Feds: Worcester man had 3 kilograms of fentanyl at home

A Worcester man faces a federal drug charge after investigators recovered more than 3 kilograms of fentanyl from his apartment, according to charging documents.

Junior Tejada Hernandez, 28, faces one count of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. Authorities arrested him Wednesday, Oct. 21, and he was scheduled to make an initial appearance Thursday, Oct. 22, in federal court in Worcester.

Investigators searched Tejada Hernandez’s one-bedroom apartment Wednesday, Oct. 21, and found the fentanyl in the bedroom, according to the charging documents.

A suitcase in the bedroom closet held drug paraphernalia, the documents state. Inside, investigators found cutting agents, baggies, a sifting device, scissors and a blender used to mix controlled substances with dilutants, among other materials.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration considers 2 milligrams of fentanyl a potentially lethal dose, about the weight of a few grains of salt. The agency describes the synthetic opioid as roughly 50 times stronger than heroin.

The case follows other recent fentanyl prosecutions by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. On Thursday, Oct. 15, a man living at a Revere hotel pleaded guilty to possessing more than 4.5 kilograms of fentanyl and an assault rifle.

The charge of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million.

Editor’s note: The information provided in this report is based on events as described by the U.S. Department of Justice. The claims within are allegations which may be challenged by the accused in court.

SJC upholds Mass. law restricting firearms for people under 21

by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon

MASSACHUSETTS’S LAW PREVENTING people under 21-years-old from obtaining a license to carry handguns or large capacity firearms is constitutional, the state’s highest court ruled on Tuesday. But two justices dissented, arguing the matter should have been sent back down to a lower court for more detailed expert testimony and briefs.

Mikai Thomson, who was a passenger in a car that ran a red light, was arrested in December 2021 after he fled police and discarded a semiautomatic handgun. Because the 20-year-old Thomson had no license to carry, he was charged with and convicted of carrying a firearm without a license.

Despite never applying for a license, Thomson challenged the age restriction in his specific case and on broader grounds. It would have been futile for him to apply, since the law prevented him from being licensed, and the regulation unconstitutionally diminished the Second Amendment to a “second-class right” by depriving adults under 21 from carrying, Thomson’s lawyers argued.

COMMONWEALTH vs. MIKAI THOMSON

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Thomson did not have standing to challenge the law as it applied to him, Justice Gabrielle Wolohojian wrote in a 49-page opinion for the court’s majority, because Thomson was never actually denied a license. But he did have standing to challenge the law as unconstitutional on its face, the full court agreed.

“Because restriction of firearm possession by those deemed too young to handle them safely outside of supervised settings is consistent with the nation’s regulatory tradition,” Wolohojian wrote, the majority upheld the lower court’s conviction.

The decision comes as voters are deciding whether to keep or scrap a sprawling firearms law passed in 2024, which includes the same age restriction.

In its analysis, the SJC noted that rulings from the US Supreme Court have found that the Second Amendment established a right to have and use arms for self-preservation and self-defense, but that right is “not unlimited.”

A 2022 US Supreme Court decision created a new test for how states must defend their gun restrictions: whether the law has a relevant historical analogue from the Founding era.

The licensing system in “gives progressively greater unsupervised access to the possession and use of firearms by young people as they mature in age,” Wolohojian said. This was the result of “calibrated legislative determinations” on when and where young people can be entrusted with deadly weapons.

Young people can carry firearms under an array of circumstances in the Bay State, the court noted, such as under the supervision of a licensed gun owner. Minors from 15- to 17-years-old can apply for a Firearms Identification Card (FID) with parental consent to carry rifles or shotguns that are not large capacity, as can anyone 18 or older without needing a parent’s permission.

But, under Massachusetts law, they have to wait until they are 21 for a license to carry rifles and shotguns including large capacity and semiautomatic firearms and all handguns.

Age-based restrictions are common in the United States and in Massachusetts, the court’s majority noted. Exactly what the cut-offs are for any specific right — like voting on a jury or drinking alcohol — is a matter for the Legislature to determine, Wolohojian wrote.

The licensing age restriction works by relaxing over time “as young people mature” to protect them “from the consequences of firearm possession –- to themselves and others — stemming from their own immaturity.”

Wolohojian wrote that this is analogous to laws from the founding era in Massachusetts in which minors, even those enrolled in military service, were not expected to supply their own arms. Supervising officers were tasked with overseeing the use of firearms to preserve public safety, she wrote.

She also noted that a federal judge upheld the Massachusetts age restriction against an NRA-backed challenge in August, using similar logic.

