Worcester to host first Homeowner Summit Nov. 7 at DCU Center

Worcester will hold its first Homeowner Summit from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, at the DCU Center, with free sessions for current homeowners and people looking to buy in the city.

Keynote speakers and breakout sessions anchor the day. Attendees can also meet staff from city departments and local housing organizations.

The city patterned the event on its annual Landlord Summit, which most recently took place at the DCU Center in January. Sessions will run on two tracks, one for prospective buyers and one for current homeowners, according to the city’s event listing.

Breakout topics include:

• First-time homebuyer education
• First-time homebuyer programs with down payment assistance
• Homeownership 101
• City of Worcester housing rehabilitation grant programs
• Permitting ADUs: How to get started with accessory dwelling units
• Wetlands and floodplains: What homeowners need to know
• Recording deeds 101
• Owning a historic property
• Energy efficiency
• Meetings with city departments for department-specific questions

Buyers can learn about local and state help with down payments. The city’s Down Payment Assistance Program gives income-eligible first-time homebuyers up to $5,000 toward a down payment and closing costs, using federal Community Development Block Grant money. Applicants must complete an approved first-time homebuyer course, according to a city program overview.

Current owners can ask about repair grants. The Elder Home Repair Program provides income-eligible seniors up to $25,000 per unit for major work such as roofs and heating systems. The city’s Worcester Housing Now program helps owners who live in two- to four-unit buildings, such as triple-deckers, fix up their properties.

Admission is free, but attendees must register online. The DCU Center sits at 50 Foster St. Attendees should enter through Door 2 and take the escalator to the third floor.

Worcester police seize ghost gun frames, 3D printer in gun trafficking arrest

Worcester police arrested a city man on a firearms trafficking charge after a monthslong investigation that turned up more than 38 guns and 3D-printed ghost gun frames, the department said in a press release Friday, Oct. 23.

The department’s SWAT team made the arrest. Police did not release the man’s name or age or say when the arrest took place.

Investigators also seized a 3D printer that police said the man used to make and traffic guns, along with two silencers, six high-capacity feeding devices and ammunition.

The department’s Crime Gun Intelligence Unit led the case. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and gang units from the Worcester Police Department and Massachusetts State Police assisted.

The ATF classifies ghost guns as privately made firearms, which lack serial numbers and cannot be traced by the agency when someone uses one in a crime.

What the law says

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 269, Section 10E covers anyone who knowingly distributes, sells or transfers firearms outside what the law allows, whether in a single transaction or a series of transactions within 12 months. The penalty scales with the number of guns involved:

• One or two firearms: up to 10 years in state prison, a fine of up to $50,000, or both.
• Three to nine firearms: up to 20 years in state prison, with a mandatory minimum of five years and a possible fine of up to $100,000.
• Ten or more firearms: up to life in state prison, with a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a possible fine of up to $150,000.

The number of guns seized does not decide which range applies. That turns on how many firearms prosecutors allege the man distributed, sold or transferred, a figure the release does not include.

The statute bars courts from continuing a trafficking case without a finding or placing it on file. A person convicted under the law cannot receive probation, parole, furlough, work release or good-conduct sentence reductions until serving the mandatory minimum. Fines under the second and third tiers come on top of prison time and cannot replace it.

The man faces an accusation, and the law presumes him innocent unless a court finds him guilty.

Worcester police, DEA find fentanyl in Clover Street raid

Worcester police vice detectives helped federal drug agents raid a Clover Street apartment Wednesday, Oct. 21, where they found about 3 kilograms of fentanyl packaged for sale, according to a Worcester Police Department release.

Junior Tejada Hernandez, 28, faces a federal charge of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. We first reported the federal charge Thursday, Oct. 22, after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced the arrest.

Vice detectives and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents reached the apartment at 115 Clover St. around 5:40 p.m. to serve a federal search warrant, police said. The warrant followed an investigation into fentanyl sales from the address.

When no one answered their knock and announcement, detectives forced their way in. They found Tejada Hernandez in a bedroom.

A search of the apartment turned up the fentanyl along with drug packaging and processing materials, police said. Tejada Hernandez went directly from the scene into federal custody.

Federal charging documents put the amount at more than 3 kilograms and say investigators recovered it from the bedroom of the one-bedroom apartment, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. A suitcase in the bedroom closet held cutting agents, baggies, a sifting device, scissors and a blender used to mix controlled substances with dilutants, the documents state.

