Councilor Ricardo Arroyo put forward a hearing request at the body’s Wednesday meeting, where he discussed the potential for a pilot district in Roslindale Village, a shopping and dining area where parking meters will soon be added by the city.

“If we are going to create meters, which I think help move traffic along and do help, they should also take that money that comes from those meters — that are coming from folks frequenting that area or those businesses, and reinvest them into beautification projects within those areas,” Arroyo said.

If a pilot program were to be established, it could then be implemented in other districts, according to Arroyo, who represents Roslindale on the City Council and learned of the concept from Roslindale Village Main Streets representatives.

While the state authorized the use of parking benefit districts through the Municipal Modernization Act in 2016, the City of Boston has chosen not to move forward with the concept, which advocates describe as a type of parking reform that frees up high-demand curb space and benefits people paying the meter fees.

The districts have been “effectively utilized” by three other Massachusetts communities, Arlington, Brookline and Reading, “to manage parking supply and generate resources for commercial area improvements,” Arroyo said.

The bodies typically designated to manage the parking districts include main streets organizations, community planning groups and business improvement districts, he said.

“Folks in the neighborhoods who put more money into these meters should see that money directly benefit the areas in which they are placed,” Arroyo said. “The goal for this hearing is to figure out how we go about setting this up around the city, so it’s not just thrown into the … general fund and sent in different directions.”

The hearing request was largely supported by the rest of the City Council, and referred to the Committee on City Services and Innovation Technology after a brief discussion.

Councilor Gabriela Coletta, who represents East Boston, Charlestown and the North End, said her constituents often talk to her about the concept when mentioning ways to solve the “perennial issue of parking in the city.”

Councilor Liz Breadon said the districts have already been discussed as a possible parking solution in the two neighborhoods she represents, Allston and Brighton.

The matter “merits a discussion” around ways to maintain, upgrade and revitalize city streets, Breadon said, and free up curb space to ensure “someone doesn’t park their car in the main street district and leave it for the whole day.”

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Katie Rayburn on Wednesday ordered the alleged shooter, Patrick Mendoza, 54, to remain behind bars until next May, a day after the suspect pleaded not guilty to charges related to the July 12 shooting outside of Modern Pastry on Hanover Street.

The incident allegedly involved a man Mendoza is said to have had a long-simmering relationship with. While no one was injured, Modern sustained damage to its window.

Mendoza, whose family owns Monica’s Trattoria on Prince Street, has been held without bail since late July after he was charged with assault by means of a dangerous weapon, assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery.

The long-time North End resident also faces charges of carrying a firearm without an FID card or license, possession of ammunition without an FID card, witness intimidation, and possession of a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling.

Rayburn took the bail status under advisement Tuesday after hearing debate from a prosecutor and his attorney over whether Mendoza should be released.

District Attorney Kevin Hayden, in a statement, said Rayburn made the right decision to keep Mendoza barred for at least the next half year, as the bail status will continue until May 1, 2024.

“This is an appropriate ruling given the extreme danger of Mr. Mendoza’s actions, which occurred in one of the city’s busiest areas and on one of its busiest streets,” Hayden said. “To fire shots on any Boston street is intolerable, but add the fact that this area is packed with tourists, diners and residents at all times of the year – and even more so during the summer season – and the danger level ratchets up even higher.”

Mendoza’s attorney Rosemary Scapicchio asked Rayburn on Tuesday to set a “reasonable bail” and to release him to the custody of his family on conditions that would “protect the public.” She argued that prosecutors have not provided sufficient evidence that Mendoza even fired a gun at all.

Assistant District Attorney Daniel Nucci pointed out the “craziness of this shooting,” with it happening on a busy Hanover Street and on the same day Mendoza’s probation for an assault case involving the other man in 2022 expired.

Nucci said, “The Commonwealth contends that alone shows there are no conditions of release where it can say ‘That won’t happen again if Mr. Mendoza is released today, tomorrow, the next day.’ “

The ruling sides with the state’s housing department, which argued through lawyers Tuesday that it had no more funds — and is on track to run into the red — to continue expanding shelter capacity in the face of surging demand partly fueled by the number of migrant arrivals this year and suffocating housing costs.

Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Debra Squires-Lee handed down her ruling a day after the Healey administration issued emergency regulations that call for a waitlist once capacity is reached and potentially limit the amount of time families can stay in shelters.

In her ruling, Squires-Lee said the Healey administration did not violate a provision included in the state’s fiscal 2024 budget that calls for a 90-day notice to the Legislature before making any changes to emergency shelter eligibility requirements.

The notice, Squires-Lee wrote in court documents, is intended to afford the Legislature the opportunity to appropriate funding for the shelter program.

“The evidence before me, however, is clear — more than a month ago, the governor specifically requested additional appropriations for the emergency assistance program and the Legislature has failed to act,” the judge wrote. “In these circumstances, the predicate purpose of the 90-day proviso has been fulfilled; and, in all events, it is for the Legislature and not clients of the program to enforce any claimed non-compliance.”

The ruling all but guarantees uncertainty for families who apply for emergency shelter after the 7,500-family shelter cap is reached, something the administration has said could happen within days. There were 7,388 families in the system as of Tuesday, according to state data.

Lawyers for Civil Rights, the group behind the lawsuit, laid out a grim picture of what would happen if a temporary pause on the capacity plan was not put in place — migrants and homeless families could end up sleeping outside as cold weather sets in.

“Without an injunction, families, children, and pregnant women who are entitled to emergency shelter under the law will be denied a roof over their heads — forced to sleep on the streets, in cars, and in other unsafe situations. There is no other way to put it. That is the grim reality,” Attorney Oren Sellstrom wrote in court documents. “The harms that will befall them are harsh and irreparable.”

A spokesperson for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities said the department believes “an appropriate outcome was reached.”

“The state does not have enough space, service providers or funding to safely expand shelter capacity,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Attorneys on both sides of the issue spent much of the court hearing Tuesday focused on the 90-day requirement, which says the executive branch must provide notice to the Legislature that they are making any regulatory, administrative practice, or policy changes that would “alter the eligibility” of emergency shelter benefits.

Sellstrom said emergency regulations partially outlining what happens when the shelter cap is reached were “rushed” at the eleventh hour only after the Healey administration was sued to challenge their compliance.

“Defendants are rushing drastic and material changes to the state’s long standing emergency assistance program into place, disregarding well-established laws that require an orderly process — in particular, a mandate that requires defendants to give the Legislature a 90-day period to weigh in and potentially forestall the changes altogether,” Sellstrom wrote in court documents.

But Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office argued that provision “is not privately enforceable” into a 90-day delay of emergency measures to address budget shortfalls.

Squires-Lee sided with state lawyers, writing in her ruling that Lawyers for Civil Rights provided “no case in which a court has ever held that an agency that fails to comply with such a proviso may be barred from taking action within the ambit of its statutory and regulatory authority.”

Healey has requested additional funding for emergency shelters beyond the $325 million allocated to the program in the fiscal 2024 state budget. In a separate bill closing out the books on fiscal 2023, Healey asked lawmakers to approve $250 million in additional funding.

Squires-Lee points to that request in her ruling, and notes the Legislature has not moved forward the extra dollars.

“The failure to give notice has not injured plaintiffs where notice is intended to permit the Legislature to act or not act, and the Legislature, having actual notice of the fiscal crisis, has failed to act,” Squires-Lee wrote.

Squires-Lee also agreed with a state-backed argument that she does not have the power to force the Healey administration to spend money the Legislature has not appropriated.

“As much as I wish that I possessed the power to ensure that all families who need housing have it, and that all families who require safe emergency shelter are given it, I am persuaded that it would be inappropriate to order EOHLC to continue providing emergency shelter it does not have the resources appropriated by the Legislature to fund,” the judge wrote.

I’d say it is one of the top questions readers ask. Today I’ll help answer that one as best I can:

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I dug up the four-page edition of the Nov. 1, 1848, evening edition of the Boston Herald. That year is as far back as our archive goes. We don’t have every month from back then, but we sure do have Nov. 1.

It’s a fascinating read from this day back then. Here are some photos from this date in history.

Salem Police found Beliard inside a vehicle suffering from gunshot wounds several blocks away from campus. They responded to a report of a shooting in the area of 22 Forest Ave., at about 1:24 a.m., just hours after Halloween festivities had concluded.

Beliard was taken to Salem Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Authorities arrested the suspect, Missael Pena Canela, 18, of Salem, on a murder charge Wednesday evening, Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker and Salem Police Chief Lucas Miller announced at a news conference.

