Local School Boards Split On MA Mask Mandate: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Wednesday, August 25. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• Local officials across Massachusetts are reacting to Tuesday's decision by the state to require masks for all public school students and staff this fall.
• One Massachusetts resident missed their chance to win a VaxMillions prize by failing to respond before the 24-hour deadline of the sweepstakes.
• U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton drew a rebuke from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for his surprise trip to Afghanistan to observe evacuation efforts.

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

Today's Top Story

Local officials across Massachusetts are reacting to Tuesday's decision by the state to require masks for all public school students and staff this fall.

Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt, who also chairs the city's school committee, criticized the mask mandate. "The decision made today by the Department of Elementary and Second Education — DESE — took away our local authority, took away our ability to vote on this," Bettencourt said. "I think we know our city as well, if not better, than anybody."

But Shrewsbury Superintendent Joe Sawyer applauded the move by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Shrewsbury had already planned to have students and school staff wear masks to start the school year. "The commissioner of education's stated intent to make the state mandate effective for at least the month of September provides an additional level of certainty for the coming month," Sawyer said.

And in Woburn, where officials had already adopted a mask mandate for schools, School Committee Chair Ellen Crowley said better late than never.

"It would have been easier and smoother if the School Committee and our Superintendent had the unifying force and clarity of a state regulation while we considered this highly-debated, community-dividing topic squarely left on our shoulders," Crowley said.

What are your thoughts on mask mandates? The Patch survey closes at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

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Wednesday's Other Top Stories

VaxMillions loser: One Massachusetts resident missed their chance to win a VaxMillions prize by failing to respond before the 24-hour deadline of the sweepstakes. According to official rules, winners have 24 hours to respond when the Department of Public Health reaches out, and if the winner does not respond, they will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be chosen. Lottery officials did not say which winner was the extra lucky one who was chosen after the first person didn't respond.

Chicken recall: A local company is recalling chicken salads and dips that are normally sold across New England. Willow Tree Poultry Farm in Attleboro, Massachusetts, is recalling more than 52,000 pounds of products they say could be contaminated with foreign materials, specifically hard white plastic. The Food and Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) is concerned that some products may be frozen and in buyers' freezers. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them.

Arrest in killing: Police have arrested a 28-year-old man in connection with the Aug. 17 stabbing death of a Milford man. Christopher Tetreault was arrested in Charlottesville, Va., on Tuesday on a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, according to the Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. A passerby discovered Paul Weaver, 54, dead inside a storage locker at a facility along Beach Street last Tuesday.

Eat fresh: Patch's 2021 Massachusetts Farmers Market Guide

Picture This: It's A Girl!

Almost a week after helping an expectant mother, Officer Ashley Baldwin is reunited with the baby girl she helped deliver. With years of training as a registered nurse and as a first-year police officer, Baldwin knew how to think on her feet. Last Thursday, at 3:09 a.m., Melrose Police and Fire were called to a home in the neighborhood near the Lincoln School for a report of a woman in active labor. By using her experience and training as a registered nurse, Baldwin knew the baby had to come out, and took immediate action to assist the woman.

They Said It

"America has a moral obligation to our citizens and loyal allies, and we must make sure that obligation is being kept. Like many veterans, we have spent the last few weeks working without sleep to try to get as many people as we could through the gates to safety."

• U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton in a joint statement with Rep. Peter Meijer. The two lawmakers drew a rebuke from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for their surprise trip to Afghanistan to observe evacuation efforts.

By The Numbers

43: The number of years Fiore's Market, which specializes in cut-to-order meats, was in business. The Revere-based market will close at the end of the month.