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“The last several weeks have been very negative for Donald Trump.

Two civil lawsuits have been adjudicated and Trump assessed hundreds of millions of dollars. Despite accusations of conflict of interest against Fulton County Georgia Attorney General Fani Willis she redeemed herself by testifying and calling attention to the interference of election case which will probably move forward.

Trump’s adored dictator Putin has again been accused of murdering an opponent. The major witness against Hunter and Joe Biden has been indicted for lying to investigators. Nikki Haley hasn’t ended her campaign and is ramping up her criticism of Trump. Ukraine and Zelensky haven’t been defeated but remain a constant reminder of Trump’s efforts to bolster Putin’s territorial aspirations. Melania continues to be conspicuously absent from Trump’s campaign and court trials.

And in no small measure Netanyahu’s aggressiveness was encouraged by Trump’s unmitigated support during his presidency and undoubtedly cancelling this as a braggable issue for his campaign.

These accumulating woes for Trump may still inspire donations and sympathy from his MAGA millions and syncophantic legislators but certainly is turning off increasing numbers of voters who want to see an end to this destructive period in the United States.”-Betty Ussach, Dartmouth.

“Part of keeping our horses healthy is ensuring they always get good nutrition. Hence the need for good dental health.

Big Ben recently had his regular dental check up. Here, veterinarian Heidi Williams floats his teeth, a procedure that involves grinding them down to a perfect eating surface. If you’re not a fan of the dentist, you may not want to be present for the procedure.

Big Ben, who is 26 years old, is one of 15 horses in our Mounted Unit. The unit’s Troopers and their equine partners play a vital role patrolling state parks, beaches, and reservations and performing crowd control and security missions at large events.”-Massachusetts State Police.

Massachusetts State Police photo.

Massachusetts State Police photo.

Massachusetts State Police photo.

Governor to seek $100 million in upcoming Economic Development Bill to create Applied AI Hub in Massachusetts.

“Governor Maura Healey signed an Executive Order establishing the Artificial Intelligence Strategic Task Force to study AI and Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) technology and its impact on the state, private businesses, higher education institutions, and constituents. The Task Force will conduct outreach and collect input from stakeholders and experts, advise the Governor and executive branch on the state’s role in AI implementation, and find ways to encourage leading industries to adopt this technology to ensure continued success.

The mission of the Task Force is to create specific recommendations for how the state can best support the state’s businesses in leading sectors around AI adoption. It will also produce recommendations focused on startups’ ability to scale and succeed in Massachusetts.

“Massachusetts has the opportunity to be a global leader in Applied AI – but it’s going to take us bringing together the brightest minds in tech, business, education, health care and government. That’s exactly what this task force will do,” said Governor Maura Healey. “Members of the task force will collaborate on strategies that keep us ahead of the curve by leveraging AI and GenAI technology, which will bring significant benefit to our economy and communities across the state.”

“Our administration acknowledges AI as a transformative technology set to influence various aspects of our nation’s economy,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “This Task Force will position Massachusetts as a hub for talent and business excellence, as we examine economic shifts driven by AI with the goal of establishing our state as a global leader in its effective and responsible utilization.”

AI is a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or decisions. GenAI as used in this Order, is a type of artificial intelligence technology that can generate many forms of content including but not limited to texts, images, and multimedia.

The Task Force will have subject-specific working groups that will create recommendations to leverage AI in leading sectors, such as education, healthcare, life sciences, robotics, and financial services. The launch of the Task Force delivers on a commitment from the Administration’s Economic Development Plan, Team MA: Leading Future Generations.

The AI Strategic Task Force consists of 26 individuals representing members of the business community, higher education institutions, and state and local government. The Secretaries of Executive Office of Economic Development (EOED) and the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS) will serve as state co-chairs. Mike Milligan of the UMass system and Santiago Garces of Boston will serve as cochairs from the academic community and local government.

“Massachusetts is the great state that it is because of our ability to harness the ingenuity and knowledge of our greatest natural resource, our residents,” said Senate President Karen Spilka. “As technology enters its next era, that of Artificial Intelligence, I commend the Governor and the Administration for putting together some of our brightest minds in various cross sectors of the Commonwealth to help us reap AI’s great potential and position Massachusetts to be a global leader in the technology.”

