Gunman's Hate-Filled Journal Excerpts Released: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Thursday, July 8. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• Prosecutors released troubling, hate-filled excerpts from the journal of the gunman who killed two people in Winthrop.
• State does backstroke on Walden Pond, reopens popular swimming destination to the public.
• There's more trouble in Duxbury, where the school district is facing more scandal.

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

Today's Top Story

A gunman who fatally shot two people in Winthrop last month wrote about white people being "apex predators" and racism being "healthy and natural" just days before the killings, according to excerpts from his notebooks, which were released by the Suffolk District Attorney's office Wednesday.

Investigators are reviewing extremist literature that Nathan Allen "frequently" read in recent months, said Rollins. His personal journals included statements about Black people being "[expletive] losers" and knowing "they are inferior to us," racism being "healthy and natural" and white people being "the world's apex predators."

Allen, 28, killed Air Force veteran Ramona Cooper and retired Massachusetts State Police trooper David Green in what authorities are investigating as a hate-fueled attack. The shootings happened after Allen crashed a stolen box truck near the intersection of Shirley and Cross streets on June 26.

Read the full story.

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Wednesday's Other Top Stories

Walden Pond open for business once again: Concord's Walden Pond will reopen for swimming Friday, a week after Gov. Charlie Baker signed legislation banning swimming outside of designated areas. The backlash was swift and direct, leading to a change by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

More trouble in Duxbury: An investigation launched by Duxbury Public Schools found that ex-hockey coach John Blake, who was accused of sexually assaulting a student in the early 2000s, is not credible after he lied about a relationship with another teacher, and lied about his relationship with the student he is accused of assaulting.

Second Malden shooting in as many days: Police are searching for a suspect who shot someone in an intense argument on Arch Street. The victim is expected to survive. For Malden is still reeling from Tuesday's fatal shooting in which 30-year-old Brian Butler shot 30-year-old Erin Fitzgibbon inside a Fairmont Stree home during a robbery, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan. Butler was arrested Tuesday night.

Are You Free This Weekend?

If you haven't had a chance to attend a Worcester Red Sox game during the team's inaugural season, you can get a free look this weekend. The WooSox will open the gates of Polar Park for free tours of supposedly the nation's priciest minor league stadium. The team will be on the road in Lehigh Valley, Penn., but most of the park's amenities will be on display.

Eat Mass: Local Government Subsidizes Restaurants' Hiring Efforts

Eat Mass is Patch's weekly round up of food and restaurant news in Massachusetts. Click for more.

• This week's restaurant openings and closings.
• Local foodies may notice a familiar face on Tuesday night's episode of "Chopped" on the Food Network.
• Without replenishment by Congress, more than 265,000 restaurants — including hundreds in Massachusetts — who applied for the funds will be left without the pandemic aid.
• Third-party delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats have not seen an expected drop off in business, even as in-person restaurant dining makes a comeback.

How bad is the local labor shortage for restaurants? So bad that Salem, with it's tourism-based economy, is helping restaurants recruit workers by picking up the tab for gift cards for part-time restaurant workers.

Under the program, which the city is cosponsoring with MassHire, the first 150 restaurant workers hired between June 1 and July 23 who sign up for the program will get a $400 Visa gift card if they work 15 hours or more per week for six weeks. They'll get a second, $400 gift card if they stay on the job through Halloween, the peak of the Witch City's tourism calendar.

The cards are being paid for under money Salem received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under the Cares Act.

Read the full story.