Justice Scott Kafker dissented, joined by Justice Dalila Wendlandt. In the 28-page dissent, Kafker took issue with the majority’s analysis, especially when three appeals courts decisions struck down policies in other states that restricted carrying firearms by those between 18- and 21-years old.

The briefing was too thin on this extremely complicated question of which historical analogues are most informative, he wrote, and the case should have been sent down to the lower court for deeper scrutiny.

“I believe further briefing and expert historical analysis are required to draw the appropriate analogy reliably and correctly,” he wrote. “Lamentably, as a result of the court’s chosen course, the first time the defendant will see much of the history undergirding the court’s legal conclusion will be when the court’s opinion issues.”

This article first appeared on CommonWealth Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Image credit: Swampyank at English Wikipedia, John Adams Courthouse SJC Massachusetts, CC BY 3.0

Mass. joins 22-member coalition backing California in DOJ ballot lawsuit

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and 21 other attorneys general filed a brief supporting California against a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit that seeks to stop the state from counting more than 20,000 mail ballots in the Nov. 3 election.

Campbell’s office announced the filing Thursday, Oct. 22.

The Justice Department sued California on Thursday, Oct. 15, in the case USA v. California. The suit asks a federal judge to order the state to set aside vote-by-mail ballots from people federal agencies identified as “likely” noncitizens until officials verify their citizenship.

According to the Justice Department’s announcement, Homeland Security Investigations flagged the names by analyzing publicly available voter registration records. The department said it gave California officials the list Tuesday, Oct. 13, and that the state declined to set those ballots aside. The department argues the federal ban on noncitizen voting in federal elections overrides California’s ballot-counting procedures.

On Monday, Oct. 19, the department charged 28 foreign nationals in California with election crimes and said each defendant appears on the list.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber has said the federal government offered no evidence for its claims, The Associated Press reported. Los Angeles County reviewed a sample of the names and found canceled registrations, people who had never voted and a significant share of voters whose records list a U.S. birthplace, Democracy Docket reported.

“All eligible voters should be able to cast a ballot freely, safely, and without intimidation or interference,” Campbell said. “I am proud to stand with California in pushing back against this unlawful federal overreach that would obstruct thousands of voters’ fundamental right to cast a ballot.”

The states’ amicus brief argues the Constitution assigns election administration to the states, under rules Congress sets, and that the lawsuit has no constitutional basis. The attorneys general also wrote that a win for the Justice Department could throw state and local election offices nationwide into chaos and risk disenfranchising voters.

The coalition pointed to Nevada, where federal officials earlier this year claimed about 16,000 noncitizens appeared on the voter rolls. The Department of Homeland Security later sent Nevada a list of 185 voter ID numbers it called confident matches, NPR reported, and state officials said their records showed those voters as citizens.

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter took over the California case Wednesday, Oct. 21. In January, Carter dismissed a separate Justice Department lawsuit seeking California’s unredacted voter rolls.

Massachusetts faces its own voter-data dispute with the department. The Justice Department sued Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin in December 2025 to obtain the state’s unredacted voter registration list. U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin dismissed that case in April, and the department appealed to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in June.

Attorneys general from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin joined Campbell on the brief.

Worcester lands $4.95 million in state grants, led by Denholm demolition

The City of Worcester will receive $4.95 million in state grants for four projects, including $3 million to demolish the vacant Denholm Building and create a 1.2-acre development-ready site downtown.

Gov. Maura Healey announced the awards Thursday, Oct. 1, as part of a record $330 million round of Community One Stop for Growth grants. State Sen. Michael Moore, D-Millbury, outlined the local share Thursday, Oct. 22, saying projects in his Second Worcester District will receive nearly $10 million.

Four city projects

The Denholm Building award comes from the MassWorks Infrastructure Program, according to the state’s award spreadsheet.

MassWorks also will provide $1.65 million to the city and New Garden Park Inc. for the GreenTech Park & Greendale Revitalization Initiative on the city’s north side. The money will help rebuild an existing roadway and install new street infrastructure to support up to 1 million square feet of new manufacturing space.

New Garden Park, a nonprofit subsidiary of the Worcester Business Development Corp., owns the land where the project will take shape.

The city will team with the Downtown Worcester Business Improvement District on a $250,000 Massachusetts Downtown Initiative capital grant to buy and install four interactive digital wayfinding kiosks and hang 88 new banners downtown.

A $50,000 grant from the Massachusetts Vacant Storefront Program will help the city fill long-vacant storefronts in its Commercial Area Revitalization Districts.

“From the demolition of the old Denholm Building to road construction for Greentech Park, these dollars will not only bring these projects, and more, to fruition but, furthermore, provide economic benefits to the city and residents for years to come by expanding our taxbase,” City Manager Eric Batista said in the governor’s announcement.

