Domestic Violence Case leads to death of daughter, injured mother, and father who took his own life

In Westford, Ma a domestic violence case ended in the death of a daughter, an injured mother and a father who took his own life. After having a heated arguement 59 year old father, took the life of his own 17 year old daughter, then shot his 50 year old wife, and finally shot himself taking his own life. His daughter had tried to call 911 twice but then the phone hung up. When dispatchers called back she told them everything was ok, but they heard yelling and then the gunshots in the background so they sent police over to the house. Apparently, the family had been having some issues over money and the father had previously battled cancer, but their family issues never seemed apparent to neighbors or friends. The father was the owner of several guns, some of which were not liscensed. The teenage daughter was an honor roll student and had been accepted into the University of Vermont.

This type of case is sad and disturbing but sheds light on the severity of domestic violence. Domestic violence is a subject that is usually overshadowed by what seems to be "more important" issues. I think there needs to be more of an outlet for families or anyone who is involved in any type of domestic where they can go if they feel they are not safe. Many times people are afraid or think the violence may not be that serious and it will eventually go away, but in cases like these it is apparent that it may turn very violent and deadly. I think more work needs to be done to provide a safe haven for people who are involved in these types of situations before things turn for the worst.

Mass Board of Higher Ed Ok's public law school

With an overwhelming vote, Southern New England School of Law will now donate its campus to the University of Massachussetts-Dartmouth. It will be effective as of September of next year. Some academic aid will be provided, including 50 percent off to 25 students each year who agree to practice public interest law. Find out more information about this and more at: http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/education/massachusetts-board-of-higher-ed-plans-vote-on-umass-law-school-25-apx

Obama seeks $192B as war steps up in Afghanistan By Anne Flaherty

Days after his State of the Union address, President Obama has requested an amount of $192 billion dollars for war spending through the rest of this year and next. If approved, these funds would go toward escalating efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, in order to begin pulling out troops by the summer of 2011. A recent article in the Boston Globe explains that $33 billion will go towards building up the troops this year, and the remaining $159 billion would go toward overseas military operations through 2011. The hopes for this money is that it will be the beginning of the end of the two wars the United States have been fighting for nearly a decade now.

Rebecca Riley

This is an article following the ongoing murder case of four year old Rebecca Riley. Her autopsy concluded that she had two to three times the amount of a powerful prescription sedative in her blood. Her parents are accused of feeding her the medicine in order to receive disability checks from the government. They are also accused of beating their eleven year old son. When social workers visited the Riley’s home they were very resistant in answering questions about their other children's well being. Right now the court has not settled the case, but neighbors have testified that they urged Rebecca's parents to bring her to the hospital weeks before her death.


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Mass. Immigrant Tuition Bill Likely Dead

This article, entitled "Deleo: Mass. immigrant tuition bill likely dead" brings up how changes or lack of change is likely because Scott Brown, a republican, was elected. Many lawmakers in Massachusetts are nervous in this election year and will likely shy away from targeting highly controversial legislation.

The issue surrounding whether or not undocumented Massachusetts immigrants should be able to go to Mass state schools for free is very interesting. Scott Brown has a very tough stance on this issue. As I looked at Scott Browns election website before the special election, it was very clear that Scott Brown was against any legislation that would allow undocumented immigrants to have their tuition waived. As a college student with large student loans, I can see the pro's and con's of this legislation.

Lots of jobs created in MA from stimulus funds

Just over 9,000 jobs were created in Massachusetts in the latter part of 2009 thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. However, it had previously been reported that only 4,700 jobs were created with these funds, which would cause an unassuming citizen to think that the act was not incredibly effective. The larger number reflects jobs in state agencies as well as schools and hospitals, which were not in the previous count. This raised lots of questions about how to report the use of the billions of dollars the federal stimulus funds have provided.

Read the full article from the Boston Globe here

Probation reform should extend to juvenile division

This is actually an Op.Ed. piece that came from the Boston Globe in response to an article regarding the Patrick Administration's decision to move the Office of the Commissioner of Probation. Currently, the Office of the Commissioner of Probation is under the supervision of the state court system. Governor Patrick wants to move the Probation department to the executive level where a watchful eye can ensure that everything is running smoothly.
Unfortunately, many of the probation officers are not even equired to take Civil Service examinations, unlike other public safety personnel, including parole and corrections officers. The only requirements to become a probation officer in Massachusetts are a Bachelor's Degree and one years experience in Human Services. With the new oversight of this department, we may definitely see a positive change in the Probation Department.
In this article, the author mentions the Juvenile Probation Department which is a separate component of the Adult Probation Dept. It is important that all of the components of the Probation Department be moved. Currently, the model of juvenile probation is one of law enforcement. The juvenile justice system is based on the rehabilitation and treatment of children, as opposed to punishment. This could result in the training of juvenile probation officers in social work.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2010/01/30/probation_reform_should_extend_to_juvenile_division/

NOTE: The link to the original piece is at the beginning of the article.