'Next Normal': Broad Reopening Measures Outlined In MA | Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Thursday, Feb. 25. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• Restaurants with no capacity limits. Fans at pro sporting events. Live indoor music. The state's reopening plan will begin expanding Monday.
• Lawmakers finally got their chance to press the governor on the state's COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
• The state's largest school district announced plans to begin bringing all its students back to class in March.

Scroll down for those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Thursday's Top Story

It might not be the new normal, but it's certainly the "next normal."

That's what Gov. Charlie Baker called a broad reopening of the state's business sector expected to begin Monday and expand throughout the month, eventually resulting in thousands of fans watching pro sports at places like Fenway Park and TD Garden.

Beginning Monday, capacity at most businesses, including offices and gyms, will increase to 50 percent, while other businesses like performance venues will reopen altogether.

Restaurants will no longer have capacity limits, but tables still must be 6 feet apart or separated with partitions. The 90-minute and six-person-per-table limits remain.

See the full list of what will change when here.

Today's Other Top Stories In Massachusetts

Lawmakers press Baker: Gov. Charlie Baker spoke about the state's COVID-19 vaccine rollout and engaged in a back-and-forth on the particulars of the effort with the Legislature's COVID-19 committee for an hour Thursday, but co-chair Rep. Bill Driscoll thought the gravity of the issues residents have faced in securing a vaccine had not gotten through to the state's chief executive.

Class reunion: Boston Public Schools, the state's largest school district, expects to bring back students from by the end of March. The effort will begin Monday with the district's youngest learners, bring back more students midway through the month, and the rest at the end of the month.

Tenants fight back: A group of renters unionized in response to unsanitary conditions in their apartment building — some that have persisted for years, they say. They accuse their property manager of repeatedly ignoring maintenance requests and unfairly trying to evict residents.

Some relief: Cape Cod Hospital was designated a regional collaborative vaccine site Wednesday, meaning it will be open to all eligible state residents beginning March 11. It's a help, but regional clinics have only been able to vaccinate 975 people per week, according to county officials. They're still telling people mass vaccination sites out in Foxborough and Dartmouth are likely their best bet to get vaccinated.

By The Numbers

9:30 a.m. — That's about when the state ran out of most of its 50,000 vaccination appointments. Residents complained of outrageous wait times in an effort to snag one of the slots — which didn't last long anyway.

They Said It

"We are finally making progress on a lot of things that will dramatically, hopefully, improve people's choices as we go forward."

— Gov. Charlie Baker while announcing the state moving ahead in its reopening plan beginning Monday.

Around Town

• Framingham School Bus Provider Warned Of Possible Contract Breach
• Wakefield To Re-Examine Warrior Name, Logo
• Woburn Library Will Have Interim Director March 7: Mayor
• Tewksbury Woman Sentenced For Stealing Morphine From Veterans