Massachusetts

A 6-year-old Massachusetts girl with a genetic blood disorder is on a mission to help others. Addison Gigliotti, of Middleton, has started a business with her mom to help give back to the Boston hospitals that have cared for her over the past few years. She was just two years old when she received a scary diagnosis at a local…

It’s an exciting time for some first responders as Massachusetts’ first mass coronavirus vaccination site officially opened Monday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. The site had a soft opening last week. Gillette will provide the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine for staff doing first responder vaccinations. Cambridge-based CIC Health is managing the site. The plan is to start...

The first case of a COVID-19 variant initially found in the United Kingdom has been confirmed in Massachusetts, health officials said Sunday. The individual, a Boston woman in her 20s, came back to Boston on Jan. 3, where she remained at Logan International Airport for a two-hour layover before flying on to another state, according to the Boston Public Health…

Hospital signage and safety legislation pitched as a response to the tragic 2016 death of Laura Levis became law in Massachusetts on Friday, with Gov. Charlie Baker signing it in a ceremony at the State House. Under the law, the Department of Public Health will implement statewide standards requiring hospitals to improve lighting, signage, wayfinding and monitoring, aiming to ensure…

A police officer from Norton, Massachusetts, has died after being hospitalized with coronavirus last month. Det. Sgt. Stephen Desfosses’ death was announced by the Norton Police Department Wednesday afternoon. “It is with great sadness that Chief Brian Clark and the members of the Norton Police Department announce the passing of Detective Sergeant Stephen Desfosses after a courageous battle with Covid…

A Massachusetts police officer is fighting for his life after being hospitalized last month with COVID-19. Tuesday night, Jessica Desfosses of Attleboro hugged her two girls, 11-year-old Addison and 8-year-old Ella, during the hardest time of their lives. Det. Sgt. Stephen Desfosses, a father of four and a veteran officer with the Norton Police Department, has been hospitalized at Beth…

Fenway Park is expected to be one of the major vaccination sites for first responders across Massachusetts, according to the state’s firefighter’s union. An estimated 45,000 first responders including police officers, firefighters and EMTs will receive the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine starting Monday, Gov. Charlie Baker said at a news conference this week. In addition to Fenway...

A Massachusetts police officer declined to charge two women accused of trying to steal groceries for their children — and instead bought them Christmas dinner. Somerset Officer Matt Lima responded to a report of shoplifting on Dec. 20 at a Stop & Shop located at 815 Grand Army Highway, where two women with two young children were accused of putting…

More than 40 cases of COVID-19 have been tied to several Christmas Eve services at a church in Woburn, Massachusetts. Genesis Church is currently closed. No in-person services were held last weekend and none are scheduled for this weekend as the church deals with the outbreak. “We are deeply saddened to learn that people within GENESIS tested positive for COVID-19…

Responses to the coronavirus pandemic and police brutality dominated legislative sessions in 2020 and led to many new laws that will take effect in the new year

A controversial statue featuring President Abraham Lincoln with a freed Black man on his knees has been removed from Boston’s Park Square. Boston officials decided over the summer to take down “The Emancipation Group,” a replica of a statue in Washington, after thousands of people signed a petition for it to be removed. Petition creator Tory Bullock said at...

A candlelight vigil Sunday evening paid tribute to a victim of a shooting in Lynn the evening before, while authorities continue to search for the person who pulled the trigger. The victim, 31-year-old Gustavo Santana, was out filming a music video on Washington Street around 5:30 p.m., his family says. Then the taping turned violent as someone opened fire, according…

A shooting has left one man dead and five others injured in Lynn, Massachusetts, Saturday evening, according to police. No arrests have yet been announced. Lynn police were called to the shooting around 5:35 p.m. in the area of Quincy Terrace and Washington Street. Police initially said two of the men who were shot have serious, life-threatening injuries. Four men…

A Boston doctor had an allergic reaction after receiving Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, according to the hospital where he works, but is doing well. Boston Medical Center confirmed Friday night that Dr. Hossein Sadrzadeh, who reportedly has a severe shellfish allergy, was taken to the emergency department after his first dose of the Cambridge-based company’s vaccine. It’s the...

Four New England governors joined together to share a message encouraging people to celebrate the holidays safely this year. Govs. Charlie Baker, Janet Mills, Chris Sununu and Phil Scott each shared the same video Wednesday evening, where all four spoke and encouraged people to wear masks, avoid travel and gather in smaller groups than usual at the peak of the…

It’s difficult to imagine a year when we needed a little comic relief more desperately than in 2020. No yuks? Yuck. Fortunately, New Englanders came through with some welcome pandemic distractions.

New Jersey, Connecticut, Hawaii and Iowa filed a brief in a U.S. Supreme Court case that could determine the ability to tax nonresidents’ income.

Health care workers in Massachusetts began receiving the country’s second approved coronavirus vaccine Monday, developed by Cambridge-based Moderna. There were cheers at the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center when Dr. Jaime Gallegos became its first staffer to get the injection. He held a sign in his lap saying, “Take that, COVID!” Gallegos called the vaccine’s rollout a “great milestone,”...

A biotech conference held at a Boston hotel in late February that had already been blamed for the initial spread of the coronavirus in eastern Massachusetts has now been tied to hundreds of thousands of cases of the virus globally. The two-day Biogen conference at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf hotel is responsible for infecting as many as 330,000 people…

Many people have been wondering for days now what caused a massive sinkhole to mysteriously appear in a Boston neighborhood park. They got their answer Thursday morning: it’s an old well that dates back to the 1800s. “What we believe currently is that the well is either built in 1818 by John Pierce for his estate,” Boston archaeologist Joe Bagley…