Canela will be arraigned Thursday at Salem District Court.

Authorities have not released a cause behind the shooting, but investigators said the incident did not appear to be a random act of violence and that there wasn’t an ongoing threat to the Salem State community.

In a letter to the campus community, Salem State President John Keenan, writing with a “broken heart,” said Beliard was shot and killed while driving his car on Forest Avenue.

“As both the Salem State president and a college dad, this tragedy is heartbreaking for all in our community and every parent’s worst nightmare,” Keenan said in a statement.

Beliard lived on campus and was preparing for his first season on the university’s varsity basketball team, Keenan said.

Beliard helped guide the Worcester North High’s boys’ basketball team to a state championship, defeating Needham last March. The team finished the season 24-2, becoming the first public school from Worcester to win a Division 1 state title, according to the Telegram & Gazette.

“We have a lot of chemistry on the team and that’s how we got so far, that’s why we’re here right now,” Beliard told the Worcester newspaper at a championship celebration. “We hang out outside of basketball. We’re all playing basketball. It’s really like a brotherhood.”

Beliard, a 6 foot 5 forward, began studying sport and movement science at Salem State this fall and had his eyes set on gaining a doctorate in physical therapy.

Tragically, the “wonderful young man” will not get to live out his dream.

A Facebook fan page for the Worcester North Polar Bears basketball teams posted photos in memory of Beliard, including one from when Mayor Joe Petty awarded him a “key to the city” after they won the championship.

“Carl was a wonderful young man who was continuing his education at Salem State and joined the Salem State Vikings basketball team after a summer of enjoying all the accolades of his championship status,” the post reads. “We are processing this all and his teammates are currently with appropriate professionals considering the gravity of this news.

“We love you, Carl. RIP and Godspeed young man,” the post continues. “If you pray, please pray for his mother and family.”

Tucker said in a statement, “This senseless gun violence is tragic not only for the victim’s family but for the SSU community and beyond. State Police detectives assigned to my office are working closely with the Salem Police Department and Salem State University officials to identify and bring the person responsible to justice.”

City resident Alyssa Jackson, who lives near campus, told WCVB that she often hears noises from parties and other activities at the university, “but we don’t hear gunshots around here.”

“I heard the car alarm that was going off, so I thought somebody was just breaking into a car,” Jackson said, “and then my mom went out front, thought the same thing at first, and then after a while saw the bullet hole in the back of the window.”

Worcester Superintendent Rachel H. Monarrez and North High principal Sam FanFan, in a letter to the school community, said counselors were available to talk and support anyone affected by the incident.

“Carl was an accomplished athlete whose life ended just as it was just beginning,” Monarrez wrote. “I cannot imagine the pain of the student’s family.”

In a signed affidavit filed in Suffolk County Superior Court, Administration and Finance Assistant Secretary Aditya Basheer laid out the projected cost as a judge weighed whether to put a hold on a plan to cap the number of families in emergency shelter, which has swelled this year partly because of a surge in migrant arrivals.

“If family shelter net caseload continues to expand at a rate consistent with the activity of the last several months, the state projects a shelter caseload of approximately 13,500 families by the end of (fiscal year 2024),” Basheer wrote. “This would represent a 187% increase over the caseload contemplated in the FY24 budget. This projected caseload would result in family shelter and associated programs costs of approximately $1.1 billion in FY24.”

Lawmakers on Beacon Hill shuttled $325 million to the emergency shelter program in the fiscal 2024 state budget to support 4,100 families, and Gov. Maura Healey has asked the Legislature for $250 million more in a budget that closes the books on the previous fiscal year.

But state lawyers have said the emergency shelter program has $535 million “in contract commitments” to shelter and other service providers through the end of fiscal 2024. The program is expected to quickly run out of money, and even into the red.

The state’s housing department is attempting to limit the number of families in emergency shelter to 7,500, a move that has drawn a legal challenge from Lawyers for Civil Rights, which argues the Healey administration did not follow proper procedures laid out in state law.

There were 7,388 families in emergency shelters as of Tuesday, according to state data, with 3,687 in hotels and motels, 3,683 in traditional sites, and 63 in temporary shelters like Joint Base Cape Cod and a Quincy college dorm building.

Graphs included in Basheer’s affidavit also show the state expects about 1,000 families to enter emergency shelter each month through the end of fiscal 2024 — assuming the system was constantly expanded.

“Along with the explosive growth in shelter demand over the past year, there has been a widening gap between ‘entries’ (the number of families entering shelter each month) and ‘exits’ (the number of families exiting each month,” Basheer said. “This means that the current levels of pressure on the emergency assistance program are trending to be long-term in nature, with the families entering shelter today expected to remain until at least FY25.”

The Healey administration informed state lawmakers of that projection earlier this year in a series of meetings on migrant arrivals and the emergency shelter system.

Lawyers argued in court Tuesday over whether the state has enough money to continue funding shelter expansion — often through the use of hotels and motels — if a pause was put in place, with state attorneys pointing to the likelihood of a deficit.

“What they ask is not a preservation of the status quo, but, instead, the continued procurement of EA shelter placements to meet new entrants numbering between 20 and 50 additional families per day, despite insufficient appropriations to do so,” Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office wrote in court documents.

Lawyers for Civil Rights laid out a grim picture of what would happen if a temporary pause on the capacity plan was not put in place — migrants and homeless families sleeping outside as cold weather sets in.

“Without an injunction, families, children, and pregnant women who are entitled to emergency shelter under the law will be denied a roof over their heads — forced to sleep on the streets, in cars, and in other unsafe situations. There is no other way to put it. That is the grim reality,” the group wrote in court documents. “The harms that will befall them are harsh and irreparable.”

Mayor Michelle Wu said at a press conference from the street Wednesday that enforcement “has been months in the process”  — which took coordinated efforts to figure out the treatment and shelter needs for each person living there. Two city officials confirmed to the Herald a little after 5:30 p.m. that the few tents that had remained were cleared.

While she said the goal was to have Atkinson Street cleared by the afternoon, she did not commit to the idea that “this is the end to the encampment at Mass and Cass.” She said completely turning the area around “will take a tremendous amount of sustained effort.”

But her tone was hopeful: “Even though we know it will not be fixed overnight, I feel very grateful and confident that the coordination that we’ve seen is unlike ever before in the city.”

Just before 8 a.m., a few Boston Police sergeants started walking down the short street that has served as a tent city serving the denizens of the Mass and Cass area, the center of Massachusetts’ opioid epidemic. About 30 minutes later, 13 cops were being briefed by three BPD captains at the end of the street.

The presence of the police, as well as the contingent of patrolling Ware Security guards — a firm retained by the Boston Public Health Commission — didn’t seem to distress the people inhabiting the remaining 14 tents.

There had been more than 50 tents densely packing Atkinson from Southampton Street and Bradston Street, according to Tania Del Rio, the director of Wu’s Coordinated Response Team for the area’s plight.

Del Rio said that by Tuesday, 52 of those who had been living there had already moved, 25 had accepted a city offer for finding them shelter and services and another seven people would be “provided a placement setting today.”

While the Roundhouse hotel, the former Best Western location that housed 60 from Mass and Cass, shut down in September, Wu said almost 200 units had been created, with another 30 more “low-threshold beds” at the new shelter two blocks away “to help absorb and manage the disruption of this transition.”

A tall man reeled, barely holding on to his balance, on the sidewalk behind them. A long-haired man in a green hooded sweatshirt energetically danced around the first tent as others mulled about near him. A blonde woman recognizable from previous Herald photos of the encampment paced back and forth with what appeared to be a McDonald’s frappe in her hand.

Marie Ann Ponti, director of outreach programs at St. Anthony Shrine, and another woman tried to speak with the woman about her plans for shelter, but she waved them away with her straw and continued pacing. While this woman wasn’t receptive, Ponti told the Herald that she had been having a successful morning working with others on finalizing their housing plans.

St. Anthony Shrine jumps in to Mass and Cass mess

Across from them a tent had a homey decoration that said “Fall, Sweet Fall” on a pumpkin plaque.

The third tent down Atkinson from Southampton was partially deconstructed by 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, and while its tarps were bundled, the remnants of the people who had left it remained: an empty basic tool case shell, a mess of plastic utensils, aromatic candles, single shoes without their mates, the novel “Perfect Liars” by Kimberly Reid — the end of her last name ripped from its cover — and a NERF gun were some highlights. A woman with a collection of syringes in a Coke bottle found the NERF gun and put it in her purse.