Mayor Joe Petty said in the same announcement that the program has sent $24 million to 38 Worcester projects since 2022.

Private projects in Worcester

Three Worcester awards that Moore’s release did not list went to private developers and organizations, bringing the city’s total this round to about $6.87 million:

• $929,376 from the Underutilized Properties Program to The Beantown Companies Inc. for a Heywood Boot Co. project at 70 Winter St.
• $736,000 from the Underutilized Properties Program to Beacon Street Lofts LLC.
• $250,000 from the Site Readiness Program to Goddard and Hall Senior Living Inc. for its Grove Street campus.

Neighboring towns

Three towns in Moore’s district also won grants. Shrewsbury will receive $3,676,630 to build a signalized intersection on Stoney Hill Road ahead of a planned 250-unit mixed-use development.

Westborough secured two awards: $808,000 to replace aging sewer pipes in its recently rezoned downtown and $150,000 to draft an economic development plan for the Interstate 495 and Route 9 gateway area with Southborough.

Auburn will use $390,000 to design a Baker Street shared-use path along a Mass Electric right-of-way and to complete nearby street improvements.

“I am thrilled that the Healey Administration has allocated nearly $10 million to projects in the communities I represent,” Moore said. “I look forward to seeing these dollars get put to use to help boost our economies and make material improvements in residents’ lives as we continue to tackle Massachusetts’ housing crisis.”

Largest round on record

The state’s 403 awards reach 207 communities, the most in a single round since the program began in 2021. Thirteen communities will receive One Stop money for the first time.

State officials expect the projects to support more than 27,000 new homes and 13,000 permanent jobs, along with more than 7 million square feet of commercial development. The administration estimates the grants will help unlock $24.6 billion in private investment.

The HousingWorks Infrastructure Program and the MassWorks Infrastructure Program account for most of the money, at about $109.7 million and $105.1 million, respectively. The Executive Office of Economic Development oversees the One Stop application process, which channels requests to 14 programs run by that office, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and MassDevelopment.

Since 2021, the program has distributed more than 1,900 awards totaling more than $1 billion, according to the state’s One Stop awards page.

Fitchburg lands $3.5 million for culinary program, student-run cafe at MVP Academy

Fitchburg Public Schools will build a commercial teaching kitchen and student-run restaurant with a $3.5 million state grant, the largest of six career and technical education awards Gov. Maura Healey announced Wednesday, Oct. 21.

Healey unveiled $14.5 million in grants at the Montachusett Vocational Partnership Center in Fitchburg. The awards, the first under the state’s new Career and Technical Education Annex Pilot Program, will open training seats for about 500 more high school students each year, according to the governor’s office.

Fitchburg’s share will launch a Culinary Arts program at the MVP Academy, which the district runs with Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School, known as Monty Tech, and neighboring districts. Plans call for a 2,500-square-foot MVP Café with a commercial kitchen and a restaurant that students will operate. The program will offer 42 vocational seats a year and host evening and weekend workforce training for adults.

The MVP Academy lets juniors and seniors from Fitchburg, Gardner and Narragansett Regional high schools stay enrolled in their home districts. Students alternate weeks between academic classes at their own schools and trade instruction at the academy, which until now has focused on the building trades.

“When we created MVP Academy, our goal was simple: to provide more students with opportunities to explore careers and develop skills that will prepare them for life after high school,” said Fitchburg Public Schools Superintendent Jon Thompson. “The addition of a Culinary Arts program is another exciting step forward in that mission.”

Monty Tech Superintendent-Director Tom Browne said the partnership model offers the most affordable route his district has found to expand vocational training while keeping the standards Massachusetts vocational schools follow.

Education Secretary Steve Zrike pointed to the Fitchburg arrangement as a template for other districts.

“The collaboration between Fitchburg Public Schools and Monty Tech is a great example of how schools can work together to expand access and create new pathways to college and careers,” Zrike said.

State Sen. John Cronin, who represents Fitchburg, said the cafe will let students “put their culinary skills to work in a restaurant setting, serving their community as they learn.” State Rep. Michael Kushmerek, who also represents the city, said the grant will reach adults as well as students and strengthen the regional economy.

Other grant recipients

The state awarded the remaining $11 million to five high schools:

• Everett High School: $1,014,000 to expand medical assisting and web development programs, adding about 95 seats.
• Haverhill High School: $3,210,056 for a health care simulation center and technology lab, adding about 140 seats.
• Newburyport High School: $3,101,500 to expand advanced manufacturing and health assisting programs.
• North Middlesex Regional High School: $675,000 to start public safety and construction craft laborer programs.
• Watertown High School: $3 million to start carpentry and electrical programs.

