Fabricio Paes said that he woke shortly after 5 a.m. to the sounds of “people screaming, glass shattering” and thought at first that his two young sons were making a ruckus before school. But then the smell of smoke hit him.

Paes’ family lives on the third floor of 432 Meridian St. The address was the second home hit in the fire called in shortly before 5 a.m. By the time the fire was knocked out, the upper half of the building was a blackened shell.

Paes said that the smoke and then the sounds of his downstairs neighbor pounding on his door and screaming that everyone needed to “get out” woke him out of his funk and into action. By the time he closed his door with his family rushing down the stairs in front of him, he said, his “entire floor was filled with thick, black smoke.”

The roughly 130 firefighters defeated the brunt of the blaze at around 8:30 a.m. In all, the blaze had displaced about 30 residents, as well as some pet birds. One firefighter and six residents, including at least one child, were rushed to the nearest hospital. One resident had been pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

Homicide detectives were dispatched to the scene, which a Boston Police Department spokesman said could indicate the death was deemed suspicious.

“The first firefighters that got here had heavy fire showing from two buildings and did rescue of five people over aerial ladders,” Boston Fire Department Commissioner Paul Burke said from the scene. He said the “stubborn fire” had spread to two other homes.

In all, the Fire Department estimated the total damage at $5 million. The two homes most affected by the fire, 432 and 430 Meridian Street — right at the intersection with West Eagle Street — had a combined assessed value of about $1.86 million, with about $1.34 of that as building value, according to city tax records.

At approximately 5:00 heavy fire in a large multi family building on Meridian st East Boston that traveled to the adjacent building . Heavy fire throughout the building , this is now a 6 alarm. pic.twitter.com/MyGNTVDTZu

— Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) April 2, 2024

There was visible damage to other valuable accessories in proximity to the homes. The hood of a white Toyota Corolla parked behind 430 Meridian St. was blackened and twisted from the heat of the raging fire. All of its windows had been blown out.

The fire, according to authorities and those like Paes displaced by it, first engulfed 430 Meridian St. The multi-family dwelling housed, by at least one neighbor’s estimate, about seven families — three of whom the neighbor knew.

Luckily, Juanita Brown said that everyone she was close with in the building was fine, but one of the women told her that “She’s devastated. She lost everything.”

“I just want to get down on my hands and knees and pray for them,” Brown said, adding that it is the first time she has experienced a big fire in the 16 years she has lived in the immediate area.

She said she’s already reached out to Mayor Michelle Wu and East Boston’s city councilor, Gabriela “Gigi” Coletta, to ask about how she can help, and she encouraged others to do the same.

Companies are attacking the exposure building with and interior and exterior attack and from the roof deck from the building in the rear to keep it from spreading down block pic.twitter.com/zCEYGiMRNa

— Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) April 2, 2024

At the scene of the blaze, Mayor Wu described the fire as “incredibly heartbreaking,” adding that she shares “her deepest condolences” with the family of the unidentified person who died.

“We will do whatever we can to help all of those who have been displaced,” Wu said, adding the quick response of the firefighters from all around the city saved the day.

Coletta tweeted a link to a fundraiser page run by the East Boston Social Centers that specifies that it’s “focused on raising money to provide families with help and dignity as they navigate this tragedy.”

Coletta tweeted that she’s “Grateful to the @BostonFire, @BOSTON_EMS @bostonpolice and all first responders who acted quickly to maintain this 6-alarm fire in East Boston.”

The fire remains under investigation.

Over 130 Firefighters battled the 6 alarm fire. Companies starting to make up 30 residents , a couple of birds displaced 1 Firefighter and 6 residents were transported ⁦@BOSTON_EMS⁩ . Damages estimated at 5 million dollars. pic.twitter.com/pBnnYWsnDs

— Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) April 2, 2024

Commissioner Burke and ⁦@MayorWu⁩ brief the media on the 6 alarm fire in East Boston. 5 residents were rescued over ladders but sadly there was 1 fatality. pic.twitter.com/qO2GJGLqHv

— Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) April 2, 2024

The presumptive GOP nominee’s morning email with the heading “I’m suspending my campaign…” was Monday morning’s top, April Fools’ Day political clickbait.

The Trump team quickly added, “Just Kidding — Happy April Fools Day.” Trump then rattled off all that ails President Joe Biden, from “Open borders, sky rocketing crime, record inflation, targeted prosecutions, humiliation overseas.”

Trump then asks for 100,000 to “chip in $25” to help offset Biden’s mega-donor fund-raiser last week in New York City.

Biden’s campaign says the shindig they booked at Radio City Music Hall featuring former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton was the “the most successful political fundraiser in American history.”

Before Biden was even joined on stage Thursday evening in New York by his Democratic forerunners in front of 5,000 paid attendees, with a sold out show and second row seats going for $500,000 a piece the campaign was apparently able to pull in an eye-popping $25 million for just the one event.

Not to be outdone, Trump is inviting wealthy donors to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., for an April 6 fundraiser hosted by New York hedge fund billionaire John Paulson, the Associated Press is reporting.

As for MSNBC, the cable crew is still being beat up over hiring and then immediately firing Ronna McDaniel, the former RNC chair. And that one is no joke.

The feds are refusing to make any further installments of Bulger’s case file public, saying the records are “investigative” and no longer subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

“The records responsive to your request are law enforcement records; there is a pending or prospective law enforcement proceeding relevant to these responsive records, and release of the information could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings. Therefore, your request is being administratively closed,” the FBI stated in a letter to the Herald Monday.

They did not divulge what investigation Bulger’s case could still be linked to, considering the former Southie mobster was murdered while in a West Virginia prison in August 2018 by two fellow inmates. He was 89 and wheelchair-bound at the time of his death.

It has also long been speculated that Bulger hid millions of dollars in foreign bank accounts that have yet to be discovered.

Bulger’s former FBI handler, John “Zip” Connolly, is also back in Massachusetts on a compassionate release and is appealing his case. He was given only years to live.

Other former Winter Hill gang associates — including Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi — are alive, but Flemmi’s Florida parole date is set for 2218.

Still, the FBI does not want Bulger’s secret file to “interfere” with whatever case may or may not be percolating, the letter states. The Herald is appealing the decision.

“It’s a joke,” said Steve Davis Wednesday. “There’s no way in hell they shouldn’t tell all. It’s not right to all of the loved ones of victims still looking for answers.”

Davis has fought for victims’ rights ever since his sister, Debra, was reportedly slain by Bulger in 1981 – when Connolly was Whitey’s FBI handler.

Bulger was found guilty in August of 2013 in federal court in Boston for the murder of 11 people, as well as numerous counts of extortion, money laundering, drug dealing, and firearms possession. But he took to his grave the dirty dealings he had with the Boston branch of the FBI when he was killing with impunity.

“The whole thing was corrupt from the get-go,” said Janet Uhlar, a juror on Bulger’s 2013 trial. “They put out a lie. He was never an informant, he bought information from the FBI.”

