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New York Times
17-07-2025
- General
- New York Times
These Are the Best Weeding Tools, From Roundup to Flame Thrower
If you were to sketch a yard designed for testing weed-control methods, it might look a lot like mine. My yard is in New Jersey, with a temperate climate (plenty of sunshine, plenty of rain, rarely blazing, rarely arctic). The soil is a type called Downer (the official soil of New Jersey), and it's productive stuff, earning the Garden State its nickname. The lot is oriented northeast-southwest, so some areas receive full sun all day and some areas get shade in the morning or afternoon. And, thanks to three huge walnut trees, some areas are dark and dank for the entirety of the growing season. Whatever conditions a plant prefers, it can find them here. The yard has not been tended in a long time, and 'volunteers' (gardener-speak for stuff you didn't plant and may not want) have taken hold. When the weather turns warm in the spring, whole sections of it sprout monocultures of creeping Charlie and purple dead nettle. The fences disappear behind walls of English ivy. Bumper crops of Asiatic dayflower and Asiatic smartweed grow in the raised beds. Broadleaf plantains and common dandelions march across the grassy sections like spear bearers. All of these things are non-native, and some of them are invasive (that means they're non-native and also harmful, crowding out native plants or otherwise disrupting ecosystems). This poison ivy vine was about 2 inches across and had climbed 30 feet up a tree. I treated it once with Roundup Weed & Grass Killer, and it never came back. Tim Heffernan/NYT Wirecutter Getting rid of them piecemeal would be the work of a lifetime, which is why I'm planning to kill everything and start over. My short-term goal was to get the worst of the weeds under control, make the property less of an eyesore, and maybe even make the yard pleasant to hang out in. State-school agricultural extensions proved to be a goldmine of advice. And I would encourage you to explore yours: It may identify locally problematic species or raise other concerns specific to where you live. In addition, I found North Carolina State University Extension's article Are There Alternatives to Glyphosate for Weed Control in Landscapes? to be a gem of clarity and concision. And it's a great general-purpose primer on glyphosate (which you may know as Roundup), other herbicides, non-herbicidal control methods, and the plants and situations they're most effective at addressing. The article A Guide to Weed Life Cycles, from UMass Amherst's Extension Turf Program, is also terrific, and it explains how to identify the different classes of weeds and why managing them requires different approaches. Then I gathered some equipment. I already had a transplanting spade (even before I wrote our guide to them), and I don't think there's a better tool for uprooting shrubs and trees. I also had our top-pick string trimmer and a hori-hori (a digging knife with a dozen uses, including weed removal). To these I added a couple of weed-pulling tools: a propane blowtorch; the first gallon of Roundup I've ever bought (as fraught a moment as ordering my first legal-age beer); and several herbicides that fall under the Environmental Protection Agency's 25(b) 'minimum risk' exemption from FIFRA registration. I added a spray bottle for general Roundup application and a couple of small applicators for daubing it on freshly cut stumps. They mostly proved effective at the different jobs for which they're intended, and this provided my first take-away: You'll get the best results if you keep multiple weed-fighting tools on hand. Connie Park/NYT Wirecutter The trademarked name Roundup is often used interchangeably with glyphosate, a powerful and controversial herbicide that Monsanto patented and began selling under the Roundup name in 1974. (Monsanto's exclusive right to sell glyphosate in the US expired in 2000, and then many other companies began using it in their formulas.) But as of 2024, no Roundup residential lawn-and-garden products contain glyphosate, including the basic Weed & Grass Killer that I used. This basic herbicide rapidly kills most plants, and it degrades quickly, allowing replanting within days or weeks. Roundup Weed & Grass Killer now contains three active ingredients. Triclopyr triethylamine salt (TEA) is what's called a systemic herbicide. Herbicides of this type get absorbed by the plants they're used on and spread to all of the plants' tissues, killing them down to the roots. TEA is also what's called a selective herbicide, which means it's most effective on certain kinds of plants — in TEA's case, woody plants and vines. It's applied to cut stumps to prevent regrowth (and it's frequently used to combat invasive species). TEA specifically works by mimicking an auxin, a plant growth hormone, triggering uncontrolled growth that