Are your shoulders perhaps a few centimeters lower today?
“The latest wave of COVID-19 in Massachusetts has crested,” the Globe proclaims.
The seven-day average of new cases across the state is 30 percent lower than the Jan. 11 peak. The U.S, as a whole is expected to see cases decline too.
Of course, all the things that were broken before Omicron still need our attention.
Staff shortages, employee burnout, insufficient child care, supply chain woes, inflation, short tempers, the politicization of seemingly everything…all still with us.
And, once again, we’ve been reminded how overwhelmed our health care infrastructure is.
Our full-service restaurants are empty again too, amidst renewed fears that we’ll see more closings unless they get relief soon. Help them out – and treat yourself -- and order take out this weekend.
And let those shoulders drop just a little too.
Quarantine confusion? Need help navigating the ever-evolving quarantine and isolation guidance for you and your employees?
Wellesley’s Board of Health just released this graphic based on the latest CDC guidance.
Survey: Employees want workplace vax rules Following last week’s Supreme Court ruling blocking the Biden administration's vaccine or testing mandates for large employers, Starbucks and General Electric both suspended plans to mandate vaccines for their workers.
More employers are sure to follow.
But a new poll by the Boston Business Journal and Seven Letter shows Boston-area employers think a vaccine mandate is more important than other safety measures in helping them feel safe at work.
Of just over 400 respondents, 78% said that they would prefer to work at a company with a vaccine mandate, writes reporter Grant Welker. Of those, 65% said a vaccine mandate would make them feel “much more safe” at work.
Nearly half of survey respondents — mostly executives or managers in the Boston area — said they’d be “much less likely” to collaborate in person with a highly respected colleague if they learned that person wasn’t vaccinated.
A national Morning Consult poll of U.S. adults found similar views: 56% of respondents believe employers should require Covid-19 vaccinations, while 33% are opposed.
Mask rage persists
MBTA police report arresting a man at North Station after he refused a request by officers to put on a mask while trying to get on a train and hit one of the officers in the face as they were escorting him out of the station (Universal Hub.)
The GM at the Regina Pizzeria in Boston’s North End was also assaulted this week by a customer who refused to wear a mask (Boston Globe).
But in Brookline, a man was charged with assault on a fellow customer who was not wearing a mask while standing in line at the Dunkin' at 8 Harvard Streeet (WCVB).
Yes it's pretty, but is it a flood hazard? If you're like me you've probably never gave much thought to the dam over the Charles River along the Watertown - Nonantum line, except to think about how pretty it isand sounds.
But last fall I joined a walking tour of the site organized by the Charles River Watershed Association where I learned that removing the dam would be beneficial for the river's health and wildlife -- and alleviate the potential for flooding of roads and businesses, if breached.
I've invited the Watershed to present its case for the removing the Watertown Dam this morning (Friday) at 11 a.m. Join us via Zoom if you can.
For more about this and other dams (including the South Natick Dam, also considered at risk – see below) watch this segment from Chronicle.
T pricing plan targets hybrid workers The MBTA unveiled a proposal yesterday to make a commuter rail ticket option aimed at workers with hybrid schedules permanent and to slash the price of a single-day unlimited bus and subway pass.
The changes would also allow riders to make more transfers without incurring additional costs and offer additional options for the subset of commuters who qualify for reduced fares, reports State House News
Report: T plan to speed up Green Line could be costly Meanwhile, a new study warns that the T’s plan to let riders board above ground Green Line trains and buses from all doors could cost the system $35 million in fare evasion.
“I think the project is a good project but there is a problem with it, having to do with potential for very large fare evasion on the Green Line and on buses,” said Greg Sullivan, Pioneer’s research director.
Other need to knows
The Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women is conducting a survey to better understand women’s current or past experiences in the workplace within the last year and a half, regardless of current employment status. Data will be shared with legislators and the governor's office to influence policies that address issues women and their families are facing.
The Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton just received a record donation of $1.5 million from businessman and philanthropist Gordon Gund and the Gund Family. (Newton Patch)
The Globe’s Bryan Marquard has written a lovely remembrance of Ray McNamara, the Newton firefighter “who survived an explosion to inspire others”
Several of the electrical boxes that local artists have painted in Wellesley were recently defaced with hate group flyers, reports the Swellesley Report, which also reports that the town’s police department has received a $150,000 gift which may be used in part for future electrical box paintings.
Small biz owner discovers big guys aren't always bad guys Ahead of next Thursday’s presentation by Alexandria Real Estate Equities of its plans to redevelop the Watertown Mall, one of the mall’s smaller tenants says she already has an agreement to be part of the new project.
“I’ve had conversations with Alexandria and they told me my business is remaining as one of the key tenants,” Maria Zullo, owner of Miss Maria’s School of Dance told me in an email.
ARE purchased the 17.8 acres property for $130 million last spring and will present its conceptual plans for the site and adjacent parcels at community meetings on Jan. 27 and March 1.
But Zullo feared the worst for her small dance school.
“I figured my small business was a tiny blip, not even large enough to appear on their radar screen and that I would be hung out to dry," she continued. "After barely surviving the pandemic, and then learning of this acquisition, I figured my dream studio was surely done.
“Never in a million years did I think an organization as large as Alexandria would care about my small business, but boy was I wrong. They really do care about the little guy and they are committed to our community. I couldn’t ask for a better landlord and am really excited for my dance school’s future.”
By the way, both Alexandria and Maria's School of Dance are Charles River Chamber members. Are you?