Uhlar, who added she shared 70 letters with Bulger after the trial, said she still wonders what role the CIA had with the serial killer while he was locked up early in his life and submitted to an LSD experiment.

“His mind was manipulated by the CIA and he shouldn’t have been let out into the public,” she said Wednesday. “The other guys were as dirty as dirty could be.”

In an addendum to the FOIA denial sent to the Herald, the FBI states “Congress excluded three categories of law enforcement and national security records” from the public records law. That includes “records of intelligence sources, methods, or activities.” And, they add, the FBI “can
neither confirm nor deny the existence of records pursuant to FOIA exemptions.”

It’s as if Bulger never existed.

“They don’t want to reveal what they have,” Uhlar said, adding sitting on the jury was “disturbing and changed my life forever.”

The limited information the FBI has made public is mostly canned mob work with bookies and fixing horse races. The murders, leaks, double-dealing, life on the lam, and intel possibly gleaned from Bulger once he was caught in Santa Monica, Calif., in June of 2011, will never see the light of day.

He was living with his lover Catherine Greig with $822,198 in cash hidden in the wall inside their apartment. She did time and is now out.

Bulger’s secrets, however, remain locked up for eternity, with another appeal as the only hope.

“It’s just ridiculous,” said Liz Norden, whose two adult sons lost legs in the April 2013 twin bombings at the finish line of the race.

“It’s been 11 years and we’re still at a standstill,” she told the Herald Thursday evening after the court ruling broke. “It’s crazy. I just hope I’m still alive to see this end.” Liz Norden and her sons, J.P. and Paul, have started their own foundations, “A Leg Forever,” to help those who face mounting bills paying for prosthetics.

The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals states allegations of potential juror bias “requires further factfinding by the district court.” This does not change the death sentence, but does keep this case open yet again.

It also hits just as the 128th running of the Boston Marathon is set to start in Hopkinton and end in Boston on April 15.

The appeals court states ” the district court’s investigation fell short of what was constitutionally required” over this one issue. If bias is shown, the court adds, Tsarnaev will be “entitled to a new penalty-phase proceeding.”

The alleged bias is over social media postings about the bombing made by two jurors in the death penalty phase of Tsarnaev’s case.

The court added: “And even then, we once again emphasize that the only question in any such proceeding will be whether Tsarnaev will face execution; regardless of the outcome, he will spend the rest of his life in prison.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has already reinstated the death sentence against Tsarnaev for planting and triggering the bombs on Boylston Street that killed three and maimed hundreds more.

The bombing killed Martin Richard, 8; Krystle Campbell, 29; and Lu Lingzi, 23. More than 260 people were injured. MIT Police Officer Sean Collier, 27, was shot execution-style days later by the Tsarnaevs.

Boston Police Officer Dennis Simmonds, 28, injured in the Watertown shootout in which Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed, died in April 2014.

Tsarnaev is locked up in the Federal Correctional Complex Florence in Colorado — a Supermax called the “Alcatraz of the Rockies.” 

Boston Rep. Ayanna Pressley is slamming Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over his threat to send Haitian migrants to Martha’s Vineyard.

“That DeSantis would continue exploiting vulnerable families is unconscionable but unsurprising from a failed presidential candidate seeking to stay relevant,” said Pressley, co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus.

DeSantis did it once and he said on a podcast he won’t hesitate to send migrants to Massachusetts again.

“We do have our transport program also that’s going to be operational,” DeSantis said Tuesday on Dana Loesch‘s podcast. “Haitians land in the Florida Keys – their next stop very well may be Martha’s Vineyard.”

Fox News reported that Haitians fleeing the gang-controlled nation are heading to South Florida to escape starvation and even death. That’s a perilous roughly 850-mile trip by boat and DeSantis said he’s taking steps to thwart them.

Pressley said Wednesday she’s urging the Biden administration to redesignate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti and pause all deportation flights to Haiti until conditions improve.

“It is far past time to take federal action to stabilize Haiti and save lives,” she said in a statement. “That means immediately halting deportations to the island, redesignating TPS for Haiti, cracking down on arms trafficking to Haiti, supporting a Haitian-led democratic transition, and providing the security, humanitarian, and economic assistance that the island needs.”

Dozens of migrants were flown to Martha’s Vineyard from Florida in September of 2022.

At the time, DeSantis said the flight was made in order to send the illegal immigrants to “greener pastures” to northern sanctuary cities.

“We are not a sanctuary state,” the Florida governor said then. “And it’s better to be able to go to a sanctuary jurisdiction. And yes, we will help facilitate that transport for you to be able to go to greener pastures.”

Overnight DeSantis chartered a flight out of Haiti to Florida for Americans escaping the gang war. There are a reported 1,600 others looking to get out, Fox says the U.S. State Department claims.

A harbinger of that is the report today by The Warren Group, which shows the cost of a single-family home climbed 10% in February in the Bay State, with a new median price of $548,250.

“February was another record-setting month for median single-family home prices as sales activity
was flat on a year-over-year basis,” said Cassidy Norton of The Warren Group. “A lack of inventory is the biggest factor driving these trends, and with fewer and fewer homes hitting the market, we can fully expect to see more recording-setting prices paired with a low sales volume in the coming months.”

The report lists 2,042 single-family homes sold in Massachusetts during February. That’s flat year-over-year — or up 0.1% with 4,434 home sold in 2023 vs 4,438 this past February, the report states.

The median condo price increased 6.5% on a year-over-year basis to $490,000.

Condo sales also increased 5.8% when compared to last February, with 1,017 sales vs 1,076 closings this winter, the report adds.

“Although condo sales increased 5.8% in February on a year-over-year basis, activity is still
nowhere near what we saw even two or three years ago,” Norton said. “Record high prices and
high-interest rates are likely a big factor in the long-term decline in activity, and prospective
buyers shouldn’t expect much relief in the near future.”

The Fed is meeting this week, and all eyes are on the benchmark interest rate but don’t bet on any immediate relief.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his fellow Fed officials are expected to play it safe and keep rates frozen, according to multiple reports.

The Fed’s benchmark rate stands at about 5.4%, the highest level in 23 years, after a series of 11 rate hikes that were intended to curb the worst inflation in four decades but have also made borrowing much more expensive for consumers and businesses, the Associated Press reports.

Mortgage rates are hovering near 7.2% for a 30-year fixed rate, with other similar rates being promoted for slightly less. “Upper” 6% rates are also in play as of Monday, with Business Insider stating “hotter-than-expected economic data has helped push them back up.”

As for Greater Boston, the housing picture is even more costly.

The Warren Group report states the median price of a single-family home has soared 11.9% year-over-year in February from $620,000 to $693,750. That’s for the 139 towns located within Interstate 495. Condo prices are also up 5.7%.

There’s not much movement in Boston, where single-family home sales — though very rare — climb past $1 million, statistics show. The same holds true for Cambridge, Arlington, Dover, Belmont, Brookline, Concord, Edgartown, Hingham, Lexington, Lincoln, Needham, Wellesley, Weston, and Westwood.

