Boston rallies against Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court
Hundreds of protesters gathered at Boston City Hall on Monday, Oct. 1, to protest the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States. Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings, which began last week, have been riddled with scandal, primarily stemming from accusations that Kavanaugh is a sexual abuser and attempted rapist. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who testified last Thursday, was the primary whistleblower on this activity, claiming Kavanaugh had attempted to rape her in high school.
The Boston protest was timed to coincide with the appearance of Arizona U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican, in Boston on Monday. He spoke at a Forbes event outside City Hall. Last week, Flake released a statement saying he would vote to confirm Kavanaugh. However, he changed his position after he was confronted by two assault survivors in an elevator, and is now demanding a full FBI investigation before the confirmation goes forward.
“There were men in positions of power who described those proceedings as a disgrace to our nation, when the real disgrace is a tolerant rape culture that has used rape and sexual violence as a tool of oppression, as a weapon of war,” said Ayanna Presley, the Democratic Congressional Nominee for the 7th District of Massachusetts, at the rally on Monday, “and we have been complicit in our silence,”
State Police arrest two men for skating after dark in Cambridge
Last Sunday night, two Boston men refused to leave a public skate park after dark, as per park regulation, and were arrested for doing so. The men, skaters Derek Hanlon, 27, and Askia Burns, 24, were charged with trespassing after a state trooper found them (along with at least 30 other skaters) in the Lynch Family Skatepark at 8:26 p.m, according to a press release from the police department.
The arrests generated some confusion, because they were done while the new night-time skate park lights which were installed to promote night-time skating were on and functioning. However, park officials said that the new curfew, which will extend until the late hour of 9:00 PM, has yet to take effect.
Dockless electric scooters may return to Boston area
Last July, the electric scooter company Bird distributed dozens of their scooters across Cambridge and Somerville without warning citizens or the government first. The company said that local residents were utilizing the Birds to help the community. However, since they were operating without a permit, Cambridge and Somerville city governments sent Bird cease-and-desist letters. The company agreed to withdraw its fleet, but hoped to return them later.
Weeks later, it was discovered that the Bird scooters are illegal under Massachusetts state law, which requires that any motorized scooters on public roadways have brake lights and turn signals.
Now, Bird and Lime (another bike and scooter-share company) are lobbying local governments to allow their scooters to fly free once more, and build a framework for regulating electric scooter use. Bird’s sudden surprise launch has forced Cambridge city council to more seriously consider the issue, and come up with a functional scooter infrastructure sooner rather than later.
