Regardless of everybody’s most fervent needs, merely watching the ball drop on New 12 months’s Eve did not finish the insanity of 2020. And midnight wound up wanting like an early bedtime for the week that was about to unfold.
The primary full week of 2021 began innocently sufficient.
Final Sunday evening, MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons eked out a victory by three votes over state Rep. Shawn Dooley, R-Norfolk, to keep up management of the state get together, and legislative negotiators introduced they’d struck a deal on a local weather change invoice to set a statewide goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 and authorize much more offshore wind.
However by the top of the week, democracy was underneath assault, 12 extra days of the Trump administration was being talked about like too nice a threat to take, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh was checking Amtrak schedules to D.C., and the promise of the COVID-19 vaccine was taking a shower by the chilly actuality of continued viral unfold.
Welcome to 2021.
That is getting previous
It could be a brand new yr, however COVID-19 remains to be right here. Proper now.
Gov. Charlie Baker final week introduced that enterprise restrictions put in place on Dec. 26, together with 25% capability limits in lots of companies, could be prolonged at the very least two weeks till Jan. 24, and new pool testing could be made out there to Okay-12 faculty college students and personnel.
The administration can also be prepared to provide hospitals dealing with capability constraints leeway from nurse staffing-level mandates in ICUs to unencumber extra beds. Hospitalizations are up 145% since Thanksgiving.
Vaccines already deployed in hospitals and nursing houses will grow to be out there to first responders starting Monday, when one other week begins.
State of the Metropolis
In one more signal of the instances, Framingham Mayor Yvonne Spicer will ship the annual State of the Metropolis Deal with on Thursday with out an in-person viewers.
The tackle, which is scheduled to take place at 7 p.m., can be live-streamed.
“The State of the Metropolis Deal with has at all times been an occasion we look ahead to,” Spicer mentioned in a press release. “It is an honor to assemble collectively to have fun the town’s accomplishments within the earlier yr and share our targets for the yr forward. We have responded to the numerous challenges that 2020 introduced and located new methods to work collectively and proceed our group’s momentum.
“Though present situations stop us from being collectively in particular person this yr, with the vaccine already within the state, I am excited for the yr forward, and look ahead to once we collect once more in particular person.”
The tackle can be out there on Framingham’s Authorities Channel, Fb Stay and AccessFramingham with closed captioning for the listening to impaired.
A state dinosaur
Massachusetts has dozens of state symbols. There is a state flower (mayflower). A chook (chickadee). Even a fossil (dinosaur monitor).
Now, state Rep. Jack Lewis, D-Framingham, plans to file laws this coming week that requires the creation of a state dinosaur.
Two are up for consideration — the Podokesaurs holyokensis and the Anchisaurus polyselus.
Each had been found within the state. The Podokesaurs holyokensis was found by Mignon Talbot, the primary girl to call a dinosaur, close to Mt. Holyoke Faculty in 1910, in accordance with the Pure Historical past Museum. The Anchisaurus polyselus was found in Springfield in 1855.
Lewis mentioned he was impressed to file the laws whereas volunteering as a den chief in one in every of his sons’ Cub Scouts group.
One of many actions concerned studying about dinosaurs and fossils. Lewis mentioned he needed to provide you with a manner for teenagers to study fossils and paleontology in a extra interactive manner.
He mentioned submitting the invoice will assist have interaction children within the civic course of and make studying about dinosaurs extra attention-grabbing.
“What began as a seemingly random concept to assist Cub Scouts have a extra interactive exploration of dinosaurs, shortly blossomed into one thing a lot larger,” Lewis mentioned.
Greater than 17,000 individuals have crammed out a web-based survey asking which dinosaur must be chosen, he added.
Rewind, replay
Out with the previous, in with the… previous?
It could be a brand new yr, however the management on the Marlborough Metropolis Council will stay the identical.
Throughout their annual reorganization assembly final week, councilors re-elected veteran Metropolis Councilor Michael Ossing as president and Kathleen Robey as vp.
Councilor Christian Dumais was re-elected as president pro-tem.
Ossing is in his eleventh time period on the council and can serve his second as president.
“I admire the help and I look ahead to a affluent and environment friendly and efficient 2021,” Ossing informed fellow councilors.
They mentioned it…
“It first got here into use when ladies didn’t even have the best to vote (by no means thoughts) maintain workplace. Any girl can run for Board of Selectmen, however its identify implies that she shouldn’t. …. (Altering the identify) isn’t political correctness, it’s simply right.” — Lauren Wilton, Milford City Assembly member, commenting throughout Thursday evening’s particular City Assembly session on a proposal to vary the identify of the city’s board of selectmen to “choose board.” The article handed.
“Nobody’s ever needed to educate a category after Capitol Hill has been invaded within the case of rebellion earlier than.” — David Lyons, a historical past instructor at St. Mark’s College in Southborough, noting the problem of discussing Wednesday’s riots on the U.S. Capitol in a classroom.
Contributors to the Political Pocket book this week embrace Deputy Director of Multimedia Dan O’Brien, multimedia journalists Cesareo Contreras and Jeff Malachowski and the State Home Information Service.