Police Commissioner Michael Cox said late Monday night that it was “another heroic act” by the BPD with nobody else injured and a suspect immediately taken into custody.

UPDATE: This morning police identified the shooting at Avery Lewis, 31, of Dorchester. He faces a slew of drug and gun charges, including trafficking in cocaine (36 grams of it).

The charges just posted by police include: armed assault to murder, assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, unlawful possession of a firearm and ammo and unlawful possession of a large capacity feeding device. He was held without bail at his arraignment.

The injured officer was rushed to Boston Medical Center for non-life-threatening injures where he is recovering.

“We’re very fortunate our officer is going to be fine,” Cox told reporters outside BMC. “This is a difficult, difficult job. There are more guns than people in this country and the wrong people have guns.”

He praised the restraint the officers showed adding the suspect will be arraigned in Dorchester District Court sometime today.

Cox said police responded to Esmond Street near Franklin Park at 9:34 p.m. for a 911 call for a person “potentially having a gun.” When police arrived he said the suspect fired one shot hitting the officer in the chest.

The commissioner also praised emergency workers who transported the office to nearby BMC. The hospital was soon quickly surrounded by fellow BPD officers.

The officer has been on the force for about two years and “followed his training,” Cox stressed.

Mayor Michelle Wu also visited the officer at BMC and said that the shooting is “another reminder of all that officers and their families put on the line for our city.” She also told reporters she was “thankful” to be able to visit with the injured officer.

DA Kevin Hayden, who said more will come out at the arraignment, added he’s also “thankful to God” the patrolman is “alive and well.”

Details of the call to a house on Esmond Street were limited last night. The DA said it was too early to go into details ahead of the arraignment.

To search on this database, click the magnifying glass icon (at right) and enter names and more. Use the scroll bar at the bottom to move the data over to the right to sort by highest to lowest. Send any tips or questions to joed@bostonherald.com.

The special envoy for climate — being moved to President Biden’s campaign committee this spring —  said if Russia makes “a greater effort to reduce emissions,” it might “open up the door for people to feel better about what Russia is choosing to do.” He was referring to Russia’s murderous invasion of Ukraine.

Listen to the video on Fox News…

It’s not clear from the video from a foreign press briefing earlier this week if Kerry elaborated or if the journalists in the room pressed him for more.

A Climate Office spokesman told the Herald Friday that Kerry prefaced his statement, as video shows, that Russia’s invasion more than two years ago remains illegal.

“Sec. Kerry began by saying that he believed ‘that if Russia has the ability to wage a war illegally and invade another country, they ought to be able to find the effort to be responsible on the climate issue,'” the spokesman stated.

“And unfortunately,” the spokesman said Kerry added, “because of the actions that Russia took in an unprovoked, illegal war against another nation, we have not been engaged in discussions with Russia.”

The spokesman added, “If you read the entire quote, he was clearly talking about their emissions and climate record and not the Ukraine war when he said people would feel better about what they are doing right now.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed during Russia’s full-scale invasion, BBC reports, with a UN committee reporting 30,457 civilian deaths.

His daughter said she’d fall asleep as a kid to that same rhythmic clacking coming from the manual typewriter downstairs her dad cherished. That was Joe. Ink ran through his veins. Loyalty. Compassion. Commitment also flowed equally.

“He loved connecting with the people he wrote about. He never forgot a name or someone’s story and it was always so important to him to write with respect and integrity,” Kate Kelley, Joe’s daughter, told the Herald.

She called to break the sad news that her dad had passed away peacefully Thursday at age 79 surrounded by his family, including his boys Mike and Tim, after suffering a stroke.

Joe grew up in West Roxbury and raised his family in Norwood, but he belonged to Boston.

He cared deeply about everyone he met. He was passionate, OK fiery at times, but you have to be in this business. No one gives up their secrets easily. Joe had the gift of pulling them out.

He’d fly by the City Desk to announce his column was ready and to tell us what other stories had to make it into the next day’s print edition. He was always right.

Joe understood how precious the feel of a newspaper can be in your hands — especially if your byline was on one of the pages. He’d lose sleep if a typo tarnished his prose, even if we caught it.

He was also the master of the “appreciation.” If a “friend of the Herald,” as Joe would say, died we had to write a heartfelt piece. Joe would volunteer or he’d insist we pen one.

It must also be said that Joe was never the same after his beloved wife, Carol, died in October of 2012. They first met in Vermont while on a date squirrel hunting. True story! He had to marry her after that first outing, he’d say with a laugh.

Joe was also a deeply religious man. His faith infused his columns. God bless him for that.

There’s an unwritten rule in journalism that you push aside the daily grind to honor a fallen colleague. You put down on paper what that person embodied.

Joe Fitz taught us that the Boston Herald can never die. It’s our job to pound the keys, report the truth, and honor the readers who demand our best every day.

A reader recently wrote to point out that using the term “passed away” for someone who died wasn’t proper Associated Press style. I’d agree, to a point.

Joe Fitz has passed away, but what he left behind lives on in all of us.

Joe, we appreciate every word you wrote.

Read some of his columns here…

Joe’s wake will be Thursday from 4-8 p.m. at Kraw-Kornack Funeral Home in Norwood with a memorial service Friday at 10 a.m. at The United Church of Norwood.

The site stated early on “Network failed. Please try again” — but some posts slowly began showing near the end of President Biden’s address.

Trump’s 6.67 million followers began seeing some action at about 10:15 p.m. as the former president pointed out Biden kept coughing into his right hand, “DON’T SHAKE PEOPLE’S HANDS GOING OUT,” Trump wrote.

Trump noted deep into the State of the Union address that Biden is “having a hard time now — The words are not flowing smoothly out of his mouth!”

Another post followed up: “Other countries are laughing at our stupidity on ‘Climate.’ The Green New Scam is destroying our Economy and our Country!”

Another post was a photoshopped image of Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin inside a “Biden/Harris” campaign spoof ad saying “Endorsed by Vladimir Putin.”

A few other early posts by Trump did show, only to disappear again as the site struggled to stay live. It’s not clear why, but it could be a massive crush of new followers or some other glitch.

It didn’t stop the Trump team, however, from pivoting to email alerts as President Biden made his way through this address. One missive stated, “Joe Biden’s Education Department is more focused on social justice indoctrination than teaching students.”

It also didn’t stop the heckling in the chamber, with GOP Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene yelling out when Biden addressed the migrant crisis.

A Truth Social post that showed late stated Trump saying of the migrant crisis: “He’s talking about Violence, but Migrant Violence is leading the Worst Crime Wave in history!”

The feed began picking up steam just as Biden was given a Bronx cheer when he said, “finally,” before delivering his closing remarks.

Trump’s post around that time, clearly delayed depending where you were on the feed, stated: “He made Iran RICH. Thish is why we have the problems in the Middle East. With me, Iran was BROKE. He is the reason that the Middle East is blowing up!”

