By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Dandenong South commercial caterer I Cook Foods claims its forced shutdown was illegally based on a “non-existent” report by the health department.
According to the state’s food act, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton was required to be satisfied by “a report by an authorised officer” prior to issuing the closure order on 22 February 2019.
ICF director Ian Cook, who has launched a $50 million lawsuit against the Department of Health – says the department conceded there was “no one report”.
“This means the whole closure was illegal – end of story.”
He says the department gave contradictory evidence to the Supreme Court of Victoria that the report had been seen by Deputy Chief Health Officer Angie Bone.
By Madeline Hughes mhughes@andovertownsman.com Mar 11, 2021
Mar 11, 2021
The state is delaying MCAS tests this year for elementary and middle-school students, but Andover says the delay is not good enough.
The town s school officials and teachers want the tests canceled because of disruption to learning caused by the pandemic.
Jeff Riley, state commissioner of elementary and secondary education, announced the MCAS delay Friday. The announcement comes as Andover s School Committee and teachers union call on the state to cancel the tests. More than 20 other Massachusetts school districts have made similar requests. We call for a moratorium on MCAS testing for the 2020-2021 school year so all students can benefit from their time being focused on direct instruction, the School Committee wrote in a resolution passed unanimously last week.
Teachers association, district call for targeted approach
By Madeline Hughes mhughes@andovertownsman.com  Mar 11, 2021
Mar 11, 2021
Teachers unions across the Merrimack Valley are celebrating access to the coronavirus vaccine after federal and state officials said educators and other school employees can receive their first COVID-19 shot within the month.
Last week after an announcement from President Joe Biden, CVS pharmacies began opening up appointments to educators and other school staff in the Commonwealth. More appointments were made available starting Thursday, when Gov. Charlie Baker announced eligible to get in line at state-run sites starting March 11.
Thus the hunt for appointments began.