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☀️Sunny and cool, with highs around 40. Sunset is at 7:18 p.m.
A two-week ceasefire between the U.S., Israel and Iran is beginning. As we continue reporting on this today, we’d like to hear from Massachusetts residents with ties to the Middle East or loved ones in the region. If you’d like to share your thoughts, reply to this email or send a message to daily@wgbh.org and we will have a reporter get in touch.
Four Things to Know
1. The state ethics commission is investigating former Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria, according to a campaign finance filing. DeMaria was elected mayor six times starting in 2007 and over the years helped craft a policy that awarded longevity bonuses for winning re-election. A probe last year by the state inspector general found $180,000 in “improper” bonus payments. City councilors demanded that DeMaria return the money, but he has refused. Last fall, the City Council asked the state Ethics Commission for help, and DeMaria lost his re-election campaign in November.
Now, DeMaria is raising money for a legal defense fund, according to the state’s campaign finance office. “As is typical in heated political races today, many unfounded allegations are advanced during elections that simply do not amount to much in the end,” said his lawyer, Gerry D’Ambrosio. “Mr. DeMaria looks forward to defeating any allegations that arise and defending his legacy of economic development and prosperity in the City of Everett.”
2. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has proposed a $4.9 billion budget, up about 2% from last year. Under that plan, the city would not lay off workers, tap into savings reserves or ask for permission to raise taxes by more than what state law allows. However, some grant programs previously funded with pandemic relief money would see cuts, Wu said. That includes programs through agencies such as the city’s Age Strong Commission and the Mayor’s Office of Housing.
“Many of the [cuts to] grant programs that I think will be very deeply felt are ones that provided resources to our nonprofit partners,” Wu said. She added that she hopes private donors can raise money to make up some of the losses.
3. Boston University will temporarily pause its policy of removing LGBTQ+ pride flags from outward-facing windows on campus, the school’s president announced this week. “Issues of speech can be complicated, but our institutional values are not,” President Melissa Gilliam wrote in an email to faculty and staff. “Let me be unequivocal: LGBTQIA+ students, faculty and staff are an essential part of Boston University.”
Boston University Prof. Nathan Phillips, whose pride flag university officials removed multiple times, said the school was “asking for a fight that they would not be able to win.” “It’s just the power of numbers and the power of people. Too many flags went up in too many offices for the administration to take it to the next level,” Phillips said.
4. As NASA’s Artemis II mission flew around the dark side of the moon — and took pictures of what they saw — students and teachers in Massachusetts said they looked to the astronauts onboard for scientific discovery and inspiration.
“When we’re having these conversations of how an astronaut sustains the long length of a journey, the kids can really have a sense of understanding of all the things that go into play, in a sense of what they have to deal with, problem solving and adaptation,” said Chakara Cardillo, a science teacher at Randolph High School. “It definitely shifted their mindset that not only do they love space, but they love everything that it has to offer for the unknown of exploring.”
40% of Massachusetts households had trouble paying for food last year, new report shows
More people in Massachusetts are worried about hunger than at any time in recent memory. A survey from the Greater Boston Food Bank found that an estimated 40% of households in the state either could not afford enough food or worried about how to pay for their next meal at some point in 2025.
That number rose sharply at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — from 20% of households in 2019 to 30% in 2020 — and has continued to climb since. Food bank organizers said rising prices for food, medication, housing and fuel all play a role, as do federal cuts to programs such as SNAP that help people afford groceries.
So how can residents help make sure their neighbors are not going hungry? Catherine D’Amato, president and CEO of the Greater Boston Food Bank, told GBH’s Craig LeMoult she hopes more people will support their local food pantries through donations and volunteering. Given the scale of need in Massachusetts, she also said she hopes the state will step in with additional funding.
Currently, the state provides funding to almost 900 food distribution programs at a cost of about $50 million a year. Gov. Maura Healey has recommended adding another $5 million, and anti-hunger advocates are asking for an additional $3 million.
“When you have 40% of households in the Commonwealth experiencing food insecurity, we have a serious issue,” D’Amato said.
You can find the full story here.
Dig deeper:
-Local thrift, pawn shops say rising costs are driving more business
-In Cambridge, students pass it on through a human chain of kindness
-A group wants Massachusetts to be ‘the first state to end hunger, permanently’
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