This is a web edition of GBH Daily, a weekday newsletter bringing you local stories you can trust so you can stay informed without feeling overwhelmed.
⛅Slush season: mostly sunny today with highs in the 40s. Sunset is at 5:30 p.m.
Massachusetts is still digging out: almost 60 members of the Massachusetts National Guard came to Fall River yesterday to help the city deal with its snow. And Boston’s city government tried something new this week: asking Bostonians to volunteer for extra shoveling shifts to help make crosswalks, sidewalks and streets safer and more passable after Monday’s blizzard.
GBH’s Magdiela Matta stopped by two volunteer events in Hyde Park and Roslindale — each of which drew just one volunteer, along with a handful of city employees. A spokesperson for the city said there were “100 volunteers and staff on the ground shoveling” across 16 sites, but didn’t say how many were volunteers versus staff.
“As somebody that is a pedestrian, that’s a bus rider, that is a cyclist in the area, you just know that if we don’t roll up our sleeves and do it, then it won’t get done and then we’ll be kind of stuck,” said Andrew Murray of Roslindale, the event’s single volunteer. He’s also a board member at WalkUP Roslindale, an organization that’s offering $10 to anyone who clears a ramp, curb or bus stop in the neighborhood and submits before-and-after photos. “This was a great opportunity to come out and help chip in and get a lot of that stuff done.” You can find the full story here.
Four Things to Know
1. Larry Summers has left his position at Harvard University as the school investigates his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Summers, an economist and former university president, will no longer teach or accept new graduate students to advise. He has been on leave since November.
Epstein’s emails show Summers asked for advice about pursuing a relationship with a woman he described as a mentee. The two exchanged emails up until the day before Epstein’s 2019 arrest. Harvard officials said they accepted Summers’ resignation “in connection with the ongoing review by the University of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.”
2. Following President Donald Trump’s claim during the State of the Union that Massachusetts has corruption in its public benefits system, state Auditor Diana DiZoglio — whose office investigates fraud in public benefits — called the remark political manipulation.
“Fraud detection should never be weaponized to justify doing harm to the struggling families who are following the rules. Our work uncovering fraud helps to ensure families in need get assistance, whereas this administration seeks to weaponize the actions of fraudsters as an excuse to punish our most vulnerable populations through cuts to essential services,” DiZoglio said. “That doesn’t reduce fraud, it just scapegoats our poorest families.” (GBH’s Adam Reilly has a more in-depth fact check of that State of the Union statement, which you can find here.)
3. It’s been almost a month since Gov. Maura Healey filed a bill that would prohibit federal immigration officers from arresting people in courthouses, day cares, schools, hospitals and churches (you can catch up on our reporting here). But for the bill to become law, it must pass the Massachusetts House and Senate. House Speaker Ron Mariano said that could take some time.
“We have people who are opposed to doing anything, and we have people who think we don’t do nearly enough — that the money we’ve spent housing immigrants and making sure that they’re protected, their rights are protected, it’s too much,” Mariano said. “So it’s a balance.”
4. Three members of World Central Kitchen, the international aid organization that gives people hot meals during emergencies like wars and national disasters, are on Cape Cod following this week’s blizzard and power outages. They’re beginning operations at Family Table Collaborative in South Yarmouth.
“We provide hot, nourishing meals,” said Samantha Elfmont, response director for World Central Kitchen. “On the Cape we’ll be doing chicken parmesan, pasta, soup with a proper panini and a bottle of water. And, like, local favorites that people and families — children, elderly — can eat.”
The $7.8 million question: Who’s paying for World Cup security in Foxborough?
About 18,000 people live in Foxborough, a population small enough to fill the town’s Gillette Stadium (game day capacity: about 65,000) roughly three and a half times. So as Gillette prepares to host several World Cup soccer matches this summer — bringing international visitors, heavy traffic and a global spotlight — neighbors and town officials are asking: who is going to pay the $7.8 million in security needed to make it all go smoothly?
“I gotta be honest with you, it baffles my mind that you guys are sitting here in front of me right now and we still have no idea where this money’s coming from,” Mark Elfman, a member of the town’s Select Board, said to representatives of FIFA and the host committee at a meeting last week.
GBH’s Esteban Bustillos found that the Kraft Group, which owns the stadium, covers security costs when the Patriots play at home or when a major concert comes through town. But for the World Cup, the Kraft group is essentially renting the stadium to FIFA. Members of the local host committee are hoping federal funds from FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security come through soon to cover those security costs. But the process has been complicated by the current DHS shutdown.
Foxborough officials say the funding must come from somewhere other than the town’s budget, and that they will not agree to front security costs with only a promise that they’ll be reimbursed later.
“We’re not prepared to issue this license unless everything is in place,” said Stephanie McGowan, the town Select Board’s vice chair. “And I’ve seen people saying, ‘Oh, there’s no way they won’t.’ I’m gonna tell you: this board will not issue this license.”
Members of the town Select Board say they want to see the games go smoothly, and a spokesperson for the local host committee said “progress is being made daily, and we remain confident we’ll reach a positive outcome over the coming weeks.”
Read Bustillos’ full story here.
Dig deeper:
-Local leaders count on $1 billion boost from next year’s World Cup
-Haitians in Boston thrilled men’s team made World Cup, despite country’s struggles, travel ban
-State Senate pitches spending $5 million on World Cup transportation upgrades
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