“Artificial intelligence is already changing aspects of daily life and the world around us, which is why it’s critical that we ensure that the Commonwealth’s businesses are well prepared for that transition, and that Massachusetts is positioned to benefit from the growth of emerging technologies related to AI,” said House Speaker Ron Mariano. “The House looks forward to reviewing any recommendations made by the task force, as we work to better understand the impact that AI will have on our economy, schools, and on the Commonwealth as a whole.”

“Technology is critical to delivering services and connecting residents in Boston and across Massachusetts to opportunity,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “As we continue to address our most urgent challenges, it’s essential to understand the opportunities, key questions, and impact of AI. I look forward to the leadership of this task force and partnering with the Healey administration and all sectors to grow our strongest economy and community.”

“Massachusetts leads in adopting innovative technology, and we are proactively embracing the emerging field of AI,” said Secretary of Economic Development Yvonne Hao. “The AI Strategic Task Force shows our Administration’s commitment to collaboratively advance AI development and adoption. Our goal is not only to propel the growth of AI, but to employ it to stimulate job creation, elevate our state’s economy, and lengthen our lead in key sectors.”

“We have the conditions in place here in Massachusetts to cement our standing as the hub of AI and emerging technology in the future,” said Secretary of Technology Services and Security and State Chief Information Officer Jason Snyder. “Today’s executive order recognizes the urgent need for the state to engage with AI now, with the understanding that we do our best work together, with state policy leaders, the innovation industry, and higher education all at the table. We are working on projects that capitalize on this rich ecosystem to move our entire state forward.”

“This new partnership with Northeastern University is an exciting opportunity for the state to leverage the strength of our higher education system to test ways that generative artificial intelligence can improve the efficiency and accessibility of state services. AI represents a unique and promising new frontier for Massachusetts, but it’s going to take all of us working together through initiatives like this to realize its full potential and do so with the proper safeguards in place,” said Secretary of Administration and Finance Matthew J. Gorzkowicz.

Governor Healey will seek $100 million in her upcoming economic development legislation to create an Applied AI Hub in Massachusetts. The funding will be used for a capital grant program to support the adoption and application of AI capabilities to solve public policy problems and to advance the state’s lead in technology sectors, including life sciences, healthcare, financial services, advanced manufacturing, robotics and education. Subject to the legislative process, this capital fund will position the state to act on the strategic goals and priorities of the AI Strategic Task Force established by this Executive Order and will focus on capital expenses related to the incubation of AI firms, adoption of AI technologies and the development of AI software and hardware technology development and commercialization. The Governor’s recently filed FutureTech Act includes a $25 million authorization for IT capital AI projects within the Executive Branch.

In addition, the Executive Office of Administration and Finance (A&F) and EOTSS have announced a partnership with Northeastern on InnovateMA, a collaboration between higher ed and the Healey-Driscoll administration to leverage AI across state government.

Northeastern co-ops have started assisting the state with implementing an AI solution in the following use cases:

• Policy Hub: Create a tool for MassHealth call center staff to more efficiently navigate policy documents needed for beneficiary customer support.

• Resource Gateway: Create a tool for MassDOT’s Highway Division engineers to more efficiently navigate the large quantity of Standard Operating Procedure’s governing highway projects.

• User Navigation: Create a tool for the riders and potential riders of the MBTA RIDE paratransit service to better understand how to access services.

• Grant opportunities: Predict grant program eligibility for potential applicants within the suite of grants offered by agencies and programs under the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (e.g. farmers impacted by floods).