“Once the last tent does come down, we will make sure that the street is cleaned and that there's some more of those services just to ensure that this area is how it should be, but that won't be the end of our efforts by any means,” Wu said.

During the clean-up in January of last year, Wu said, the city hauled away some 44 tons of trash, with much of that weight made up of rigid shelters, which were not as prevalent these days. On Tuesday the city took away two tons with what remained on Wednesday expected to be no more than three tons.

When it’s done, Wu said that “here, as in anywhere across the city, the laws will be enforced” and that the police will maintain a presence there.

City Council President Ed Flynn said he was there to “thank the police” and the other workers helping people get into shelter and treatment. A later statement added, that it is important “our city continues to show that we are serious in maintaining a zero tolerance policy moving forward when it comes to the public safety issues that occurred partially due to the tents and encampments in the area.”

By 11 a.m., the first half of the street’s tents and debris were clear, but the people who left had not disappeared. Instead, many could be seen gathering in nearby alleys, others picking through bushes, and a contingent of 14 — two of whom, like was seen all morning on Atkinson Street, were visibly shooting up — grouped up in the McDonald’s parking lot.

“We’re going to get people into programs and change their lives,” said Fr. Thomas Conway, executive director of St. Anthony Shrine. “They just need a trained social worker to give them a little push.”

That’s where the Shrine’s Mary Ann Ponti, director of outreach programs at St. Anthony Shrine, goes to work.

“God bless Mary Ann,” said Conway. “She’s working on the mayor’s teams and is spending part of the week over on Mass and Cass.”

The Shrine, located in Downtown Crossing on Arch Street, has been a respite for the soul and for the hungry for decades. The friars and staff hold their annual fundraising gala tonight and donations go to missions like the one along Mass and Cass.

Conway said there’s no one answer to the opioid epidemic — seen in its raw reality in the encampment — but you have to begin with each individual.

“The answer is walking into a group of people and talking to each person. One you tell to ‘go home.’ Someone else needs help with heroin addiction or needs Alcoholics Anonymous; some need to go to Pine Street while others who have a warrant out on them need to go to court,” he added.

Conway said while the rest of Boston networks, some aren’t that adept at asking for help or seeing there’s a way out off the streets.

The Shrine is one place that has always been a beacon for those who don’t get much light in their life. Today will be a difficult transition for some along Mass and Cass — and the Shrine will once again be part of the solution.

To donate to the Shrine, go their website at stanthonyshrine.org.

The Herald has learned that enforcement will begin at 8 a.m., a police crackdown that follows a week’s worth of city efforts to connect the area’s homeless and drug-addicted individuals with a pathway off the streets.

Boston police officers will begin taking down tents and tarps, and moving people out of the area, an effort that city officials expect will result in a “very significant reduction” in the number of tents by the end of the day, and last through Nov. 30.

“It’s about time,” said Larry Calderone, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, the city’s largest police union. “This was long overdue.”

The union supported the mayor’s ordinance and understood the police commissioner’s point of view on the matter, he said, but he emphasized that the department has “always had the power to move the tents.”

“I understand the need for the ordinance,” Calderone said. “Maybe this gives us some type of superpower or better protection, but we’ve always had the ability to move the tents. So, we’re happy this day has finally come.”

City officials have stated efforts were taken to ensure the new ordinance complies with constitutional requirements, providing more protection against a potential legal challenge than what was already on the books for clearing encampments.

Police are able to take down tents and tarps, provided that individuals are offered shelter, transportation to services and storage for their belongings.

Ricardo Patrón, a spokesperson for Mayor Michelle Wu, said outreach workers and provider partners have been at Mass and Cass since the City Council passed the ordinance last Wednesday, alerting individuals about the pending enforcement and connecting the ones who live there with shelter and treatment options.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 56 people have agreed to leave the Atkinson Street encampments, out of the 80 to 90 who have been sleeping there on a daily basis, Patrón said.

Thirty-five people have moved on to their next destination, whether it be relocation to a shelter, treatment center or low-threshold housing, or reunification with their families. Another 21 have accepted placement at one of those destinations, but are waiting on transportation and storage of their belongings, he said.

For the homeless individuals who refuse those options, or the people who come to the area to engage in criminal activity, law enforcement will begin Wednesday.

A memo was sent out to Boston Police officers Tuesday evening, detailing that enforcement, which begins at 8 a.m.

Four police officers and one supervisor from each police district in the city will be  deployed to Newmarket Square to start the day. Officers will then be staged at different locations, with deployments to Atkinson Street taking place at 8 a.m., 4:30 p.m. and 12:15 a.m. each day, through Nov. 30, per the memo.

While some of those officers will be tasked with taking down tents and working with city officials on enforcement of the ordinance, other response squads will be available, should there be resistance that gets out of hand, according to the memo.

City Council President Ed Flynn told the Herald last week that he expects some people may keep coming to Mass and Cass once enforcement begins, to test how serious city officials and police are about eliminating the area’s open-air drug market and violence.

Patrón said Tuesday, however, that the Wu administration isn’t expecting any resistance, physical or otherwise, on the first day of enforcement. He noted that there were no arrests the last time the mayor tried to clear out tents, shortly after taking office in January 2022.

Calderone said police are cautiously optimistic as well, stating, “We’re hopeful that there will be no resistance and that it will be peaceful compliance.”

Whitman Police sent out an alert Tuesday afternoon after the town’s police department received a report of a black bear.

While responding to the area of Commercial Street between Linden Street and Dyer Avenue, a Whitman police officer also reported seeing the bear in the Plymouth County community.

Whitman Police ended up boosting its police presence throughout the evening’s trick-or-treating hours.

“We are monitoring this situation as closely as possible. Brigham St, Winter St, Franklin St, & Kendrick St. neighborhoods should be on high alert and use caution,” Whitman Police posted.

“Please take in your pumpkins and don’t leave candy out unattended,” the department added.

The same black bear was spotted in town earlier in October.

“Over the past several weeks, the Whitman Police Department has received reports of bear sightings throughout town, however, none of the reports we received stated that there has been contact between humans or pets and bears,” Chief Timothy Hanlon said in a statement.

“Out of an abundance of caution and with community members participating in trick-or-treating tonight, we will have an additional police presence throughout town to ensure everyone’s safety,” he added. “As always, if you do see a bear avoid any contact with it.”

Whitman Police added that anyone with questions or concerns may contact the Massachusetts Environmental Police at 800-632-8075. If there’s any emergency, contact police immediately at 911.

But after finishing as runner-up in last year’s championship, no individual on St. John’s of Shrewsbury had to in order to achieve what they really wanted.

Behind a well-balanced effort that saw five of their top six golfers shoot under 80, the Pioneers fulfilled their quest for their first state title since 2012 with a 303 score. Senior Nic Gebhardt and Ronan Mooney each shot a three-over 75 to lead the way, comfortably beating out second-place St. John’s Prep (314) and third-place Xaverian (315).

Considering the program’s seven titles before head coach Sean Noonan’s tenure began 10 years ago, it’s an extra special feeling to finally get over the hump.

“It’s a dream season, really,” Noonan said. “Last year came that close. We’ve had two seconds, two thirds. … I’m super excited for all these guys. This thing will never be taken away, we get to go and put it up in the rafters in the gym.”

“It’s just a surreal feeling, it’s been three years coming,” Gebhardt added. “We got fourth my sophomore year, second last year. We only had one more place to keep going up. We got that done today.”

Playing in the same group as Downes, it took Gebhardt a resilient effort to finish tied for the third-best score with Mooney, Wellesley’s Ryan Keyes and Hingham’s Carson Erick.

After a third bogey on the 10th hole put him at 5-over, Gebhardt made par on the next four holes, birdied on holes 15 and 16, and shot even on the final two holes.

“It was a lackluster round but it got the job done,” he said. “It’s all about the mental space of staying in it because every shot counts in this.”

It was just one part of a team-wide effort, as Savar Bhashin shot a 76, while Cael Duggan and Curtis McDonald each shot a 77. Veer Bhashin’s 83 even beat out 49 other golfers.

“We’re a deep team,” Noonan said. “There’s 13 kids there, and any one of them could’ve been in the top six. … I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys, really. It’s really cool. It’s really cool what we’ve done as a program.”

Even with a three-putt bogey on the third hole, it was smooth sailing per usual for Downes – especially on his 18th birthday on a course he plays regularly at.

