MA Officials Want Prom Canceled In 2021: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Thursday, April 7. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued guidance to public schools urging them to cancel proms for a second straight spring.
• The new, marathon-themed Red Sox uniforms unveiled this week were met with mixed reviews when shown to fans.
• Worcester officials are working on opening restrooms to serve homeless residents, but are having trouble finding a site in the city that won't cause a "firestorm" of controversy.

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

Today's Top Story

Bad news for the class of 2021.

The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued guidance to public schools urging them to cancel proms for a second straight spring. The traditional, end-of-high school dances are "an inherently high-risk activity, as it is a social gathering that involves dancing and singing (both of which are activities with increased respiration)."

DESE said schools should either hold "alternative celebrations for seniors" or wait to hold proms until after the school year ends, when more students will have been vaccinated for COVID-19.

Read the full story.

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Thursday's Other Top Stories

Red Sox, sans red: The new, marathon-themed Red Sox uniforms unveiled this week were met with mixed reviews when shown to fans at the team's nearby souvenir store across the street from Fenway Park. The Sox will honor the Boston Marathon and the city by wearing blue-and-yellow uniforms, the colors that stretch across the finish line of the famous race, during their games over Patriot Days weekend. "I think they're a little too yellow. I don't understand the yellow at all," said 25-year-old Allison Feinberg of Leominster.

Ex-Northeastern coach arrested: Federal prosecutors are accusing a former Northeastern University track coach of using phony social media accounts to trick women on his team into sending him nude photos of themselves. FBI agents arrested former Northeastern University track coach Steve Waithe, 28, of Chicago, Wednesday morning. Waithe is also accused of stalking at least one woman.

$1,000 per month on a $2 buy: An Uxbridge woman won $1,000 per month for a decade on a $2 scratcher purchased in Milford. But like most lotto winners, she opted to take the prize as a lump sum, according to lottery officials.

Pandemic store concept: Marlborough may get a unique type of convenience store. The Waltham-based company Alltown Fresh wants to install a drive-thru window at a convenience store in the city, one of the first in the state.

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

They Said It

"This is really, really a public health issue, and an issue of human dignity."

• Worcester City Councilor Sarai Rivera on efforts to open restrooms to serve homeless residents. Many public restrooms in Worcester and other Massachusetts communities have been closed since the start of the pandemic last year.