The Fair Share surtax pays for the grants. Healey signed a supplemental budget that set aside $100 million in Fair Share money to add more than 3,000 career and technical education seats over three years, and the state opened applications for the annex pilot in March. Schools must finish their projects by June 2028.

The new awards follow a larger round in April, when the state awarded more than $70 million to 28 schools. That round included $3.75 million for Worcester Technical High School and $1,027,700 for the Leominster Center of Technical Education.

Leominster stop

After the Fitchburg event, Zrike visited Sky View Middle School in Leominster, an early adopter of OpenSciEd, to watch students work through the curriculum. OpenSciEd is a free, open-source science curriculum built around hands-on investigations and real-world problems.

Massachusetts helped develop the materials as one of 10 partner states, and more than 250 teachers in the state field-tested them with over 5,000 students, according to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The announcements came during Massachusetts STEM Week, which runs through Friday, Oct. 23. Administration officials also visited Middlesex Community College on Wednesday, Oct. 21, to promote its Pathmaker workforce training programs.

Image credit: John Phelan, Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School, Fitchburg MA, CC BY-SA 4.0

Worcester County schools share $1 million in career pathway grants

Worcester Public Schools will receive $45,915 in state Innovation Career Pathways money, and 22 other Worcester County high schools will share $1 million, Gov. Maura Healey’s administration announced Thursday, Oct. 22.

The county awards make up about one-fifth of the more than $5.1 million the state awarded statewide as part of Massachusetts STEM Week. Education Undersecretary Mark Reilly announced the grants at Norwood High School.

Worcester’s grant supports pathway programs at six high schools: Burncoat, Claremont Academy, Doherty, North, South and University Park. Most other implementation and continuation awards came to $50,000 apiece, many of them for a single school.

Elsewhere in the county, 10 high schools won $15,000 planning grants. Schools that already run designated pathways collected another 17 implementation and continuation grants of $50,000 each.

The state identified five county schools as newcomers planning their first pathways: Algonquin Regional High School in Northborough, Leominster High School, Millbury High School, Sutton High School and Tahanto Regional High School in Boylston.

More than 8,500 students take part in 303 Innovation Career Pathways at 130 high schools this year, about 36% of eligible high schools in Massachusetts, according to the governor’s office. The new planning grants could push those numbers to 318 pathways at 141 high schools serving nearly 9,000 students in the 2027-28 school year, if the schools earn designation and later implementation money.

Pathways give students a structured sequence of courses and work-based learning tied to growing industries such as health care and clean energy. Schools partner with local MassHire workforce boards to match programs to regional hiring needs. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education reviews pathway applications, and its commissioner plans to confer the next round of designations in April 2027.

Districts can spend implementation and continuation money on teacher training, instructional materials, college and career advising, industry credentials and dual enrollment courses.

“Every student in Massachusetts deserves a high school experience that prepares them for success, whether they choose college, a career or another path,” Healey said in a statement.

The announcement came during Massachusetts STEM Week, which runs through Friday, Oct. 23.

Worcester County awards

Planning grants

• Athol High School, Athol-Royalston Public Schools: $15,000
• Tahanto Regional High School, Berlin-Boylston Public Schools: $15,000*
• Leicester High School, Leicester Public Schools: $15,000
• Leominster High School, Leominster Public Schools: $15,000*
• Millbury High School, Millbury Public Schools: $15,000*
• North Brookfield High School, North Brookfield Public Schools: $15,000
• Algonquin Regional High School, Northboro-Southboro Public Schools: $15,000*
• Quabbin Regional High School, Quabbin Public Schools: $15,000
• Sutton High School, Sutton Public Schools: $15,000*
• Wachusett Regional High School, Wachusett Public Schools: $15,000

*New to Innovation Career Pathways

Implementation and continuation grants, Round 1

• Athol High School, Athol-Royalston Regional School District: $50,000
• Leicester High School, Leicester Public Schools: $50,000
• Nipmuc Regional High School, Mendon-Upton Regional School District: $50,000
• Milford High School, Milford Public Schools: $50,000
• Nashoba Regional High School, Nashoba Regional School District: $50,000
• North Brookfield Junior Senior High School, North Brookfield Public Schools: $50,000
• Oxford High School, Oxford Public Schools: $50,000
• Quabbin Regional High School, Quabbin Regional School District: $50,000
• Quaboag Regional High School, Quaboag Regional School District: $50,000
• Shrewsbury High School, Shrewsbury Public Schools: $50,000
• Uxbridge High School, Uxbridge Public Schools: $50,000
• Wachusett Regional High School, Wachusett Regional School District: $50,000
• Burncoat High School, Claremont Academy, Doherty High School, North High School, South High School and University Park High School, Worcester Public Schools: $45,915