Only once did he feel that played a major advantage, when on Hole 4h, he used a big backstop to help him immediately rebound from the bogey with a birdie. With birdies on 2, 7 and 9 as well, he rode momentum into a 3-under 33 on the front nine. Two more birdies helped him get as low as 5-under through 14, eventually finishing three strokes better than runner-up Ilan Rashdan (Westford Academy).

“It’s a cool accomplishment, I was kind of happy with how I played today,” Downes said. “I made a couple mistakes, especially one on the 18th coming down the stretch so it got a little close. But I’m definitely happy to be the back-to-back champ.”

Rashdan (one-under 71) failed to make par or birdie just once. Terry Manning (76) and Seamus O’Holleran (77) led St. John’s Prep, while Connor Walsh (77) led Xaverian. North Andover’s Brendan Burke, Natick’s Kaushal Karupakula and Barnstable’s Chad Tordone each shot a 76 to round out the individual top 10.

“This shift represents a clear move away from expanding access to instruction in the students’ native languages and highlights a fundamental divide between EL Task Force leaders and BPS leaders that we no longer feel can be bridged,” the members wrote in a letter to the School Committee sent Tuesday. “For this reason, we write to you today to resign from the EL Task Force of the Boston School Committee.”

Under the Inclusive Education Plan — presented at the Oct. 18 School Committee meeting — English Learners (ELs) and ELs with disabilities would be integrated in General Education classrooms with English as a Second Language (ESL) support rather than being taught in separate classes in their native languages.

The EL Task Force was appointed in 2009 to support EL education in the district after the U.S. Department of Justice opened an investigation into the district’s ELL offerings and is made up of educators, parents, researchers and others.

The eight resigning members — more than half the task force — include co-chair Suzanne Lee; ELL policy researchers Maria Serpa, Rosann Tung and Miren Uriarte; local advocates John Mudd and Paulo De Barros; former SpEdPAC Chair Roxanne Harvey; and Gaston Institute leader Fabián Torres-Ardila.

“Although the district will maintain its dual language programs (serving 7% of ELs), the vast majority of ELs will be enrolled in General Education starting in the fall of 2024,” the task force members noted Tuesday.

In a statement, BPS spokesperson Max Baker said the district “thank(s) the members for their years of service” but evidence and DESE guidance makes clear the “status quo is not working for our multilingual learners.”

“Our District is committed to adopting inclusive practices so multilingual students have access to native language services, and receive their required services, while also engaging in learning alongside their peers,” Baker said, calling the Inclusive Education Plan a “roadmap for making these long-overdue systemic changes.”

In the recent Multicultural and Multilingual Education Strategic Plan, BPS set goals also altering educational services for multilingual learners including increasing bilingual programs by 25 the end of the 2024-25 school year and increasing bilingual paraprofessionals by 15% by the end of 2023-24.

The members’ letter argued the transition to teaching ELLs in classes primarily taught in English is not supported by research.

Evidence shows, they said, citing studies supporting bilingual education, the change may result in “poorer student outcomes, more disciplinary challenges in schools, and increased drop-out rates for the one-third of BPS students who are classified as English learners.”

While BPS previously expressed concern separate classes “segregate” ELL students and cut them off from social interaction with other students, the letter said, they argue there are better ways to address the issue.

The members suggested a reconsideration more moderately blending classes and other steps to expand multilingual education, but stated if the planned changes occur they “urge” members to track and publicly report data on outcomes of the shift.

“We all agree that profound changes are needed to EL education in the Boston Public Schools. MCAS results show that current programs are failing to prepare over 90% of ELs and ELs with disabilities to achieve at passing levels and to graduate ready for college and career,” the letter said. “But the change that BPS is proposing is ill-advised and will be harmful to ELs.”

Cambridge Police on Monday arrested Eliza Sathler, 26, of Revere; Pearl Delaney Moore, 29, of Boston; Calla M. Walsh, 19, of Cambridge; Sophie Ross, 22, of Housatonic; Vera Van De Seyp, 30, of Somerville; Michael Eden, 27, of Cambridge; Evan Aldred Fournier-Swire, 19, of Bristol, R.I.; Willow Ross Carretero Chavez, 21, of Somerville; and Molly Wexler-Romig, 33, of Boston.

They were each arraigned Tuesday morning in Cambridge District Court. All had charges of disorderly conduct, but some were also charged with vandalizing property and resisting arrest. Moore and Sathler were also charged with assault and battery on a police officer, with Sathler also charged with possessing and throwing an incendiary device.

“Starting at 10 am, Cambridge Police officers were monitoring a protest outside Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense contractor, whose office has been the site of numerous protests and acts of vandalism and property destruction in recent weeks,” a Cambridge Police spokesman wrote in a Monday evening statement.

Those alleged acts of vandalism since the start of the Israel-Hamas war include police-documented instances of spray painting the sidewalk, locking themselves to the front of the building, breaking off a communications box on the exterior of the building and, according to the police report filed in this most recent incident, the spraying of insulation into exterior doors “in an attempt to prevent them from opening.”

The Monday protest began around 10 a.m., according to the report, when roughly 200 participants gathered at the corner of Bishop Allen Drive and Prospect Street — a major artery that police say the protestors completely blocked. While police say it was “initially peaceful,” they said they soon found cartons of eggs, glass bottles and more paint that they wrote were likely instruments of planned vandalism.

The confiscations did not go well, as reports from multiple officers at the scene state many in the crowd, starting at around 11:15 a.m., “breached metal barricades” and “began throwing eggs at Elbit’s office building.” As officers moved in, they report the crowd “became increasingly hostile and violent — they threw eggs, smoke bombs, and other projectiles at officers.” So the cops called in backup.

“Officers provided ample space and opportunities for the protesters to engage in freedom of speech, however, officers were forced to intervene when the group’s conduct became violent and felonious,” Sgt. Michael Levecque wrote in his report.

Elbit Elbit Systems Ltd., based in Haifa, Israel, describes itself as an “international high technology company engaged in a wide range of programs throughout the world, primarily in the defense and homeland security arena.”

Its wholly owned American subsidiary, Elbit Systems of America, LLC, is headquartered in Texas and opened its Cambridge Innovation Center in December of last year to host 60 software, mechanical and electrical engineers, the company wrote in a press release then, to take advantage of the “the region’s vibrant Life Sciences Corridor” and proximity to MIT and Harvard.

Nilo, 35, a New York City corporate attorney who lives in New Jersey, was arrested at the end of May and charged with a series of rapes in the Terminal Street area of Charlestown in 2007 and 2008. He was charged a month later with another series of rapes over an 18-month period between January 2007 and July 2008. He pleaded not guilty to each charge and has been out on a combined bail of $550,000.

On Tuesday, prosecutor Lynn Feigenbaum and defense attorneys Rosemary Scapicchio and Joseph Cataldo met briefly in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston before Clerk Magistrate Edward Curley to argue over the prosecution’s proposals for a buccal swab from Nilo and to redact court documents provided for him.

“The Commonwealth is only seeking that the names and identifying information — names, addresses — will not be provided in writing to the defendant at this time,” ADA Lynn Feigenbaum said of the motion that had not yet been filed with the court but had been shared with the defense, adding that the prosecution would provide the defendant with redacted forms of the documents. “I don’t think that that’s an unreasonable request.”

Scapicchio made sure that redacting the names and addresses was the only thing the prosecution wanted to redact from her client’s copy of court documents and that she would want to see that in writing. She added, “I never want my clients to have contact information. I don’t think it’s a good policy.”

Scapicchio asked that Feigenbaum’s motion for a buccal swab — which is a cheek swab for genetic testing — be filed well ahead of the next date so that she could file her own response to oppose it.

Curley said that the prosecution’s motion should be filed by the end of the day on Nov. 30 and set the next motions hearing for Dec. 21, 2 p.m. The presumptive trial date is June 25, 2024.

Researchers with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries will be heading to Australia for the White Sharks Global conference — where they’ll be sharing their Cape white shark discoveries with scientists from other shark hotspots around the world.

Some of the Cape white shark research that will be presented includes: a white shark population estimate for the region; the nearshore predatory behavior of white sharks; shallow water movements of white sharks; and how white sharks impact the movements of Cape gray seals.

“A few of us will be heading to an international white shark symposium in Australia, with people studying white sharks all over the world,” said Megan Winton, a research scientist with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.

“We’ll be presenting our research results, and form some new collaborations,” she added.

Winton recently finished working on a study with Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries marine biologist Greg Skomal to find out how many sharks have visited the Cape in a recent 5-year period.

The scientists now estimate that 800 to 900 individual sharks have recently visited the Cape’s waters — making the Cape one of the largest and potentially densest area for great whites in the world. Winton will present this research at the conference in Australia.

