![A group of children stood outside the State House Wednesday holding signs as parents rallied for an in-person education in the fall. [Chris Van Buskirk/SHNS]](https://www.statehousenews.com/content/frontpage_photo/2020/08-12_school_inperson_rally.jpg "A group of children stood outside the State House Wednesday holding signs as parents rallied for an in-person education in the fall. [Chris Van Buskirk/SHNS]")
A small group of parents gathered outside the State House Wednesday, urging education officials to issue a metric-based approach to guide the reopening of local school systems for in-person learning.
Thirty-five percent of Latinx Massachusetts residents have gotten food from a food bank since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to a new poll, and 12 percent reported someone in the household had experienced symptoms of the respiratory disease.
During the height of the COVID-19 crisis, the Healthy Waltham organization regularly helped about 700 families access a stable source of nutritious food. The need has not decreased much since the peak: to this day, the group still has about 600 families in its support network, executive director Myriam Michel said during a virtual panel on Wednesday.
Boston may have lost up to 22 to 35 percent of its permanent child care capacity as a result of economic hardship brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the executive director of the city's Women's Advancement office said Wednesday.
When Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday rolled out a new color-coded metric of COVID-19 risk levels in each Massachusetts community, he suggested those new labels would play a role in how cities and towns think about the approaching school year.
![A 2020 EEE Risk map from the Department of Public Health shows the Middleborough and Carver municipalities with "critical" risk levels. [DPH]](https://www.statehousenews.com/content/frontpage_photo/2020/08-12_EEERiskMap.jpg "A 2020 EEE Risk map from the Department of Public Health shows the Middleborough and Carver municipalities with \"critical\" risk levels. [DPH]")
A task force created under a new law will help address gaps in surveillance of mosquito-borne illnesses, a step that the state's epidemiologist described as key as eastern equine encephalitis virus returns to the region.
Mindful that a decision is needed "fairly quickly," Boston Mayor Marty Walsh on Wednesday ruled out the option of schools in the city reopening under a full in-person model and said equity, data and quality need to guide efforts as students resume classes next month in a system with 125 separate schools.
A summertime advertisement from Cape Cod Community College makes its case in plain financial terms: one course at the school will cost $670 during the upcoming pandemic-affected semester, compared to more than $2,000 at many four-year colleges.
[Story Developing] Thirty-five percent of Latinx Massachusetts residents have gotten food from a food bank since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to a new poll, and 12 percent reported someone in the household had experienced symptoms of the respiratory disease.
[Story Developing] Saying a decision is needed "fairly quickly," Boston Mayor Marty Walsh ruled out the notion that schools in the city will reopen under a full in-person model and said equity and quality need to guide efforts as city students resume classes next month.
Former Vice President Joseph Biden chose Tuesday to team up with California Sen. Kamala Harris as his vice presidential running mate as the Democrat prepares to accept his party's nomination for president next week, embracing a former rival and making an historic choice that means U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren's future remains in the Senate -- at least for now.
The federal government has reached an agreement with Cambridge-based Moderna to manufacture and deliver 100 million doses of the company's COVID-19 vaccine candidate, President Donald Trump announced early Tuesday evening. "The federal government will own these vaccine doses," Trump said. "We're buying them."
Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday voiced concern with President Trump's plan for funding a scaled-down version of the nation's enhanced unemployment benefit and said it's important for Congress to reach agreement on a fourth stimulus bill to support states and the health care system.
![Gov. Charlie Baker looked up at a television screen displaying the new color-coded COVID-19 infection rate map during a Tuesday news conference. [Sam Doran/SHNS]](https://www.statehousenews.com/content/frontpage_photo/2020/08-11_Baker_map.jpg "Gov. Charlie Baker looked up at a television screen displaying the new color-coded COVID-19 infection rate map during a Tuesday news conference. [Sam Doran/SHNS]")
Gov. Charlie Baker launched a new colored-coded system to label cities and towns based of the severity of their COVID-19 infection rates on Tuesday, initiating a targeted approach to virus containment that he said should help inform and guide the state, communities and their residents in making decisions about how to contain the coronavirus's spread.
... The incoming head of criminal investigations at the IRS has ties to Boston ... the attorney general's new fair labor division chief comes with experience in wage, overtime, sick time and public bid law oversight ... a former top State House aide is leaving Boston City Hall to work at a non-profit in the Longwood medical area ... a recent Northeastern graduate is working to unseat one of the four remaining Senate Republicans ... the former head grower at Sira Naturals has been named director of cultivation at Revolutionary Clinics ...
UMass Boston alumni and friends banded together in May to find a way to honor former interim chancellor Katherine Newman and on Monday announced they had raised $125,000 to fund an endowment that will commemorate her service and support emergency student aid.
In a decision that could forecast a similar outcome in Massachusetts, a California judge ordered ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft to classify their drivers as employees rather than independent contractors.
[Story Developing] The state has identified 33 communities where worrying trends in COVID-19 infection rates warrant targeted intervention efforts, and the state plans to offer those municipalities assistance with testing, contact tracing and public awareness campaigns, Gov. Charlie Baker said Tuesday.
One way or another, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren will be a featured speaker on the third night of the virtual Democratic National Convention next week when the party will officially nominate Joe Biden as its nominee for president.
Congresswoman Katherine Clark highlighted a provision in the recently passed House appropriations bill on Tuesday that would help homeowners living with the noise of airplanes coming and going from Logan Airport update their noise insulation if it's more than 27 years old.