The following remarks were made by Speaker of the House Robert A. DeLeo during in observance of Memorial Day on May 25, 2020. It’s a pleasure to join you today. We are all doing things differently right now, and I’m…
Category: Editorials
Guest Op-ed: Public Safety Is on My Mind
By Jessica Giannino Public Safety has always been one of my top priorities. With National Police Week and International Firefighters Day in our rearview and, of course, a pandemic on our hands for the unforeseeable future, public safety is on…
Memorial Day, 2020
This will be a Memorial Day unlike any that Americans have known. Ever since the official inception of the holiday on May 30, 1868, when the practice of decorating the graves of the fallen Union soldiers with flowers, wreaths, and…
Letter to the Editor
Coronavirus The following letter, a poem, was submitted by local student, Emily Green. By Emily S. Green Hey you, Coronavirus Why so desirous To demolish our lives I promise to end your thrive Never knew how much I like school…
Guest Op-Ed: In This COVID-19 War, This Is the Next Battle
By Brian M. Arrigo Now comes the hard part. For the past two months, we’ve suffered and sacrificed in countless ways to resist the rampant spread of Covid-19. We had some help staying shuttered at home, as most places were…
Guest Op-Ed: Finding Common Ground, Even in Divided Times
By Joe Gravellese, candidate for State Representative If you’ve been following my campaign for State Representative, you know that I have strong opinions about how to move Massachusetts forward. These firm convictions are a big reason why I decided to…
A Newfound Respect For Teachers
The closing of schools across the country for the remainder of the school year because of the coronavirus has presented many challenges for educators and parents alike. School districts have been experimenting with the implementation of on-line classes in their…
Guest Op-Ed: A Reason to Smile… Behind Your Mask
By Mayor Brian M. Arrigo This week brought the first faint glimmer of light at the end of a dark tunnel that still stretches far out ahead of us. Governor Baker’s announcement that we will soon begin to see some…
Guest Op-Ed: Supporting Nurses – Through Actions, Not Just Words
By Joe Gravellese In recent weeks, we’ve all gone out of our way to show our appreciation for nurses – and rightfully so. From a military flyover, to tributes on the field at Fenway Park, to Facebook posts from public…
Guest Op-Ed: Saving the Waters of the US
By Jack Clarke There are almost one hundred law suits pending against the Trump Administration as it does its best to recklessly dismantle America’s common-sense public health and environmental protections. In addition to taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic by…
Letter to the Editor
An Open Letter to Gov. Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, and All Mass. Representatives and Senators Dear Editor, We’re a group of owners and managers of restaurants and related companies. We want to reopen restaurants, safely and legally, on May…
This Sunday Is Mother’s Day
During this time of unprecedented upheaval because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the rituals that most of us traditionally follow either have been eliminated or drastically changed because of the need to practice physical distancing. So too, the manner in which…
This Is No Time For Hooverism
Herbert Hoover had been President for about seven months when the stock market crashed in October, 1929. Although there have been many causes attributed to the onset of the Great Depression, the crash generally is viewed as the trigger point…
Guest Op-Ed: Mother’s Day, in Quarantine
By Brian M. Arrigo Like St. Patrick’s Day, Easter Sunday, and Opening Day at Fenway Park, Mother’s Day 2020 will be different than any before. Restaurants won’t be packed with families giving Mom a break from the kitchen. The stores…
Op-Ed: Isn’t it a Bit Ironic?
By Jessica Giannino These are truly unprecedented times. COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on our lives and safety. Tom Brady is no longer a Patriot. There’s a shortage of toilet paper. Hand sanitizer is as valuable as a semi-precious stone.…
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims Down for the Second Week: More Than 600,000 Have Filed Claims since March 15
Special to the Journal Massachusetts had 80,153 individuals file an initial claim for unemployment insurance from April 12 to April 18. This represented a decrease of 22% over the previous week as most of the workers who have been laid…
Allowing the States to Go Bankrupt Is a Really Bad Idea
One of the most glaring shortcomings thus far of the stimulus and disaster packages that have been passed by Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been the failure to provide assistance to the states. Every state in the…
Guest Op-Ed: For Graduates, a Year to Remember
By Brian Arrigo The Covid-19 pandemic is a thief. It has stolen loved ones from our families, deprived us of our freedom, and ripped away our sense of social assurance. It has caused heartache and devastating financial adversity. But for…
Guest Op-Ed: Thoughts for a Better Future
By Anthony D’ambrosio The COVID-19 crisis has brought American society to a grinding halt. In just a few short weeks, we have lost thousands of lives, businesses have closed, schools have been suspended, and we find ourselves in an incredibly…
Guest Op-Ed: Pathways to Good Jobs: My Plan to Expand Access to Vocational and Technical Education
By Joe Gravellese There are over 3200 students on waiting lists to attend vocational and technical schools in Massachusetts. Each year, students from our district sweat out the admissions process to get into Northeast Metro Tech. This is a policy…