But that was it as Biden ended just after 10:30 p.m. with Biden shaking hands on the way out.

Trump was firing back this morning with multiple posts and a video response by the former president to Biden’s State of the Union — with a focus on the migrant crisis. “My priority is securing our border,” Trump said.

He also hit back at Biden’s “shrinkflation” — and the diminishing size of chip bags — as a poor excuse for the inflation.

Meanwhile, Biden’s speech is receiving good reviews. It’s clearly Round One of the general election now that it’s down to Biden vs. Trump the rematch.

That teacher, who also owns a home in Dedham with her husband assessed in Zillow online records at about $1 million, was given $117,000 in student debt relief, Pressley says in a press release.

“Priscilla is a first generation American, a proud union educator with Boston Public Schools and the Boston Teachers Union, and the daughter of a Colombian immigrant, who has received over $117,000 in student debt relief under the Biden-Harris Administration’s improved Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program,” Pressley writes.

City payroll records posted by the Herald show that teacher, Priscilla Higuera Valentine, earned $135,901 in 2023; $116,595 in 2022; and $114,112 in 2021.

She is listed as a school teacher at the Conley Elementary School in Roslindale.

Just before the start of President Biden’s speech, Pressley’s staff pushed back saying the congresswoman was “proud to be joined” by the teacher.

“Student debt is deeply burdensome and impacts folks from all walks of life,” a spokesperson for the congresswoman’s office said, adding the teacher is a “mother, caregiver, and educator who has worked in the Boston Public Schools for more than 20 years.”

The statement goes on to back Biden’s push for college loan relief “for as many people as possible.”

The Pressley spokesperson added the office “does not share personal details about private citizens beyond what those individuals have affirmatively offered.”

Records online do list the teacher as living in split-ranch with a market value that has pushed past the million-dollar mark. Her payroll records are also posted on the City of Boston site.

In her press release, Pressley writes that she is “a leading voice in Congress calling for broad-based student debt cancellation.”

To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved almost $138 billion in student debt cancellation for nearly 4 million borrowers, including 793,000 public servants nationwide and 17,000 public servants in Massachusetts, Pressley added in her press release.

The teacher could not be reached for comment before the speech, with a union member saying cellphones were taken away from guests.

The union also said in a statement that Valentine bought the Dedham home by “combining finances” with her mother — and that no one has “control (over) what happens with valuations in the housing market.”

Valentine was quoted in Pressley’s press release saying, in part, that having “more than $117,000 forgiven at once has opened my family’s world to a life that I could have only dreamed of a year ago. I am now able to save for my children to be able to go to college. I’m building good credit so my husband and I can refinance our mortgage.”

“We’ve never seen anything like it,” he told the Herald. “It’s the biggest and baddest migration in the history of the United States and maybe the world.”

Local schools, area hospitals — “any quality of life metric” — will be overwhelmed due to this migration, he said. The courts, police, prisons and the “downward pressure on wages” will also change society drastically.

“There’s a price tag to all this that Americans are finally waking up to,” he said. “There will be political change and you’ll see it in the black and Latino neighborhoods, too.”

Bensman, author of the book “Overrun: How Joe Biden unleashed the greatest border crisis in U.S. history,” is set to speak Tuesday at the West Roxbury Elks Hall in a free session on the migrant crisis. His appearance is sponsored by the group,  Bostonians Against Sanctuary Cities.

It comes at Gov. Maura Healey’s administration is scrambling to house newly arrived migrants in a Roxbury rec center, a Fort Point office building and hotels and motels across the state. Speculation is running rampant about where the governor’s staff will house migrants next.

The Bay State emergency shelter system is maxed out at the 7,500 family limit Healey unilaterally imposed last year and there’s no indication of aid coming from Washington any time soon.

Some lawmakers are considering a supplemental budget that taps $873 million in surplus dollars from the pandemic to plug a $224 million shelter budget gap this fiscal year and pay down costs in the next, when spending is expected to approach $1 billion.

Healey also pointed to her administration’s work to speed up work permit approvals for newly arrived migrants to move them out of shelters. There’s the “downward pressure on wages” playing out already.

Bensman warns these “fiscal burdens” are just the start and will soon “be mammoth.”

He devotes a chapter in his book to the overwhelming number of children now in the U.S. and the pressure just now building on school systems to teach them in a language that’s foreign to them.

All the while the cartels, he adds, cash in on this migration of misery that’s also a threat to the nation’s security.

The Department of Homeland Security has let in at least 44,000 Chinese nationals who illegally crossed the southwest border from the time President Biden took office through January of this year, most of them flying first into Ecuador on cheap tourist visas available for a few bucks online, Bensman first wrote in the New York Post.

He told the Herald that China is one of 170 countries where illegal immigrants come from as they cross the southern border — with “virtually all of them getting right in.” Bensman’s book tells of the porous border.

He said many of the Chinese crosser are “economic migrants” looking for the American dream. But others are spies sent in by China — “it’s their thing,” he said.

And the border crossings just keep happening.

“There’s no country I haven’t seen represented on the border,” he added. “We need to stop it at its source.”

The dual tragedy in the migrant crisis, Bensman writes at the end of his book, is America and the border crossers both suffer: “Only when the end-runs are pinched closed and the remaining sensible laws enforced with universal consistency will the vast numbers of foreign nationals finally stop coming — and dying on the way.”

Maria Pia Perez bragged recently on social media on that she is being aided by Tennant. Perez has been endorsed as part of the slate supported by Jim Lyons, the former chairman who was ousted by Carnevale last year.

Lyons lost his job as party boss after four years in which he plunged the state GOP deep into debt, hired private detectives to probe his fellow Republicans, spawning several federal and state investigations while he failed to win a single open seat or defeat any sitting Democrats.

Perez’ platform prominently mentions her concern about “A Return to Pagan Antiquity.” Tennant, on the other hand, is best known for his weekday partying with Blute, then the boss of Massport. When one of the scantily-clad young women on the boat, the Nauticus, spotted the Herald photographer, she flashed him.

Blute stepped down from the top spot at Massport the next day.

It remained unclear last night whether Gidget — the woman photographed flashing the Herald in Boston Harbor on August 17, 1999 — is involved in helping Tennant fight “A Return to Pagan Antiquity.”

Perez of Lynn is running in the Third Essex Senate District in Tuesday’s election.

Reached by phone Sunday, Tennant said he would call or text the Herald back about his support for Perez. He did not return a message by presstime.

Perez, who could not be reached for a comment at her Lynn home, writes in a long online essay about her candidacy, “We are living in a time that’s ushering in a Dark Age. … We are seeing in our society a return to Pagan antiquity.”

She goes on to add that “in the post-Christian West, we have abandoned our Judeo-Christian heritage, and life is becoming cheap once again.”

Super Tuesday in Massachusetts will be as much about the top of the ticket as the bottom.

An Amber Alert for 4-year-old Elowyn Duren and 1-year-old Vaelyn Duren was canceled around 10:30 a.m. after they were last seen with their father Dusten Mark Duren, 37, New Hampshire State Police said.

