RIVERA on REOPENING plans Virus sparks call to expand SICK LEAVE Barnstable won’t ‘WRITE OFF SUMMER’ – Politico

GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Happy Monday!

RIVERA: REOPENING TO BE BASED ON GUIDELINES Reopening the Massachusetts economy will hinge less on specific industries and more on whether individual businesses can adhere to a list of guidelines to protect employees and customers during the coronavirus pandemic, Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera said Sunday.

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Rivera is a member of Gov. Charlie Baker's Reopening Advisory Board, a group of public health officials, business leaders and others tasked with advising the Baker administration on how to reopen the state economy in phases. Rivera made the comments during an episode of WCVB's "On the Record" that aired Sunday.

"Everyone has a responsibility, not only to themselves, but to the enterprise and their customers," Rivera said. "If we give them the guidelines and the frameworks around that, then they can make decisions on their own, responsibly, to open it up."

Baker ordered nonessential businesses closed on March 24, a directive that expires a week from today. The governor has extended the order twice as coronavirus cases increased in the state the first deadline was April 7, the second was May 4. But cases and deaths related to Covd-19 now are on the decline, according to state data, and officials are eyeing a slow reopening of the economy.

Rivera acknowledged feeling pressure as the advisory group works on a plan, and there are plenty of opinions on how to move forward. Golf courses were allowed to reopen with strict guidelines after growing public pressure, and gun shops were able to do business over the weekend after a victory in federal court. At least one church in Worcester has held services despite warnings to remain closed, and more than 200 religious leaders asked Baker to reopen churches last week. The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce has called on the Baker administration for more clarity.

"The pressure is from all corners of the commonwealth," Rivera said. "The biggest pressure should be, 'Are the public health measures correct?'" Rivera said he's particularly concerned with putting essential workers, including those who work in grocery stores or prepare and deliver food, in harm's way if a gradual reopening leads to another uptick in cases.

"Society isn't made up of businesses," Rivera said. "This society, this economy, is made up of people."

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Health officials announce 139 new coronavirus deaths in Massachusetts Sunday and 1,050 COVID-19 cases, by Douglas Hook, MassLive.com: Public health officials announced 139 new coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday, bringing the statewide death toll since the pandemic began to 4,979. Officials also confirmed another 1,050 new cases of the virus, and 11,852 additional tests, for a total of at least 77,793 cases and 388,389 tests conducted statewide.

A new analysis: Coronavirus death rate surged in Massachusetts locations that already faced challenges, by Andrew Ryan and Kay Lazar, Boston Globe: Life can be cruel. Those already struggling are often the first to feel the brunt of new hardships and disparities. But the coronavirus crisis has made this ugly truth inarguable. A new type of analysis of deaths during the early weeks of the pandemic finds that the mortality rate surged higher in Massachusetts cities, towns, and ZIP codes with larger concentrations of poverty, economic segregation, people of color, and crowded housing.

Maura Healey warns landlords about intimidating tenants during the pandemic, Associated Press: Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is warning landlords not to try to kick tenants out of their homes during the outbreak. The Democrats office says that despite a new state law temporarily restriction evictions, theres been an uptick in reports of landlords trying to intimidate tenants into leaving. The new law prohibits evictions during the ongoing public emergency unless a tenant has broken the terms of their lease or committed a crime that put other residents at risk.

Restaurants losing money on delivery orders, by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: El Jefes Taqueria, a casual Mexican restaurant in Cambridges Harvard Square, used to generate about a quarter of its sales through home delivery. Because of the commissions paid to delivery servicesapps like GrubHub and DoorDash the restaurant barely broke even on those sales.

Advocates seek expanded sick leave, by Christian M. Wade, The Salem News: Labor advocates are pushing to expand a voter-approved paid sick leave law to give frontline workers more time off during the COVID-19 outbreak. The law, which went into effect in 2015, requires Massachusetts businesses with more than 11 workers to provide 40 hours of paid sick leave a year. Businesses with 10 or fewer employees must provide 40 hours of unpaid sick leave a year. Advocates say the time off isn't sufficient, especially with self-quarantine rules that force people stay home at least 14 days if they believe they're sick.

