HINGHAM, MA, The Arc of the South Shore, a family-oriented, community-based non-profit providing information, referrals, and community programs for individuals with disabilities, now celebrating its 75th year, is grateful to the United Way of Greater Plymouth County for a $6,285 grant in support of its Community Based Day Services/Pathways to Possibilities program.
The grant will help fund social enrichment, health and fitness activities, and community-based art and culture experiences for individuals in the program, one that enables participants to enrich their lives and enjoy a full range of skills and social enhancement activities.
“Our deepest appreciation to the United Way of Greater Plymouth County for this generous grant,” said Elizabeth Sandblom, CEO of The Arc of the South Shore. “This funding directly supports opportunities for individuals to build confidence, learn new skills, and connect socially. We’re grateful for United Way’s commitment to programs that enhance independence, inclusion, and overall quality of life.”
United Way grants are awarded to partner agencies in support of programs that enhance United Way’s priority areas of education, health, and financial stability. The grants are locally raised through United Way’s annual campaign and distributed to organizations that demonstrate measurable outcomes, strong community reach, and alignment with United Way’s mission to improve lives and strengthen communities.

We witness it daily: ICE officials astonishingly disregard judicial orders against immigrant detention while judges in Massachusetts let them get away with it.
The legal “presumption of regularity,” a basis of American law, assumes that government officials, among others, behave lawfully and with honesty by following established policies and rules. However, in Massachusetts alone, Bearing Witness @ICE in Burlington has uncovered more than 20 cases, spanning 14 judges, in which this presumption was ignored, with 30 court orders willfully violated by ICE officials without facing any consequences.
On Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, Bearing Witness @ICE in Burlington will run a “Hold ICE in Contempt” day, in which organizers and standout attendees will urge Massachusetts judges to hold ICE accountable for violations of court orders. The event takes place at 1000 District Avenue in Burlington, MA, in front of the ICE Field Office beginning at 11 a.m.
Guest speakers Jared Berezin and Todd Palmer will share their exclusive research and findings of several powerful cases where court orders were completely ignored by ICE – and without any consequences. Berezin, co-founder of Bearing Witness, and Todd Palmer, founder of Justice 4 All Thursdays at ICE, will share details of these cases in which ICE blatantly ignored judges’ orders on habeas cases, such as transferring detainees out of state and refusing to provide warrants. At the conclusion of their address, attendees will be provided with postcards to send to
U.S. District of Massachusetts judges urging them to hold ICE in contempt for future violations.
Justices in Massachusetts, and elsewhere, have the authority to hold individuals and agencies in contempt of their court and issue subsequent fines. Earlier this year, a federal judge in Minnesota found a Department of Justice attorney in contempt for withholding a detainee’s identification documents, with a fine of $500 per day until the documents were returned. ICE quickly complied and returned the documents. This would not have happened without ICE being found in contempt and slapped with a punitive ruling.
Berezin and Palmer will share specific recommendations for Massachusetts judges to hold ICE in contempt and have them face repercussions for their violations:
1. When issuing a court order, include the penalty government respondents will face if violated.
2. For habeas cases, issue an order of “stay of transfer or removal” upon assignment.
3. When releasing people from custody, explicitly order ICE to return their documents and personal effects.
4. Follow District of New Jersey Judge Christine O’Hearn’s example and no longer blindly accept statements of fact from the U.S. Government officials unless they are made under oath by a named individual with personal knowledge of the situation.
The weekly Bearing Witness @ ICE Burlington standouts take place every Wednesday, from 11
a.m. to 1 p.m., at the ICE field office at 1000 District Avenue in Burlington, MA. The program begins with professional musicians who perform and use call-and-response engagement with those gathered. Guest speakers then address the crowd of people of all ages who hold signs in support of immigrants. Between noon-12 p.m., the loudspeakers are turned to face the ICE building, and all who are interested are invited to come to the mic and read portions of the U.S. Constitution. At 12:30 p.m., the crowd lines up and marches peacefully to the busy intersection of Mall Road to hold signs and wave to cars and passers-by. The standout concludes at 1p.m. when the crowd marches back and people disperse.
Bearing Witness @ ICE Burlington was started by one couple – co-founders Jared and Laurie Berezin – in April 2025 and has grown weekly to a record 930 at a previous standout. Those who gather stand outside the ICE field office, where immigrants have been detained illegally, to express shame and outrage at egregious, illegal, and cruel ICE behavior. They bear witness to the lack of due process afforded immigrants and the unconstitutional actions of the U.S. government.
Learn more about Bearing Witness @ ICE Burlington and upcoming events at BearingWitnessNE.org.