The children were found at an Applebee’s restaurant parking lot in Keene, N.H., about 170 miles away. N.H. authorities thanked the public for calling in tips on the case.

Witness Rick Fuller told the Associated Press he saw about five local police cars and a state trooper converge on a white car in the parking lot. Fuller, who owns Rick’s Gourmet Ice Cream store across the street, said there were no sirens and the event seemed relatively low key. He saw only two officers draw their weapons while others did not.

“I was just surprised that they ended up in Keene,” Fuller said.

Police found the body of the children’s mother, Caitlyn Naffziger, 31, when they entered an apartment at 1063 Main St. in Berlin, New Hampshire at around 10:30 p.m. Thursday night. The medical examiner said she was killed by “a single gunshot wound to the head.”

A spokesperson for New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said Dusten was “with police” in Keane, New Hampshire. Following an autopsy of Naffziger, Dusten was charged with second-degree murder “for knowingly causing Ms. Naffziger’s death by shooting her,” the AG’s office said.

Duren is set to be arraigned on Monday.

As part of the investigation into the death, police initially issued an Amber Alert asking for help finding the “missing and endangered children.”

Elowyn Duren was described as three feet tall, 30 pounds, blonde hair, and blue eyes. Vaelyn Duren was described as an infant, 20 pounds, blonde hair, and blue eyes.

Before authorities found them safe, the two children were last seen in Berlin, N.H., Thursday around 8 p.m. with the father.

Duren was driving a white 2017 Subaru Impreza 4 with New Hampshire Veteran registration number V69023.

“The New Hampshire Department of Justice, New Hampshire State Police, and the Berlin Police Department extend their thanks to the efforts of the Keene Police Department for assisting in responding to the report of Mr. Duren’s vehicle and his children to ensure their safety today,” the AG’s office said in a statement late Friday. “We also thank the citizens who responded to the Amber Alert and were alert throughout the State to safely find and locate both children.”

An eagle-eyed Boston motorist spotting red smoke wafting out of a woman’s hoodie pocket as she ran down the street Wednesday just after 11 a.m. jumped into action making a citizen arrest, police report.

“The bystander recounted that while traveling down Boston St toward Andrew Station, he noticed the suspect running from (a) bank parking lot with red smoke emitting from her hooded sweatshirt pocket. Pursuing her down Dorchester Ave and onto Father Songin Way, the bystander apprehended the suspect and alerted a nearby Sergeant,” BPD said in a release this morning.

Now that’s a Hub driver with his radar up, knowing that banks plant exploding red-dye packs in pouches to mark stolen cash.

Officers from District C-6 (South Boston) arrested Miriam Dealmeida, 38, of Boston, following an unarmed bank robbery, police said.

Police were already responding to a bank alarm at 501 Southampton St., a Rockland Trust outlet.

“The suspect, described as a white female, approximately 5′ tall, wearing a black thin hoodie with the hood covering her head, blue jeans, and a white disposable surgical mask, fled in an unknown direction,” police said.

“Broadcasting the suspect’s description, officers scoured the area, and a courageous bystander flagged them down on Father Songin Way, where he was restraining a woman matching the suspect’s description,” police added.

The hero bystander was not identified, but he sure was quick on the draw.

Dealmeida is charged with Unarmed Bank Robbery, with further charges anticipated for a separate bank robbery earlier that day at 68 Kneeland St, East West Bank. She is expected to appear for arraignment at South Boston District Court.

Police reports state how first “a caller inside” a Charles Street address saw a suspect “kick the window of the business across the street” and take off running. Police dispatched to the area quickly came upon a robbery in progress.

“The alarm company (was) reporting … a person inside by the cash registers” at a jewelry store on the street, police report.

More officers were called in for back-up where they reported finding a brick on the street at the scene of the first break-in then the same brick-and-broken-glass destruction at the Tibet Emporium on Charles Street.

Police noted the area has been hit by thieves last summer and they intensified their search.

The report states $1,500 in cash, iPads, $700 in bills, and possibly more missing. They then kept on searching spotting a Charles Street door “slightly cracked open with light appearing” at around 11:36 p.m.

“While approaching the door, officers heard a ‘thump’ sound inside” and that’s when police report they drew their weapons with one officer using his foot to carefully push open a door spotting a “white male suspect, wearing a black jacket, blue jeans, and green sneakers.”

He also had a telltale brick in his hand.

The suspect dropped the brick and was quickly handcuffed, the report ends. The suspect was identified as James Schaff, 57, of Cambridge, was arraigned later in Boston Municipal Court and held on $15,000 bail. At booking, police added, Schaff had “several jewelry items which were located in his black jacket.”

Schaff, listed as a Level 2 sex offender for a past aggravated rape, had been let out on similar charges when he was caught again.

He was charged with breaking and entering in the night, destruction of property, and being a common thief.

Boston Board Up was “notified to respond” — to help secure the Beacon Hill businesses with glass windows busted up. But a suspect in cuffs.

The FBI reported Thursday that a tip from Ukrainian allies, among others, helped unravel the Russian ruse.

The Russian GRU Military Unit 26165 — who pose as government and international organizations — travel and enter computer systems via routers where they “conceal and otherwise enable a variety of crimes,” the FBI said.

The hackers hunt for credentials while seeking intelligence the Russian covet. The Moobot malware was installed on Ubiquiti Edge OS routers, the agency added, turning the computer networks into a “global cyber espionage platform.”

Firewalls were updated to block the malware to limit the damage, the FBI said.

“Operation Dying Ember was an international effort led by FBI Boston to remediate over a thousand compromised routers belonging to unsuspecting victims here in the United States and around the world that were targeted by malicious, nation state actors in Russia to facilitate their strategic intelligence collection,” said Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI Boston Division.

This all comes as Russia has obtained a “troubling” emerging anti-satellite weapon, the White House announced Thursday.

“We’re not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said, according to the Associated Press.

That eye-popping tally includes four police officers who took home $400,000-plus and 65 other city employees who eclipsed $300,000 — mostly police and firefighters, with a wiring inspector rising in the lofty ranks.

In total, 10,409 employees claimed $100,000 or more in 2023, slightly more than 40% of the entire city payroll.

“It’s shocking. People go into law enforcement for all the right reasons, but making $400,000 is not one of them,” said Mike McCormack, a former city councilor.

The payroll for 2023 posted by the city on Wednesday lists base pay to total pay based on overtime, details, “other” and “Quinn Education” for police officers earning degrees in criminal justice. That statute was passed by the state legislature in 1970.

But the growing number of city employees earning $100,000 has fiscal watchdogs concerned.

“Mayor Wu’s payroll looks a lot more like the payroll for Harvard than the city,” said Paul Craney, spokesman for MassFiscal. He was alluding to speculation the mayor was heading over to Harvard Kennedy School. A thread she has repeatedly denied.

Craney said a 14% growth in six-figure pay as Boston faces fiscal pressures is good for the “bureaucrats” but bad for the taxpayers.

