Anika Parr as a deputy news editor for the Daily. She is a sophomore, and can be reached at anika.parr@tufts.edu.
The Massachusetts Land Court upheld Somerville’s efforts to create a 26-bed, low-barrier shelter at First Church Somerville on April 6. The new shelter, hosted by the Somerville Homeless Coalition, is set to open on May 19.
A state court ruled in favor of eight Tufts School of Medicine basic science faculty members earlier this month in a lawsuit over compensation plans that were determined to have violated tenure’s promises of “economic security,” ordering the university to pay nearly $4 million in damages.
On March 11, a bald eagle known as FAE, which nested near Lower Mystic Lake on the Arlington-Medford border, passed away. While the cause of death is still being determined, wildlife experts suspect second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, commonly referred to as SGARs.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced Friday that the Department of Defense would end attendance for active-duty military personnel at 13 universities, including Tufts, due to what he called “wokeness” and “indoctrination.”
The City of Somerville hosted a community meeting on Feb. 9 about the latest design updates to the ArtFarm public park. The park’s construction is set to begin in 2027 on top of the Poplar Street pump station — a stormwater management structure currently under construction — to provide a community space for Somerville residents in the Brickbottom neighborhood.
A Boston immigration judge terminated Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk’s removal proceedings, according to a filing made by Öztürk’s lawyers on Monday. Immigration Judge Roopal Patel found that the Department of Homeland Security had failed to bring forward sufficient grounds for Öztürk’s deportation.
The City of Somerville saw a recent spike in overdoses, prompting the Somerville Police Department to publish an overdose warning on Jan.19. Five overdoses occurred on the weekend prior to the warning, three of which were fatal.
Copper Mill Development submitted an application to the state of Massachusetts on Dec. 22 seeking approval to build a 25-story, primarily residential, tower in Davis Square. Many residents have raised concerns about the limited time allotted for public comment on the development. In response, the Davis Square Neighborhood Council voted on Monday to urge the city to ask Copper Mill to withdraw the proposal and resubmit only once a neighborhood plan has been made.
Residents gathered at the Somerville and Medford branches of Citizens Bank on Saturday to protest the bank’s links to private prison companies that own and operate immigration detention centers under government contracts, including with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The protests were part of three dozen similar demonstrations taking place across the Northeast, organized by the de-ICE Citizens Bank Coalition. According to the coalition, Citizens Bank continues to be a major lender to private prison companies CoreCivic and The GEO Group. They added that other banks, including JPMorgan and Barclays, have distanced themselves from the prison companies.
Federal immigration enforcement activity has recently been reported in areas surrounding Tufts’ Medford/Somerville campus, according to an email sent to the Tufts community from the Office of Public Safety. The office and the municipalities of Somerville and Medford are coordinating efforts to monitor the situation.
