Massachusetts Archives - The Minnesota Sun

Supreme Court Rules Boston Violated Constitution by Not Allowing Christian Flag Outside City Hall

May 3, 2022May 2, 2022 Minnesota Sun Staff

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that the city of Boston violated the U.S. Constitution when it refused to allow a local organization to fly a Christian flag in front of City Hall.

The nine justices said the city has established a public forum outside of City Hall, and invited all organizations to use the flagpole in front of the building to commemorate events. Not allowing the Christian flag to be flown denied the group the same rights as those afforded to all others and was a violation of free speech, said the court.

Massachusetts Parents Sue School District Alleging Officials Violated Parental Rights by Secretly Encouraging Gender Transition

April 21, 2022April 20, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

Parents in Ludlow, Massachusetts, filed a federal lawsuit that alleges school officials secretly promoted their children’s gender transition and violated their parental rights by choosing not to inform them about issues related to their children’s health and well-being.

The parents, Stephen Foote and Marissa Silvestri, and Jonathan Feliciano and Sandra Salmeron, claim in their lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Springfield Division, the Ludlow School Committee and district officials “have exceeded the bounds of legitimate pedagogical concerns and usurped the role” of parents “to direct the education and upbringing of their children, make medical and mental health decisions for their children, and to promote and preserve family privacy and integrity.”

Elite Massachusetts Boarding School Separates Kids as Young as Five into Race-Based Identity Groups, Parents’ Rights Group Says

March 21, 2022 Admin

An elite K-12 day and boarding school in Massachusetts separated students into race-based “affinity groups,” according to a report from Parents Defending Education.

In October, Milton Academy (MA) in Milton, Massachusetts, asked parents to pick affinity groups for their children to separate them based on race, according to a report from Parents Defending Education (PDE). The groups are now being implemented among MA students as young as five, a parent told PDE.

Over Half of U.S. States Will Increase Their Minimum Wage in 2022

December 30, 2021 Admin

Over half of the states in the U.S. will institute a minimum wage increase in 2022, according to a report.

A total of 26 states will raise the minimum wage in 2022, with 22 of the states starting the pay hikes on Jan. 1, accordingto payroll experts at Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.

“These minimum wage increases indicate moves toward ensuring a living wage for people across the country,” Deirdre Kennedy, senior payroll analyst at Wolters Kluwer, said in the report. “In addition to previously approved incremental increases, the change in presidential administration earlier this year and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have also contributed to these changes.”

Top Harvard Professor Found Guilty of Lying About Payments from China

December 24, 2021December 23, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

A prominent Harvard professor was found guilty Tuesday of lying about his ties to China, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Charles Lieber, a scientist in Harvard University’s chemistry and engineering departments, was found guilty on six counts of lying related to his work at the Wuhan University of Technology, the WSJ reported.

Lieber was first arrested by federal authorities in January 2020 and charged with making false statements regarding his participation in the Thousand Talents Plan, a Chinese recruitment program that aims to foster foreign academic talent. The Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that Lieber was paid by the Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) “$50,000 USD per month, living expenses of up to 1,000,000 Chinese Yuan (approximately $158,000 USD at the time) and awarded him more than $1.5 million to establish a research lab at WUT.”

Emerson Promotes Professor Who Doubts That Black and White Women Can Be ‘True Friends’

December 6, 2021December 5, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Emerson College is appointing Kim McLarin, an associate professor of creative writing, to serve as the institution’s interim Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies. McLarin has written a number of essays and opinion pieces in which she denigrates White people, particularly White women.

In an article she wrote for the Washington Post, McLarin expressed doubt as to whether Black women and White women could be “true friends”. A New York Times piece she authored details her experience briefly dating a White man in which she ultimately decides to end the relationship because of the man’s race. She also wrote an essay for The Morning News in which she, among other things, argues that Morgan Freeman films are part of an effort by “White America” to “remain at the center of black consciousness.”

