logo
Top stories: Community celebrates life of late State Rep. Carol Doherty

Top stories: Community celebrates life of late State Rep. Carol Doherty

Yahoo20-04-2025

Before we begin the new week in earnest, we're taking a look back at the week that was, and the stories that led the news with Taunton Daily Gazette readers.
Top stories this past week included:
A massive 275-unit market-rate housing development, intended to be built next to the new MBTA rail station in East Taunton, has a new developer.
A profile of Dighton-Rehoboth baseball's Ben Miller, and how the senior pitcher/infielder looks to lead by example.
There's going to be a free classical concert at the Old Colony History Museum in Taunton.
The 1712 Restaurant & Tavern in Dighton will be closing at the end of this month.
The latest Greater Taunton real estate report, featuring a renovated multi-family in Taunton that sold for $1,000,000. The Cohannet Street home was built in 1900, and has undergone a significant makeover. Check out this property, as well as other recent top-sellers.
These were the Top 5 stories of the past week, according to Gazette readers:
A celebration of life was held for late State Rep. Carol Doherty on Saturday, April 12, at the Memorial United Methodist Church in Taunton.
Family, friends, and officials attended, to honor Doherty's life and work for her community.
Moving moment: Celebration of life for Taunton/Easton State Rep. Carol Doherty
Graduating seniors will now need to earn passing grades in biology, 10th grade English, algebra 1 and geometry in order to receive a Taunton High School diploma.
Those are some of the new graduation requirements that the Taunton School Committee voted to implement at their April 2 meeting.
The new requirements come after a statewide ballot question where voters voted to remove MCAS as a graduation requirement.
Gazette Reporter Emma Rindlisbacher takes a look at what we know about the new graduation requirements.
Graduation requirements: Here are Taunton High School's new graduation requirements to replace MCAS
Taunton has welcomed a new bookshop!
Serendipity Bookshop opened downtown on April 7, at 1 Main St.
Owner Donna Melchionno is aiming to make the bookshop a cozy community space.
'More than just books': New bookshop in downtown Taunton aims to be cozy destination
Now it's Raynham's turn to decide whether it will comply with the state's controversial multi-family housing law or forge a path of resistance.
At Raynham's upcoming Annual Town Meeting voters will decide whether to amend the town's bylaws to establish a multi-family overlay zoning district to comply with the state's MBTA Communities Act — a mandate requiring all communities with MBTA transit service or that abut them to establish a new zone for multi-family housing.
Gazette Reporter Daniel Schemer has the story.
'Jamming this down our throat': Raynham proposes 2 new multi-family housing zones. Where?
Taunton City Councilor Jeff Postell is not running for re-election, opening up a seat on the council for a newcomer.
Here's what we know about Postell's decision, plus information about the upcoming election.
Election: Longtime Taunton City Councilor Jeff Postell not running for re-election. What he said
This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Top stories: Community celebrates life of late State Rep. Carol Doherty

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

DOGE team can access Social Security systems, US Supreme Court rules
DOGE team can access Social Security systems, US Supreme Court rules

Yahoo

time13 hours ago

  • Yahoo

DOGE team can access Social Security systems, US Supreme Court rules

The Supreme Court cleared the way Friday for the Department of Government Efficiency to access Social Security systems containing personal data on millions of Americans. The court majority sided with the Trump administration in its first Supreme Court appeal involving DOGE, the team once led by billionaire Elon Musk. The three liberal justices dissented. The high court halted an order from a judge in Maryland restricting the team's access to the Social Security Administration under federal privacy laws. The agency holds sensitive data on nearly everyone in the country, including school records, salary details and medical information. The Trump administration says DOGE needs access to carry out its mission of targeting waste and fraud in the federal government. Musk had been focused on Social Security as an alleged hotbed of fraud. The billionaire entrepreneur, who has stepped back from his work with DOGE, has described it as a ' Ponzi scheme ' and insisted that reducing waste in the program is an important way to cut government spending. U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander in Maryland found that DOGE's efforts at Social Security amounted to a 'fishing expedition' based on 'little more than suspicion' of fraud, and allowing unfettered access puts Americans' private information at risk. Her ruling did allow access to anonymous data for staffers who have undergone training and background checks, or wider access for those who have detailed a specific need. The Trump administration has said DOGE can't work effectively with those restrictions. Solicitor General John Sauer also argued that the ruling is an example of federal judges overstepping their authority and trying to micromanage executive branch agencies. The plaintiffs say it's a narrow order that's urgently needed to protect personal information. An appeals court previously refused to immediately to lift the block on DOGE access, though it split along ideological lines. Conservative judges in the minority said there's no evidence that the team has done any 'targeted snooping' or exposed personal information. The lawsuit was originally filed by a group of labor unions and retirees represented by the group Democracy Forward. It's one of more than two dozen lawsuits filed over DOGE's work, which has included deep cuts at federal agencies and large-scale layoffs. The nation's court system has been ground zero for pushback to President Donald Trump's sweeping conservative agenda, with about 200 lawsuits filed challenging policies on everything from immigration to education to mass layoffs of federal workers. Mass. weather: Weekend could bring flash floods, thunderstorms in some areas Karen Read trial: Key takeaways from week 7 as the retrial begins to wind down Recall alert: These window air conditioners could cause mold exposure Suspect in wrong-way crash that killed Endicott College sergeant extradited to NH Judge throws out 'unfunded mandate' lawsuits over MBTA Communities Act Read the original article on MassLive.

