Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
-
Men on Trial for House Fire, Death of a Homeless Woman Last November
Two men were arrested and charged with the death of a homeless woman who was killed in a fire in November 2016 in Roxbury, according to court documents. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts alleges that Marcus Dozier, 46, and Kenneth Ford, 43, intentionally set a Roxbury house on fire on November 5, 2016 and allegedly told…
-
Providence Mayor Says Smoking Ban Targets the Homeless
Providence, Rhode Island Mayor Jorge Elorza is pushing back on a downtown smoking ban ordinance that he says unfairly discriminates against the homeless. Elorza claims that an added section in the “Streets, Sidewalks and Public Places” ordinance prohibiting smoking from Fulton Street to Westminster Street by Kennedy Plaza will mainly impact the homeless who hang…
-
Activists Come Out For Fourth Annual Jamaica Plain Porchfest
Politics has seeped into an annual Jamaica Plains art festival where musicians use neighborhood porches as their stage. As live music reverberated throughout Jamaica Plain during the fourth annual JP Porchfest on July 8, community activists were given a platform to talk about issues ranging from affordable housing, climate change and immigration rights. The Resource…
-
Protesters assemble for Speaker Ryan’s Lawrence New Balance factory tour
Protesters in front of the Lawrence Train Station, on the opposite corner of the New Balance Factory. All photos: Alejandro Ramirez. Around 100 protesters gathered in front of the Lawrence, MA train station to protest U S. House Speaker Paul Ryan’s tour of the nearby New Balance factory. Many held signs supporting Obamacare and calling…
-
$3 Billion Natural Gas Pipeline Plan Halted due to Loss of Funding, Permits
Major energy companies Eversource and National Grid, alongside pipeline operator Enbridge, announced on June 29 that they notified the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that the three companies would suspend the permitting process for their natural gas pipeline project. The approximately $3.2 billion project, known as Access Northeast, allegedly needs more time to create a…
-
Manchester, N.H. Police Revive Mission to Curb Roadside Panhandlers
Police in Manchester, New Hampshire, have pushed to reduce panhandling on their streets, stating that giving money to panhandlers exacerbates rates of overdose in the area. As the opioid epidemic continues throughout the United States—notably so, in marginalized communities—the police department’s linking of panhandling to the epidemic has reignited a debate about how society should…
-
Holyoke Weighs Options to Handle Panhandling
Officials in Holyoke are considering what some people are claiming may turn out to be an unconstitutional measure to curb begging for donations in their city. The city, which contains roughly 40,000 residents, has about 20 panhandlers who roam the streets regularly, according to a source close to city hall. The City Council proposed erecting…
-
Being Presidential
Nine of the last 12 years of my life I have been president. No, not of the United States, but of Homeless Empowerment Project, which publishes Spare Change News. That said, I do know a little something about being presidential. First I need to say that being the president of anything can be difficult, whether…
-
Proposed SNAP Cuts Target Mass. Seniors, People with Disabilities
President Donald Trump wants to take a $193 billion slice out of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program over the next 10 years, and local advocates say seniors and Bay Staters with disabilities would be hardest hit by the proposal. Patricia Baker, a policy analyst at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, has crunched the numbers…
-
Lawmakers Face Dueling Versions of Marijuana Legalization
State lawmakers are working against an end-of-month deadline to try to reconcile two competing versions of the marijuana legalization bill. The House was the latest to act on the measure, and Essex Rep. Frank Moran, who chairs the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, said they scored a win by making sure the legislation contains…
Got any book recommendations?