Legislators unsuccessfully seek extended help for Cape Regency, by Cynthia McCormick, Cape Cod Times: A Centerville woman says she has asked state officials to close a COVID-19 unit at Cape Regency Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, where the staff has been hit so hard by the coronavirus that Cape legislators unsuccessfully asked a National Guard medical unit to extend its stay.

In an immigrant community battling coronavirus, essential means vulnerable, Jose A. Del Real, The Washington Post: In normal times, tens of thousands of service industry workers span out across the metro area from their homes in Chelsea to clock shifts as grocery cashiers, landscapers and restaurant back-of-the-housers. While the physical weight of the economy has long fallen on the shoulders of communities like Chelsea, they are especially vulnerable during the coronavirus pandemic.

Another casualty of the virus: scientific research, by David Abel, Boston Globe: Ecologists have been unable to gather water samples vital to understanding the impact of climate change on state forests. Marine biologists who regularly collect data about conditions in the Gulf of Maine have been stuck on land, while others who do aerial surveys critical to monitoring endangered whales have been grounded. With much of the world still shut down, the coronavirus has hampered the painstaking work of many scientists whose findings rely on regularly collected data and seasonal experiments.

Coronavirus in Massachusetts: Leaders of hard-hit cities push for regional, phased reopening, by Lisa Kashinsky, Boston Herald: Leaders of major Massachusetts cities and those hard hit by the coronavirus crisis are calling for a regional, phased approach to reopening and are cautioning residents and business owners that strict public health guidelines are likely to be in effect long after shutdowns lift.

Life inside the Quality Inn turned isolation hotel in Revere, by Zoe Greenberg, Boston Globe: In different times you could show up to the Revere Quality Inn, right off Route 1, and book a double room for around $200. Youd get access to the breakfast buffet and an indoor pool. These days, the budget hotel looks much like it always did from the outside benign beige exterior, neat shrubs lining the front entrance. But inside, the building has been transformed.

Mass. gun shops reopen: Second Amendment should not be suspended during a health pandemic, by John Hilliard, Boston Globe: Gun shops across Massachusetts were allowed to reopen at noon Saturday, following a federal judges decision that found state officials overreached when they ordered the stores shuttered with other businesses termed nonessential during the coronavirus pandemic. Among them was Toby Leary, the co-owner of Cape Gun Works in Hyannis, one of the gun retailers in a federal lawsuit filed last month against Governor Charlie Baker.

Divorcing couples have First Amendment right to disparage each other on social media, SJC rules, by John R. Ellement, Boston Globe: Divorcing couples have a First Amendment right to disparage each other on social media even if probate judges are worried the bitterness will impact the mental health of children caught between their warring parents, the states highest court has ruled.

Elizabeth Warren, other Massachusetts Democrats probe Walmart on store with more than 80 coronavirus cases, by Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Business: Senator Elizabeth Warren and other Democratic members of Massachusetts' congressional delegation are pressing Walmart on its handling of a store in the state where 81 workers tested positive for the coronavirus and another location where an employee died. We are writing to express serious concern about your company's failure to keep Walmart employees in Massachusetts safe amidst the coronavirus, 11 House and Senate Democrats wrote to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon Thursday in a letter obtained by CNN Business.

Markey says one stimulus check not enough, calls for $2k per month, by Andy Rosen, Boston Globe: U.S. Senator Ed Markey said Sunday that he wants the federal government to send as much as $5.7 trillion in direct monthly payments to American households, a measure that he says is intended to match the enormity of the economic crisis that has attended the COVID-19 pandemic. The Massachusetts Democrat joined Senate colleagues Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders last week to propose a bill that would provide $2,000 per month to people with incomes below $120,000 in the U.S. until the crisis subsides.

Coronavirus has been devastating for low-income families, says Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy, by Audrey McNamara, CBS News: Massachusetts Congressman Joe Kennedy III said on CBSN Friday that the federal government needs to do more to address the fact that the coronavirus pandemic has disproportionately affected low-income Americans. He says further financial and medical assistance are needed.