Prosecutors said Tejada Hernandez would make an initial appearance Thursday, Oct. 22, in federal court in Worcester. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Stendig of the Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

Police departments from Worcester, Leominster, Fitchburg, Clinton, Gardner, Lunenburg and Webster, along with the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, assisted in the investigation. Prosecutors listed the case under the Homeland Security Task Force, a federal initiative aimed at cartels and transnational criminal groups.

What the law says

The charge falls under 21 U.S.C. 841, the federal law that bars possessing controlled substances with intent to distribute them. It carries up to 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The same law sets a separate penalty of 10 years to life in prison for cases involving 400 grams or more of a mixture containing fentanyl.

Editor’s note: This report draws on releases from the Worcester Police Department and the U.S. Department of Justice. The claims within are allegations, which the accused may challenge in court.

Worcester man convicted of first-degree murder in 2022 Paxton killing

A Worcester County Superior Court jury convicted Christopher Fuller, 34, of Worcester, of first-degree murder Thursday, Oct. 22, in the 2022 shooting death of Ernest Appiah, 29, also of Worcester.

The conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Fuller will face sentencing Tuesday, Oct. 27, in Worcester County Superior Court.

Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. announced the verdict Friday, Oct. 23.

Body found off Asnebumskit Road

Paxton police found Appiah’s body in the woods near Asnebumskit Road on March 5, 2022, after a passerby reported it.

The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide. Investigators determined that Fuller shot Appiah on Feb. 28, 2022, after the two men left Centerfolds, an adult entertainment club in Worcester, together.

Case history

Prosecutors first charged Fuller in East Brookfield District Court, where he faced arraignment July 12, 2022. A Worcester County grand jury indicted him Dec. 21, 2022, sending the case to Superior Court.

Fuller has remained in custody since his District Court arraignment.

Assistant District Attorneys Timothy Westerman and Shayna Woodard tried the case. Victim Witness Advocate Maria Deyette worked with them.

“Assistant District Attorneys Timothy Westerman and Shayna Woodard, and Victim Witness Advocate Maria Deyette did an outstanding job on this case,” Early said.

Early also thanked the Paxton Police Department and the state police detectives assigned to his office. He also thanked the jurors for weighing the evidence carefully.

What comes next

Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265, Section 2, a person convicted of first-degree murder as an adult receives a life sentence and cannot apply for parole. The judge has no discretion over that sentence.

Any appeal of a first-degree murder conviction in Massachusetts goes directly to the Supreme Judicial Court. State law governing those appeals allows the justices to review the entire case, including the evidence. The court may order a new trial or reduce the verdict to a lesser degree of guilt if it finds that justice requires it.

State Police revamp academy before new recruit class starts Oct. 26

Massachusetts State Police scrapped the drill instructor title and hired a civilian director of training at its New Braintree academy ahead of a recruit class that starts Monday, Oct. 26.

The department announced the changes Friday, Oct. 23, and said it has completed 22 of 31 priority recommendations from an independent review of the academy, with work underway on the other nine. The department originally planned to start the 93rd Recruit Training Troop in June, but Col. Geoffrey Noble, the State Police superintendent, pushed the start back in May to make time for the work.

Gov. Maura Healey directed Noble to seek an outside assessment of the academy after Trooper Enrique Delgado-Garcia died during a training exercise in September 2024. A supervisor and three full-time instructors were indicted in February in connection with Delgado Garcia’s death .

The International Association of Chiefs of Police completed its review of the academy in May and made 103 recommendations. The department had already permanently ended boxing and head-strike activities in training.

In September, the State Police hired PFM Group Consulting as an independent evaluator to monitor the reforms over five years and issue public annual reports. The firm’s team includes Seth Williams, who leads its law enforcement practice and has worked with the city of Worcester, and Ronal Serpas, a former New Orleans police superintendent.

Noble said carrying out the recommendations “requires a sustained commitment to raising standards and challenging longstanding practices.”

A new approach to instruction

About 15 sworn members will lead the 93rd class and oversee recruit development and accountability. A larger group of instructors will teach defensive tactics, emergency vehicle operation, firearms, patrol procedure and criminal law.

The department also wrote a new framework for how instructors introduce and manage stress during training, with the goal of tying stress to defined training objectives. Dr. Jennifer Prohaska, an outside medical expert in stress training, will instruct academy staff and lead a session for recruits during orientation week.

The State Police set new graduation standards under Article 11 of its rules and regulations. Recruits will receive dedicated instruction on use of force and de-escalation, along with training on electronic control weapons. They must score 100% on the related written exams to show they know department policy.

