Boston Mayor Enacts Vaccine Mandate For City Workers: Patch PM

TEWKSBURY, MA — It's Thursday, August 12. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• Boston Mayor Kim Janey said all 18,000 city employees will need to be vaccinated or agree to weekly virus testing.
• Rat poison continues to take an unintended toll on Massachusetts wildlife with a Natick-area eaglet one of the latest victims.
• National Seashore park rangers are searching for a coyote that attacked a boy in Provincetown to test it for rabies.
• A state trooper is hospitalized after being in a crash on Cape Cod.

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

Thursday's Top State Story

All 18,000 Boston city employees will need to verify a coronavirus vaccination or submit to weekly virus testing under a mandate Mayor Kim Janey unveiled on Thursday.

"We need to ensure that our hospital capacity, which is our capacity to save lives, remains below the capacity (limits)," Janey said during a news conference. "The best way to do that is by getting people vaccinated."

Also on Patch: Salem Pushes Strict Testing Mandate For Unvaccinated Employees

Under the mandate, all city employees must attest to their vaccination status by the end of the month with the vaccination-or-test protocol taking effect on Sept. 20 for public-facing employees — including teachers — and all employees by Oct. 18.

Read the full story here.

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Thursday's Other Top Stories

Rat poison kills Natick-area eaglet: State officials have documented the second death of a Massachusetts bald eagle due to rat poisoning, MassWildlife officials said Wednesday. An eaglet was found fighting for its life in Middlesex County in late July. The young raptor later died at Tufts Wildlife Clinic in North Grafton, and a necropsy revealed the eaglet had lethal levels of rat poison in its system.

Tewksbury police charge two with illegal gun ownership: In separate cases Monday and Wednesday, Tewksbury police arrested a New Hampshire man and a Pennsylvania man. Both men were found with guns they did not have licenses to carry in Massachusetts, the police said.

Coyote attacks boy on Provincetown beach: Park rangers are attempting to locate the body of a coyote to test it for rabies after they say it bit a young boy on a Provincetown beach Wednesday night. The child was taken to Cape Cod Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

State Trooper hospitalized after Cape Cod crash: A Massachusetts State Police trooper was hospitalized Thursday morning, following a crash on Forest Road in Yarmouth. State Police said the crash happened around 9 a.m. The trooper's cruiser collided with a Hyundai Sonata near the intersection of Forest Road and Alewife Circle, Cape Cod.com reported.

Attleboro man, Reading student third Vaxmillions winners: After getting their COVID-19 vaccinations this year, two more lucky Massachusetts residents received life-changing news Thursday. Leo Costinos, of Attleboro, has become the third $1 million winner of Vaxmillions, while Lilla Eliet, of Reading, won this week's $300,000 scholarship to her college of choice.

Eat fresh: Patch's 2021 Massachusetts Farmers Market Guide

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High Times Cannabis Cup coming to Massachusetts: ETA dispensary's Franklin Production Facility will serve as the official "in-take" partner for the first-ever High Times Cannabis Cup Massachusetts, a people's choice competition set to begin on August 21. The High Times CannabisCup, which says it's the world's leading cannabis competition, aims to identify and award the best cannabis products in the state across 11 categories.