Members of AI Strategic Task Force
• Secretary Yvonne Hao, EOED (Co-Chair)
• Secretary Jason Snyder, EOTSS (Co-Chair)
• Mike Milligan, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, University of Massachusetts (Co-Chair)
• Santiago Garces, Chief Information Officer, City of Boston (Co-Chair)
• Erica Bradshaw, Chief Technology Officer, Harvard
• Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Massachusetts House of Representatives
• Usama Fayyad, Professor and Executive Director, Institute for Experiential AI, Northeastern
• Patricia Geli, Co-founder, C10 Labs/MIT
• Segun Idowu, Chief of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion, City of Boston
• Dr. Robert Johnson, President, Western New England University
• Meghan Joyce, CEO and Founder, Duckbill
• Chrissy Lynch, President, AFL-CIO
• Patrick Larkin, Deputy Director, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative
• Jeffrey Leiden, Executive Chairman, Vertex Pharmaceuticals
• Spyros Matsoukas, Vice President and Distinguished Scientist of AI, Amazon
• Vipin Mayar, Executive Vice President, Head of AI Innovation, Fidelity
• Sears Merritt, Head of Enterprise Technology and Experience, MassMutual
• Armen Mkrtchyan, Origination Partner, Flagship Pioneering
• Senator Michael Moore, Massachusetts Senate
• Jane Moran, Chief Information and Digital Officer, Mass General Brigham
• Ed Park, Co-Founder and CEO, Devoted Health
• Rudina Seseri, Founder and Managing Partner, Glasswing
• Soundar Srinivasan, Director, AI Program, Microsoft New England
• Fernanda Viegas, Principal Scientist and Co-Lead of People + AI Research (PAIR), Google
• Grace Wang, President, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
• Jeremy Wertheimer, Visiting Scientist, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

The Task Force will begin its work in February and present final recommendations to the Governor later this year. InnovateMA began its work in mid-January and the pilot will conclude in July.”-Governor Maura Healey and Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll’s Office.

“BOSTON – Two men have been charged in U.S. District Court for their alleged sexual exploitation of a minor female and filming the assault.

Michael Lamountain, 41, of Oxford, Mass. and Jalen Latimer, 25, of Woonsocket, R.I., were charged with one count each of sexual exploitation of a minor. Both defendants are in state custody on related offenses and will appear in federal court in Worcester today at noon.

According to the criminal complaint, on or about July 7, 2022, Latimer traveled to Oxford where he and Lamountain created video recordings of themselves sexually exploiting a minor.

Lamountain was previously arrested in August 2023 and subsequently charged in Worcester Superior Court with rape of a child; aggravated indecent assault and battery on a child; depicting minors in sexual conduct; human trafficking of a minor; possession of child pornography; distribution of child pornography; and intimidation of a witness. According to court documents, Latimer was arrested in February 2024 and is facing charges in Worcester Superior Court of rape of a child, aggravated indecent assault and battery of a child, human trafficking of a minor and depicting a minor in sexual conduct.

The charge of sexual exploitation of a minor provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison, up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Worcester Police Chief Paul B. Saucier; and Oxford Police Chief Michael K. Daniels made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by Rhode Island State Police and Massachusetts State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen M. Noto of the Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.”-Massachusetts Department of Justice.

“The 34-year-old Fall River man who was shot last Friday night near the intersection of Nashua and Blackstone streets died yesterday afternoon at Saint Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford.

The death of Joshua Medeiros is now being investigated by our office as a homicide.

The investigation is being coordinated by Homicide Unit prosecutor, Russ Eonas, and will be conducted by Massachusetts State Police detectives assigned to the district attorney’s office and detectives from the Fall River Police Department.

This is an active and ongoing investigation and no further information on the facts of the case can be publicly disseminated at this time.”-Bristol County District Attorney’s Office.

Video by Carlos Pimental Felix:

“The investigation into the 4/21/2023 inmate uprising at the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office was concluded several months ago and charges have been filed with the Bristol County District Attorney.

DA Quinn has followed through with our recommendation to prosecute several individuals under Chapter 266 Section 129: Correctional institutions; injury to property. Section 129. An inmate of a correctional institution of the commonwealth who willfully and maliciously destroys or injures the property of the commonwealth at such correctional institution, or the property of any person who furnishes materials for the employment of the prisoners, may be sentenced to the state prison for not more than three years.

At the time there were about 75 inmates on the housing unit. We suspected about 15-20 participated in the damage to the housing unit. We only had video evidence of 5 inmates destroying BCSO property. The BCSO did not charge more inmates under Chapter 266 because we did not feel the charges would result in a conviction.