kills treated plants within days or weeks. The EPA considers TEA slightly toxic to humans, not classifiable as a human carcinogen, practically nontoxic to slightly toxic to birds and marine/estuarine invertebrates, and practically nontoxic to fish and freshwater invertebrates. It is degraded by soil microbes within a few weeks. Fluazifop-p-butyl is a selective, systemic herbicide that's used mainly to kill grasses, and it's not effective on broad-leaved plants. It works by inhibiting lipid (fat and oil) synthesis, and that leads to the breakdown of cell membranes. The EPA considers it of low acute toxicity and unlikely to be carcinogenic to humans. It is degraded by microbes in the soil, and it does not travel well through soil, though the EPA notes that using both fluazifop-p-butyl and triclopyr 'in areas where soil is permeable, particularly where the water table is shallow, may result in groundwater contamination.' Like TEA, fluazifop-p-butyl is frequently used to combat invasives. Diquat dibromide kills by disrupting plants' cell membranes. It's non-systemic, which means it kills only the parts of a plant that it touches. And it's non-selective, which means it's effective on almost all plant types. The EPA considers it non-carcinogenic, of low oral toxicity, and of moderate to severe acute dermal toxicity to humans. It does not migrate through soil, and it's unlikely to get into surface and groundwater. Taken together, this mixture makes the Weed & Grass Killer a broadly effective herbicide in yards and gardens, and one that's quite safe to use and does not persist in the environment. (This allows for replanting of treated areas in as little as a day.) Still, I have qualms about using pesticides in general, and when I do, I make an effort to use as little as possible. In spring 2025, I tried three herbicides — from Sunday and Procter & Gamble — that are heavily marketed as being safer or greener alternatives to traditional formulas. Before using them in my yard, I spoke at length with Trent Lewis, Sunday's co-founder and head of R&D, and Mary Jane Watson, research and development senior scientist at Procter & Gamble. Sunday's Dandelion Doom uses chelated iron (iron HEDTA) to induce fatal iron toxicity in broad-leaved plants. Iron HEDTA is used extensively as a supplemental fertilizer (all photosynthetic plants need some iron), and using it as an herbicide is effectively a matter of vastly over-fertilizing. The EPA has found no reports of adverse effects from exposure to iron HEDTA, and it says that 'pesticidal usage of this biochemical will not have any harmful environmental effects.' Sunday's Weed Warrior is an ammoniated soap. Herbicidal soaps kill by disrupting the protective waxy coating on leaves and damaging leaf-cell walls; this leads to desiccation and cell death. I reviewed the Safety Data Sheets of several widely available brands, including Weed Warrior, and the warnings are that they can irritate the eyes, skin, or lungs and should not be swallowed; these warnings are similar to the warnings on dishwashing soap. Procter & Gamble's Spruce meets the EPA's 25(b) 'minimum risk' conditions. Essentially, this means a pesticide can contain only active ingredients that the EPA believes 'pose little to no risk to human health or the environment,' and in fact many of those ingredients are widely used in food and cosmetic products. Spruce's active ingredients are sodium lauryl sulfate (a surfactant found in a lot of soaps and shampoos), geraniol (geranium essential oil), and cornmint oil. Putting aside all other considerations, it smells delicious. (That wasn't a given. The complete list of 25(b) active ingredients includes dried blood and 'putrescent whole egg solids.') I didn't find any of them as effective as the Roundup. Neither did Wirecutter's Sebastian Compagnucci, an avid gardener who optimizes his weeding practices. This was largely expected: They are not systemic herbicides, which are absorbed into and kill every part of a plant. As both Lewis and Watson noted, that means treated plants' roots can and often do survive and regrow. It typically took two applications of the Sunday and Spruce products to kill the aboveground parts of the grasses, dandelions, and other weeds I used them on. Also, for the products to be the most effective, the plants have to be thoroughly drenched — not just lightly sprayed or wetted with a drop or two. So I wound up using a lot more of the Sunday and Spruce products than I did of the Roundup. Spruce comes in proprietary aerosol cans (they spray straight down), manual spray bottles, and jugs with built-in, battery-powered spray wands. Sunday's Weed Warrior and Dandelion Doom come in manual spray bottles and in jugs and pouches with battery-powered wands. Sunday sells refills for all of them, so you can reuse the original containers. But those wands aren't built to last, and the batteries will die. Spruce sells refills for its