Implementation and continuation grants, Round 2

• Clinton High School, Clinton Public Schools: $50,000
• Shepherd Hill Regional High School, Dudley-Charlton Regional School District: $50,000
• Fitchburg High School, Fitchburg Public Schools: $50,000
• Hopedale Junior Senior High School, Hopedale Public Schools: $50,000
• Bartlett High School, Webster Public Schools: $50,000

Awards elsewhere in Massachusetts

Planning grants

• Arlington High School, Arlington Public Schools: $15,000
• Belmont High School, Belmont Public Schools: $15,000*
• Boston Day and Evening Academy Charter, Boston Public Schools: $15,000*
• Burlington High School, Burlington Public Schools: $15,000
• Wahconah Regional High School, Central Berkshire Public Schools: $15,000*
• Chelsea High School, Chelsea Public Schools: $15,000
• Danvers High School, Danvers Public Schools: $15,000
• Foxborough High School, Foxborough Public Schools: $15,000
• Apponequet High School, Freetown-Lakeville Public Schools: $15,000
• Granby High School, Granby Public Schools: $15,000
• Holliston High School, Holliston Public Schools: $15,000
• King Philip Regional High School, King Philip Public Schools: $15,000
• Marshfield High School, Marshfield Public Schools: $15,000*
• Milton High School, Milton Public Schools: $15,000*
• Palmer High School, Palmer Public Schools: $15,000
• Phoenix Academy Public Charter High School, Springfield: $15,000
• Salem High School, Salem Public Schools: $15,000
• Scituate High School, Scituate Public Schools: $1,000
• Walpole High School, Walpole Public Schools: $15,000
• Westport High School, Westport Public Schools: $15,000

*New to Innovation Career Pathways

Implementation and continuation grants, Round 1

• Agawam High School, Agawam Public Schools: $50,000
• Amherst High School, Amherst-Pelham Regional School District: $50,000
• Arlington High School, Arlington Public Schools: $73,400
• Barnstable High School, Barnstable Public Schools: $34,399
• Bellingham High School, Bellingham Public Schools: $50,000
• Monument Mountain Regional High School, Berkshire Hills Regional School District: $50,000
• Beverly High School, Beverly Public Schools: $50,000
• Brighton High School, Dearborn STEM Academy and Albert D. Holland High School of Technology, Boston Public Schools: $149,863
• Bourne High School, Bourne Public Schools: $50,000
• Braintree High School, Braintree Public Schools: $50,000
• Brockton High School, Brockton Public Schools: $50,000
• Burlington High School, Burlington Public Schools: $50,000
• Chelmsford High School, Chelmsford Public Schools: $50,000
• Dedham High School, Dedham Public Schools: $37,300
• Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School, Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District: $30,778
• Fairhaven High School, Fairhaven Public Schools: $49,845
• Foxborough High School, Foxborough Public Schools: $75,000
• Apponequet Regional High School, Freetown-Lakeville Regional School District: $50,000
• Frontier Regional School, Frontier Regional School District: $50,000
• Hopkins Academy, Hadley Public Schools: $50,000
• Haverhill High School, Haverhill Public Schools: $50,000
• Holliston High School, Holliston Public Schools: $50,000
• Hoosac Valley Regional High School, Hoosac Valley Regional School District: $50,000
• Hull High School, Hull Public Schools: $67,400
• King Philip Regional High School, King Philip Regional School District: $50,000
• Lawrence High School, Lawrence Public Schools: $30,341
• City Arts & Sciences Academy at Fecteau-Leary, Lynn Public Schools: $65,325
• Marblehead High School, Marblehead Public Schools: $50,000
• Mashpee Middle-High School, Mashpee Public Schools: $49,200
• Maynard High School, Maynard Public Schools: $50,000
• Medway High School, Medway Public Schools: $50,000
• Middleboro High School, Middleboro Public Schools: $50,000
• Monson High School, Monson Public Schools: $75,000
• Newburyport High School, Newburyport Public Schools: $50,000
• Drury High School, North Adams Public Schools: $50,000
• North Attleboro High School, North Attleboro Public Schools: $50,000
• Northampton High School, Northampton Public Schools: $50,000
• Old Rochester Regional High School, Old Rochester Regional School District: $50,000
• Peabody Veterans Memorial High School, Peabody Public Schools: $49,280
• Pentucket Regional Senior High School, Pentucket Regional School District: $50,000
• Phoenix Charter Academy Chelsea: $50,000
• Phoenix Charter Academy Lawrence: $50,000
• Phoenix Charter Academy Springfield: $50,000
• Pittsfield High School, Pittsfield Public Schools: $50,000
• Reading Memorial High School, Reading Public Schools: $50,000
• Rockland Senior High School, Rockland Public Schools: $50,000
• Sandwich Middle High School, Sandwich Public Schools: $50,000
• Scituate High School, Scituate Public Schools: $50,000
• Seekonk High School, Seekonk Public Schools: $75,000
• Southwick Regional School, Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District: $50,000
• Springfield Renaissance School, Central High School and High School of Commerce, Springfield Public Schools: $150,000
• Swampscott High School, Swampscott Public Schools: $50,000
• Walpole High School, Walpole Public Schools: $50,000
• Wareham High School, Wareham Public Schools: $50,000
• Watertown High School, Watertown Public Schools: $75,000
• Wayland High School, Wayland Public Schools: $50,000
• Westfield High School, Westfield Public Schools: $50,000
• Westport High School, Westport Public Schools: $50,000
• Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, Whitman-Hanson Regional School District: $50,000