The Kingston Public Library Local History Collections is hosting an open house on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, at 6 p.m. at the Adams Center (33 Summer St., Kingston). It will feature the exciting new exhibit, A History of Shipbuilding in Kingston Massachusetts.
This new exhibit features many historic archival materials from the Library’s Local History Collections. The exhibit primarily focuses on Kingston’s historic shipbuilding industry and tradition, and the Town’s rich maritime history. There is an emphasis on historic Kingston boatbuilders and specific vessels built in Kingston along the Jones River. Some of the prolific Kingston shipbuilders from the early period of Kingston’s boatbuilding history featured in this exhibit include: the Drew Family, Joseph Holmes, and Lysander Bartlett. Additionally, the Delano Family, who owned a vast number of Kingston-built ships, and were heavily involved in the local shipping industry are featured in the exhibit. Some of the historic Kingston-built vessels from the early period highlighted include: the bark Turbo, the schooners Leonidas and Cordova, and the massive ship Herculean. Also, this exhibit will feature the Kingston built Revolutionary War ship, brig Independence, which is on the Kingston Town Seal.
This exhibit will also feature the later period of Kingston’s shipbuilding history, which focused more on smaller ships and pleasure sailboats, like the famous catboats built by George W. Shiverick and Kingston lobster boats built by Edward Ransom and Nathan Watson. Lastly, this exhibit will highlight Kingston’s shipbuilding legacy with the Kingston Yacht Club and recent restoration projects of Kingston boats.
This new exhibit will be up and viewable Wednesday, Sept. 16 through Friday, Sept. 30 at the Adams Center. There will be a talk and presentation on the exhibit by the Archivist on Saturday, Sept. 19 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. The exhibit hours are: Mondays 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Tuesdays 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Wednesdays 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Thursdays 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and by appointment.
For more information contact Nick Cotoulas at ncotoulas@kingstonma.gov or 781-585-0517 x6277.

STOW—The Department of Fire Services announced that Massachusetts fire departments have achieved the fourth-highest reporting rate in the country for the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS). 90% of Massachusetts fire departments have reported more than 1.3 million apparatus responses to more than 788,000 incidents. This achievement reflects the state’s commitment to leading the nation in public safety data collection and will help local and state officials make informed decisions about operations, policies, fire prevention messaging, grant applications and budget proposals, and updates to fire and life safety codes.
A project of the U.S. Fire Administration and UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute, NERIS provides unprecedented public access to incident response data through its newly launched public website. Unlike its 50-year-old predecessor, which required a lengthy data validation process, NERIS allows users to view near-real-time incident data from cities and towns across the country and conduct independent analysis using dozens of data fields.
“Adopting an entirely new data reporting system was a seismic shift for fire departments across the country,” said State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine. “They have done a phenomenal job of adapting to NERIS and bringing Massachusetts to the nation’s forefront. I also want to recognize our staff for helping to bring the state’s fire service onboard in a matter of months. The data that local fire departments are reporting will support funding requests, effective resource allocation, community risk reduction efforts, and much more.”
NERIS rolled out in geographic phases throughout 2025. Most Massachusetts fire departments began transitioning to the new system in October and several volunteered to serve as early adopters, including Belchertown, Beverly, Bourne, Dudley, Gill, Greenfield, Huntington, Pittsfield, Sandisfield, Springfield, and Walpole.
The new system replaces the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS), and its Massachusetts-level system, the Massachusetts Fire Incident Reporting System (MFIRS). Under the former systems, it could take months to obtain reliable incident and response statistics.
NERIS will also help local, state, and regional agencies understand the impact of large-scale events and prepare for increased emergency activity during major celebrations, disasters, and other incidents. This summer, NERIS implemented a “special incident modifier” to collect information about emergency responses related to World Cup matches, watch parties and other gatherings. During that event period, Massachusetts fire departments reported 65 related incidents across six cities and towns, including 31 medical calls, 25 service calls and two elevator rescues.

Thank you to all who entered the First Annual Plympton-Halifax-Kingston Express Newspaper Poetry Contest! Your submissions were beautiful and enjoyed by myself and our guest judge, Dr. Amy Menville. We express our gratitude to Dr. Menville for her time and expertise! Congratulations to our First-Place Poem, “From This Day Forward”, By: David Woods! David will receive a free year subscription to the Express Newspaper. The Second-Place Poem is, “The Beach”, By: Frank Beatrice. Coming in as the Third-Place Poem is: “Sea Mews”, By: Laurie A. Raad Nikopoulos. Our Honorable Mention Poem is “New England Summers”, By: Aliza Nantais. We applaud our winners and all who entered for sharing your talent, creativity, and meaningful sentiments about the season that is a way of life in New England. We look forward to next year’s contest and may the rest of your summertime livin’ be easy!