More medical oversight

The department brought in Eric Otterson, a physician assistant and Assumption University professor affiliated with UMass Memorial Health, to train instructors and recruits on recognizing and responding to concussions. Otterson spent 20 years with the Auburn Fire Department.

Experts from UMass Memorial Medical Group will analyze recruit injuries and help shape prevention strategies, and medical staff will spend more time at the academy.

The daily schedule now sets aside time for rest and personal care. Recruits will get uninterrupted mealtimes and scheduled chances to contact family members.

New academy leaders

Andrea Nardone, the academy’s new civilian director of training, most recently served as chief of training at the Massachusetts Municipal Police Training Committee, where she oversaw standards at 15 municipal police academies. She helped carry out training requirements in the state’s 2020 police reform law and previously worked as a Middlesex County assistant district attorney.

Capt. Michael Blanchette will serve as academy commandant. Blanchette, a Marine Corps veteran, began his career with the Chicopee Police Department and graduated with the State Police 76th Recruit Training Troop. He has taught at the academy since 2019 and worked as a detective lieutenant in the department’s Office of Professional Integrity and Accountability.

Dean Aresco, the new director of physical training, spent 20 years with the Connecticut State Police, including a stint as executive officer of its training academy. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in exercise physiology from the University of Connecticut.

Gina Kwon, the state’s secretary of public safety and security, said the governor’s call for an independent assessment “underscored the importance of identifying areas for improvement.”

State tells Amazon it needs MassDOT approval for Westborough drones

Amazon cannot launch Prime Air drone deliveries from Westborough until it secures a state certificate of approval, the MassDOT Aeronautics Division told the company Thursday, Oct. 22.

In a letter to two Amazon policy managers, Aeronautics Administrator Denise Garcia wrote that her division has not received an official notification or request for review from the company. The Town of Berlin posted the letter on its website.

Amazon wants to fly its drones from its fulfillment center at 64 Otis St. in Westborough. The town lists 16 communities it expects the service to affect, including Worcester, Shrewsbury, Grafton and Berlin.

Garcia pointed to Section 39B of Chapter 90 of the state’s general laws, which requires a state certificate before anyone operates an airport or landing area. The law exempts only federal facilities and landing areas built for noncommercial private use. Because the Federal Aviation Administration approved Amazon as an air carrier under its Part 135 rules, the company’s drone flights count as commercial operations under the state law, she wrote.

Garcia wrote that Amazon cannot set up a takeoff and landing area in Westborough “or anywhere else in Massachusetts” without that certificate.

The division must complete a suitability review and confirm the proposal poses no safety threat before any flights begin, according to the letter. That review will weigh environmental risks, including the outcome of a multistate lawsuit challenging the FAA’s nationwide environmental review of drone delivery. Massachusetts joined 14 other states and Harris County, Texas, in filing that challenge Sept. 28. The division also plans to decide what state environmental review the Westborough project requires.

Garcia wrote that her office has heard significant concerns from residents, including low-altitude flights over private property and the risk of harm on the ground given the size and weight of the drones. She told Amazon to expect at least one public hearing before the division acts on a certificate.

She also asked the company for an update on its plans and said Amy Fagerlund, a member of her staff, would contact Amazon to help with scheduling.

Local and legislative pushback

The state review adds to local steps already underway. Westborough Town Meeting voted 510-13 on Monday, Oct. 19, to adopt an unmanned aircraft bylaw. Both the attorney general and the Aeronautics Division must approve the bylaw before it takes effect, according to the town.

The Westborough Zoning Board of Appeals will take up residents’ appeal of the building commissioner’s ruling that classified the drone operation as an accessory use of the warehouse Monday, Nov. 2. The Planning Board continued its site plan hearing to Tuesday, Nov. 10.

State Rep. Meghan Kilcoyne, D-Clinton, whose district includes Berlin, said in a statement that she joined Westborough’s legislative delegation and other regional lawmakers in asking Gov. Maura Healey’s administration and Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell to form a task force on commercial delivery drone rules. The lawmakers also asked the state to stop accepting or processing drone delivery operator certificates until that review ends.

Image courtesy of Amazon

Former Barre DPW chief pays $35,000 ethics penalty for state work on town time

A former Barre public works superintendent paid a $35,000 civil penalty after admitting he worked more than 1,000 hours for a state agency during hours the town paid him to work.

The State Ethics Commission announced the penalty Thursday, Oct. 22. Jason Pimental admitted to violating four sections of the state conflict of interest law in a disposition agreement with the commission and waived his right to a hearing. The commission issued a final order the same day dismissing its adjudicatory case against him.