Massive Multi-State Democratic Climate Change Initiative Crumbles

November 23, 2021November 22, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Several Democratic states withdrew from an ambitious plan to curb transportation emissions less than a year after signing onto the agreement.

Massachusetts and Connecticut abandoned the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) last week, citing high gas prices and irreconcilable differences, E&E News reported. Rhode Island and Washington, D.C., also joined the agreement which promised to cut transportation emissions 25% and raise $3 billion for clean energy projects.

State Attorney Generals Launch Investigation into Instagram’s Effects on Kids

November 21, 2021 Admin

A bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general launched a probe into Instagram on Thursday to examine whether the company violated state-level consumer protection laws.

The states are investigating whether Meta (formerly known as Facebook), which owns Instagram, promoted the image-sharing platform “to children and young adults” despite being aware of its negative effects, according to statements from the attorneys general. The probe cites internal Facebook communications and research leaked by former Facebook employee Frances Haugen and published by The Wall Street Journal showing Meta was aware that use of Instagram could contribute to body image and mental health issues among teens.

“When social media platforms treat our children as mere commodities to manipulate for longer screen time engagement and data extraction, it becomes imperative for state attorneys general to engage our investigative authority under our consumer protection laws,” Republican Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said in a statement.

Commentary: Dear Policymakers, Homeschooling Is Here to Stay

November 11, 2021 RealClearWire

Homeschooling is here to stay and the time has come for policymakers to acknowledge that fact. After years of increasing at a rate of about 3 percent a year, the number of parents choosing to homeschool their children has spiked, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the portion of children being homeschooled doubled from 5.4 percent during the 2019-20 school year to 11 percent in 2020-21. Among Black families, homeschooling jumped nearly five-fold during that time, from 3.3 percent to 16.1 percent.

Manchin Objects to Dems’ Billionaire Tax, Saying They ‘Create a Lot of Jobs’

October 28, 2021October 27, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin came out against his party’s plan to tax billionaires in order to finance their social-spending package just hours after it was first released.

“I don’t like it. I don’t like the connotation that we’re targeting different people,” Manchin told reporters Tuesday morning, describing billionaires as people who “contributed to society and create a lot of jobs and a lot of money and give a lot to philanthropic pursuits.”

School District Racially Segregates Students, Threatens Them for ‘Biased’ Statements: Lawsuit

October 25, 2021 Admin

A Massachusetts school district is racially segregating students and threatening to punish them for subjectively “offensive” statements they make, violating their civil and constitutional rights at both the state and federal level, according to a new lawsuit seeking permanent injunctions.

Parents Defending Education is challenging the “affinity groups” and associated spaces created by Wellesley Public Schools’ diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) plan for 2020-2025.

Parent-Led Organization Sues School for Segregating ‘Affinity Groups’ by Race and Punishing ‘Unconscious Bias’

October 21, 2021October 20, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

A national, parent-led organization filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging policies at Wellesley Public Schools, which includes segregated “affinity groups” and a “bias reporting” program.

Parents Defending Education (PDE) filed the complaint against Wellesley Public Schools (WPS) in a Massachusetts federal court “alleging that the district has systemically and repeatedly violated students’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Massachusetts Students’ Freedom of Expression Law through the use of segregated ‘affinity groups’ and an onerous speech code featuring a ‘bias reporting’ program,” according to the press release.

‘Devastating’: Biden Ignores Lawmakers’ Pleas, Orders Massive Expansion of Utah Monuments

October 12, 2021October 11, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

President Joe Biden will order the Department of the Interior Friday to vastly expand two Utah monuments which the Trump administration reduced in size.

The president will restore protections for both the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments located in Utah, the White House announced. Biden’s order will re-expand the monuments from their reduced size of slightly more than 1 million acres to 3.2 million acres.