Mass. cannabis executives look forward to safely reopening after meeting with governors advisory board, by Melissa Hanson, MassLive.com: A group of Massachusetts cannabis industry representatives on Saturday has made its pitch to a reopening advisory board appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker. The Commonwealth Dispensary Association, among those at the meeting, says it has a COVID-19 safety plan that incorporates national best practices and input from all its 38 members.

Herald: STAYING AFLOAT, Globe: Lockdown halts essential research," "Virus deaths across state near 5,000.

Holyoke Soldiers Home administrators move toward recovery phase as coronavirus infection rate stabilizes, by Jeanette DeForge, Springfield Republican: Over the past week three more residents at the Holyoke Soldiers Home have died of COVID-19 and two more employees have tested positive for the disease, but the infection rate of veterans has remained the same. Currently, 74 residents have died of the coronavirus and an additional 77 veterans have tested positive in what is believed to be the worst case of COVID-19 infecting a health care facility in the country, according to officials for the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

At UMass Amherst, an unusual commencement, by Jeremy C. Fox, Boston Globe: The global pandemic may have forced the cancellation of its commencement ceremony, but the University of Massachusetts Amherst honored the Class of 2020 with a virtual celebration Friday filled with all the spirit and pride reserved for graduation day. In a 19-minute video streamed online, UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and Marty Meehan, president of the UMass system, were joined by Hollywood stars, New England Patriots players, elected officials, and accomplished alumni in the universitys 150th celebration of its graduates.

Senate candidate state Rep. John Velis endorsed by District Attorney Anthony Gulluni, by Jeanette DeForge, Springfield Republican: Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni has endorsed current State Rep. John C. Velis in his bid for the Second Hampden and Hampshire District State Senate seat. Velis, a Democrat from Westfield, and John Cain, a Republican from Southwick and political newcomer, are running for the senate seat that was left vacant in January when Donald Humason left to become the mayor of Westfield. The election is to be held May 19.

Worcester to allow some construction projects to restart, by Kim Ring, Telegram & Gazette: Some construction projects, halted weeks ago because of the COVID-19 outbreak, may begin to come back to life this week, City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. said. While Gov. Charlie Bakers restrictions for construction projects had allowed some to continue, city officials had asked on April 3, out of an abundance of caution, that work be stopped.

New homeless shelter met with surprise, by Bill Kirk, Eagle-Tribune: When Mayor Neil Perry learned early last week that the city of Lawrence was opening a wet shelter for homeless people at the Days Inn on Pelham Street, he made a few calls. None of them were returned, he said. My office reached out to the mayor of Lawrence and the Lawrence Community Development office to inquire why no city of Methuen official was involved in the planning for such a shelter, Perry said in a memo to the City Council last week.

Barnstable not willing to write off summer, by Geoff Spillane, Cape Cod Times: Barnstable Town Manager Mark Ells is by no means ready to call the summer of 2020 a wipeout in the Capes largest town. I dont want to shut everything down if theres a way to do things safely, Ells said earlier this week, emphasizing all activities would comply with any orders issued by Gov. Charlie Baker. I want to remain optimistic and hope there are events that can still be held."

Quincy officials: Closing Wollaston didnt cut a single person from the beach, by Mary Whitfill, The Patriot Ledger: City officials say warm weather and sunny days have brought crowds to the closed Wollaston Beach during the past week, leading to numerous complaints from residents who say their streets have filled up with the cars of beach-goers unable to park along Quincy Shore Drive. Wollaston was one of several state-run beaches closed by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation last month after reports of crowds gathering in defiance of Gov. Charlie Bakers stay-at-home order.

TRANSITIONS Cassidy Ballard, a Warren 2020 alum, joins the New Hampshire Democratic Party's organizing team.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Phil Sanzo, Bryan Barash, Greg Piatelli, Nicole Landset Blank and Kasey Poulin, Jay Gonzalez for Governor and Warren 2020 alum (h/t Emma Crowley).

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RIVERA on REOPENING plans Virus sparks call to expand SICK LEAVE Barnstable won't 'WRITE OFF SUMMER' - Politico