jugs and spray bottles but not for the aerosol cans, and its battery-powered wands aren't built to last, either. The incongruity between these 'earth-friendly' herbicides and all of that material waste struck both Seb and me. All told, I'm happier using tiny, targeted amounts of the Roundup Weed & Grass Killer and durable applicators of my own choosing. And I don't plan to keep using Sunday or Spruce after the batches we ordered run out. But I absolutely acknowledge their virtues, too. Connie Park/NYT Wirecutter If you've watched more than a couple of YouTube videos about gardening, I suspect you've gotten ads for Grampa's Weeder. It's pitched as an Olde Tyme secret weapon against unwanted grasses and broad-leaved lawn invaders like dandelions. Given my target-rich environment, I had to try it out. I also tried a similar tool made by Fiskars. This simple tool is an ace at pulling up deep-rooted lawn weeds like dandelions, but it's ineffective on other intruders and in rocky soil. On my dandelions and plantains, Grampa's Weeder and the Fiskars tool both performed as advertised, usually managing to pull out most of the taproots along with the foliage and thus killing the individual plant. (If you don't remove the taproots, a plant will just grow back.) Both the Grampa's Weeder and the Fiskars (shown) are adept at pulling out dandelions, taproots and all. Tim Heffernan/NYT Wirecutter Conveniently, you don't have to lean down or get on your knees to use either tool, the way you do with a traditional hand weeder. (You do have to use your foot to push them into the soil, however.) And they don't leave big holes in the lawn, the way a shovel or trowel can. That said, they are one-trick ponies. Neither worked well on the little walnut sprouts, for example, because the flexible but tough stems prevented the tools' claws from centering on and gripping the roots. They're useless in rocky soil, too, because the claws can't penetrate. I kept the Grampa's Weeder. It lacks the little ejector mechanism of the Fiskars weed puller, but I didn't find that to be much of a time-saver anyway. The simple bamboo-and-metal construction is sturdy, and it's comfortable to hold. And, above all, it's nearly silent. Using it became meditative after a while. The Fiskars weed puller, whose plastic parts never ceased clicking and clacking while I worked, became increasingly irritating to use. I think I'd find excuses to not use it, and that's how weeds take over. Connie Park/NYT Wirecutter Let's get one thing out of the way first: Flame weeding is not flamethrowing. Banish visions of Rambo torching the jungle from your mind. Using targeted heat to kill weeds, though, is an established practice. Steam and hot-foam equipment is used by some professionals, but for homeowners, propane torches are the way to go. For obvious reasons, they can't be used everywhere. They're intended for flame-resistant surfaces like concrete, asphalt, rock, and gravel — places where weeding by hand is difficult or impossible. The University of California's Agricultural and Natural Resources department has some additional guidelines on flame weeding safety, including advice on keeping extinguishing materials nearby and avoiding use in windy, dry, high fire-risk conditions. I tested a popular torch made by Bernzomatic. It hooks up to a standard 16-ounce propane cylinder (available for about $10 at any hardware or outdoors store), so it's light enough to carry in one hand. It has a built-in manual igniter, and its long flame tube lets you stand upright while working. This torch is lightweight, self-igniting, and long enough to use standing upright. It's a good (and satisfying) tool for controlling weeds on nonflammable surfaces. The test area consisted of gravel-choked sidewalk cracks, which the dandelions and plantains consider an excellent place to raise children. The Bernzomatic torch was easy to set up and made quick work of the weeding. After sweeping away any dead leaves and dry grass clippings with a push broom (to avoid unwanted flareups), I simply held the flame over each plant for a second or two — just long enough to make the foliage change to a slightly darker green. This indicates that the plant tissue has been heated enough to kill it; there's no need to burn the weeds to ashes. Seared to perfection. This picture was taken about 18 hours after I torched a strip of the driveway, but the plants actually withered within a few hours of being treated. Tim Heffernan/NYT Wirecutter One thing to note: Torches destroy only above-ground foliage. That's usually enough to kill young weeds outright, per the North Carolina State Extension's guide to glyphosate alternatives, but you usually have to go back and hit mature plants again. Drawing on energy stored in their roots, they can come back several times before their reserves are used up. Like weed pullers, weed torches are essentially one-trick ponies. You should not use them