“In this study, we present the first estimate of abundance for the white shark at a new aggregation site in the western North Atlantic,” the conference program reads.

Skomal will present their research findings about the great white sharks’ nearshore predatory behavior.

The apex predators hunt for gray seals close to the Cape shoreline during the summer and fall. That has led to some shark bites on humans over the last decade.

“The nearshore proximity of predatory sharks, their natural prey, and humans has become a public safety issue, and the number of reported white shark sightings and negative interactions between white sharks and humans has been on the rise,” the conference program reads.

Cape white sharks spend 95% of their time in depths less than 100 feet, and 47% of their time overlapping with recreational water users in depths less than 15 feet.

“… It appears that white sharks exhibit a variety of predatory behaviors off Cape Cod, ranging from explosive attacks on seals in the surf zone to demersal predation on spiny dogfish during excursions into deeper water,” the program reads. “Using these observations, our ultimate goal is to identify areas and time periods during which hunting white sharks may overlap with recreational water users so as to provide a science-based strategy for mitigating this conservation conflict.”

The White Sharks Global conference will take place in Port Lincoln, South Australia, from Nov. 12 to 17.

Alleged shooter Patrick Mendoza, 54, appeared in Suffolk County Superior Court on Tuesday, pleading not guilty to charges related to the July 12 shooting outside of Modern Bakery on Hanover Street

The incident allegedly involved a man Mendoza is said to have had a long-simmering relationship with. While no one was injured, Modern sustained damage to its window.

Mendoza, whose family owns Monica’s Trattoria on Prince Street, has been held without bail since late July after he was charged with assault by means of a dangerous weapon, assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery

A judge took Mendoza’s bail status under advisement Tuesday after hearing debate from a prosecutor and his attorney over whether the long-time North End resident should be released.

Assistant District Attorney Daniel Nucci said he has provided a CD of interviews with the man Mendoza is accused of shooting at as well as footage in the area of Modern from that night, along with other evidence.

But Mendoza’s attorney Rosemary Scapicchio argued those “documents,” including police reports, are not enough to determine whether Mendoza even fired a gun at all. She suggested the man he allegedly shot at should have been brought to court as evidence.

“The Commonwealth has not brought anyone, not even a police officer, to talk about hearsay for an identification,” Scapicchio said. “His liberty is at stake right now, and the idea that the Commonwealth can, by document alone, take away someone’s liberty is contrary to the Constitution.”

Nucci, during an arraignment at Boston Municipal Court in July, presented video depicting the scene of the alleged crime, which shows a man “who the Commonwealth alleges is Mr. Mendoza” on a bicycle firing a gun as many as three times toward another man who dove behind a Jeep.

The evidence of the shooting remained for at least a day as “ballistic evidence” — a bullet hole in Modern Pastry’s front window.

Records indicate at least three previous altercations between Mendoza and the other man whose relationship dates back 20 years.

Nucci pointed out the “craziness of this shooting,” with it happening on a busy Hanover Street and on the same day Mendoza’s probation for an assault case involving other man in 2022 expired.

“The Commonwealth contends that alone shows there are no conditions of release where it can say ‘That won’t happen again if Mr. Mendoza is released today, tomorrow, the next day,’” Nucci argued.

Scapicchio asked the judge to set a “reasonable bail” and to release him to the custody of his family on conditions that would “protect the public.” She pointed out how Mendoza’s family and other community members have attended his previous appearances.

“They’ve been here every single court appearance,” Scapicchio said. “He has a tremendous amount of family support, and these are business owners from the community of the North End who come in support of Mr. Mendoza.”

Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus said the system’s expansion rate is “unsustainable” just as a judge was weighing whether to temporarily pause a Healey administration plan to cap the number of families in shelters at 7,500.

Low turnover rates and the push to find enough units to accommodate everyone is behind the high estimate, he added.

“At current rates of entries into and exits from emergency assistance shelter, the number of eligible families in shelter would continue to increase to more than 13,000 households in shelter by fiscal year end (if sufficient shelter units could be found to accommodate that many households),” Augustus wrote.

He added: “With the average length of stay growing each month (averaging 13.6 months as of the first quarter of fiscal year 2024), the pressure on the emergency assistance program will be long-term in nature, with the families entering shelter today expected to remain through fiscal year 2025.”

Demand for emergency assistance shelter is primarily driven by a surge in newly arrived migrant families, high cost and limited availability of housing, and reduced exists of families in long-term emergency shelters stays, Augustus wrote.

The situation has become so dire, the Healey administration has argued, that not only is funding drying up, but the emergency shelter system is projected to run into the red by roughly $210 million by the end of fiscal year 2024.

“This projected deficiency does not include additional resources needed for wraparound services, school supports, and community supports,” Augustus wrote.

Lawmakers and Healey allocated $325 million for the system in the fiscal 2024 state budget, which was expected to support 4,100 families and 4,700 housing units.

There were 7,389 families in the system as of Tuesday, with 3,671 in hotels and motels, 3,641 in traditional shelters, and 77 in temporary sites like Joint Base Cape Cod and a Quincy college dorm building.

“It is no longer possible to secure additional space that is suitable and safe for use as shelter beyond a capacity of 7,500 families,” Augustus wrote. “The commonwealth does not have enough space, service providers, or funds to safely expand shelter capacity any longer.”

Administration officials previously projected that 1,000 families could enter the emergency shelter system each month.

Suffolk County Judge Debra Squires-Lee did not make an immediate ruling on a request to temporarily halt Gov. Maura Healey’s shelter capacity plan, and is now weighing whether those seeking housing should be placed on a waitlist or if the state should temporarily be forced to spend money it argues it does not have to expand the system.

Squires-Lee said she expected to issue a decision Wednesday on Lawyers on the call for a preliminary injunction just as the state inched closer to Healey’s 7,500-family-limit. More than 7,330 migrant and homeless families were in the system as of Monday, according to state data.

Lawyers for Civil Rights filed a lawsuit last week asking for the preliminary injunction as housing and homeless advocates rallied against the governor’s threshold and the administration moved to make the matter permanent through emergency regulations.

In court Tuesday, lawyers largely focused on a 90-day notice requirement in the fiscal 2024 state budget that directs the executive branch to produce a report for the Legislature before making any regulatory, administrative practice, or policy changes that would “alter the eligibility” of emergency shelter benefits.

The report needs to justify any changes, including with any determination that available funding “will be insufficient to meet projected expenses,” attorneys argued.

Lawyers for Civil Rights Attorney Jacob Love said the administration did not meet that requirement as it moved forward with the shelter capacity plan or when it issued emergency regulations only hours before the court hearing.

“In the absence of immediate intervention by this court in the form of a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction, homeless families with children will be denied immediate shelter placement and left out in the cold,” Love said. “At a minimum, we’re asking for a temporary restraining order to preserve the status quo until the court can schedule a full preliminary injunction hearing.”

But Healey and the state’s housing department argued Massachusetts has neither the funds, capacity, nor personnel to keep expanding the emergency shelter system with migrant arrivals still surging and housing costs pressuring local residents.

Assistant Attorney General Kimberly Parr said “there is no money” to expand the system and there is debate “about whether or not the notice provision applies in these circumstances.”

“To start with the facts on the ground, this is no surprise to the Legislature or the people in Massachusetts. The executive branch has emphasized the financial constraints and the acute spike in shelter demand many times in recent months and weeks,” Parr said.

Squires-Lee questioned Parr on how long it would take for the administration to fully run out of money for emergency shelters “if we were to put a short stay in place, for example, to allow the plaintiffs to deal with this … emergency regulation” and bring forward other arguments.

Parr said she could not estimate the timeline but “what we can say is, any delay in implementing these measures will drive the line item further into deficiency.”

“It may seem as though, put a pause on this, wait another week or two,” Parr said. “But given the number of people who are entering the shelter system each day, which seems to be between 20 or 50 families each day, that’ll add up very quickly. And it’s very expensive to find these units, and to shelter these families.”

The fiscal 2024 budget allocated $325 million for the emergency shelter system, and Healey asked earlier this fall for an additional $250 million to help maintain services. But lawmakers have so far sat idle on the spending bill that includes those shelter dollars.

In their lawsuit, Lawyers for Civil Rights argued the Healey administration planned to “artificially cap” the emergency shelter system, place families on a waitlist rather than find them accommodations, and prioritize families with “certain yet-to-be-defined ‘health and safety risks,’” the lawsuit said.

