an investigation into the facility's management. A Department of Public Health spokesperson confirmed to Patch the department is investigating a "patient altercation with a nurse" that happened on Aug. 8, as the Sun had previously reported.

Eat fresh: Patch's 2021 Massachusetts Farmers Market Guide

Picture This: Car Flips Onto Train Tracks

Four people are in the hospital after a car crash in Boston's South End near Washington and Herald Streets ended with one of the cars flipping over, off the side of a railing, and onto commuter rail tracks Wednesday morning. The crash caused 25-30 minute delays on six different commuter rail lines.

They Said It

"The way that I look at this is I'd rather have somebody be angry at me for having their child wear a mask than having somebody be angry at me for not taking the proper precautions and their child gets sick."

• Burlington School Committee Chair Thomas Murphy. The committee voted to approve an updated mask policy requiring the use of face coverings in school buildings.
  The unanimous vote Tuesday night comes two weeks after Superintendent Eric Conti's announcement that Burlington would return to indoor mask-wearing, making it one of the first public school districts in the state to say it would require masks.

By The Numbers

$500,000: The value of an unclaimed, winning Powerball ticket that will be forfeited Thursday if the winner does not come forward. The ticket was sold on August 19, 202o, out of a Mobil gas station on Route 134 in South Dennis, lottery officials said in a news release.