MA Moves To Limit School Coronavirus Quarantines: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Tuesday, August 17. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• A 5-year-old boy had been playing in a sandbox in Arlington when a coyote approached him and bit him on the leg.
• A Stow man was arrested after a standoff Monday night with a regional SWAT team.
• Twenty puppies and four dogs were removed from a Randolph home after police responded to the residence on an unrelated matter.

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

Today's Top Story

New state guidance could keep most students and staff in school buildings even after close contact exposure to a positive coronavirus case.

Local school districts would need to adopt the "Test To Stay" program, which is aimed at limiting mandated quarantines. In a memorandum to superintendents and other school leaders, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued guidance on Friday that recommends students and staff who are "asymptomatic and fully vaccinated [be] exempt from testing and quarantine response protocols."

Unvaccinated students and staff may also stay in school — as well as participate in all school activities such as sports — if they are part of a daily testing program and remain negative and asymptomatic.

Read the full story.

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Tuesday's Other Top Stories

Coyote bites child playing in sandbox: Officers were called to Cutter Hill Road in Arlington around 5:30 p.m. Sunday for a report of a coyote bite. A 5-year-old boy had been playing in a sandbox when a coyote approached him and bit him on the leg, police said. The boy suffered injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening. He was taken to an area hospital for evaluation. State wildlife officials were called to the scene and searched the area. They will continue to monitor coyote activity in Arlington, police said.

Suspect surrenders to SWAT team after standoff: A Stow man was arrested after a standoff Monday night with a regional SWAT team. Police went to his home to arrest him on warrants out of Framingham, Marlborough and Lowell district courts. Stow police went to the 30-year-old's Great Road home around 7 p.m. Monday. When the man saw police, he went inside his home, where police believed he was keeping a gun. By 10 p.m., the man surrendered to police. He was taken to a nearby hospital after suffering a self-inflicted injury to his arm, which police said was non-life threatening.

Man shoves teenage girl off Cohasset bridge: Police say Wayne Aikens, 57, of Wakefield was harassing teens who walked by, encouraging them to jump off the bridge. When one of the teenagers told Aikens she didn't want to jump, police say Aikens allegedly put his hands around her waist, pushing her twice, and causing her to fall 10 to 15 feet into the water below. When a teen confronted him about the situation, police say Aikens punched the teen in the arm.

Eat fresh: Patch's 2021 Massachusetts Farmers Market Guide

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Police take 24 dogs from home: Twenty puppies and four dogs were removed from a Randolph home after police responded to the residence on an unrelated matter. When police arrived at the house, they spoke with the man who agreed to let them search his home. The officers found the home to be in a state of squalor with animal feces throughout.

They Said It

"There appears to be no good reason to abandon the Weekly Report. That unexplained move is a step backwards for the state that resulted in inadequate public reporting about the demographic most at risk from COVID."

• The Pioneer Institute in a statement Monday urging the Baker administration to revive its weekly public health report tallying cases and deaths in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Some data about COVID-19 cases and facility-reported deaths continue to be posted on a monthly basis, but the Pioneer Institute said that information "contains outdated statistics, is hard to locate and difficult to use," particularly compared to the now-lapsed weekly report that listed cases and deaths for the past 14 days and for the entire pandemic at each elder care facility.

In Case You Missed It

Baker on Afghanistan crisis: Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday warned that the government's collapse in Afghanistan had "needlessly endangered Americans and our allies" and pledged that the Bay State is prepared to help refugees fleeing the country now under Taliban control. In a pair of morning tweets, Baker criticized "mismanagement" in the buildup to the crisis that has unfolded in recent days, when the Taliban seized cities in Afghanistan and evacuation flights departed Kabul. Baker, a Republican, did not specifically name who he believes is at fault for the situation.