“These changes will necessarily delay the provision of benefits to shelter-eligible families, such as plaintiffs and those similarly situated, thereby denying them shelter and perpetuating the myriad harms caused by homelessness,” the lawsuit said.

The court hearing concluded what had become a busy afternoon by the time lawyers filed into the Suffolk County Superior Courthouse. Only hours before, the Healey administration released emergency regulations that outlined the process for implementing an emergency shelter cap.

The regulations called for a written declaration that identifies the maximum capacity for the emergency shelter system, which Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus released shortly after the rules were on file with the secretary of state’s office.

Augustus said the emergency shelter system had $535 million in “commitments” to pay through the end of the fiscal year, which would bring it into the red by about $210 million if it did not receive a cash infusion.

“The current rate of expansion in the emergency assistance program is unsustainable,” Augustus wrote.

The regulations were filed with Secretary of State William Galvin’s office by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, according to a Galvin spokesperson.

The proposed update adds a new section to emergency shelter regulations that details what would happen if the “shelter system is unable to serve all eligible families,” according to a copy provided to the Herald.

The suggested rules change call for a “written declaration” that “in light of legislative appropriations, the shelter system is no longer able to meet all current and projected demand for shelter from eligible families considering the facts and circumstances then existing in the commonwealth.”

The declaration would need to identify a maximum program emergency shelter system capacity “which the director (the secretary) determines the shelter system can attain and that the shelter system shall not be required to exceed during the term of the declaration.”

“The declaration shall have an initial time limit of 120 days after it is issued but may be extended for additional periods of up to 120 days if the Director (the Secretary) determines that the shelter system is still unable to meet all current and projected demand for shelter from eligible families in light of legislative appropriations,” the proposed regulations said.

The regulations also outline the process of administering and maintaining a waitlist for families looking to access emergency shelter.

The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities filed the regulations only hours before lawyers were scheduled to attend a court hearing where a judge could rule on a request to temporarily pause a plan to limit capacity in the emergency shelter system.

Lawyers for Civil Rights filed a lawsuit last week and requested a preliminary injunction on the self-imposed emergency shelter capacity limit, a move that riled homeless and housing advocates who say it will force some families to live outside as colder weather sets in.

But Gov. Maura Healey and the state’s housing department argue Massachusetts has neither the funds, capacity, nor personnel to keep expanding the emergency shelter system through a sweeping network of hotels and motels. State officials projected capacity could be reached as early as Wednesday.

During a radio interview, Healey said her administration filed emergency regulations Wednesday pertaining to the waitlist and emergency shelter operations, an apparent move to combat arguments from Lawyers for Civil Rights who said the state did not follow proper procedures to change emergency shelter rules.

“I continue to call for relief from the federal government. We need help with staffing. We need help with funding. And again, it’s a federal problem that we’re having to deal with as states,” Healey said on WBUR.

Some shelter providers have backed the emergency shelter cap, saying a system designed to handle about 3,000 families each year has been pushed to its limits by a surge of migrant arrivals from other counties.

Healey said earlier this month the shelter system can handle no more than 7,500 families, and those who apply for temporary housing after the cap is reached will be placed on a waitlist. She has petitioned the Legislature for an extra $250 million for the emergency shelter system, a request House lawmakers have put on hold as they seek more data.

This is a developing story…

Council President Ed Flynn and Councilor-at-Large Erin Murphy filed a resolution ahead of the body’s Wednesday meeting, to commemorate Veterans Day. The measure “honoring all those who served our country” is aimed at helping to mend a relationship that remains strained by last June’s budget vote.

Flynn said residents, veterans and military families across the city and country were “shocked and extremely disappointed” at the “disrespect” shown by many members of the City Council, who voted to cut $900,000 from a budget that broadly supports low-income veterans and their families.

“The sacred oath that we have made to veterans has been negatively impacted by the vote of the City Council to cut $1 million,” Flynn, a U.S. Navy veteran, told the Herald. “But I am confident that we learned from this terrible mistake and we’re not going to make that mistake again.”

The cut was included as part of a 7-5 vote to approve a $4.2 billion operating budget for this fiscal year. Flynn and Murphy were among the five councilors who voted against the cut, which was quickly vetoed by Mayor Michelle Wu.

Ricardo Arroyo, Liz Breadon, Tania Fernandes Anderson, Kendra Lara, Ruthzee Louijeune, Julia Mejia and Brian Worrell voted to pass a budget with the $900,000 cut. Frank Baker, Gabriela Coletta and Michael Flaherty voted against it.

Tony Molina, president of the Puerto Rican Monument Square Association and a Purple Heart veteran, said he was “very upset” that city councilors who have never served the country were “trying to harm veterans” with their budget vote.

“I’m happy that it didn’t happen, but I’m still upset, and my relationship with some of the city councilors who voted against (the veterans) is no longer a relationship,” Molina told the Herald Monday.

“I viewed it as a slap in the face,” added Tom Lyons, who chairs the South Boston Vietnam Memorial Committee.

Lyons, a Marine veteran who served in Vietnam, said several months have gone by and veterans are moving on from the budget vote as they look forward to a “celebration of their service and sacrifice of the men and women who have worn the uniform for this country,” on the Nov. 11 holiday.

“Hopefully, moving forward the City Council will take care of veterans versus going there for the first place to cut,” he said.

While Lyons said he would have been furious that a city official would have to put forward a resolution that celebrates veterans in his younger years, the “older, mature” version of himself appreciates the gesture made by the council president.

“At the same time, it’s kind of sad that he has to do that,” Lyons said.

Going forward, Molina said he thinks the relationship between the Council and city veterans is repairable, but urged councilors to contact veterans’ services before making “ignorant decisions” about cutting from their budget.

“The cuts never should have been made in the first place, and frankly, I think the city owes our veterans an apology,” Murphy told the Herald. “They stood up for us, and the least we can do as a community is support them.”

Harvard President Claudine Gay has assembled a group of advisors to help eradicate antisemitism from the campus community, she recently told hundreds of Jewish students, parents, staff, alumni and faculty at Harvard Hillel.

This step from Gay comes in the wake of the bombshell student group letter that blamed Israel for Hamas’ terrorist attacks earlier this month. Gay had told the campus community that she wouldn’t discipline students for their views on Israel.

The divided campus has been embroiled in controversy for weeks, while Jewish students have reported being threatened and targeted.

“I want to acknowledge the profound toll this has taken, especially on our Jewish students, faculty, and staff,” Gay said at Harvard Hillel’s Shabbat Dinner on Friday. “Your grief, fear, and anger are heard and felt deeply.

“As we grapple with this resurgence of bigotry, I want to make one thing absolutely clear: Antisemitism has no place at Harvard,” she added. “As President, I am committed to tackling this pernicious hatred with the urgency it demands. Antisemitism has a very long and shameful history at Harvard. For years, this University has done too little to confront its continuing presence. No longer.”

Her group of advisors to combat antisemitism includes faculty, staff, alumni and religious leaders from the Jewish community.

The advisors will work on creating an agenda and strategy for tackling antisemitism on campus, she said.

“They will help us to think expansively and concretely about all the ways that antisemitism shows up on our campus and in our campus culture,” Gay said.

“They will help us to identify all the places — from our orientations and trainings to how we teach — where we can intervene to disrupt and dismantle this ideology, and where we can educate our community so that they can recognize and confront antisemitism wherever they see it,” she added.

Meanwhile, Harvard has created a task force to support students who have been “doxxed” following the anti-Israel letter.

Following Gay’s remarks on Friday, Harvard Hillel applauded the president — calling her speech “a promising first step in a process that will undoubtedly take significant effort and a united front from our Harvard community, and we look forward to working with President Gay and the university administration with a common resolve to tackle Harvard’s antisemitism problem.”

Pelzar gutted out a four-over 75 through brutal weather conditions on an already target golf course, leading Weston to a 322 score that barely edged runner-up St. John Paul II (323) for a second straight state title. That included breaking out of a spiral a few holes into the back nine, rattling off as good of a performance as almost any in the tournament over the final six holes.

The only player he couldn’t recover past was the Lions’ Jack Carstensen, whose three-over 74 won the individual state title. But Pelzar was ecstatic about what the team got instead.

“The individual title I honestly couldn’t care less about right now, I’m just super happy for the guys,” he said. “Super pumped for everybody … that’s put in hard work to get us here.”

Weston head coach Mary O’Brien preached the mentality that for as poor of weather it was, everyone was playing through the same conditions.