Exclusive: ‘Wrong Way’ Milley Beat 1982 DUI Charge, Paid $100 Fine

September 21, 2021September 20, 2021 Peter D'Abrosca

The Star News Network can confirm as of Monday that Gen. Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was arrested in Cumberland County, North Carolina in 1982 for driving under the influence, or DUI, after a traffic stop.

A clerk at the Cumberland County, North Carolina records section confirmed to The Star last week that a man named Mark A. Milley was charged with driving under the influence on November 19, 1892.

Huawei Employee Allegedly Wrote MIT Professor’s Pro-China Editorial

February 16, 2021February 15, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

A Huawei employee allegedly ghostwrote an op-ed on behalf of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, who defended Huawei’s ties with American universities, according to a report from the Washington Free Beacon.

In 2019, Nicholas Negroponte — the co-founder of the MIT Media Lab — wrote a defense of the Chinese company’s partnership with MIT and other post-secondary institutions. He argued that the United States “should collaborate with leading technology companies and their research labs, rather than banning them.”

Smith College Employee Whistleblower Exposes Anti-White Racism

November 16, 2020November 15, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

An employee at Smith College in Massachusetts has been making videos detailing the creation of a “hostile work environment” for her as a white person.

“I am very, very concerned about this issue, not just for the Smith community, but for communities at other colleges and workplaces too,” Jodi Shaw told The College Fix in an email.

Shaw, an alumnus of the school, currently works as an administrative assistant in the Department of Student Affairs at the elite women’s college.

Another Restaurant Chain, Friendly’s, Hits Wall in Pandemic

November 3, 2020November 2, 2020 The Associated Press

Friendly’s Restaurants, the 85-year-old East Coast dining chain known for its Fribble milkshakes and ice cream sundaes, is filing for bankruptcy protection.

It joins a growing list of well-established restaurant chains that are failing due to an unchecked pandemic in the United States.

George Michel, CEO of FIC Restaurants Inc., Friendly’s parent company, said COVID-19 has had a “catastrophic impact” on operations. FIC will sell essentially all of its assets to the restaurant company Amici Partners Group.

Soft-on-Crime Prosecutors Across America with Soros Ties Refuse to Charge and Try Criminal Behavior

August 12, 2020August 11, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Left-wing prosecutors have implemented soft-on-crime approaches to criminal justice across America, in some instances making it a matter of policy in major cities not to prosecute specific crimes, a Daily Caller News Foundation review found.

A common, though not universal, feature of prominent left-wing district attorneys is the backing of political organizations funded by left-wing billionaire George Soros. The New York Times has credited Soros with pioneering the “push to overhaul prosecutors’ offices” across the country.

Military’s Top Catholic Prelate: Navy’s Indoor Religious Services Ban ‘Odious’

July 7, 2020 Neil W. McCabe

The leader of the Archdiocese for the Military Services compared the Navy’s banning sailors from attending religious services to the treatment of the Catholics in 17th century Japan depicted in the movie “Silence.”

“The persecution was systematic and destined to eradicate the faith from the islands,” wrote Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, who has led the Catholic military chaplaincy and its programs since 2008, in a public letter posted Sunday.

ICE Detainees Refuse Coronavirus Tests, Rush Officers and Trash Detention Center

May 4, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees in Massachusetts rushed officers, barricaded themselves inside the facility and caused more than $25,000 worth of damage after being told they would be transferred to a medical wing of the facility and tested for coronavirus, authorities said.

Roughly 10 inmates at an immigration detention center in Dartmouth, Massachusetts reported symptoms of COVID-19 to medical personnel, according to a press release from the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office.

World Health Organization: Abortion Is ‘Essential’ During Coronavirus Pandemic

April 6, 2020April 5, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

WHO Dir Gen. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

Abortion is considered an essential service during the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization said in a statement Saturday.

The WHO said in its statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation that “services related to reproductive health are considered to be part of essential services during the COVID-19 outbreak.”