on lawns or in brush (a fire danger), and the flame isn't precise enough to target individual weeds within a crowded garden bed. With care, they can be used in open beds, but if the beds are mulched, make sure that the mulch is properly soaked before you light up. However, people do use weed torches for a few non-gardening purposes, like igniting brush piles and melting ice on sidewalks. There are more efficient ways to do both, but there's something to be said for the fun of wielding the awesome power of fire in your very own hands. None of the above options are ideal for use in vegetable gardens and flowerbeds. And Roundup should never be used anywhere you'll be planting food crops — not even to kill weeds beforehand. Try a stirrup hoe instead. Wirecutter's Sebastian Compagnucci got his stirrup hoe during the pandemic, when his garden became a refuge, and due to this tool's precise, efficient action, his weeding time was cut in half. For uprooting unwanted shrubs and small trees, I've never found a better tool than a transplanting spade. As the name suggests, this tool is also ideal for transplanting (or simply planting) things. And due to its short handles, a transplanting spade is much more maneuverable in the confines of a yard than a standard shovel. A hori-hori is one of our favorite gardening tools. Shaped like a short sword but dished like a trowel, it's great for digging out deep-rooted weeds that are growing close to plants you want to keep. In my raised beds, I found my hori-hori more effective than the weed pullers, which tended to sink into the soft soil and didn't get enough leverage to work properly. A string trimmer can keep weeds knocked down, and it can give desirable plants time to grow and eventually crowd out the weeds for good. I also use mine as a makeshift edger. All this said, now that I've gotten our weed situation under a modicum of control, I find myself frequently turning to the simplest tool of all: my own hands. It really doesn't take long to yank the weeds out of a patch of lawn or the corner of a raised bed. And this approach somehow seems more fair. The plants we call weeds are some of the great survivors and settlers of the living world. The least I can do is give them an honest fight. This article was edited by Jen Gushue and Harry Sawyers.
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Can gambling be ‘responsible' in Mass. and the US in the face of addiction?
'High Stakes: Gambling Addiction, Beyond Borders' is a three-part series by New England Public Media looking at the public health movement to address gambling in Massachusetts and the United States, and what can be learned from two countries with very different models of gambling regulation: Norway and the United Kingdom. This is part three of that series. A few hundred feet into the MGM Springfield casino floor, visitors can find the 'GameSense' office, where, amid the loud clanging of slot machines and table games, an employee often stands alone at a desk. They offer swag to get people to stop by — tissue boxes, luggage tags — and are happy to explain how gambling odds work. If anyone feels they need help reining in their gambling, brochures with the state's helpline number are stacked on the counter. The GameSense program has been a centerpiece of Massachusetts' approach to reducing gambling problems, along with Play My Way, a program that allows people to set their own time and money limits in the state's casinos and with online sportsbooks. The programs focus on the 10% of the population that researchers at UMass Amherst estimate either has a gambling disorder or is at risk of one. But with no national commission on gambling nor nationwide gambling policy, Massachusetts — like every state — is on its own to come up with ways to curb gambling disorders. And many addiction experts think the states could do better. A growing number of health and policy makers say it's time to take bolder — and more unified — action, especially since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized sports betting in 2018 and unleashed an aggressive new industry, now legal in 39 states. (Forty-eight states have legalized at least some form of gambling, including lotteries.) 'All (addictions) except gambling have some kind of intervention by the government to impose some constraints and provide some protection,' Democratic U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said. 'The sophistication and complexity of betting has become staggering. And that's why we need … protections that will enable an individual to say no.' Blumenthal and U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, a New York Democrat, have filed the Safe Bet Act, legislation that would impose federal standards on all sports betting companies. Among those regulations: no advertising during live sporting events, mandatory 'affordability checks' on high-spending customers, limits on VIP schemes, a ban on A.I. tracking for marketing and the creation of a national 'self-exclusion' database. 