Salem Task Force Will Tackle Race Issues: Patch PM

SALEM, MA —Today is Tuesday, June 23. Here's what Patch has been covering in Salem and across Massachusetts today.

Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll formed a Race Equity Task Force to "make recommendations for immediate and long-term actions to improve racial equity in all aspects of city life." She named Shawn Newton, a Salem resident, chair of the group, which will include members of city council, the school committee, the heads of key Salem institutions, and organizers of recent demonstrations in the community protesting police brutality and racial injustice.

"We have an opportunity and an obligation to learn, reflect, and understand as address the legacy of systemic racism in our society and to be a more inclusive and welcoming city," Driscoll said. "Forming this task force, which includes a dynamic group of leaders and community members of color, is the first step in that effort. I'm grateful to the members who are volunteering their time and energy in this important endeavor and am ready to engage with them, and all of our community, to undertake the work ahead."

The rest of the task force members will be announced later this week.

Also on Salem Patch today:

• Salem's 4th Of July Fireworks 2020 Canceled
• Court Didn't Have To Release Salem Teen Because Of Coronavirus

Elsewhere On The North Shore

• An inmate at the Essex County Correctional Facility tested positive for the coronavirus on June 17, according to the latest weekly report from the Massachusetts Department of Corrections. Last week's confirmed case of COVID-19 was the first at the jail since June 3, when two inmates tested positive. Since a court order mandating testing and weekly reports in early April, 75 inmates, 16 correctional officers and four staff members at the jail have tested positive for the coronavirus.
• Swampscott officials have scheduled a "facilitated discussion about race, discrimination, inequality and injustice in the Town" for Wednesday after Selectman Don Hause was accused of making disparaging comments about the Black Lives Matter movement while having dinner with his wife and another couple at a Swampscott restaurant earlier this month. Hause has denied making the comments and has said he welcomes the forum.
• A juvenile court judge did not have to release a teenager deemed dangerous and awaiting trial on gun charges on $500 last month, according to a ruling by the state's highest court. In its ruling Monday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court said that, taken alone, trial delays caused by the coronavirus crisis are not enough of a reason to release a person on bail.
• Work on a $24.7 million bridge reconstruction project will cause delays on a stretch of Route 128 through Beverly in both the daytime and nighttime hours throughout the month of July.

Across Massachusetts

• The Baker administration set Aug. 39 and 30 as the dates for the state sales tax holiday. The state's 6.25 percent sales tax won't be collected on purchases made those days. The sales tax holiday was made permanent in 2018.
• Columbia Gas was sentenced Tuesday for violating the federal Pipeline Safety Act in relation to the Sept. 2018 Merrimack Valley gas explosions, prosecutors announced. The company will pay a $53 million fine and sell its Massachusetts business, in accordance with a plea deal announced in February.

Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).