Biden Dominates Super Tuesday States, Upsets Sanders in Minnesota

March 4, 2020May 21, 2020 Anthony Gockowski

Former Vice President Joe Biden defeated Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) Tuesday night in Minnesota’s Democratic primary, a shocking upset in what was a tough night for the Vermont socialist.

‘It’s Our Time in History to Come Together. We’re Americans First’ Says Bristol County Mass. Sheriff Thomas Hodgson

September 27, 2019September 26, 2019 Julie Carr

On Wednesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – In the second hour of the show, Leahy sat down with Thomas M. Hodgson who is an American law enforcement agent and politician who has served as Sheriff of Bristol County, Massachusetts since 1997.

Democrat Congressman Seth Moulton Wanted to Oust Pelosi and Now Wants to Take on Trump in 2020

April 23, 2019April 22, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Evie Fordham Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton became to the third politician from the state to announce a 2020 presidential run Monday. Moulton, 40, will compete with Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the Democratic primary. He will also stand in contrast to former Republican Massachusetts Gov. Bill…

Massachusetts Allocates Funds Supplementing Planned Parenthood Losses

April 7, 2019April 6, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Connor Maldo The state of Massachusetts has approved funding to compensate abortion providers for the possible loss of federal contributions due to changes in federal policy. This legislation responds to a new rule under the Trump administration that prohibits federally funded family planning offices from sharing space with…

Commenteary: Why Does Child Care in Massachusetts Cost Four Times What it Does in Mississippi?

March 4, 2019March 3, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Max Gulker In the discussion of the nation’s problem with child care costs, a crucial factor has gone mostly unmentioned. This is one of the most regulated industries. These regulations are driving up costs. Adding more government control of the industry risks making a bad situation even worse. To…

Elizabeth Warren Ignites More 2020 Speculation With Twitter Name Change

December 31, 2018December 30, 2018 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Molly Prince The name of Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign’s Twitter account changed Saturday night, reigniting speculation she has plans to launch a bid for the presidency in 2020. Renamed: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) campaign account"elizabethforma"=>"ewarren" — Changes of Congress (@CongressChanges) December 30, 2018 @CongressChanges, a Twitter…

Nine States Back Environmentalists Trying to Shutdown Search for Oil in Atlantic

December 22, 2018December 22, 2018 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Tim Pearce Nine states are intervening in a lawsuit against the Trump administration for approving oil and gas companies to search for oil and gas deposits in the Atlantic Ocean. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh announced Thursday the states would join environmental groups in a lawsuit to prevent the Trump…

Former Judges Call on ICE to End Immigration Arrests at Courthouses

December 13, 2018December 12, 2018 Minnesota Sun Staff

Dozens of retired state and federal judges called on U.S. immigration officials Wednesday to stop making arrests at courthouses of people suspected of being in the country illegally, saying immigrants should be free to visit halls of justice without fearing they will be detained. Nearly 70 former judges from 23 states—…

Harvard Faces Another Race Discrimination Lawsuit

December 5, 2018December 5, 2018 Admin

by Kevin Daley An anti-affirmative action coalition has filed a pair of lawsuits against Harvard and New York University, accusing both institutions of unlawful race and sex discrimination in the operation of their respective law review journals. The complaints allege Harvard and NYU use unlawful identity criteria when selecting…

Study Suggests Doctors Generally Willing to Provide Transgender Care But Don’t Know How

December 5, 2018December 5, 2018 Admin

by Grace Carr U.S. doctors are willing to provide health care services to transgender individuals, but most of them aren’t adequately trained to provide care specific to such persons, a study suggests. Over 85 percent of doctors who responded to a survey said they are willing to provide care to…

Senator Elizabeth Warren Says Migrants in U.S.-Bound Caravan Need to Enter Legally and ‘Follow Those Laws’

November 1, 2018November 1, 2018 Admin

by Henry Rogers Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign said she believes the thousands of migrants in the caravan headed toward the U.S. need to enter the country legally. Warren, who is up for re-election, has previously called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and replacing it, and is now…