Hidden Link

February 2, 2024

By Michael Jonas and GINTAUTAS DUMCIUS

With the Newton teachers strike entering its 11th day, students idling at home, parents at their wits end, teachers fuming over the city’s latest offer, and even the governor now getting involved by asking a judge to appoint an arbitrator, one might think this is the kind of pressing issue that state lawmakers representing the city would speak out about. 

Think again. 

Newton’s State House delegation would apparently rather submit to root canal without Novocaine than weigh in on what could be the most urgent local issue to hit their constituents in years. 

While legislators could plausibly argue that negotiations between the city and striking teachers are outside their lane, nothing of course prevents them, as elected officials, from taking a stand on the dispute. What’s more, the broader question of teachers strikes is something very much in their court, as legislation has been filed on Beacon Hill to end the prohibition in state law on public employee strikes. 

When contacted this week, however, none of the four state legislators representing Newton offered a position on the strike or on the legislation now before them. 

Two of them, state Reps. Ruth Balser and John Lawn, did not even respond to an email and phone message. State Rep. Kay Khan declined to comment. 

Sen. Cynthia Creem offered a neutral take on the strike. “While not part of the negotiations, I urge both sides to move forward in good faith to resolve the issues that have kept Newton's children from their classrooms for more than a week,” she said in a statement. 

As for the pending legislation to legalize teachers strike, Gov. Maura Healey, Senate President Karen Spilka, and House Speaker Ron Mariano have all poured cold water on the idea, so its prospects seem dim. 

Creem offered the time-honored Beacon Hill can-kick. “The bill is still in committee and I look forward to learning more about the issue as it moves through the legislative process,” she said. 

Hitching a ride in Roxbury

Negotiations are underway between Boston City Hall, the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, and ride-hailing company Lyft on a temporary solution to the closure of a Walgreens pharmacy in Roxbury.

Details are still getting hammered out, but seniors and other residents could get low or no-cost rides, potentially through a special Lyft code. “While the City works to identify a long-term solution, this service would connect impacted residents to the medications they depend on,” a City Hall spokesperson said in a statement.

A Walgreens store remains open on Columbus Avenue, while the one on Warren Street, a 20-minute walk away, closed this week.

The Illinois-based pharmacy chain over the last two years has closed Walgreens stores that serve mainly Black and Latino residents in Roxbury, Mattapan and Hyde Park, moves that have drawn condemnations from local elected officials.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced the negotiations at the Urban League’s annual meeting, as a potential rival ascended to chair the 105-year-old nonprofit’s board. Josh Kraft, who heads up the New England Patriots’ philanthropic arm and has been approached about running for mayor in 2025, takes over the chairmanship of the civil rights group’s board from Joseph Feaster, an attorney who held the position for just under a decade, as previously reported by CommonWealth Beacon.