The Wildcats embraced that with a balanced finish. William Balz’s 79 was the only other score under 80 on the day, while William Goldstein shot an 83 and Teddy Dreyer had an 85 to round out the title. Co-captain Andrew Goldstein shot a 91 in his first state championship appearance.

“I’m extremely proud of how my players held it together,” O’Brien said. “It feels great and I’m so proud for these kids.”

A one-point finish only further heightens the impact of Pelzar’s closing six holes, snapping out of a bogey, double-bogey, bogey stretch on holes 10, 11 and 12. The senior said he knew he needed something to just break that momentum, and he got it with his best putt of the day to save a bogey on 12.

He shot one-under from there.

“He’s able to refocus and bring it back together, he’s always been able to do that,” O’Brien said. “He sets the tone in that he’s a leader. He works with the underclassmen, if you could see him during some practices. … They really do care about one another and they want everyone to be successful.”

Carstensen was on a roll by that point, though he started the day off with a triple-bogey that very quickly could have blown up his day before it even began. He’s had a rough go in rainy conditions all fall, so it was the opener to a potentially brutal day.

Instead, he said a few prayers to settle down, and used the nine gloves, four towels and an umbrella he brought to simply just stay dry. He then made par on the second hole, sank a birdie on the next one, and made par again on the following six straight to get into a groove for something special.

“It’s so exciting,” he said. “To get off to the start I had today wasn’t ideal, but I knew I had 17 holes left and I just kept trying to make some pars, and knew something would fall eventually.”

Matt Curley shot an 82 for the Lions, while Timmy Adams has an 83. Hopedale finished third with 338, led by Colin Haynes’ 80.

The Brandeis Center on Monday called out Harvard University for failing to address antisemitism on campus, “demanding” that the school publicly denounce what took place in Professor Marshall Ganz’s class and take other steps.

This is the latest in a series of Israel-related controversies at Harvard following Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Oct. 7. An explosive student group letter blamed Israel entirely for the attacks, setting off a firestorm on campus.

This discrimination complaint involving Ganz goes back to the spring when the Harvard Kennedy School professor faced bias allegations against three Jewish Israeli graduate students. After a third-party investigator found that Ganz subjected the students to anti-Israel and antisemitic discrimination, the university has still not publicly reprimanded the prof, according to the Brandeis Center.

Also, the professor was recently applauded for his civil rights work in the Harvard Gazette, the university’s official news website. The discrimination complaint is not mentioned in the piece.

“The professor’s work on behalf of minorities in the sixties may be admirable, but publicly featuring him in this fashion, mere months after he was found to have created a hostile environment for his students, suggest the pledge made to the Students that the university would fully address the violations were mere empty words,” Brandeis Center officials wrote to Harvard’s general counsel.

“The professor is no civil rights champion when it comes to minorities he personally finds distasteful, namely, Jewish Israelis,” they added. “He is in fact a civil rights violator, who undisputedly trampled the rights of members of his class without hesitation or apology, denigrating the Students’ identity and preventing them from participating fully in his class.”

The Israeli students in Ganz’s class had been working on a project about strengthening Israel’s liberal and Jewish democracy. Ganz reportedly told the students that they had to change their project, saying they couldn’t use the term “Jewish democracy” for Israel. He compared a project promoting Jewish democracy to a project touting white supremacy.

Meanwhile, two of Ganz’s teaching fellows during the final class taught a lesson on how to recruit support for Palestinians.

After the third-party investigation concluded that Ganz had subjected the students to anti-Israel and antisemitic bias and discrimination, Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf committed to addressing the harassment and discrimination.

“We need to ensure that the School fulfills these commitments and that the violations of policies that occurred this spring are addressed fully and do not recur,” the dean wrote in June.

The Brandeis Center is calling on Harvard to commit to university-wide changes, including requiring all faculty and staff to undergo training on antisemitism.

Harvard and Ganz did not immediately respond to comment on Monday.

Healey is planning to stop admitting migrants and the homeless to motels and shelters on Wednesday but faces a legal challenge from a civil rights group.

Liberal-on-liberal crime can get especially ugly.

Healey is staring down a lawsuit from the Boston-based group Lawyers for Civil Rights, which argues that the state must give the Legislature 90 days’ notice before changing the state’s shelter system of handling migrants and homeless.

“The idea that the state would want to turn its back on children in desperate situations, forcing them to live in the streets, in cars, and in unsafe situations is appalling to many in the state,” Lawyers for Civil Rights litigation director Oren Sellstrom told WBUR.

Pretty tough words for a Democratic governor to hear – that you’re forcing homeless and migrant children to live on the streets.

Healey is so desperate not to appear tone-deaf to the migrant crisis that her office on Sunday night put out an “embargoed” press release announcing that the administration was partnering with the Office of Homeland Security to host a work authorization clinic for migrants in two weeks.

The non-news announcement was withheld from public release until 6:30 a.m. Monday so as to get a better bounce from the morning media. But Healey was nowhere to be seen on Monday because she had no public schedule. That way she could avoid pesky questions about the lawsuit or swelling numbers of migrants who are about to be turned away from shelter.

“We are glad that the Biden-Harris administration is hosting this clinic with us, which will help process work authorizations as efficiently as possible. Many shelter residents want to work but face significant barriers to getting their work authorizations,” Healey said in the statement. “This clinic will be critical for building on the work that our administration has already been leading to connect more migrants with work opportunities.”

You get it. A lot of self-congratulating.

Wu faces similar backlash from some liberals for passing an ordinance clearing out the encampments from the drug-ravaged Mass and Cass zone. Her administration will be sending in police on Wednesday to remove tents and clean up the open drug dealing that has been going on – hopefully to arrest a few criminals as well.

The city has reserved extra beds to house the homeless living at Mass and Cass but won’t let them build any new tents.

Several progressives on the council voted against the ordinance but not enough to block it.

But civil rights advocates will be watching closely to see that police don’t go over the line or simply push people out onto the streets. Wu will face stiff blowback from her progressive friends if that happens so she’s hoping for a smooth transition.

“I find it very uplifting to be able to sit with my fellow veterans,” said Navy veteran and Vietnam war hero Tom Kelley, who came up with the idea for the program. “We all raised our hand at one time to volunteer to support and defend the Constitution. And for me to hear their stories, what they’ve done in their life, what they did in the service, how they’re doing now, and then we volunteers tell them about our services.

“So it’s a real bond,” he continued, surrounded by tables of folks chatting and eating. “I get a lot out of it myself, and I hope they do too.”

The program kicked off in 2016 when Kelley realized the Shrine — a ministry run by Franciscan friars with far-reaching service programs — was lacking specialized services for veterans in the area.

Staff from the Shrine and program director Mary Ann Ponti coordinate the lunches with the New England Center and Home for Veterans. The lunches regularly bring in around 50 veterans, Kelley said.

“We see a lot of the same faces over and over again, but the gratifying thing is that some of the people, when they first come here, say five years ago, they were maybe one step removed from the street, but then they move on and get the services they need, the wraparound services,” said Kelley. “So we don’t see them anymore, but that’s a good sign. And they’re always replaced by somebody else coming in.”

Jesus Castillo, a veteran who served during the Gulf War, said Monday was his second time attending the lunch.

“This time when we all get together like this is very special,” Castillo said, sitting at a table with two other veterans who served earlier. “I’m pretty recent, but I like to hear stories from like the Vietnam guys.”

Al King, a Vietnam veteran who said he’s been coming to the lunches since they started, said the Shrine provides pretty much every type of food at the gatherings. Next month, Kelley said, they’ll have turkey around Thanksgiving.

Monday’s lunch included several volunteers from the State Police, but BPD officers, City Councilor Ed Flynn and Mayor Wu’s staff often help out, Kelley said.

Warren Griswold, who served in the 1980s, said the program provides a good place for lots of people to come.

“It’s just a great, great experience for both the volunteers and the men and women we serve.”

He’s seen the Shrine’s good works. The faith, the women’s clinic, the food pantry, counseling services, and respite offered to CEOs to the downtrodden.

“They do so much for people,” he said of his neighbor. “They have dedicated their life to others.”

He likened them to “first responders” for the soul.

Druker is president of the Druker Company, known for the mixed-use developments throughout the city, from Heritage on the Garden, The Colonnade Hotel and Residencies on Huntington Avenue and Atelier/505 in the South End, bios declare. He also helped found the Downtown Crossing Business Improvement District.

He’s long been quietly behind the city’s arts and cultural life scenes, too, and now he’s the recipient of the Shrine’s Pope Francis Award.

