“Twice over the past week, an MSP K9 Unit Trooper and dog have been approached by members of the public during training exercises because of their interest in our dogs.

One of the people was walking a pet dog and wanted to let the pet interact with the MSP K9. While our K9 teams do their best to isolate themselves when training, sometimes — especially when the teams get in some training between missions — the training occurs close to public areas.

Because our K9 teams usually train while working their regular shifts and constantly change training venues, there may be occasions when passersby may see them training. While we normally love to meet and speak to the people we serve, for the safety of all involved, we respectfully ask the public to never approach a K9 team while they are training or when the Troopers are giving their partners a break, especially if you are walking your pets.”

“I have four kids: Yoseliel who is 9 years old and has ADHD, a lot of anxiety and was actually seeing an in-school therapist. Keliezer is 6-years old;, Ashlyani is 3-years old, and my babygirl Zeilyani who is 10 months old.

With all this going on, CORONAVIRUS, school been close, STAYING HOME, I decided to do something fun to brighten their day. Especially my 9-year old who does understand a lot, who has asked me in tears “Am I going to see my friends again?”

I read this for them before we started making our rainbow ❤?

‘Rainbows appear after mighty storms, when things look their very worst, just when the skies are their darkest grey, look for the rainbow first. The rainbow is a sign of God’s promise, that he will guide us through any storm.'” -Ashley Gomez.

“*** URGENT NEED TO CONTINUE TO SOCIAL DISTANCE***

Lives depend on social distancing and if healthcare workers are sick, we can’t take care of you or your family. Please talk to your kids and AVOID playdates, meeting at the park, etc. This is NOT a vacation. Although kids may not have a lot of symptoms, they may be spreading it and we are seeing more COVID in young people.

From the Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Prevention

Many of the things you do to help prevent colds and the flu can help protect you against other respiratory viruses, including COVID-19:

• Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
• Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Use a tissue or your inner elbow, not your hands. (like doorknobs and countertops) with household cleaning spray or wipes.
• Clean things that are frequently touched.
• Stay home if you are sick and avoid close contact with others.

There are currently no vaccines available to protect against this novel coronavirus infection.

Help prevent #COVID19 with #social #distancing:

• Call/Facetime/online chat with friends & family.
• Stay home as much as you can.

If you must go out:

• Don’t gather in groups
• Stay 6 feet away from others
• Don’t shake hands or hug & wash your hands frequently.

Stay informed at: mass.gov/covid19

We are now a little over a week into the COVID experience for our area. There is a high level of anxiety but at the same time, there is a powerful commitment to come together. In every community, we have mobilized quickly to meet our challenges. Our collective goal and mission is to help as many people as we can in these unprecedented times. We in healthcare have been asked to uphold our oath even in the face of personal danger. We have responded. We have united.

In our personal lives, this time has given us pause, a time to reflect upon what matters. Many of us see life in a whole new way. The things we once saw as important may not seem so important after all. We are reconnecting with what really matters most, one another.

Our world has been off balance for a while. There may be rough waters and heartaches ahead, but hopefully, we will learn to be more grateful, more loving, and more open to caring for our planet and one another.

Today is a beautiful day, the only one we have. Cherish it and one another. This too will pass. We must work together, with love and compassion, and do our part.

Michael Rocha, MD

#StayHome #SaveLives #FlattenTheCurve #WashYourHands”

While live on New Bedford Guide’s Facebook page, Mayor Jon Mitchell reported the third case of COVID-19 or coronavirus in New Bedford.

Massachusetts has seen 679 new positive cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours bringing the total to 1,838. 67 of those are in Bristol County. Massachusetts has now tested 19,794 people, a significant increase in the past few days.

15 people have now died from coronavirus in Massachusets: https://www.newbedfordguide.com/four-more-covid-19-deaths-reported-in-massachusetts-15-total-19794-individuals-tested/2020/03/25

Massachusetts health officials today announced four additional deaths from COVID-19. These include:

· A male, 80s, from Norfolk County with pre-existing conditions
· A male, 80s, from Barnstable County with pre-existing conditions
· A male, 70s, from Worcester County with unknown pre-existing conditions
· A woman, 70s, from Worcester County with pre-existing conditions

All four had been hospitalized. These deaths bring to 15 the total number of deaths from the novel coronavirus in Massachusetts.

