THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, December 10, 2021 Page 13 Malden man arrested on firearm charges connected with Cambridge shooting By Christopher Roberson M iguel Lorenzo, 31, of Malden, was taken into custody by Cambridge Police on December 2 in connection with his alleged involvement in a shooting last month on Sciarappa Street in Cambridge. On November 19 at 2:12 a.m., police responded to a report of gunfire on Sciarappa Street. Upon arrival, officers reportedly saw Lorenzo going into an apartment building where he barricaded himself for the next four hours. As police attempted to coax Lorenzo out from behind his barricade, other officers were able to get the building’s residents evacuated. In addition, messages were sent to residents in the surrounding neighborhood advising them to shelter in place. As a result, no injuries were reported. Lorenzo finally exited the building at 6:30 a.m. and was detained by police. No charges were filed at that time. However, further investigation allegedly connected Lorenzo with a loaded gun and ballistic evidence that was found at the scene. Therefore, Lorenzo was arrested on December 2 at Post 69 Remembers Pearl Harbor D ecember 7th marks the 80th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack killed 2,403 U.S. personnel, including 68 civilians, and destroyed or damaged 19 U.S. Navy ships, including 8 battleships. The three aircraft carriers of the U.S. Pacific Fleet were out to sea on maneuvers. This catastrophe led to the American entry into World War II. This attack changed American forever. In his speech to Congress requesting a declaration of war, President Roosevelt called it a day that will live in infamy. The war dragged on until two events turned the tide for the Americans; the first was the Marines’ successful invasion of Guadacanal that ended in the defeat of the Japanese. The second was the naval battle of Midway Islands that took a heavy toll of American and Japanese battleships and airplanes, but in the end the Americans won. By the end of the Pacific war, the U.S. had lost 364,748 killed and wounded and had 21,580 missing. We also note the 76th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge that took place in Bastogne, Belgium, from December 16, 1944, to January 1945. It was the most significant battle of the war after Normandy. The American and British Armies were outnumbered and low on supplies. The Armies also had to content with snow and frigid temperatures. At one point the Germans sent a letter to General Anthony McCauliffe demanding that the Allies surrender; he replied to the order with the word “Nuts.” The battle continued until General Patton’s 3rd Army came to the rescue. With the end of this battle World War II came to an end in April. The casualties included 90,000 Allies and 100,000 Germans. What happened at Pearl Harbor and Bastogne should give us pause and reflect on the courage of those Navy, Marines, Army and Airmen that defeated our enemies, and kept our freedoms alive. Post 69 had many members from World War II. Our Post will always salute their heroism and will always remember their sacrifice to save our great country. —George Sahady for the members of the Post. Dept. of Public Health awards $12.6M for school health workforce and local COVID-19 response T he Baker-Polito Administration recently announced an investment of $12.6 million for the community-based COVID-19 response. This includes $8.6 million in grants for school districts across the Commonwealth to expand the school health workforce and enhance schools’ ability to respond to COVID-19 and an additional $4 million for local Boards of Health for COVID-19 contact tracing and case investigations. School health workforce funding Over two years, 43 school districts across the Commonwealth will receive $8.6 million in funding through the Crisis Response COVID-19 Supplemental Funding for Workforce Development from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These funds will be used to hire additional school nurses, expand the roles of school nurse leaders responsible for health and safety activities across entire school districts and add additional staff to assist with case management, contact tracing, COVID-19 testing and student mental health needs within school communities. Local public health funding Building on a previous $16.6 million investment, the Administration has awarded an additional $4 million to local Boards of Health for COVID-19 contact tracing and case investigations, bringing the total amount of direct federal and state aid provided to local public health for contact tracing since April 2021 to $20.6 million. These funds are part of the state’s efforts to build and strengthen local public health by providing additional funding, training and technical support to respond to COVID-19. “All of these funds will assist and support two groups that have been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response – our school health workforce and our local health departments,” said Acting Public Health Commissioner Margret Cooke. “We are grateful for all of their efforts to address the critical health and safety needs of Massachusetts residents throughout these challenging months, and the Administration is committed to being an active partner as we transition into the next phase of the pandemic.” T his home and was arraigned the following day. Assistant Clerk Magistrate Daniel Flaherty ordered Lorenzo to be held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing that was scheduled for December 7. Lorenzo faces two counts of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, one count of Possession of a Firearm without a License as an Armed Career Criminal, one count of Possession of Ammunition without a License as an Armed Career Criminal, one count of Carrying a Loaded Firearm and one count of Discharging a Firearm within 500 feet of a Dwelling. Under state law, Lorenzo could be sentenced to up to 14 years in prison and be ordered to pay up to $6,600 in fines. The incident remains under investigation. Omicron variant detected in Massachusetts he Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) recently announced that genetic sequencing has identified the COVID-19 Omicron variant for the first time in a case in Massachusetts. The individual is a female in her 20s and a resident of Middlesex County who traveled out of state. She is fully vaccinated, has experienced mild disease and did not require hospitalization. The variant was identified through sequencing performed at New England Biolabs. While Omicron is classified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization as a Variant of Concern, scientists are still working to determine how it compares with the predominant Delta variant in terms of transmissibility and disease severity. There is some limited evidence that Omicron could be more transmissible than other COVID-19 virus variants, including Delta. Omicron is being monitored closely by public health authorities around the world, and more information about what we know about Omicron is available on the CDC website. All three COVID-19 vaccines in use in the United States have been shown to be highly protective against severe disease resulting in hospitalization or death due to known COVID-19 variants and remain the single best way for people to protect themselves, their loved ones and their community from COVID-19. There are more than 1,000 locations across the Commonwealth to get vaccinated or receive a booster. The vaccine is free and no ID or insurance is required for vaccination. Visit vaxfinder.mass. gov for a list of vaccination locations. Other public health prevention measures that help stop the spread of COVID-19 variants include the following: getting tested and staying home if you are sick, frequent handwashing or use of hand sanitizer, following masking requirements and telling your close contacts if you test positive for COVID-19 so they can take appropriate steps. To learn more about protecting yourself from COVID-19, visit www.mass. gov/covidvaccine. Residents are urged to enable MassNotify on their smartphone. The service can be accessed through both Android and iPhone settings; it is not an application that can be obtained through an app store. This private and anonymous service notifies users of a potential exposure to COVID-19 so they can take appropriate precautions. For more information and instructions on enabling MassNotify on your smartphone, visit https://www.mass.gov/info-details/enable-massnotify-on-your-smartphone. The State Public Health Laboratory, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and several hospital and academic laboratories have all contributed to sequencing efforts in Massachusetts during the pandemic. This sequencing data contributes to the tracking of clusters and patterns of disease spread. This in-state laboratory capacity to sequence variants allows Massachusetts to not have to rely on out-of-state laboratories.
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