Implementation and continuation grants, Round 2

• Atlantis Charter School: $50,000
• Duxbury High School, Duxbury Public Schools: $50,000
• Framingham High School, Framingham Public Schools: $49,629
• Turners Falls High School, Gill-Montague Regional School District: $50,000
• Granby Junior Senior High School, Granby Public Schools: $50,000
• Greenfield High School, Greenfield Public Schools: $50,000
• TEC Connections Academy Commonwealth Virtual School: $75,000
• Norwood High School, Norwood Public Schools: $50,000
• Pioneer Valley Regional School, Pioneer Valley Regional School District: $50,000
• CityLab Innovation High School, Revere Public Schools: $50,000
• Mt. Everett High School, Southern Berkshire Regional School District: $50,000

Image courtesy of Worcester Public Schools

Friends of Worcester Public Library mark 70 years with $50,000 gift for new branch

The Friends of the Worcester Public Library will give $50,000 to outfit the city’s new Great Brook Valley Branch, a gift that marks the volunteer group’s 70th anniversary.

The branch, expected to open in 2027, will move into a new building the Worcester Housing Authority is building on Tacoma Street.

Mayor Joseph M. Petty honored the group by proclaiming this week National Friends of Libraries Week in Worcester, in step with the national observance running Oct. 18-24. Petty also presented keys to the city to four volunteers who have each served the Friends for more than 20 years: David Boulay, Jeanne Gallagher, Terry Dorsey-Potts and Christine Weinrobe.

“For 70 years, the Friends of the Worcester Public Library have played an invaluable role in strengthening our library and our community,” Petty said.

“Their newly announced $50,000 donation toward the Great Brook Valley Branch is a wonderful example of their continued commitment to ensuring that our neighborhoods have welcoming spaces to learn, connect, and thrive,” he said.

Volunteers founded the Friends in 1956 to rally public support for a new Main Library. The nonprofit raises money for the library through book sales and runs the Friends Bookstore on the Main Library’s first floor.

“Seventy years ago, the Friends came together to help make a new Main Library possible. It’s wonderful to see that same spirit of community support continuing today with this gift for Great Brook Valley,” said Rosemary McCarthy, president of the Friends.

The Great Brook Valley Branch opened in 1981 at 89 Tacoma St., in a renovated townhouse the housing authority provides. The city has said the library is working with the housing authority on a new branch next door to the current site.

The new branch will occupy part of the authority’s Economic Opportunity Center, a mixed-use building that will also hold 24 apartments, offices and support services for residents, Spectrum News 1 reported when construction began in October 2025. Earlier plans filed with the city called for a 31,000-square-foot building at 67 and 69 Tacoma St., the Worcester Business Journal reported. The center forms part of the second phase of the authority’s Curtis Apartments redevelopment.

Library officials said the new branch will expand access to educational programs, technology and community resources.

“This gift will help outfit an expanded branch where people can discover resources, develop skills, and build connections,” said Jason Homer, executive director of the Worcester Public Library. “We’re deeply grateful for their ongoing partnership.”

The library’s other major support group, the Worcester Public Library Foundation, will hold its annual Celebrate Our Library fundraiser Thursday, Nov. 5, at the Main Library, with author Celeste Ng and two other writers headlining the event.

United for Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, coordinates National Friends of Libraries Week each October to recognize library support groups across the country. This year marks the 21st annual observance.

Worcester wins record $5.5M HUD lead abatement grant

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded Worcester $5.5 million to remove lead paint hazards from 160 housing units, the largest lead abatement award the city has ever received.

City Manager Eric D. Batista’s office announced the grant Monday, Oct. 19. The award includes $5 million for lead abatement and $500,000 for Healthy Homes work, and qualified property owners across the city can tap the money.

