Chamber News

State House News – County commissioners in parts of Massachusetts where they still exist are used to managing relatively modest budgets, using funds collected through local taxes and fees to maintain courthouses, support regional schools or to manage pensions for employees. But with $1.3 billion earmarked in the federal stimulus law for counties around the state,…

Boston Globe – Struggling renters just got more time to sort out their finances. The Biden administration has extended a ban on many evictions for another three months, just days before it was set to expire. Citing the ongoing pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control said it will continue the moratorium until the end of June.…

WGBH – There is little transmission of COVID-19 in the state’s schools, according to Gov. Charlie Baker. The Baker Administration released a report that found a 0.76 percent test positivity rate in schools throughout Massachusetts that took part in the state’s pooled testing program, which screens samples from students and staff to determine if the virus…

Boston Globe – Teenagers 16 and older should be prioritized for a coronavirus vaccine and schools should hold vaccination clinics, Boston Superintendent Brenda Cassellius told US Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. “High school students are struggling,” Cassellius said. “They’re isolated.” The vaccine “would bring some normalcy to their lives.” Cassellius made her appeal during a visit with…

The Daily Press – Boston Mayor Kim Janey announced a Vaccine Equity Grant Initiative Friday that is designed to increase access and awareness among communities disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program — a joint effort between Janey, the Boston Public Health Commission and the Office of Health and Human Services — includes $1.5 million…

CBS Boston – Pfizer says that its COVID-19 vaccine is 100-percent effective in children ages 12 to 15. Right now their two-shot vaccine is approved for people 16 and older. But the company now hopes to expand that to ages 12 and up after preliminary results from this small study. Pfizer said 2,260 children ages 12…

Boston Globe – The universe of Massachusetts residents eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine dramatically expanded on Monday as appointments opened to people 55 and older and those with one qualifying health condition, which now includes anyone who qualifies as overweight. Massachusetts health officials on Friday added being overweight to the list of health conditions that allow someone to…

WGBH – On Monday, thousands of elementary students headed back to classrooms full-time, many for the first time in months. For parents and students, it’s a mixed bag of emotions — especially as coronavirus cases tick back up. Dr. Fatima Watt is the director of behavioral health services at Franciscan Children’s in Boston. She said talking…

President Biden and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) director are sounding the alarm on rising coronavirus cases across the country, urging people to not let their guard down and “just hold on a little longer” amid the vaccine rollout. Virus case counts in the past week spiked by 10 percent across the country, and cases…

As President Joe Biden signed the PPP Extension Act of 2021 into law today, extending the Paycheck Protection Program an additional two months to May 31, 2021, and then providing an additional 30-day period for the SBA to process applications that are still pending, Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, said: “Today, President Biden…