'Gambling is a nationwide activity. States are unable to protect their consumers from the promotions and pitches, the excessive and abusive offers — and sometimes misleading pitches — to gamblers from out of state,' Blumenthal said. 'And [states] simply don't have the resources or the jurisdiction legally to provide the full protection that's necessary.' The fallout, according to Jonathan Cohen, author of the book 'Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling,' is putting new generations at risk. 'The landmines are placed in front of young people,' Cohen said, 'and if they don't know any better … they step on gambling as a landmine and it just blows up in their face and they don't even know what happened to them.' The gambling industry has come out strongly against the Safe Bet Act. Joe Maloney, a spokesperson for the American Gaming Association, calls the very concept of federal gambling standards a 'slap in the face' to state regulators across the country. 'You have the potential to just dramatically, one, usurp the states' authority and then, two, freeze the industry in place,' he said. Maloney said the industry acknowledges that gambling is addictive for some people, but he said it has already developed its own solutions through a model called 'responsible gaming.' That includes messages warning people to stop playing when it's no longer fun and entertaining, public education about the low odds of striking it rich and supporting access to treatment for those with gambling disorders. Maloney said there is no need for new federal rules on how companies can offer or advertise their products online or in casinos, which he said would only benefit the unregulated, illegal gambling market. 'There are certain stakeholders that are pretending to represent a certain type of player as a rationale for a one-size-fits-all protection,' Maloney said. But proponents of the Safe Bet Act say the industry's 'responsible gaming' model has failed. Harry Levant, the director of gambling policy at the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University in Boston, calls the model 'ethically and scientifically flawed.' He said it puts all the blame and responsibility on individuals with a gambling disorder. Levant, who helped write the Safe Bet Act, was addicted to gambling himself. A former lawyer, he was convicted in 2015 for stealing clients' money to fund his betting habit. He is also an addiction therapist. He explained that you can't just tell a person struggling with addiction, 'Just don't do that anymore.' 'You need regulation when the industry has shown an inability and unwillingness to police itself,' Levant said. 'It's the moral equivalent of Big Tobacco saying, 'Let us do whatever we want for our cigarettes, as long as we pay for chemotherapy and hospice.' We wouldn't tolerate it with tobacco. We don't tolerate it with alcohol.' Public Health Advocacy Institute Executive Director Mark Gottlieb said 'responsible gaming' targets people who have already suffered great harm, while a public health approach, such as limiting what products can be offered and how, is 'preventing people from experiencing that harm in the first place.' But Gottlieb acknowledged that new federal regulations could be a hard sell in today's political climate. If the Safe Bet Act doesn't pass under this Congress, he is hoping states choose to take strong action on their own. Massachusetts gambling regulators declined to comment on any legislation — neither the Safe Bet Act nor a pending state bill that would limit gambling options. But they say they have come a long way since the state legalized casinos in 2011, when the approach to problem gambling was 'much more about making sure that there are brochures that are available that explained the odds of whatever game it was,' according to Mark Vander Linden, who runs the responsible gaming division of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. The commission says 64,000 people are currently signed up for a Play My Way account, though only a small percentage choose to set personal limits on time and money spent gambling. About 2,300 people have put themselves on a statewide 'self-exclusion' list that bans them from one or all forms of legalized betting for a period of time. Vander Linden said his office is now adapting to the new risks of online sports betting, which lawmakers legalized in Massachusetts in 2022. His team is seeking technology that gives gamblers more ways to curb their play, including software that disables gambling apps on phones and methods to track any uptick in gambling habits. He said they are also designing research to learn 'the science of being able to identify triggers or patterns of risky gambling behavior,' as well as which interventions would change that behavior. State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton, wants to give regulators even more tools. Sabodosa is co-sponsor of the Bettor Health Act, which, like the federal Safe Bet Act, would require affordability checks and advertising limits. It would tax gambling companies at a higher rate and direct additional money to the Massachusetts' public health trust fund for treatment and prevention. The law would also ban 'prop' bets, which are wagers placed during a game on a variety of game-related events — who makes the first shot in basketball, for example, or who hits the first home run in baseball. 