The funding comes through HUD’s Lead Hazard Reduction grant program, which helps local governments find and fix lead-based paint hazards in privately owned rental and owner-occupied homes to protect children under 6. The program also pays to address other health and safety hazards in the same homes.

“Our Lead Abatement Program is designed to help eligible property owners with the cost of remediation,” Batista said. “This is critical work that makes a real health improvement in our residents’ lives.”

Batista urged owners of older properties to contact the city to find out whether they qualify. “Our goal is to have every eligible unit remediated,” he said.

The city will focus on homes of low- and very low-income families with children. Six local partners will help with the work: UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center, Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance, Worcester Housing Authority, Worcester Community Action Council, Realtor Association of Central Massachusetts and Worcester Head Start.

James Brooks, the city’s director of housing development and healthy homes, said the grant will combine with other local, state and federal money to build a lasting, citywide effort against childhood lead poisoning and unhealthy living conditions. The work will “help provide the city’s children a safe place to call home,” Brooks said.

Old housing, high risk

Worcester, one of Massachusetts’ Gateway Cities, holds a large share of multifamily housing built between 1880 and 1920 for factory workers. Decades of deferred maintenance on those buildings leave a continuing need for repairs that make them safe for young children, according to the city.

American Community Survey five-year estimates cited by the city show 38,442 Worcester housing units built before 1940 and 63,235 built before 1978, the year the federal government banned lead-based paint in homes. Pre-1978 units make up 70% of the city’s housing stock.

The city counts 11,431 children under 6.

Worcester’s initial lead screening rate for young children stands at 64%, below the state average of 73%, and the city remains a high-risk community for childhood lead poisoning, officials said.

State rules require every child to get a lead screening between 9 and 12 months old and again at ages 2 and 3, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s lead screening requirements. Children also need a screening before they enter day care, preschool or kindergarten.

How owners can apply

The Worcester Lead Abatement Program helps owners pay for lead paint abatement, and both owner-occupied and investor-owned properties may qualify. Income and rental restrictions may apply. Massachusetts law requires owners to remove lead paint hazards from any home where a child under 6 lives.

Property owners with questions can call the city’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Program at 508-799-1198.

Since 2007, Worcester has received more than $24.7 million in lead paint abatement and Healthy Homes grants.

Worcester airport needs to double its traffic to reach Massport’s 2035 goal, report finds

Worcester Regional Airport served a record 231,000 passengers in fiscal 2026. Massport wants that number above 500,000 by 2035, and a new Worcester Regional Research Bureau brief examines what stands in the way.

The brief, titled “Worcester Regional Airport (ORH): Scale, Service, and the Test Ahead,” updates two earlier Research Bureau reports. In 2010, the bureau endorsed the city’s agreement to transfer the airport to the Massachusetts Port Authority in Worcester Regional Airport Positioned For Take-Off. Six years later, its 2016 Bureau Brief on the airport called ORH an underused but valuable public asset.

Record traffic, uneven years

Massport counted 229,374 passengers at ORH in 2024, a 12% jump from 2023 and the highest total since the authority took ownership in 2010. The brief calls it the airport’s busiest year in 34 years.

Traffic dipped to about 216,000 passengers in calendar 2025, according to the Worcester Business Journal. It rebounded in the fiscal year that ended in June, when the airport set a passenger record under Massport ownership with 4% growth.

American Airlines flies daily to Philadelphia, and Delta Air Lines serves New York’s LaGuardia Airport. JetBlue flies to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale year-round and adds Fort Myers in winter and spring.

The Florida routes carry the most passengers, according to airport data in the brief. Orlando and Fort Myers grew the most between fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2026. Philadelphia, which American resumed in July 2025, carried more passengers in its first year than the JFK or LaGuardia routes did in any year shown.

Competition limits growth

ORH ranks among the smallest commercial airports in New England. It recorded 112,872 boardings in 2024, close to the 100,298 at Portsmouth International Airport at Pease in New Hampshire. Bradley International Airport in Connecticut logged about 3.2 million, and Boston Logan handled about 21 million.

In July 2024, ORH offered five nonstop destinations. Logan offered 136, and T.F. Green in Rhode Island offered 34, according to federal transportation data in the brief.

ORH flights depart mostly in the afternoon and early evening, while nearby airports offer morning departures. Massport told the bureau that airlines schedule their higher-revenue business routes at larger airports early in the day and assign smaller airports leftover capacity later.

Demand exists, the brief argues. In a 2020 survey by the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce and Massport, 93% of 1,286 respondents said they would likely use ORH if it offered more direct flights. About half named limited destinations, a lack of direct flights and high prices as reasons they fly elsewhere.