“The mayor is clearly patronizing by repaying the bureaucrats,” he added.

The Wu administration pushed back saying the 2023 payroll report — usually released every year in February — includes some retroactive pay.

“The City settled a number of collective bargaining contracts which include contractual increases for those employees covered by those contracts in addition to retroactive pay where applicable,” a spokesman said.

“Additionally, over the last two years, the administration has completed compensation analyses across more areas of the City workforce than before in order to fill key vacancies and ensure City compensation keeps up with cost of living increases,” the spokesman added.

Most city employees are required to live in Boston, with some exceptions negotiated during collective bargaining or waivers granted by the Residency Commission.

The median home price in Boston is $800,000, at last count. And that’s not factoring in a sky-high 7.56% mortgage rate.

Renting a one-bedroom apartment in the city goes for $3,311, according to Apartments.com.

Boston city payroll for 2023: Your Tax Dollars at Work

As for other payroll tidbits, George Williams, project coordinator for the City of Boston’s Task Force on Reparations, earned $24,617 last year until he was terminated after being arrested at City Hall on trespassing and resisting arrest charges in May.

Go to the Herald's "Your Tax Dollars at Work" report online to search the entire city payroll. Send tips to joed@bostonherald.com.

To search on this database, click the magnifying glass icon (at right) and enter names and more. Use the scroll bar at the bottom to move the data over to the right to sort by highest to lowest. Send any tips or questions to joed@bostonherald.com. Follow the Watchdog newsletter for related coverage.

The Healey administration is eyeing an office building on Farnsworth Street as the next spot to house homeless migrants, the Herald has learned. The location is amid the bustling Seaport not far from the Children’s Museum.

“We’ve got 1,000 questions,” a Fort Point resident told the Herald. “We’ve demanded a meeting with the city today.”

The neighborhood is one of the most vibrant, having grown into an economic engine for Boston.

An email sharing the potential migrant move to the Seaport area obtained by the Herald goes on to say other groups “need to be communicated with” about the possibility of migrants squeezing into the area.

In another email obtained by the Herald, state Rep. David Biele states that the United Way received a grant from the Healey administration to identify and set up overflow shelters for families on the waitlist throughout the state. A similar site was established in Newton through Catholic Charities, he wrote.

“The administration is in conversations with a private landowner on Farnsworth Street regarding a similar overflow site in an empty part of the building,” Biele, who represents South Boston, wrote in the email. “Nothing has been finalized yet.”

City Councilor Ed Flynn, who represents parts of South Boston, shared his concerns about the potential for sheltering migrant families in an office building in a Wednesday night statement to the Herald.

“I have serious concerns and questions about this proposal,” Flynn said. “I’m also seeking information from city and state officials about this site and proposal, including the lack of any showers at this proposed site. Not having showers on site for families should be a non-starter.”

City Councilor-at-Large Erin Murphy also raised concerns about whether the space would be adequately suited for a temporary shelter.

“As an at-large city councilor, my focus remains on advocating for all residents, in every neighborhood,” Murphy said in a statement. “We have to find an equitable balance between helping the migrants in need and at the same time making sure we are not taking much-needed resources away from our neighbors.”

She added, “This current location that has been chosen for the Fort Point is an office building. How much retrofitting will need to be done for this space to properly, and safely, accommodate families sleeping there?”

Mayor Michelle Wu said on a Wednesday morning podcast that while the city and state looked at 15 buildings in Boston, the state ultimately settled on the Roxbury Melnea A. Cass Recreational Complex as an overflow site due the immediate availability of shower and bathroom facilities.

The state is also considering the Comfort Inn at 900 Morrissey Blvd. in Dorchester for an overflow site to house migrant families, the Herald was told, as the Roxbury Cass Center is quickly reaching its 400-person capacity.

A spokesperson for Gov. Maura Healey told the Herald Wednesday night, “The state and United Way have been evaluating additional safety-net sites. No new sites are confirmed at this time.”

The following morning, Healey’s office said the Comfort Inn in Dorchester is “not under consideration.”

The state is operating other safety-net sites in Cambridge, Quincy and Revere, and United Way also has those types of sites in Greater Boston and Central Massachusetts, Healey’s office previously said.

The state’s decision to convert the Roxbury Cass Center into a safety-net site, particularly for migrant families sleeping at Logan International Airport, prompted criticism from the community, including the city’s mayor. It is set to close May 31.

“The State Police today issued a dishonorable discharge to Trooper Rogers, who retired from the Department effective today,” the MSP announced Tuesday night.

Rogers was among six agency employees arrested last week as part of a 74-count indictment alleging that they traded favors in exchange for unearned commercial drivers licenses.

Rogers, age 54, of Bridgewater, made $184,000 in 2022 and $174,000 in 2023, according to payroll records. He can collect a pension, at least until the state Pension Board decides on his case, which is not a guarantee they’ll act.

Rogers was suspended without pay on Jan. 31, the State Police added Tuesday night.

The alleged conspiracy he’s linked to, which federal prosecutors said began in 2017, went down at the MSP’s Commercial Driver’s Licensing unit.

Active members charged were Sgt. Gary Cederquist, 58, of Stoughton, and Rogers. In addition, retired MSP Troopers Calvin Butner, 63, of Halifax, and Perry Mendes, 63, of Wareham, were each arrested in Florida.

Cederquist and Rogers as well as civilians Scott Camara, 42, of Rehoboth, and Eric Mathison, 47, of Boston, who are both described as friends of Cederquist’s, were arrested a day later.

Cederquist also was suspended without pay and retired last week, the agency added. According to the state comptroller, in 2022 Cederquist made $331,619. In 2023, he pocketed another $182,000.

Dennis Galvin, president of the Massachusetts Association for Professional Law Enforcement (MAPLE), told the Herald Sunday it’s time for Gov. Maura Healey to take action on the agency.

“The worst part of all this is it’s undermining confidence in the law,” Galvin, a retired state police major, said. “Our members are heartbroken over what’s happening.”

Galvin is calling for Gov. Maura Healey to put the agency into a receivership or establish a Blue Ribbon commission to fix the MSP.

The State Police indicted allegedly texted to each other referring to the commercial driver’s license (CDL) applicants who would pass no matter what as receiving “the golden handshake” or “the golden treatment.”

Cederquist, the alleged ringleader, is accused of handing over CDLs for gifts like a new driveway valued at $10,000 and a $2,000 snowblower.

Each defendant is charged with various counts of extortion, honest services mail fraud, conspiracy, false statements, and falsification of records.

“The suspect is described as an unknown masked male, wearing dark grey pants, black boots, and a dark colored jacket with a white marking on the left breast area,” Boston police said in an alert. “The suspect was also wearing light blue latex gloves on his hands where he held a black firearm.”

Police say the alleged gunman hit up the market at about 12:49p.m. Tuesday at 517 Warren Street in Roxbury. That’s where police said he robbed a customer of cash and then grabbed money from the cash register.