I also look forward to releasing video of the 5 inmate’s behavior while being destructive in the housing unit. It will show who did what in terms of damage, but it will also show that the majority of the inmates were not involved with the destruction. We first need to let this video evidence be presented to a jury for the first time in court; we don’t want to undermine the charges by potentially biasing a jury prior to seeing the video before they see it in court.

The following inmates have all been charged and arraigned in New Bedford District Court.

• Hector Abreau Garcia: 7 Counts
Arraigned on 11/7/23

• Aaron Gagnon: 7 Counts
Arraigned on 1/5/24

• Shane Burnett: 1 Count
Arraigned on 1/23/24

• Norman Dias: 1 Count
Arraigned on 1/5/24

• Jason Frasca: 1 Count
Arraigned on 1/5/24.”-Bristol County Sheriff’s Office.

All photos by the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office:

“Chief Levesque and the members of DPD are pleased to announce that we are now participating in the Blue Envelope Program.

This beneficial program allows for people with autism spectrum disorder to place their driver’s license, registration and insurance card in a blue envelope which can be handed to a police officer in the event of a traffic stop. On the outside of the envelope will be specific instructions relative to the driver’s diagnosis, impairments, triggers, emergency contact information and best practices for communicating.

If you’re interested in obtaining one, the envelopes are currently available to the general public, and can be picked up 24/7 in our main lobby.

PLEASE SHARE!”-Dartmouth Police Department.

Dartmouth Police Department photo.

Dartmouth Police Department photo.

Dartmouth Police Department photo.

Dartmouth Police Department photo.

“C shift working it!

Multiple medical calls earlier Thursday afternoon resulting in both ambulances transporting and backfill coverage for Station 1! Then later in the afternoon and evening… reported Chimney fire – turned out to be an oil burner malfunction, then a detector malfunction and lastly, a motor vehicle accident versus parked car!

Thankfully, no injuries… crews obtained 3 patient refusals and stood by with APD for the wreckers to clear debris and the vehicles!”-Acushnet Fire & EMS Department.

Acushnet Fire & EMS Department photo.

Acushnet Fire & EMS Department photo.

Acushnet Fire & EMS Department photo.

“The City of New Bedford has roadwork sites for the upcoming week of February 19, 2024 – February 23, 2024, and they are as follows:

City offices will be closed on Monday, February 19th in observance of Presidents’ Day.

Eversource will be working on gas main relays and services on:

• Main relay on Acushnet Ave from Phillips Rd to Fox St
• Main relay on Central Ave from Church St to Brook St
• Main relay on Central Ave from Acushnet Ave to Ashley Blvd
• Main relay on County St from Cove St to Mosher St
• Main relay on Hicks St from Acushnet Ave to N Front St
• Main relay on Jouvette St from County St to Crapo St
• Main relay on W Rodney French Blvd from Calumet St to Bayview St

Other:

• MassDOT will be staging installation and beam end cleaning and concrete encasements at I-195 East and West bound lanes over Purchase St, County St and State St work is scheduled during the overnight hours starting and is scheduled until May 31st of 2024. Work will take place Sundays to Thursdays. Police will be on site for detour and safety setups.

• MassDOT will be closing street highway ramps overnight from 8:00 PM to 5:00 AM for the following locations to conduct bridge work for the pedestrian walk across RT 18. Work will being on Tuesday, February 20th – Acushnet Ave, Wednesday, February 21st – Route 18 North Bound, Thursday, February 22nd – Route 18 South Bound, Sunday, February 25th – Route 18 South Bound or Purchase St ramps and Monday, February 26th – Purchase Street ramp.