As of 4 p.m. today, Massachusetts has 679 new cases of COVID-19 for a total of 1,838 cases. A total of 19,794 Massachusetts residents have been tested for COVID-19 by the State Public Health Laboratory and commercial and clinical labs. The DPH daily online dashboard reflects testing results for all of the clinical and commercial labs performing testing in Massachusetts in addition to results from the State Public Health Laboratory.

In addition to the State Public Health Laboratory, Quest Diagnostics, and LabCorp, the online dashboard includes 10 more labs and their testing data. Expanded testing capacity in Massachusetts continues to be a focus of the work of the COVID-19 Response Command Center, and the effort to increase testing capacity across the state will continue.

The 15 people who died ranged in age from 50s to 90s. They include residents from Middlesex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Worcester, Hampden, Berkshire, Essex, and Barnstable counties.

COVID-19 activity is increasing in Massachusetts. At this time, if people are only mildly symptomatic, they should speak to their healthcare provider about whether they need to be assessed in person. If not, they should stay at home while they are sick. Asymptomatic family members should practice social distancing and immediately self-isolate if they develop symptoms.

In the United States, there have been more than 54,453 cases of COVID-19 and more than 737 deaths, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Massachusetts and nationwide, the public is being asked to avoid crowds, stay 6 feet away from others, not shake hands or hug, and call/Facetime and online chat with friends and loved ones rather than meet face to face.

To keep updated regarding COVID-19 in Massachusetts, residents can text “COVIDMA” to 888-777 to receive COVID-19 text message alerts straight to their phone. More information about COVID-19 can be found at www.mass.gov/covid19. For general questions, a 24/7 hotline is available by calling 2-1-1.

The Baker-Polito Administration today announced new actions to support the ongoing COVID-19 response, including extending the closure of all public and private schools and non-emergency child care programs and steps to protect homeowners and low-income tenants from eviction and foreclosure. The Department of Public Health (DPH) also issued an order relative to pharmacies and grocery stores.

Schools and Non-Emergency Child Care Programs: Governor Charlie Baker issued an emergency order extending the closure of all public and private schools, and all non-emergency childcare programs, until May 4 in an effort to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 in the Commonwealth.

This order expands on previous orders issued on March 15 and March 18 suspending normal educational operations at schools and non-emergency child care programs until April 6, and the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) established a process to approve Exempt Emergency Child Care Programs to serve vulnerable children and families of first responders and essential workers.

This closure extends one week beyond scheduled spring vacation week on most school district calendars.

The order does not apply to residential special education schools.

This extension will allow school administrators and educators added planning time to ensure students can complete course requirements, as well as provide teachers with time to expand remote learning opportunities.

Remote Learning and Education: During this time, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is requesting that educators continue to develop and assemble high-quality educational materials to provide students with effective remote learning resources through the month of April. The Department is also creating a model for districts to use and modify in collaboration with local stakeholders to fit their school district’s needs, and will continue to work with schools to identify best practices for implementing effective remote learning.

Remote learning encompasses a wide variety of learning methods, including both analog and online. While technology is an excellent tool, districts should also consider ways students can continue to learn offline.

This could include exploring nature, activities to support students’ local communities (with appropriate social distancing) and engaging in hands-on projects and artistic creations that stem from students’ experiences.

Additionally, through a new partnership between DESE and WGBH, educational resources will be posted on the department’s website, and middle and high school students can access WGBH and WGBY educational programming on WGBH and WGBY on the WORLD channel from noon to 5 p.m.

Housing Stability for Vulnerable Populations: The Baker-Polito Administration announced steps to keep vulnerable families in their homes, preserve the health and safety of low-income renters and homeowners, and prevent homelessness due to reduced or lost income. These steps include the following:

DHCD is moving to temporarily suspend terminations of federal and state rental vouchers under their purview.