'It's encouraging excessive gambling,' Sabadosa said. 'You can win and lose, like, from one second to the next.' Sabadosa also thinks affordability checks, like those that exist in the United Kingdom, can act as a financial safety net. 'If you're only allowed to have two drinks, we know that you're not going to get drunk, right?' she said. 'If you're only allowed to gamble $100 a day because that's an affordable amount, you're not going to go broke.' The American Gaming Association declined to give its position on affordability checks but did say it opposes a ban on prop bets. 'A prop bet is a very, very popular form of betting. It provides for an increased level of engagement,' Maloney, the American Gaming Association spokesperson, said. 'If you suddenly start to pick and choose what can be legal or banned … you're driving bettors out of the legal market and into the illegal market.' Sabadosa doesn't accept that position. 'We've heard that argument from the cannabis industry, too. 'Don't regulate us because then people will go to the black market,'' Sabadosa said. 'But at the end of the day, if you're going to have a legal market, it does need to be protected. That is the whole point of having this legal market.' She added that the goal is not to stop gambling entirely. 'It's to stop the worst excesses of online sports betting.' Many public health advocates say passing any legislation that restricts the growth of gambling won't be easy — not least due to industry lobbying. The watchdog organization OpenSecrets reports gambling companies spent almost $40 million nationally on lobbying in 2024. In Massachusetts, 30 gaming-related companies spent a combined $2.7 million lobbying state lawmakers last year, according to state lobbying disclosures. 'The sportsbooks really benefited from the diffuse nature of sports betting and from the fact that we have 50 states and 50 laws about gambling,' Cohen said, 'because they were able to show up at every different legislature and sort of run roughshod over them with their money, their lobbying, to get the sort of laws they wanted on the books.' At the same time, many state legislators are tempted by the promise of new revenue from expanded gambling, said Harry Levant of the Public Health Advocacy Institute. He's concerned that could launch the 'i-gaming' industry — online roulette, blackjack and other casino-style games — which is currently legal in only seven states. 'We have empathy for how hard it is for states to balance their budgets in this current political environment,' he said, 'but states are starting to recognize the answer to that problem is not to further push a known addictive product.' What could convince lawmakers to restrain the gambling market, Mark Gottlieb said, is a groundswell of advocacy from friends and family of people with gambling addiction, the same way that Mothers Against Drunk Driving pushed for blood alcohol limits on the road. 'That is really the thing that has been missing from this movement,' Gottlieb said. Meanwhile, industry critics are not waiting for legislation to pass; they are also turning to the courts. In June, the Public Health Advocacy Institute sued Caesars Online Casino and Harrah's Philadelphia casino over what it calls a 'predatory' promotion designed to 'snare' consumers into more gambling. The city of Baltimore is suing several sportsbooks for their aggressive marketing practices. And Cohen said simply publicizing the risks of gambling — in a way that young people will notice — can work too. 'So whatever sort of counter programming that can be provided to Jamie Foxx playing piano and telling you that gambling is cool, I think that would be the place to start,' Cohen said. 'We don't have to wait for government to do that.' This project was supported by a grant from the Association of Health Care Journalists, with funding from The Commonwealth Fund. It was edited by Dusty Christensen, with help from Elizabeth Román. Red Sox rain delay: Sudden monsoon in DC causes stoppage in 2nd inning Sunday MLB insider tabs 'Rafael Devers duplicate' as perfect fit for Red Sox in free agency Funeral info announced for woman killed in Wrentham single-car crash MLB insider connects ex-Red Sox outfielder to NL West contender 'Our final song': Legendary metal singer plays final epic show amid health issues Read the original article on MassLive.
