ORANGE A 95-year-old man was killed and his wife seriously injured in an apparent home invasion discovered Thursday.Thomas A. Harty and his wife, Joanna Fisher, are listed as residents of 581 East River St. the home that was cordoned off by police.
In three Massachusetts cities that ‘decriminalized’ psychedelics, police say public health was already prioritized over enforcement, and arrest volume was low
Updated 6:00 AM;
In Northampton, it should be the lowest priority of police to investigate, or arrest any person for planting, purchasing, possessing or in other ways interacting with entheogenic plants, the City Council declared two weeks ago.
In Cambridge, no city official should use public resources to enforce laws banning entheogens, or natural psychedelics, the City Council there said in early February, following a similar resolution in Somerville two weeks prior.
But interviews with police officials in Northampton and Cambridge indicate that, regardless of intent, the resolutions generally had no significant effect on law enforcement operations. In both cases, police said they already didn’t prioritize enforcing bans on hallucinogens by making arrests or investigating low-level drug possession. The Somerville P
Former Easthampton High School students settle racial lawsuit against school and city
Updated Feb 27, 2021;
Two former Easthampton High School students have settled their lawsuit against the city of Easthampton and high school administrators four years after a schoolyard fight over racial slurs resulted in a student of color being arrested and charged as an adult, and prompted a state investigation that found, “a racially discriminatory disciplinary policy” at the high school.
Joshua Brown and Zade Jenkins sued the city, school department, Easthampton High School Principal Kevin Burke, Police Office Rick Rogalski, School Superintendent Nancy Follansbee and Police Chief Robert Alberti charging they failed to protect students of color after Brown’s March 2017 fight with a white student.
Orange man arraigned in stabbing incident to undergo competency evaluation
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ORANGE The Orange man who police say entered the home of a 71-year-old woman and repeatedly stabbed and punched her on Monday has been sent to Bridgewater State Hospital for evaluations regarding his competency and criminal responsibility.
James Gonzalez, 29, of Prentiss Street, appeared in Orange District Court on Tuesday to be arraigned for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person 60 or older, armed assault to murder a person 60 or older, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, assault and battery on a person 60 or older, and two counts of assault and battery with dangerous weapon, according to a press release from Northwestern District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Mary Carey.