The Pope Francis Award is presented to an individual whose lifework “mirrors the charism and mission of St. Francis of Assisi, lover of the poor and the alienated. It honors one who embodies the Franciscan values of humility, compassion, respect and dignity of all people, and lives out the Gospel,” the Shrine states.

Druker joins the fraternity of Boston’s big-hearted donors who help keep the doors open at the Shrine. It’s a group that gives back for what makes this city unlike any other around.

The gala is Wednesday night at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. For those who can’t attend, the Shrine takes donations by phone or online.

The friars at the Shrine work in the shadows of all the skyscrapers.

Br. Paul O’Keeffe runs the counseling center for couples, families or anyone struggling with relationship or mental health issues.

There’s more: the Emmaus Ministry for Grieving Parents, the Father Mychal Judge Recovery Center, Haitian Ministry, Franciscan Spiritual Companionship, the Seniors Program and the Lazarus Ministry — a special service that provides funerals and burial for the homeless and abandoned, “the poorest of the poor.”

It’s an oasis of faith just off Downtown Crossing. Now, Ronald Druker is part of that family. But, he says, he’s always been a charter member.

“St. Anthony’s can turn people’s bad news into better news,” he said. “They work very hard and all are welcome” in this downtown.

A massive moose was seen strolling by a central Massachusetts elementary school during morning drop-off.

“Special visitor in the Naquag Elementary School drop-off line this morning!” the Rutland Police Department posted, along with a photo of the moose on Monday.

The moose has since left the area, the police department added.

Police gave out tips from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife about how to prevent conflicts with moose.

If you are lucky enough to see a moose, stay a respectful distance away.

“Never try to approach or pursue a moose,” MassWildlife posted. “Pursuit not only stresses the animal, but it adds the risk of having a moose chased out into traffic or into a group of bystanders. Wildlife professionals recommend letting the moose find its way out of populated areas and into nearby forested areas.

“However, when too many people congregate around the moose, it can become stressed and feel cornered,” MassWildlife added. “Occasionally, trained staff from MassWildlife and/or the Environmental Police may need to use immobilizing drugs to take a moose out of a dangerous public safety situation.”

Moose fall breeding season is September and October. Moose will step out onto a road without the slightest concern for oncoming traffic, officials warned. Their dark body is difficult to see and their eyes are much higher than those of white-tailed deer, so they’re often not reflected back from headlights.

Because they’re so heavy and have long legs, their body will often come through the windshield and onto the driver, making collisions extremely dangerous. Swerving to avoid a moose can be equally dangerous, so drive slowly and hit your brakes if you see a moose.

If a moose is in a densely populated area, leave the moose alone and contact the nearest MassWildlife District Office or the Environmental Police to report the sighting and get advice.

The Environmental Police Radio Room can be reached 24/7 at 1-800-632-8075.

Hundreds of locals, carrying heavy hearts, gathered at churches throughout the community on Sunday to grieve and process the “biggest challenge” it has faced.

As residents shed tears and shared hugs, community members vowed Lewiston will not be defined by last Wednesday’s shooting at Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley and Schemengees Bar and Grille that killed 18 and injured 13.

“In the days to come, as the world moves on, as the national media shifts its focus to the next crisis, we will stay together,” Lewiston native Tom Caron told a massive turnout of people, from near and far, at the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul Sunday evening.

“We will support each other through the tears, the shock, and the grief in this tight knit city of big hearts. … We can never allow Lewiston to be remembered for violence,” he said.

Caron, a leading voice of Red Sox baseball on NESN, reminded those who gathered, filling the pews and flowing outside, there is love and beauty in the community, one in which he learned the value of hard work.

That sense of love was seen throughout the city Sunday, as memorials grew outside the local pub and bowling alley.

A traffic display board up the road from Schemengees reads: “Thank you to all involved in helping our great city.”  Another read: “Lewiston Strong.”

The victims’ names are written on posters and carved into pumpkins. One pumpkin was attached with a picture of Joey Walker, the manager of Schemengees who confronted the gunman with a butcher knife.

“Not all heroes wear capes,” a message on the picture reads.

Down the road, at the Lewiston Mall, residents participated in a Halloween celebration, with dozens of parents and children dressed in costumes waiting to receive candy – a sign that life is starting to come back after Maine’s “dark day.”

An hour-long prayer service earlier in the day at Holy Family Church served as the first formal gathering to grieve for those lost and pray for the community to remain a unified front in the days to come.

Maine State Police on Friday found the dead body of alleged gunman Robert Card inside a box trailer parked in an overflow lot across the street from the Maine Recycling Corporation in Lisbon, an area that had not been checked when law enforcement previously searched the site two times.

Portraits of the victims who died stood on the steps up to the altar inside Holy Family Church as well as the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul.

Husband and wife Chris and Nancy Pierce, who live outside of Lewiston but have a “history and relationship” with the city and surrounding area, took part in the prayer service at Holy Family.

Chris Pierce said he felt compelled to turn out because he knew Andy Violette, the son of Bob and Lucille Violette, both of whom died at the bowling alley. “We wanted to come for him and all of the others who were taken so suddenly and so unjustly,” he said.

His wife Nancy called the tragedy a “terrible shock to us, Mainers.” She hopes the events of the past week will not change her and her husband as well as the entire community.

“We have faith that the deceased are in a good place, and I hope it doesn’t make us fearful,” she said. “This is all pretty raw.”

Massachusetts had the steepest fall from last year in the nation, dropping 12 spots to 46th for overall taxation in the 2023 State Business Tax Climate Index, a ranking published by the Tax Foundation that compares state tax systems.

“That means we are overtaxing our employers and our residents, both,” said Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. “To be in the bottom five states, it’s not a good sign to either our tax-paying families or to employers, current or prospective. We’ve got to work on this.”

A driver behind the nosedive in tax competitiveness, the Tax Foundation found, is the state’s new Fair Share Amendment – or Millionaire’s Tax – which taxes incomes over $1 million an extra 4%.

“While the $1 million threshold at which the surtax kicks in is indexed to inflation, the surtax imposes a sizable marriage penalty that the Commonwealth lacked previously,” authors wrote in the report which came out last week. “This policy change represents a stark contrast from the recent reforms to reduce rates while consolidating brackets in many other states.”

The crumbling tax system should not be a surprise, said Paul Craney, a spokesman for Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, a staunch opponent of the Millionaire’s Tax. He called out proponents who pledged that the surtax would strictly apply to individuals with an income of over $1 million.

“With a flip of a switch, the legislature lowered that threshold to $500,000 for married people and the Tax Foundation is predicting a clear negative outcome from this,” Craney said in a statement.

Hurst, whose organization represents 4,000 businesses in the state, told the Herald on Friday that people and businesses alike are continuing to leave Massachusetts due to taxation.

Massachusetts is the fourth worst state in the country when it comes to out-migration, behind only California, New York and Illinois, according to data gathered earlier this year by Pioneer Institute, an economic policy think tank.

The Millionaire’s Tax has exacerbated the years-long problem, and former Celtics player Grant Williams used it as motivation to sign a four-year, $54-million contract with the Dallas Mavericks over the summer. If he stayed in Boston, the surtax would’ve reduced that amount to $48 million over the four years, he told The Athletic.

The Tax Foundation also called out a payroll tax that went into effect this year in Massachusetts’ poor ranking. The organization also found that the state dropped 33 spots from the 11th best state for individual taxes to the sixth worst.

Two glaring challenges facing small businesses across the Bay State, Hurst said, are its high unemployment and health insurance costs, both of which are the worst in the nation, according to the Tax Foundation.

Hurst is calling on state lawmakers to create more flexibility for small businesses on health insurance instead of imposing mandates and restrictions so they can be competitive with “big, self-insured businesses.”

Gov. Maura Healey signed a $1 billion-a-year tax relief bill earlier this month that Hurst believes will only go so far.

The package cuts the short-term capital gains tax from 12% to 8.5%, a business-backed move that has riled progressives who argue it gives a break to the wealthy. The compromise will cost the state $561 million in fiscal year 2023 and $1 billion a year starting in fiscal year 2027.

It also includes boosts to the rental deduction cap, a tax credit for a dependent child, disabled adult, or senior, and the statewide cap for a housing production program. The bill excludes estates valued up to $2 million from the estate tax by allowing for a uniform credit of $99,600.

“It’s going to help,” Hurst said, “but frankly, I think it’s a down payment on more action that has to come to make Massachusetts welcoming to investment, welcoming to entrepreneurs and to make sure that small businesses and consumers alike can be prosperous in the Commonwealth.”