The cost of keeping ORH running

Massport has invested more than $150 million in the airport since 2010, including two jet bridges, a Category III instrument landing system and runway resurfacing. The authority also spent $139 million covering ORH operating deficits from fiscal 2010 through fiscal 2025, an average of more than $8 million a year, according to the brief.

Massport’s 2025 economic impact report estimated that ORH supports nearly 800 jobs and $182 million in annual economic output. A 2019 MassDOT study put those figures at 587 jobs and $97 million.

Should the state pay airlines to fly?

Massport’s 2025 strategic plan sets the 500,000-passenger goal. Massport already offers airport-fee credits and joint marketing to airlines that add Worcester service. The plan calls for further study of state-funded minimum revenue guarantees, which pay an airline the difference when ticket sales on a new route fall short of an agreed target.

Federal Aviation Administration policy bars airports from using their own funds for these guarantees, so money would have to come from the state or another outside source.

The track record varies. A 2008 U.S. Department of Transportation inspector general review found that eight of 18 guarantee-backed projects met their goals. Successful routes tended to connect small airports with major hubs.

Connecticut has backed Aer Lingus service between Bradley and Dublin since 2018. Rhode Island gave Breeze Airways $8 million for marketing and route development at T.F. Green. Rhode Island House fiscal staff reported in March 2024 that two of 16 routes tied to the state’s incentive effort remained active.

The bureau recommends that any Massachusetts pilot include a public commitment, a fixed end date, regular reporting and performance measures both during and after state support. Growth at ORH will depend on Massport, the airlines and Worcester’s business community working together, the brief concludes.

Image credit:Terageorge, Worcester Airport Curbfront, CC BY-SA 3.0

Worcester loses 11,166 SNAP recipients as advocates push for more state caseworkers

The number of Worcester residents receiving SNAP food benefits fell by 11,166 between July 2025 and August 2026, a 21.4% drop, according to state Department of Transitional Assistance caseload reports.

The city had 52,146 active SNAP clients in July 2025 and 40,980 in August 2026, the reports show. Project Bread, a statewide anti-hunger nonprofit, highlighted the decline as it presses the state to hire more DTA caseworkers.

Statewide, the DTA data show about 204,000 fewer active SNAP clients over the same period. Project Bread estimates that 70,000 children have lost benefits since Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July 2025. The federal law tightened SNAP eligibility and added paperwork for recipients and for DTA, the state agency that runs the program.

Project Bread said Massachusetts ranks sixth for its drop in SNAP participation among the 28 states that track the figure.

Need remains high. A record 40% of Massachusetts households experienced food insecurity in 2025, according to the Greater Boston Food Bank and Mass General Brigham’s annual food access report.

Calls go unanswered

Advocates say residents struggle to reach the agency by phone. A class-action lawsuit the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute filed Sept. 21 in Suffolk Superior Court alleges the DTA assistance line automatically disconnected 74% to 81% of incoming calls during the first six months of 2026. The suit accuses DTA of unlawfully ending or reducing benefits for residents who could not reach a caseworker.

“If you need help from the state government, you deserve to have your calls answered,” said Erin McAleer, president and CEO of Project Bread. “No one should have to fight this hard to get help affording food, especially when they know they’re eligible.”

DTA spokesperson Cecille Avila told reporters the agency hired 76 frontline caseworkers in January and 42 more in recent months. The department has blamed federal changes for the enrollment losses.

Budget fight on Beacon Hill

Gov. Maura Healey last month filed a $2.24 billion supplemental budget that includes $26.6 million for DTA caseworkers. Her office said the money would let the state keep 78 employees hired this year and add 10 more.

Project Bread puts the need at about 200 additional caseworkers. The group and its Make Hunger History Coalition want lawmakers to add $56 million for the agency.

The fiscal 2027 state budget set caseworker funding at $122 million, nearly $21 million less than expected fiscal 2026 spending, according to the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.

Demand at Project Bread’s FoodSource Hotline reflects the strain. From April through September, the hotline took 6,237 SNAP-related calls, 60% of all its calls.

The losses also reach grocery stores, farms and other retailers that accept SNAP. Each $1 in new SNAP benefits raises gross domestic product by about $1.54 during a slow economy, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service.

“The bottom line is, people are in crisis, and there are funds available to help them,” McAleer said. “It is Massachusetts’ responsibility to make sure they can feed their families.”

Where to get help

Worcester residents who lost SNAP or need help buying food can call the FoodSource Hotline at 800-645-8333 on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Counselors assist callers in more than 180 languages and serve callers who are deaf or hard of hearing.

In 2025, hotline staff completed 3,779 SNAP prescreenings and 510 SNAP applications by phone. Project Bread’s help page lists more food resources.