The DPW Commission in Barre, a Worcester County town, appointed Pimental superintendent in 2010. The salaried job required at least 40 hours a week, mostly on weekdays during business hours.

In 2018, Pimental took a part-time paid job with the state Department of Fire Services on a support team at the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy. The team supports training operations and manages equipment across the department’s campuses. His shifts there usually started at 6 or 7 a.m.

From Dec. 28, 2020, through June 20, 2024, Pimental worked about 1,082 hours for the state agency on days and during hours Barre paid him as superintendent, according to the agreement. He took no town leave for the state work. Barre paid him about $30,294 for those hours.

Pimental’s town payroll forms listed the hours he worked but not when his workday started or ended. Neither the town nor the DPW Commission had a written policy requiring him to record those times, the commission found.

The commission concluded Pimental used his position to secure an unwarranted privilege of substantial value and submitted false claims for pay to the town.

State Ethics Commission Executive Director David A. Wilson called working a paid state job on paid municipal time “a flagrant violation of the conflict of interest law.” Wilson said public employees who double dip enrich themselves at taxpayers’ expense and erode public trust in government.

The agreement also cites Pimental’s role as a paid call firefighter, a position the Barre Board of Selectmen appointed him to in 2000. State law generally bars municipal employees from holding a financial interest in a contract with their own town, which includes a second paid town job, unless they qualify for an exemption.

The commission’s Enforcement Division told Pimental in a July 7, 2021, letter that he needed an exemption to hold both jobs. The division pointed him to one that might apply and urged him to seek advice from the commission’s Legal Division. Pimental never secured an exemption or contacted the Legal Division, according to the agreement.

The fourth violation involved DPW payment requisitions. From 2021 through 2024, Pimental signed and certified requisitions that included about $15,000 in reimbursements to himself for work-related expenses and submitted them to the town accountant. State law bars municipal employees from acting officially on matters in which they hold a financial interest. The agreement makes its finding on his approval of his own reimbursements and draws no conclusion about the expenses themselves.

The commission opened preliminary inquiries in September 2024 and September 2025. It found reasonable cause to believe Pimental broke the law in May 2025 and November 2025. Pimental signed the agreement Sept. 25.

Public employees with questions about the conflict of interest law can get free advice from the commission’s Legal Division at 617-371-9500.

Image credit: John Phelan, Barre Center, Barre MA, CC BY 3.0

Worcester State, Fitchburg State to receive $3M for graduation support

Worcester State University and Fitchburg State University will receive a combined $3 million in new state grants to help more students finish their degrees.

Gov. Maura Healey announced the awards Thursday, Oct. 22, as part of $14 million in State University SUCCESS grants for the state’s nine public universities. Worcester State will receive $1,713,269. Fitchburg State will receive $1,297,587.

The state expects the program, known as SU SUCCESS, to reach at least 8,000 students this year. That works out to about one in four of the students the universities have identified as at risk of leaving without a degree.

Worcester State’s share grows

Worcester State’s award rose $93,078, or 5.7%, from the $1,620,191 the school received in the previous round of grants announced in January. Fitchburg State’s award matches the amount it received in each of the two earlier rounds.

The state bases each award partly on a school’s enrollment and its number of Pell Grant-eligible students. About $13.3 million goes directly to the nine campuses, and the state will spend the rest on statewide implementation and evaluation.

Bridgewater State University received the largest award, at $3,022,899. Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts received the smallest, at $684,096.

What the money pays for

The grants fund one-on-one academic advising and tutoring, along with peer mentoring and career and scholarship guidance. Campus staff also connect students with help for basic needs, from housing to child care.

“No student should have to give up on their degree because they can’t afford an unexpected expense or don’t have access to the help they need,” Healey said.

The state Department of Higher Education works with the State Universities Council of Presidents and Georgia State University’s National Institute for Student Success. The institute gives campuses technical help to spot students who may need extra support and to improve advising. ICF International will independently evaluate the program.

“SUCCESS gives our state universities new tools to identify barriers and provide students with the right support at the right time,” said Mary K. Grant, chair of the Massachusetts State Universities Council of Presidents and president of MassArt.

Third round for state universities

The state first opened SUCCESS grants to state universities in December 2024, with $14 million from the fiscal 2025 budget. Community colleges had received SUCCESS funding in earlier years.

At the time, the Department of Higher Education reported that more than 30% of state university students did not earn a degree within six years of enrolling. Among Black and Latino students, that figure topped 40%.