MassHousing is transferring $5 million to the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) for a COVID-19 Rental Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) fund to assist families facing rent insecurity.

The Division of Banks (DOB) has issued new guidance to Massachusetts financial institutions and lenders urging them to provide relief for borrowers and will advocate for a 60-day stay on behalf of all homeowners facing imminent foreclosure on their homes.

DHCD is issuing guidance recommending that all owners of state aided low-income housing, including Local Housing Authorities and private owners, suspend both pending non-essential evictions and the filing of any new non-essential evictions.

Affordable housing operators are urged to suspend non-essential evictions for loss of income or employment circumstances resulting in a tenant’s inability to make rent.

This guidance urges operators to establish reasonable payment plans, notify Section 8 or public housing residents about interim income recertification to adjust rent payments, and to consider offering relief funding for residents ineligible for income reassessment.

Pharmacies and Grocery Stores: Today, DPH issued a new order to support pharmacies and grocery stores and their employees during the COVID-19 public health emergency. This order will require grocery stores and pharmacies to:

Provide at least one hour per day of shopping for adults over 60-years-old.

Offer sanitation options, such as hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes, as available, to clean shopping carts and points of frequent contact.

Appropriate social distancing policies, including a marked “Social Distancing Line,” beginning six feet away from all checkout counters.

Close any self-serve food stations.

Instruct store employees who are ill to stay home, and for stores to accommodate employees who fall in the high-risk category with alternative assignments to limit exposure.

“The Massachusetts State Police are proud to welcome the newest addition to our family, Pippen, who is now a member of our Bomb Squad and of the family of her handler, Trooper Scott Irish.

Pippen is a yellow lab who turned a year-old yesterday. She comes to us from Puppies Behind Bars, a program that trains prison inmates to raise service dogs for wounded veterans as well as explosive-detection canines — like Pippen — for law enforcement agencies.

Pippen will be starting her training in how to detect odors of explosives within the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, as you can see, she’s wasted no time becoming good friends with her new step-sister, the Irish family’s personal dog, Lainey.

Explosive detection canines help the MSP Bomb Squad, which is attached to the office of the State Fire Marshal, fulfill an important part of our public safety mission.

In 2019, the Bomb Squad deployed on 1,488 missions, many of them involving unattended or suspicious packages and items and many of them involving our beautiful and highly-trained bomb dogs.

Massachusetts State Police photo.

Katie Lannan
State House News Service

The number of COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts shot up above 1,000 for the first time on Tuesday in a dramatic increase over the previous day’s tally. New Department of Public Health figures shows 1,159 cases of the respiratory illness in the state, up from 777 on Monday for a 49 percent increase in one day. Eleven deaths are now attributed to the virus, up from nine on Monday.

Testing numbers also rose significantly. As of Tuesday, 13,749 patients had been tested, or 4,827 more than Monday. At a Tuesday press conference, Gov. Charlie Baker said the state has made “big progress” in expanding testing capacity over the last week, and advised that case numbers are expected to go up as testing increases.

The soon-to-be-defunct arts and crafts retail chain A.C. Moore was already limping along and closing the doors of many of its stores, but now that fact hits close to home.

A.C. Moore’s parent company Nicole Crafts LLC also owns arts and crafts chain Michael’s. Since November of 2019, Nicole Crafts has been closing their A.C. Moore locations nationwide and slowly transferring the leases as they expire – some are being converted into Michael’s stores.

Workers for the Dartmouth location stated that the last of the furniture, shelving, products, and fixtures had been picked up and taken away. Since there is already a Michael’s in Dartmouth. this location will not be replaced with one.

On Monday morning March 23, a person reported to Wareham Police that they had received a threatening text from an unknown individual. The individual advised the victim that they were going to release various information about them unless his demands were met.

Detectives of the Wareham Police began an immediate investigation, and by Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. had a suspect under arrest. 22-year old Ricardo Deleon of Quincy was arrested by members of the Detective Division, and charged with extortion by threat of injury. In addition, there was an active arrest warrant for Mr. Deleon as well.

As a result of the Wareham Police investigation, two other victims were identified, and the relevant police agencies were notified.