First Place Poem:
From This Day Forward
By: David Woods

The one thing better, come what may,
Than waiting for this special day
Is dreaming of all the wonderful things
That life from this day forward brings

A pilgrim of your soul I’ll be;
I long the quiet depths to see.
Each dawn I will awake to know
Our love will fresher, firmer grow

Through the inner garden of your mind,
I’ll stroll among your thoughts to find,
That each toward the sun they face
Perchance there’s one for me someplace

The blossoms dance and want to play,
Your petals stretch to greet the day
You’ll bless our home with happiness made
From thoughts whose colors never fade

Then down the lane I’ll travel along
To a beach where moonbeams sing their song
If clouds they come, they’ll soon be passed;
Warm sun and puddles of joy will last.

Then on that shore I’ll hope to see
What in the distance seems like thee.
I wait so long to fee you near,
In joy we meet, my eyes they tear.

Together now, to have and to hold
With plenty of time to grow younger old
From winter to spring and summer to fall
My love I’ll try to give you all.

(This poem was written by David Woods to Betsy Wilber a month prior to our wedding day, August 12, 1972. By this coming August 12th, we will have been happily married 54 years.)

Second Place Poem:
The Beach
(Small Wonders)
By: Frank Beatrice

I see you running through the sand
with not a care in the world;
stopping to collect a sea shell,
then two, then three, then more,
(trying to hold all in your little arms)
dropping the first, replacing it with another.

You marvel at all you find,
a crab shell, a sand dollar, a coin,
treasures of all kinds.
You stop to survey the vastness,
then turn your attention to a new adventure.

You cautiously approach,
stepping into the cold mud,
watching it squish between your tiny toes.
The frigid water breaks over your little feet.
Shrieking with youthful laughter, you run back out,
flailing your little arms up and down,
trying desperately to shake off the cold shock;
then run back in again playing tag with the waves.
After several attempts, the ocean wins out.
You take a respite and reassess.

You run to me for reassurance and validation.
I dry your wet little body gently with your favorite towel
and warm your whole, purple, shivering being with a hug,
as you display your new found treasures with excitement
and a willingness to share.
Only after you are convinced that I am not abandoning you,
and you are fully secure, you leave your treasures in my trust
and run to do it all over again.

The freedom of youth, the excitement of innocence
laid bare for all to witness
and displayed with sheer happiness and wonder
in the vast openness without trepidation or apprehension.

Where did it all go as we grew?

(A summer day at the beach with my child)

Third Place Poem:
Sea Mews
By: Laurie A. Raad Nikopoulos

Sea Mews soaring high
Nature’s choreography
Above subtle waves.
Extended wings glide
An azure backdrop highlights
Flocks expressing flight.
Imagination
Freedom between land and sky
Guided by the wind.
One must not deny
Beautiful moments abound
Minds seeking nature.
Summer’s magical moments!

Honorable Mention Poem:
New England Summers
By: Aliza Nantais

Bogs, ponds, fires and the pups
and the friends and family in between.

For me New England’s summers are filled with these
Running and investigating cranberry bogs,
Accidently taking home snapping turtles from pounds,
Making extra money mowing lawns,
That’s a New England summer for me

Embracing the warm sun, reflecting in the mild nights
The smell of fire wood burning,
The sound of laughter and echoes of stories
The site of pups zooming around -stopping short to the smell of s’mores
That’s a New England summer for me

United and free is what a New England summer is for me
Days in the sun and water,
Nights filled with friends, family and neighbors stopping in and out
Sounds of fires crackling as marshmallows begin to golden and chocolate begins to melt
Sounds of dogs sniffing and sites of them looking longingly at you
That’s a New England summer for me