Judge throws out ‘unfunded mandate' lawsuits over MBTA Communities Act
Judge throws out ‘unfunded mandate' lawsuits over MBTA Communities Act

Yahoo

time13 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Judge throws out ‘unfunded mandate' lawsuits over MBTA Communities Act

Multiple lawsuits against the state filed by towns trying to avoid following the MBTA Communities Act were dismissed by a judge Friday. Nine towns — Duxbury, Hamilton, Hanson, Holden, Marshfield, Middleton, Wenham, Weston and Wrentham — filed lawsuits earlier this year after the state Division of Local Mandates determined the law was an 'unfunded mandate.' The cases were the latest in a history of challenges to the 2021 law, which requires towns and cities served by the MBTA to update their zoning to allow more multifamily housing. 'We are pleased the courts have again affirmed the intent of the MBTA Communities Law, and we look forward to working with the remaining communities to complete their zoning changes,' Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus said in a statement. 'Massachusetts' housing shortage has led to unaffordable prices and rising rents, but the MBTA Communities Law is working to deliver new housing where it's needed most and to bring down the cost of housing for all residents.' The MBTA Communities Act requires 177 cities and towns served by the MBTA to create at least one zoning district where multifamily housing is allowed by right. The goal of the law was to reduce barriers to new housing development and relieve pressure on the expensive local housing market, though no housing is guaranteed or required to be built. In a January ruling, the Supreme Judicial Court upheld the law as constitutional and mandatory, though the court said the compliance guidelines had not gone through the correct legal process and were, therefore, unenforceable. Since then, the state has released new, emergency guidelines, giving noncompliant towns until July 14 to comply. Under the Local Mandate Law, since 1980, any state law or regulation that would impose more than 'incidental administration expenses' on local governments must either be fully funded by the state or be conditional on local acceptance of the rule. In October, the Wrentham Select Board requested the Division of Local Mandates determine whether the MBTA Communities Act violated this law. In February, DLM Director Jana DiNatale confirmed that she believed it did. She wrote in a letter to the town's Select Board that grants the state has offered towns to help them develop new zoning and accommodate new housing development showed that the law did impose additional costs, but did not fully fund its local implementation. However, the DLM determination, unlike the January Supreme Judicial Court ruling, did not immediately make the law unenforceable. In his Friday decision, Super Court Judge Mark Gildea wrote that he disagreed that any of the towns had demonstrated any direct costs associated with following the law. The nine towns had listed anticipated impacts to infrastructure, public safety and other municipal services related to new housing development, but Gildea said these were speculative and indirectly, not directly, related. 'The Municipalities have neither pled specific costs for anticipated infrastructure costs, nor provided any specific timeline for anticipated construction projects,' he wrote. 'Instead, the only allegations and averments before the court are generalized comments about large-scale issues they foresee.' Last week, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities announced that 133 cities and towns, or about 75% of those affected by the MBTA Communities Act, had passed new zoning meant to comply with the regulations. Zoning changes under MBTA Communities Act spurs 3K new houses - so far Middleborough sues state over MBTA Communities: 'One size does not fit all' Mass. AG Campbell says 'unfunded mandate' determination won't stop MBTA Communities Read the original article on MassLive.

Towns lose their latest challenge to controversial state housing law
Towns lose their latest challenge to controversial state housing law

Boston Globe

time13 hours ago

  • Boston Globe

Towns lose their latest challenge to controversial state housing law

'The Municipalities have neither pled specific costs for anticipated infrastructure costs, nor provided any specific timeline for anticipated construction projects,' Gildea wrote in the ruling. 'Instead, the only allegations and averments before the court are generalized comments about large-scale issues they forsee, which are insufficient to sustain the Municipalities' claims.' The ruling is the latest legal blow to towns that have sought to avoid passing new zoning rules under the four-year-old MBTA Communities Act. Advertisement Last year, the Supreme Judicial Court The suits Gildea dismissed Friday were filed after State Auditor Diana DiZoglio's office Advertisement Gildea rejected that opinion in his ruling. He also said towns had misinterpreted the auditor's opinion by making broad claims about infrastructure costs under the law, when the opinion instead focused on the administrative costs associated with designing and passing new zoning rules. 'We are pleased the courts have again affirmed the intent of the MBTA Communities Law, and we look forward to working with the remaining communities to complete their zoning changes,' Housing Secretary Ed Augustus said in a statement Friday. Of 177 municipalities covered by the law, 134 have now passed new multifamily zoning, and more than 4,000 units of housing are in the development pipeline in those districts, state officials said. Housing advocates — who view MBTA Communities as one of the state's more consequential housing laws of the last several decades — celebrated the ruling Friday, saying it clears the path for the law to move forward. 'Today's ruling is a great victory for all Massachusetts residents, but particularly the communities of color and low-income individuals hardest hit by the affordable housing crisis,' said Jacob Love, Senior Attorney at Lawyers for Civil Rights, a legal advocacy groups that has sued towns for defying MBTA Communities. 'Increasing multi-family housing stock is critical to advancing fair housing in the Commonwealth and this decision preserves one of the most important tools we have in the fight for housing equity.' Andrew Brinker can be reached at

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store