The Boston Police Department is actively investigating this incident. Anyone with information is urged to contact District 2 Detectives at (617) 343-4275.

Community members willing to assist anonymously can reach CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1 (800) 494-TIPS or text ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463). BPD ensures strict confidentiality for all anonymous contributors aiding this investigation.

The “One Pill/Can Kill” campaign kicks off with a warning that fentanyl “is a deadly synthetic opioid” pressed into bogus pills that are made to look like Adderall, Xanax, OxyContin and “other pharmaceuticals.”

Fentanyl was present in 93% of fatal opioid ODs in Massachusetts, health officials have reported. Overall, opioid-related deaths continue to rise in the Bay State, up 2.5% at the last count.

“It only takes a very small dose of fentanyl — 2 milligrams — to be lethal, such as the amount found on the tip of a pencil,” the Drug Enforcement Agency states.

The sickos pumping this poison to children are the Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, both ruthless Mexican criminal gangs. The DEA adds the cartels produce these lethal pills in “a rainbow of colors” to look like candy.

If that isn’t frightening enough, the DEA alert says lab testing reveals “7 out of every 10 fake pills with fentanyl contain and potentially lethal dose.” That’s playing Russian roulette with vulnerable kids.

“In 2023, DEA seized more than 78.4 million fentanyl-laced pills and nearly 12,000 pounds of fentanyl powder nationally,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian Boyle of the New England Field Division.

“The 2023 seizures are equivalent to more than 388.8 million lethal doses of fentanyl,” he told the Herald. “You cannot trust your own eyes to determine if a pill is legitimate. The only safe medications are ones prescribed by a trusted medical professional and dispensed by a licensed pharmacist. Always remember, just one pill can kill you.”

What to look for

Fentanyl can cause confusion, drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, changes in pupil size, cold clammy skin, coma, and respiratory failure “leading to death”

How do the cartels pump the pills?

Drug traffickers use social media for sales and they can trace anyone who uses a cellphone to link to a sale site. “This means they are finding your kids who have social media accounts,” the DEA warns.

Why be so concerned today?

This isn’t your old-school drug culture where rolling joints was the talk you needed to have with your children. “The drug landscape is dramatically different from when you grew up or even a few years ago,” the parental alert states. “All parents and caregivers need to be educated … and talk to your kids.”

Tips for parents

• Talk. Be open and honest with your children about drugs and the dangers of fentanyl.
• Explain how fentanyl can be deadly
• Stress not to take “any pills” not prescribed by a doctor
• “No pill purchased on social media is safe”
• Explain how fentanyl is now polluting all types of drugs
• KEY! Create an “exit plan” to help your child know what to do if pressured to pop a pill

Rulaman Lopez Nolasco, 42, now faces deportation to Mexico. He also holds Guatemalan citizenship.

He was also previously arrested in 2015 and convicted of sexual conduct for a fee, according to immigration officials. Once he was spotted back in Lynn, he was arrested on Jan. 25.

He was sent back to Mexico in 2006 but made it back “on an unknown date at an unknown location without being inspected or admitted by a U.S. immigration official,” Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston said Monday. It was not clear why he wasn’t sent back after his 2015 case.

“ERO Boston remains committed to finding and removing predators such as this from our New England neighborhoods,” said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons, who added Nolasco was “a proven threat to children.”

Nolasco’s arrest was part of a nationwide ICE operation targeting illegal immigrants with pending charges or convictions for murder, homicide or assault against children. The operation netted 171 illegal in January.

In fiscal year 2023, ERO made 170,590 administrative arrests, a 19.5% increase over the previous year. ERO arrested 73,822 noncitizens with a criminal history; those arrested had an average of four charges and convictions per individual, including more than 33,209 charges or convictions for assault, 7,520 for weapons offenses, 1,713 for homicide-related offenses, and 1,615 for kidnapping.

“During The King’s recent hospital procedure for benign prostate enlargement, a separate issue of concern was noted. Subsequent diagnostic tests have identified a form of cancer.

His Majesty has today commenced a schedule of regular treatments, during which time he has been advised by doctors to postpone public-facing duties. Throughout this period, His Majesty will continue to undertake State business and official paperwork as usual.

The King is grateful to his medical team for their swift intervention, which was made possible thanks to his recent hospital procedure. He remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible.

His Majesty has chosen to share his diagnosis to prevent speculation and in the hope it may assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer.”

The announcement was sent out on social media and comes as the Royal family has been hit with twin medical setbacks now, with the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, recovering from planned abdominal surgery.

The 75-year-old Charles just recovered from a “corrective procedure” for an enlarged prostate and that is when the cancer was found. The prostate was benign, but now another form of cancer was detected that will require regular treatments.

According to the Guardian newspaper, the king is understood to have returned to London from Sandringham on Monday morning to commence treatment as an outpatient. Sandringham House is a royal resident in the countryside.

The Daily Mail is reporting Prince Harry, who backed out of Royal duties to live in California Meghan Markle, is flying back to London.

The weekend tally shows Trump up 47% to 42%, still within the margin of error but with two key factors that do not bode well for Biden.

The NBC poll shows Biden losing ground on the economy and immigration, where he comes in second to Trump 20 points and 30 points down, respectively.

“Four years, we had no wars. We defeated ISIS … We had the greatest economy in the history of our country … We did a job that few people have ever done,” Trump posted to his TruthSocial account Sunday.

Trump was all over the news as he appeared on Fox and all the political shows ran with the stunning jump he just made in a head-to-head survey.

“This is the biggest lead NBC has ever had in 16 polls for Donald Trump over Joe Biden,” NBC’s political correspondent Steve Kornacki told “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

Biden, the poll also shows, has dropped like a rock in his approval rating that now stands at an anemic 37%.

“Look how low Biden’s number is?” Kornacki added, saying an improving economy could still help the president.

Independent voters also favor Trump heavily. If Trump is found guilty of a felony, that could really hurt Trump’s support. But Kornacki cautioned that “hypotheticals” don’t poll well.

NBC sampled 1,000 registered voters for the poll taken from Jan. 26 to 30. The margin of error was 3.1%.

Former US ambassador to the UN and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley bested Biden 45% to 36% in the survey, the New York Post noted.

Trump seized on the poll news in a Fox News appearance Sunday, where he name-dropped Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as potential running mates.

“Always it’s got to be one thing, it’s got to be someone who would be a good president,” Trump said, adding he has not made a decision yet.

Trump did say he did not reach out to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to talk about the vice presidency.

As for the border crisis that is now hitting cities all over the country — including Boston — he teased he may stage rallies in New York City where the cost of housing migrants has the NYC Mayor Eric Adams firing back at the Biden administration.

“Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo asked Trump if he believes he could flip blue states like New York and New Jersey, noting there is a rumor he is planning a rally in the South Bronx.

“Yeah, I think I will do that,” Fox reported Trump said of the South Bronx rally. “And I think I’ll do one maybe at Madison Square Garden.”