Boston Globe
07-07-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Former ambassador to Ireland and state rep Claire Cronin joins UMass Amherst
Cronin, a former lawyer, will be a scholar-in-residence for public policy and global affairs working with chancellor Javier Reyes on the university's global education initiatives and international student services. She will also help with its professional development programs, particularly with a focus on law and justice, and will give occasional lectures at the Newton campus. Advertisement While ambassador, two of Cronin's big priorities were convincing Irish companies to invest in the US, and increasing the visits from J-1 visa holders for summer work. Cronin said Ireland currently ranks sixth among all countries in foreign direct investment in the US, up from ninth when she started. (Massachusetts, she said, was one of three states that Irish companies were most interested in, along with California and New Jersey.) And she said the US experienced a record number of J-1 visa holders coming from Ireland for summer work and travel, a fact she attributed in part to the 'Open Doors' program she launched with her staff to encourage young Irish adults to visit the Deerfield Residence in Dublin, the US ambassador's official home in Ireland; more than 5,000 students visited Deerfield over her three years there. Advertisement While working as ambassador, Cronin said she learned about the full extent of UMass Amherst's global partnership program, which involves schools in 30 other countries, including Ireland. She stepped down from the ambassador's role on the day President Trump was sworn in in January, and has spent much of the time since catching up with colleagues and friends. Six months may have passed, but she still sounds like she misses her time on the Emerald Isle. 'I was embraced by the Irish government,' Cronin said. 'They considered me one of their own. ... I may have left Ireland [but] my heart is still there.' This is an installment of our weekly Bold Types column about the movers and shakers on Boston's business scene. Jon Chesto can be reached at
Boston Globe
03-07-2025
- Boston Globe
‘The brightest future:' Friends remember UMass Amherst senior killed in D.C. shooting
The woman and teenager are expected to survive the attack, police said. Tarpinian-Jachym was taken to a hospital, where he died on Tuesday, authorities said. Police said Tarpinian-Jachym was on the street when a group of people jumped out of a car and opened fire. Advertisement 'The preliminary investigation indicates that multiple suspects exited a vehicle at the intersection of 7th and M Street, Northwest and began firing at a group,' police wrote. 'Detectives believe the decedent was not the intended target of the shooting.' Tarpinian-Jachym, a Granby, Mass., resident, graduated from Pope Francis Preparatory School in Springfield and was seeking a degree in finance with a minor in political science at UMass Amherst. He began interning in the office of Rep. Ron Estes, a Kansas Republican, in June. 'I still really can't believe it, because of just how vividly I can remember him,' Burg said. 'If there was anyone that I would say had the brightest future that I've ever seen, it was that kid.' The pair met in February at Advertisement 'We were so similar,' Burg said. 'He really cared. He always cheered you up.' The leadership of the Fund for American Studies said in a statement they are heartbroken by Tarpinian-Jachym's death. 'The Fund for American Studies is heartbroken at the tragic and untimely death of Eric Tarpinian-Jachym. Eric was one of a select group of students who participated in the Washington Fellowship held January-April 2025,' the non-profit's leadership said in a statement. 'He was a hardworking intern, a dedicated student and was well thought of by his peers. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.' Burg remembers one night in the spring after a dinner of sushi, Tarpinian-Jachym, who never runs, suggested they run home. Burg queued up the best song for the moment: the Rocky theme song, 'Gonna Fly Now' by Bill Conti. 'The best part was running up a hill with someone I've never seen run in my life, somehow outpace me, to Rocky Balboa music, and then just talk about life and family and and God,' Burg said. Despite their short friendship, Burg knew Tarpinian-Jachym was 'special.' 'It hurts when although I didn't know him for that long, you bond that much and you spend hundreds of hours together, he was the guy I relied on,' Burg said. 'He was the guy that that I spoke to about my problems.' Burg, who is from Florida, said he told Tarpinian-Jachym to go home to his family in Massachusets and 'enjoy' the summer, but Tarpinian-Jachym was 'dedicated.' Advertisement 'He wanted to work so hard and just get ahead in the future,' Burg said. 'It was inspiring.' Now, Burg wishes he had gone home. 'Maybe we would have known each other and our kids for the next 60 or 50 years,' Burg said. The pair had planned for Tarpinian-Jachym to visit Burg in Florida after his internship. Lily Myers, 21, was also in the fellowship program with Burg and Tarpinian-Jachym, and said Tarpinian-Jachym was 'charismatic.' 'Eric was just one of the people that stood out in our program,' she said. 'He got along with everybody. He was always really fun to be around.' Myers also is working in D.C. as an intern at the National Retail Federation, and she said she knew 'how much [Tarpinian-Jachym] wanted to come back and intern in DC this summer.' 'For that to have happened while he was one month into a congressional internship is just horrific,' Myers said. 