Arrests:
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 Joshua Sperling, of Cambridge, March 27, 11:40 a.m., arrested at Assembly Row on a charge of lewd, wanton and lascivious conduct.

More than 40 District Attorneys, members of law enforcement, and community program leaders participated in a roundtable at the Catholic Charities Teen Center in Dorchester’s Bowdoin-Geneva neighborhood. The discussion focused on statewide strategies for effective violence prevention and impactful community-based partnerships. — Photos courtesy of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security

The Healey-Driscoll Administration allocated $2 million for the newly created grant opportunity focused on improving quality of life, bolstering youth programming, reducing street violence, and preventing illegal drug distribution across Massachusetts. The Safer Communities Initiative is a collaborative public safety model that brings together prosecutors, state and local law enforcement, and community stakeholders to identify emerging trends in a community and develop results-driven programs to advance prevention, intervention, diversion, and enforcement.

Individuals and families in Massachusetts will receive their first state-funded extra Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payment on April 7, following Governor Healey’s signing of a supplemental budget that includes $130 million to create an offramp from the extra COVID SNAP benefits, known as SNAP Emergency Allotments. The Congressional Consolidated Appropriations Act 2023 ended these payments as of February 2023 and Massachusetts households received their last federal payment on March 2, 2023.

SHS launched an accreditation process in Fall 2022; Collaborative Conference is the next step in the multi-year process to attain accreditation by regional review board.

Somerville High School Interim Co-Principals Alicia Kersten and Sebastian LaGambina announced today that five educators from outside the Somerville Public Schools district will conduct an on-site Collaborative Conference visit to Somerville High School (SHS) on April 11 and 12. The Collaborative Conference is the next step in the Accreditation process conducted by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) Commission on Public Schools. Carl Johnson, Principal of Plainville High School in Plainville, CT, will chair the Collaborative Conference visiting team of educators. Johnson has had extensive experience in the association’s accreditation process.