OK, Zoomer – MA Sets Standard For Youth Vaccinations: The HUB

The HUB is a daily newsletter designed for what you want — to be caught up on the most interesting, important news in 5 minutes or less. It's a little bit of this, a little bit of that, but if there's something you want more or less of, email me at alex.newman@patch.com.

Today is Tuesday, August 31. Let's get started.

What're the kids doing these days? Getting vaccinated, apparently.

Gov. Charlie Baker said Massachusetts has one of the highest youth vaccination rates, with about two-thirds of residents between the ages of 12 and 19 getting at least one shot. About 5 million people in Massachusetts are at least partially vaccinated, which Baker hopes will stave off the spread of the delta variant.

Under Department of Elementary and Secondary Education guidelines, all students and staff must wear masks in school buildings until Oct. 1, regardless of vaccination status. That mandate is expected to no longer apply to schools with at least 80 percent of students and staff fully vaccinated come October.

Unvaccinated students would still need to wear a face covering.

Read more from The Boston Globe.

Top stories

Thousands of people mourned Dorchester's own Jimmy Hayes, who died last week at the age of 31. Hayes, a standout hockey player, won a national championship at Boston College and played two seasons of a seven-year NHL career with the Bruins. (Boston Herald)

Former U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling is calling for a federal investigation into allegations of violence against prisoners at the Souza-Baranowski prison. Prisoners claimed they were beaten, Tasered and attacked by dogs after a January 2020 fight that left three guards injured. (WBUR)

Be careful what you wish for. Those of us yearning for the good ol' days before the pandemic had short-term memory when it came to Boston's rental market. But now it's returned to pre-COVID levels, jacking up rental prices, particularly in areas heavily populated by college students. (Boston Globe)

Local voices

Bobby Kennedy's assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, was granted parole over half a century after he shot and killed the Democratic presidential candidate. Commonwealth Magazine's James Aloisi says RFK's murder dramatically altered the course of history by giving us Nixon instead of a leader "uniquely capable to harness the complex forces of a turbulent time."

If you have a minute

From Nikki Gaskins, Patch

Massachusetts is mourning the loss of one of its own. Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25, of Lawrence died Thursday when a suicide bomber attacked the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.

"Sgt. Johanny Rosario of Lawrence is a true Massachusetts hero gone too soon. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends," Gov. Charlie Baker said shortly after he learned of her passing.

Rosario was one of 13 service members — 11 Marines, a Navy sailor and one Army soldier —who died while supporting non-combatant evacuation operations in Kabul. Eighteen other U.S. service members were wounded in Thursday's bombing, which was blamed on Afghanistan's offshoot of the Islamic State group, ISIS-K. The U.S. said it was the most lethal day for American forces in Afghanistan since 2011.

Read more here.

The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan on Monday, ending the country's longest military conflict. Robert Burns and Lolita C. Baldor of the Associated Press put it bluntly: "a chapter in military history likely to be remembered for colossal failures, unfulfilled promises and a frantic final exit that cost the lives of more than 180 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members, some barely older than the war."

The Department of Defense released a photo of the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue:

What I'm reading today: This'll get your blood boiling. A Chicago mom can't see her son after telling a judge she isn't vaccinated. Rebecca Firlit says she's had "adverse reactions to vaccines in the past" and was advised against getting the shot. But during a child support hearing, a judge stripped her of her visitation rights until she gets vaccinated. (Chicago Sun-Times)

Weather: The National Weather Service says partly sunny, with a high near 84. West wind 7 to 10 mph.

Mostly cloudy at night, with a low around 65. West wind 3 to 7 mph.

– Alex Newman

About me: Alex is a Jersey transplant covering Arlington, Malden, Medford, Reading and Somerville for Patch. A graduate of Northeastern University, Alex has lived in the Boston area since college (though he still hasn't been able to bring himself to root for the Sox). He is an avid football and baseball fan, amateur woodworker and film geek. Alex lives in Chelsea with his fiancée, their dog and a revolving door of foster puppies.