'Eric was very smart and had a bright future ahead of him, and we expected that to happen.' Myers found out about the violence while leaving her internship, not far from where the shooting happened. She said she's 'shaken up' because the metro stop is on her line, and she briefly considered returning home to North Carolina. 'I tried not to let this horrible incident deter me... but it definitely made me rethink where I go in the city,' Myers said. A vehicle police believe was used in the shooting was recovered, officials said. No arrests have been made, but police have offered a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest of Tarpinian-Jachym's killer or killers. Advertisement Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith 'It's such a tragic loss of a young man who's in our city conducting, being a part of something that I think is profound for most young people. Interning at a U.S. House of Representatives office is a big deal,' she told the station. 'We want people to put the guns down. Innocent bystander, a young lady who was also shot in addition to Eric,. Unacceptable in all ways, shape, forms of fashion.' In 'We are grateful to Eric for his service to Kansas' 4th District and the country,' Estes said. 'Please join Susan and me in praying for his family and respecting their privacy during this heartbreaking time.' A spokesperson for UMass Amherst said university officials were aware of 'a student's death in Washington, D.C. and is in communication with the student's family.' They did not identify Tarpinian-Jachym. 'We extend our deepest condolences to all who knew him and will be communicating with the campus shortly to offer support,' the school said. Representative Richard E. Neal, whose Western Massachusetts district includes Granby, said he was 'heartbroken' by Tarpinian-Jachym's death. As an intern on Capitol Hill, he was 'pursuing his passion for public service,' Neal said in a statement. Advertisement Tarpinian-Jachym's family could not be reached Thursday. Burg, the friend from the fellowship, said Tarpinian-Jachym 'knew what he wanted with his career.' He wanted to work on Capitol Hill, Burg said, and that was exactly what he was doing. 'He would be saying to live your life to the fullest, and do everything,' Burg said. Information from earlier Globe reporting was used in this posting. John R. Ellement of the Globe Staff contributed to this report. Ava Berger can be reached at
Fox News
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Congressional intern gunned down in DC street shooting wasn't intended target: police
A University of Massachusetts-Amherst student who was a Congressional student intern was killed in a triple shooting in Washington, D.C., on Monday. Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, a rising senior who was majoring in finance with a minor in political science, died at the hospital after being one of three people shot in northwest D.C., according to the Metropolitan Police Department. He was a Granby, Massachusetts, resident who started interning for U.S. Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kan., in June, according to police. Third District officers responded to gunshots on 7th Street and discovered Tarpinian-Jachym unconscious with gunshot wounds. An adult female and a 16-year-old male were also found shot at the location, but were conscious. Police said multiple suspects began firing shots at a group after exiting a vehicle at the intersection of 7th and M Street, Northwest. The suspect's vehicle was recovered and detectives said in a statement that they believe Tarpinian-Jachym was not the intended target. "The university has learned of a student's death in Washington, D.C. and is in communication with the student's family. We extend our deepest condolences to all who knew him and will be communicating with the campus shortly to offer support," UMass Amherst told FOX 5 DC. Estes and his wife, Susan, released a statement expressing their deepest condolences and prayers to Tarpinian-Jachym's family. "I will remember his kind heart and how he always greeted anyone who entered our office with a cheerful smile," Estes said. "We are grateful to Eric for his service to Kansas' 4th District and the country. Please join Susan and me in praying for his family and respecting their privacy during this heartbreaking time." State Committeeman Chris Ryan also released a statement on behalf of the Massachusetts Republican Party, saying "The loss of DC Congressional student intern and Granby resident Eric Tarpinian-Jachym is a loss for Massachusetts and our nation. His family is now without its son, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst will be missing a promising young graduate from its Class of 2026." He went on to say that "The Massachusetts Republican Party extends its deepest sorrows to his family and the office of Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS), all of whom are mourning the passing of this bright and talented young man." The Fund for American Studies also expressed sympathies for Tarpinian-Jachym, who was once part of a group of students completing a Washington Fellowship. "The Fund for American Studies is heartbroken at the tragic and untimely death of Eric Tarpinian-Jachym. Eric was one of a select group of students who participated in the Washington Fellowship held January to April 2025," the group said. "He was a hardworking intern, a dedicated student and was well thought of by his peers. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends." Metropolitan police ask anyone with knowledge of the incident to call them at 202-727-9099 or text TIP LINE to 50411. A reward of up to $25,000 is available to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible.
