MA COVID-19 Restrictions May Get Supreme Court Review: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Monday, May 10. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• The Worcester Red Sox will hold their first home game at Polar Park on Tuesday afternoon.
• The University of Massachusetts suspended the three freshmen — and kept their tuition — because they posted a photo of themselves not wearing facemasks at an off-campus gathering.
• Worcester taxpayers have paid more than $4 million since 2010 to settle almost 30 lawsuits against the police department.

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

Today's Top Story

Ten plaintiffs asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review December's Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling upholding Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker's executive orders that placed restrictions on businesses and residents during the coronavirus pandemic.

The New Civil Liberties Alliance, which represents the small business owners, the head of a private school and the head of two religious organizations who filed the lawsuit, filed a petition Monday arguing the executive orders were based on the 1950s Cold War-era Civil Defense Act and should not have been used for a health emergency.

The Alliance also argues the state's Public Health Act gives control to local boards of health to prevent disease transmission and that Baker overstepped his authority by putting statewide rules in place on March 10, 2020.

Read the full story.

Like this article? Sign up for our newsletter and get it delivered every weekday. It's free!

Monday's Other Top Stories

Police paid $4m to settle lawsuits: Worcester taxpayers have paid more than $4 million since 2010 to settle almost 30 lawsuits against the police department, according to records gathered by the group Defund WPD. The group released details about the lawsuits Monday as part of a push to reduce the police department budget as Worcester prepares for the 2022 budget process.

5-cent nip deposit? A Framingham lawmaker wants to bring deposits to tiny liquor bottles, typically called "nips." The tiny plastic bottles are a major litter problem across the state.

Man shot by police identified: Zachary Richardson rammed the Leicester police station with his SUV early Sunday morning, according to Worcester DA Joseph Early. Police shot and killed Richardson when he emerged from his the SUV holding an object that officers thought was a rifle.

Learn more about getting a COVID-19 vaccine in Massachusetts at Patch's information hub.

They Said It

"The pandemic emergency has changed the characteristics of the customers, including those of donuts/fast food services, as people have changed their habits and now are using drive-thrus rather than enter food service establishments."

• An attorney for a Framingham Dunkin' location that's seeking special permission to add a drive-thur lane.

In Case You Missed It

UMass suspends maskless students: A snapshot and social media post are costing an Andover teen and her two classmates dearly at UMass-Amherst. The parents of the Andover freshman told WBZ-AM the University of Massachusetts suspended the three freshmen — and kept their tuition — because they posted a photo of themselves not wearing facemasks at an off-campus gathering, which violated strict campus coronavirus protocols.

Whales "hug" off coast of Cape Cod: National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry filmed two of the critically endangered whales embracing in an apparent hug. The aerial footage came from a Feb. 28 trip, where Skerry and Michael Moore, a scientist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, caught a glimpse of a group of whales playfully engaging with each other at the ocean's surface. Whether a whale hug means the same as a hug does for people is anyone's guess, according to Moore.