He agreed New Jersey, Virginia, New Mexico, and Minnesota can be flipped. “I’m not even sure that everything can’t be flipped,” he added.

Biden did win the South Carolina primary easily Saturday, but that may not be enough to win re-election.

As The Hill pointed out, Trump also holds a 23 point lead over Biden in having the necessary mental and physical health to be president.

Biden is 81, Trump 77.

Biden edges Trump by 2 points in the NBC poll over who would better protect democracy. Biden tops Trump by 12 points when it comes to dealing with abortion.

To search on this database, click the magnifying glass icon (at right) and enter names and more. Use the scroll bar at the bottom to move the data over to the right to sort by highest to lowest. Send any tips or questions to joed@bostonherald.com. Follow the Watchdog newsletter for related coverage.

The fury comes after yet another scandal that had troopers paraded into federal court in Boston this past week on bribery charges linked to coveted commercial driver’s licenses.

Statements from the MSP brass and union quickly followed, but the never-ending loop of overtime abuse, drunken driving and now bribery allegations are unacceptable, watchdogs say.

“The DOJ could look into all of this and put the State Police into receivership,” said Dennis Galvin, president of the Massachusetts Association for Professional Law Enforcement (MAPLE). The Justice Department does not comment on any investigations.

“The worst part of all this is it’s undermining confidence in the law,” Galvin, a retired state police major, told the Herald. “Our members are heartbroken over what’s happening.”

Galvin is calling on Gov. Maura Healey to “do something,” adding that “If there is one organization that needs to be in receivership, it has to be this organization.”

The Pioneer Institute is also calling on Healey to clamp down on the State Police but falling short of a receivership.

Mary Connaughton, Pioneer’s director of Government Transparency and chief operating officer, said the “tainted” troopers have taxpayers questioning what they are paying for.

Last year’s State Police payroll shows 42 MSP members earning $300,000 or more — with three lieutenants in that group surpassing $400,000, a Herald payroll analysis shows.

The high pay, federal prosecutors say in a 74-count indictment, didn’t deter State Police officers and civilian employees of trading favors in exchange for unearned commercial drivers licenses.

“It’s a shame that the many honest, hard-working state police officers are tainted by the actions of their corrupt co-workers,” said Connaughton. “But right now, there is zero faith that the Massachusetts State Police as a whole are acting in the public’s best interest. How could there be with the drunken driving, the crime lab and crime report tampering, Troop E’s overtime gambit, Troop F’s payroll gaming, and the recent bribery scandal?”

Connaughton added: “That’s a long list of law enforcers turning lawbreakers. Fighting a culture of corruption and regaining the public trust will require a complete management overhaul, sustained oversight on ethics, and a major re-brand.”

The Healey administration said they have already taken steps to clean up the State Police. That includes body-worn and cruiser camera programs; GPS devices in “all” MSP vehicles; payroll audits; training programs; accreditation renewal for MSP Crime Laboratory; moving an Inspector General’s Office unit within MSP headquarters in Framingham; and mentorship programs.

Col. John Mawn Jr., the Interim Superintendent of the MSP, said in a video statement that the agency demands “all members to conduct themselves with integrity, honesty, and in accordance with all federal and state laws and Department policies, rules, and regulations.”

He added that it is “disheartening” to the nearly 3,000-member agency to see their department in the headlines again.

It’s also a blow to the troopers who refused to take the COVID vaccine in 2020 who are still unemployed, but suing, after being fired.

Galvin said a key issue still not addressed is the power the State Police union has, especially having sergeants allowed in the union as they oversee troopers who are fellow members.

MA State Police 2023 payroll: Your Tax Dollars at Work

"The union has way too much power," he said. "It's an investigation of power from the Legislature on down with no oversight."

All this, he lamented, as they MSP "goes down the tubes."

Go scan all MSP pay at bostonherald.com's "Your Tax Dollars at Work" report.

The union had already said they were “extremely close” to coming to an end on Friday, while a judge threatened higher fines for the union if the two sides didn’t reach a deal by the end of the weekend.

Minutes before the deal was revealed, union members were singing and shouting, “When we fight, we win!”

The deal was announced just after 9 p.m. Friday with “concessions” for higher pay for aides, more parental and family leave, mental health counseling for students, and a cost-of-living raise for teachers.

The union was seeking a 20% hike in pay, but they negotiated 12% over four years — that will equal 13.5% “compounded” over the life of the deal, Talia Gallagher, of the Newton Teachers Association, told the Herald late Friday night.

“A lot of healing has to happen,” a union spokesman said at the rally, admitting the strike has made a mark.

Newton Teachers Association president Mike Zilles said he’s had enough of “righteous outrage.” He went on to say the 11 missed days will be made up and “a deal has been reached” on the fines the union accrued.

The school board will vote on the deal Saturday, he added.

The Newton School Committee stressed that they were confident students would finally return to the classroom on Monday — after kids and teachers missed two weeks and as the union racked up more than $600,000 in fines.

The School Committee and Newton Teachers Association negotiated from Thursday night all the way until 6 a.m. on Friday, but they did not strike an agreement, so they kept at it.

“The School Committee and NTA bargaining teams are extremely close to settling a contract,” the committee posted on Friday. “Although negotiations persisted throughout the night and did not pause until 6:00 AM this morning, the parties have not yet reached agreement. We remain optimistic about the progress we’ve made towards a return to school on Monday.”

As of Thursday, the teachers union and School Committee were apart by about $1,000 to $3,000 when it comes to annual salaries — and about $4 million apart over the duration of the contract.

But the financial proposals from both sides were in line after the overnight negotiations.

“Both sides have been working extremely hard to get our kids and educators back in school,” the committee posted. “The parties have agreed to COLA increases for all members that honor our educators and paraprofessionals and are sustainable over the life of the contract. The remaining contractual issues to resolve are related to flexibility the district seeks for its leadership to manage the structure of the school day and best serve students.”

The two sides also needed to agree on a “Return to Work” agreement. Since the strike started, the district has incurred more than $1 million in costs related to compensatory services and court fees, according to the committee.

The union was blaming the district for not reaching a deal before Friday morning.

“Why aren’t kids and educators in school today?” the Newton Teachers Association posted. “The NTA bargaining team was there all night ready to sign a deal, but are now being a held up by a ‘Return to Work Agreement’ asking educators to pay more than one million dollars in damages to the city. This money is in addition to the more than $600,000 in fines.”

The union also reported that the committee tried to weaken the agreements on social workers, and change other agreements affecting educators’ working conditions and students’ learning conditions.

Meanwhile in Middlesex Superior Court on Friday, a judge threatened that the daily fines of $50,000 for the union would jump to $100,000 if the strike doesn’t end by Sunday night.

Ahead of Friday, Gov. Maura Healey jumped into the middle of the strike, warning that a court may order a binding resolution if the union and School Committee didn’t reach a deal by the end of Friday. But the two sides pushed back against that outcome in court.

The anger was building, though, with the union facing blowback even as the new deal was being announced online.