• Contractor (SCR Constructors) will continue site work at the future South Coast Rail station platform locations in the city. (Church St at Carlisle St and Wamsutta St at Acushnet Ave.) If you have questions, please email the project team at SouthCoastRail@dot.state.ma.us

• Contractor (SCR Constructors) will continue site work at the future pedestrian bridge across Route 18 impacting parking along Purchase Street between Willis Street and Pearl Street and at the Division of Career Services on Acushnet Avenue. Temporary detours may be in place pending construction activities occurring.  If you have questions, please email the project team at SouthCoastRail@dot.state.ma.us
 
Project: Lead Service Line Replacement Program Phase II   General Contractor: C. Naughton Corp. (Monday-Friday 7:00am -5:00pm)

• The contractor will be working Lead Service Line Replacements. Tuesday through Thursday, the contractor will be on Bedford Street, between Brigham Street and Palmer Street.  On Thursday, the contractor will be on Brigham St, between Bedford Street and Farm Street. On Friday, the contractor will be on Farm Street, between Brigham Street and Brownell St. During working hours, these roads may be closed with signs posted to detour traffic around work areas. Police details will be on-site allowing access to residents only and assist with traffic management.

Project: Grape Street Collector Rehabilitation General Contractor: Green Mountain Pipeline Services Subcontractor: Duke’s Root Control (Friday 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM)

• The Subcontractor is scheduled to complete the root control in the wastewater system at the north and south sides of Buttonwood Park Pond. There may be a brief lane reduction along Brownell Ave while work is being completed.

Project: Phase 4 Transmission Main Reinforcement Project   Contractor: C. Naughton Corp. (Monday-Friday 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM)

• The Contractor will continue replacing a section of the existing 48-in water transmission main north of the railroad crossing at Chipaway Road in East Freetown.

Project: Shawmut Avenue and Howland Street Pumping Station Improvements Project General Contractor: WES Construction Corp. (Monday-Friday 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM)

• The Contractor will continue installing the new sewer force main along Nash Road and Shawmut Avenue and Mt Pleasant Street. Lane restrictions will be in place during working hours, with one lane of alternating traffic open. Police officers will be on-site to assist with traffic management.”-City of New Bedford.

“BOSTON – A California man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Springfield, Mass. for conspiring to smuggle tianeptine, a highly-addictive drug that claims to enhance mood and cognitive functioning, into the United States from China.

Ryan M. Stabile, 37, of Pasadena, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to two years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Stabile was also ordered to pay a forfeiture of $1,833,922. In September 2023, Stabile pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and two counts of introduction of misbranded drugs with intent to defraud and mislead.

Massachusetts Department of Justice photo.

“Mr. Stabile knew how addicting and dangerous tianeptine was and yet it did not stop him from smuggling the illegal drug into the United States and selling it under false pretenses,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “He continued to profit off the addiction of others even after he was indicted.”

“Misbranded and unapproved drugs that are smuggled from overseas can present a serious health risk to those who buy and use them. Tianeptine is an unsafe drug that is not approved for any use in the United States. All smuggled drugs carry additional risks of unknown ingredients and unknown manufacturing conditions,” Fernando McMillan, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigation. “We will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who attempt to traffic in these dangerous, misbranded, and unapproved drug products.”

White resealable packets containing drugs on a table, Stabile was the owner of Supplements for Work, a company which sold the misbranded drug tianeptine, commonly known as gas station heroin, online. Stabile, through his company, marketed tianeptine as a mood enhancer and claimed that it improved cognitive functioning and falsely represented that he was selling tianeptine for research purposes only, even though he sold tianeptine to individuals for personal use.

Massachusetts Department of Justice photo.

Stabile smuggled tianeptine in multi-kilogram quantities from China into the United States, importing between 10-15 kilograms of tianeptine per month from a Chinese supplier. Once received, Stabile divided and repackaged the tianeptine and resold it on his websites in five-gram, 10-gram and 20-gram quantities for prices between $55 and $175. Stabile’s tianeptine sales averaged $250,000 per month and comprised 95 percent of his company’s profits.

Additionally, following his indictment by a federal grand jury in November 2019, Stabile continued to sell tianeptine on the internet for several years while on pre-trial release, under a different company and website called Ultra Vulgar Festival Drip.

In total, Stabile made at least $2.2 million in illegal tianeptine sales.

Acting U.S. Attorney Levy and FDA SAC McMillan made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Deepika Bains Shukla, Chief of the Springfield Branch Office prosecuted the case.”-Massachusetts Department of Justice.

Tianeptine, a highly-addictive drug that claims to enhance mood and cognitive functioning.