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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. TGIF!
EYES EMOJI: OPPO RESEARCH UNDERWAY IN GUV S RACE No Republicans have said they re running for governor in 2022, but a national GOP group is already gathering intel on a Democratic candidate.
WILLIAMSTOWN â A delayed return to campus might have prevented dozens of COVID-19 cases at Williams College.
Since dorms filled for the spring semester last week, more than a month after students would have returned in a typical year, the college has reported 11 positive tests on campus.
The students who tested positive once arriving to campus had produced negative tests just days before, during mandated pre-arrival testing. They now are in isolation, college officials said, with an additional 20 close contacts in quarantine.
âItâs a manageable number, and not shocking to us,â said Matthew Sheehy, associate vice president for finance and administration at the college. âPart of the onboarding process is the limitations students have in interacting with the community. They were tested, they went straight to their rooms.â
Not Democratic senators, who fled to Illinois in a failed and weak bid to stop passage.
Not public sector unions, who tried and failed to recall Walker from office, fueling his national profile and short-lived bid for the presidency.
And certainly not Wisconsin. The images of fierce partisanship, the flouting of good-government rules by GOP leaders, the threats of violence against elected officials of both political parties - all of that tarnished our state’s reputation as a friendly and respectful place with civic pride. Instead of moving “Forward,” which is Wisconsin’s motto, our state seemed to stagger and scowl.
The committee voted Monday to ask Superintendent Aaron Dean to open negotiations with the teachers union to propose the creation of a panel that would have the ability to vote to reopen schools for in-person learning. I think we have a plan that will accommodate everyone s needs and keep everybody safe, committee member Regina Hill said. Dean would serve on the committee along with a cabinet member and a School Committee member. The remaining three members would be members of the Adams-Cheshire Teachers Association bargaining unit. Local health authorities would also be involved with the committee but as nonvoting members.
NORTH ADAMS â Once considered a rising star in the Massachusetts Senate, Ben Downing surprised many when he walked away in 2016, fulfilling a promise to serve no more than 10 years, despite colleaguesâ pleas for him to stay.
Few expected Downing, now 39, to leave public service for long. Downingâs entry into the 2022 race for governor, which he announced Monday, doesnât shock anyone who knows him well.
To learn more about Ben Downing, visit benformass.com.
Downing says he is running with a sense of urgency to tackle economic inequality, climate change and wide-ranging racial disparities.
In Downingâs vision for âa fairer, stronger Massachusetts,â the state would set a higher minimum wage, commit to using 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, raise taxes on top earners and invest more in public infrastructure, he told The Eagle.