The governor’s office tied the new grants to its broader spending on college costs. State financial aid has more than doubled to more than $400 million a year since Healey took office, according to her office. That total includes the expansion of MASSGrant Plus, which covers tuition and fees for eligible students at public four-year colleges and universities.

“Making higher education more affordable is essential, but our work cannot stop once a student enrolls,” said state Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Higher Education.

Award recipients

• Bridgewater State University: $3,022,899
• Fitchburg State University: $1,297,587
• Framingham State University: $1,315,502
• Massachusetts College of Art and Design: $931,538
• Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts: $684,096
• Massachusetts Maritime Academy: $713,536
• Salem State University: $2,050,053
• Westfield State University: $1,532,795
• Worcester State University: $1,713,269

Image Credit: WillJayPA, WSU Gates, CC BY-SA 4.0 

Healey spotlights Worcester maternal health programs at UMass Chan

Gov. Maura Healey brought her push for stronger postpartum care to Worcester Wednesday, Oct. 21, leading a roundtable at UMass Chan Medical School that highlighted local programs serving new mothers.

UMass Chan and UMass Memorial Health co-hosted the session, titled “Supporting Moms & Families.” UMass Chan Chancellor Dr. David McManus and Dr. Eric Dickson, president and CEO of UMass Memorial Health, opened the discussion. Dr. Tiffany Moore Simas, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at UMass Chan, moderated.

“We need to take care of the moms that are taking care of the babies,” Moore Simas said.

Healey used the visit to promote proposals she announced in September, including $2 million to make the state Department of Public Health’s Welcome Family home visiting program available to every new parent in Massachusetts and $250,000 for MCPAP for Moms. Her administration plans to include both in an upcoming supplemental budget.

Welcome Family sends a maternal and child health nurse to a family’s home after a birth to check on parent and baby and screen for mental health concerns. The program serves about 3,000 births a year, according to the governor’s office, out of about 68,000 births statewide. The state’s website lists Boston, Fall River, Holyoke, Lowell and Springfield as the communities where families can currently get a visit.

“We know we have our challenges, but we are doing everything we can to support our moms and support those who are supporting our moms,” Healey said. “I’m really proud that our state medical school is leading here in Massachusetts and across the country in helping others implement these programs.”

Local programs in focus

Participants highlighted Worcester RISE for Health, which Dr. Olga Valdman, an assistant professor of family medicine at UMass Chan, founded and leads. The organization provides culturally responsive health care and support services to refugees and immigrants in Worcester.

The roundtable also featured the UMass Memorial Doula Program, which matches patients with community doulas from diverse backgrounds. New mother Esther Odame described the benefits of having a doula, joined by Oluwakemi Olusola Okufuwa, the doula who supported her during pregnancy, and Shantel Collins, a trained birth doula who owns Downtown Doula in Worcester.

UMass Chan’s EMPOWER program aims to improve outcomes for new mothers who are Black or Hispanic or who face socioeconomic disadvantage.

Dr. Nancy Byatt, founding medical director of MCPAP for Moms, joined the panel. The state Department of Mental Health funds the program, which connects obstetricians, pediatricians and other clinicians with perinatal psychiatry specialists in real time.

Jennifer Ford, who experienced postpartum depression after the birth of her second daughter, credited the program with getting her help quickly.

“My doctor connected me with MCPAP for Moms and within weeks I was connected with a social worker, therapist, group therapy and a psychiatrist. That saved my life,” Ford said.

Ford urged better screening for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and earlier connections to care. The Department of Public Health plans to update state regulations to broaden that screening beyond postpartum depression.

Dr. Kimberly Yonkers, chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at UMass Chan, serves as the school’s lead investigator on a clinical trial of SAINT neuromodulation therapy, a noninvasive, drug-free option for patients whose postpartum depression has resisted other treatment.

“We are the only site in Massachusetts and one of three in the country that is evaluating transcranial magnetic stimulation in a very high-capacity way. It’s a one-week, rapid treatment that helps moms with postpartum depression,” Yonkers said.

State officials at the roundtable included Public Health Commissioner Dr. Robbie Goldstein, Mental Health Commissioner Emily Bailey and state Undersecretary of Health Amy Rosenthal. Seema Dixit, Worcester’s commissioner of health and human services, also attended.

Anyone struggling with their mental health can reach the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Help Line at 833-773-2445 for free, confidential support.

Image by Bryan Goodchild, courtesy of UMass Chan Medical School

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.