What Happens When MA State Of Emergency Ends: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Monday, June 14. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• Property records show the Dedham house where a teenager drowned earlier this month belongs to retired Massachusetts State Police Officer James Coughlin.
• The Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed against Barstool Sports and former WEEI host Kirk Minihane by Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone.
• An immersive gaming center has opened at the Natick Mall along with a massive Night Shift Brewing taproom.

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

Today's Top Story

While Gov. Charlie Baker lifted most coronavirus restrictions on May 29, the state of an emergency he declared on March 10, 2020 does not officially end until Tuesday.

"Unless something odd happens, I would say that it is pretty much over," Baker said May 28.

Indeed, life in Massachusetts since May 29 has looked a lot like life before the emergency order went into effect. Schools are back to in-person learning, five days per week. People are eating out more often, leaving face coverings at home and paying less attention to the daily updates from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health with the latest data on COVID-19 cases, deaths and vaccination rates.

But some state lawmakers are looking to extend certain elements of the emergency order, ranging from to-go cocktails at restaurants to voting by mail.

See the current status of pandemic rules lawmakers want to extend.

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Monday's Other Top Stories

New gaming center: With expertise from former Disney engineers, a new "immersive" gaming center opened at the Natick Mall on Monday along with a new Night Shift Brewing taproom. Level99 is kind of like an arcade, but all the games are played in real life — not on a screen.

Shooting suspect arrested: Rhode Island state troopers arrested a Boston man over the weekend who was wanted following a May shooting at a motel near Worcester. Police also say the man was manufacturing MDMA, also know as ecstasy.

Retired state trooper owned Dedham home where teen drowned: Family, friends and strangers gathered to show their support for Alonzo Polk and demand answers in his death during a vigil Sunday night. Police say the 17-year-old was found unresponsive in a pool during a graduation party on Netta road last weekend and died in a Boston hospital a few days later. Property records show the house belongs to retired Massachusetts State Police Officer James Coughlin.

SJC: Viva la Stool! The Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed against Barstool Sports and former WEEI host Kirk Minihane by Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone. Curtatone filed the suit in Middlesex Superior Court in June 2019 after Minihane conducted a phone interview with the mayor pretending to be The Boston Globe's Kevin Cullen. Barstool Sports later posted the interview on its website.

MA men plead guilty in Japan: Two Americans charged with helping former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn flee Japan while he was facing accusations of financial misconduct agreed Monday that they took part in a scheme for him to escape the country. Statements by Michael Taylor and his son, Peter, on the opening day of their trial in Tokyo suggest the pair don't plan to fight charges of assisting a criminal. That carries a possible penalty of up to three years in prison.

Harvard case heading to high court? Supreme Court Justices could say as soon as Monday whether they will hear an appeal claiming that Harvard discriminates against Asian American applicants, in a case that could have nationwide repercussions. The case would not be argued until the fall or winter. "It would be a big deal because of the nature of college admissions across the country and because of the stakes of having this issue before the Supreme Court," said Gregory Garre, who twice defended the University of Texas' admissions program before the justices.

Eat fresh: Patch's 2021 Massachusetts Farmers Market Guide

They Said It

"The use of the terms 'rabbi' and 'dreidel' was initiated several years ago by Jewish members of the football program as a nickname for the play call 'Rabbit.' They claimed, tongue in cheek, that Jewish culture was 'underrepresented' in the football program."

• Fired Duxbury football coach Dave Maimaron in a statement sent to the Boston Herald. Maimaron, who was fired after players used "Auschwitz," "rabbi" and "dreidel" as a play calls in a game earlier this year, said he should have not allowed his team to use those terms.

In Case You Missed It

'Vax Express:' Coronavirus vaccinations will soon be available on rails in Massachusetts, with the inaugural run Wednesday of the "Vax Express." The MBTA is turning over a commuter rail train to CIC Health, a partner in the state's vaccination program, to bring the Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines to five communities with low vaccination rates. While Massachusetts has over two-thirds of the population at least partially vaccinated, trailing only Vermont among U.S. states, not all its 351 cities and towns are doing as well.