BOSTON – Representative Kathy LaNatra today announced that she supported legislation that revitalizes and invests strongly into the Commonwealth’s primary care system. Among its many provisions, House bill 5618 expands access to primary care, shifts the health care system toward prevention, invests in the health care workforce, supports hospitals and community health centers, improves affordability by lowering prescription drug costs, and increasing accountability across the health care system.
An Act strengthening primary care and advancing health care affordability establishes historic primary care investment targets, creates advanced primary care payment models that reward prevention and coordinated care, expands access to innovative models of care, creates an expedited determination of need process to expand equitable care access, and strengthens oversight to ensure primary care investments actually improve access, lower costs, and support a sustainable, patient-centered health care system.
“When primary care leads the way on patient wellness, the entire system benefits,” said State Representative Kathy LaNatra (D – Kingston). “This legislation will help move more of our health dollar toward high-value primary care that delivers better outcomes for patients at a lower cost. It invests in the care that keeps people healthy and prevents disease, it strengthens our primary care workforce to make sure every resident of the Commonwealth can access a primary care provider, and it ensures that pharmaceuticals remain accessible and affordable. I am also proud that biomarker access was included in this legislation, as a result of amazing grassroots advocacy by patients across the State who will benefit greatly from this change.  Thank you to Speaker Mariano, Chairman Lawn, and Representative Kilcoyne for their leadership on these important changes.”
Recognizing that access to care depends on having enough health care professionals, the bill invests $25 million to the Health Care Workforce Transformation Fund, providing direct funding for scholarships, student loan repayment, primary care career pathways, and workforce recruitment and retention. Prioritizing equity and promoting culturally-responsive care, the legislation provides competitive grants that encourage innovative care models through partnerships between colleges, vocational schools, hospitals, behavioral health providers, community health centers, and nonprofit organizations to strengthen the primary care workforce.
Expanding the allowable uses of the Commonwealth Federal Matching and Debt Reduction Fund to help the commonwealth respond to an estimated $3.5 billion loss of federal funding, this bill strengthens the Health Safety Net and helps to stabilize hospitals our most vulnerable. Further, the legislation improves reimbursement for federally qualified community health centers by requiring commercial insurers to pay no less than MassHealth rates for the same services, reducing longstanding underpayment and strengthening access to health care in underserved communities.
Transforming Primary Care through Increased Investment
The bill establishes statewide primary care investment targets that gradually increase spending to 9% by 2030, 12% by 2033 and 15% by 2036. It also:
• Creates an advanced primary care payment model and standards within DOI to support preventive care, continuity of care, and improved patient outcomes;
• Strengthens oversight by the Health Policy Commission to ensure increased investment improves access without increasing overall health care costs or insurance premiums;
• Requires carriers to adopt and offer a primary care payment model to primary care providers and practices; and
• Links progress on the statewide primary care target to the existing cost growth benchmark and authorizes the Health Policy Commission (HPC) to mandate certain health care entities to file and implement a primary care commitment to improve efficiency, increase primary care investment, and control health care costs.
Expanding Access to Community-Based Health Care
The legislation expands access to health care by strengthening community-based providers and allowing more patients to receive care where they live. The bill:
• Requires health insurers to cover mobile integrated health services, allowing patients to receive care in their homes and communities for chronic disease management, preventive care, and post-hospital follow-up;
• Creates an expedited determination of need process for hospitals serving the commonwealth’s most vulnerable residents to expand access to primary care, behavioral health, and maternal health services in communities with unmet health care needs, allowing qualifying projects to receive priority review and decisions within 60 days; and
• Improves reimbursement for federally qualified community health centers by requiring commercial insurers to pay no less than MassHealth rates for the same services, reducing longstanding underpayment and strengthening access in underserved communities.
Lowering Prescription Drug Costs
The bill also directly helps patients at the pharmacy counter, ensuring that the patient gets the full benefit of prescription drug rebates negotiated for them on their behalf at the point of sale. The bill also strengthens the oversight of PBMs:
• Reduces out-of-pocket prescription drug costs by requiring most manufacturer rebates to be applied at the pharmacy counter;
• Ensures patient payments count toward deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums, including payments made on a patient’s behalf, consistent with federal law;
• Strengthens oversight of PBMs by expanding regulation to affiliated entities within vertically integrated organizations; and
• Improves accountability by requiring annual compliance reporting to DOI and authorizing enforcement for violations.
Ensuring Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The bill establishes safeguards for AI in health insurance utilization review to ensure technology supports, not replaces, clinical decision-making. Specifically, the bill:
• Establishes statutory definitions for AI and automated utilization review tools to reduce the administrative burden on providers;
• Requires carriers and utilization review organizations to disclose their use of automated utilization review tools to both providers and the public, and to identify when such a tool was used in connection with an adverse determination; and
• Authorizes DOI to promulgate regulations, oversee compliance, and enforce protections.
The bill passed the House of Representatives 158-0 and goes back to the Senate for further consideration.