Tacoma Summer Blast fireworks and entertainment event announced for September 4Metro Parks Tacoma and the City of Tacoma present the event at the waterfrontOn Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, Metro Parks Tacoma, in partnership with The City of Tacoma, present Tacoma Summer Blast, a family-friendly day of live music, food, entertainment and crafts vendors, culminating in a fireworks display over Commencement Bay. The community-wide event, called Tacoma Summer Blast, will kick off at noon on Saturday at both Dune Peninsula and Point Ruston with a selection of vendors from the popular Tacoma Night Market. The fireworks show is produced by Western Fireworks Display. Ruston Way will remain open to vehicle traffic, and restaurants and other businesses may remain open during the event. ###Media Contacts:Sophia McKee, Metro Parks, [email protected]Tammi Bryant, Tacoma Venues & Events, [email protected]

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education authorized Riley to issue a mask mandate by a 9-1 vote Tuesday. After Oct. 1, middle and high schools can lift their mask mandates if they can demonstrate 80% of students and staff are vaccinated against COVID-19. The commissioner's policy applies to students age 5 and up and "strongly" recommends that younger students also wear masks. It exempts both students who cannot wear a mask for behavioral or medical reasons and staff who cannot wear masks for medical reasons. "Keeping students connected with school is especially important this fall, as students return to school after a challenging school year."

Katie LannanState House News ServiceBOSTON — Employment in the state's biopharmaceutical sector grew by 5.5% last year, to more than 82,000 jobs, despite an economic downturn resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new industry report. After hitting a peak of $5.8 billion in 2020, biopharma companies headquartered here raised $4.3 billion in venture capital in just the first quarter of 2021, the report said. The industry also benefits from public investment, with significant bond bills, tax credits and other programs targeting education, research and development and workforce training in the life sciences. Charlie Baker signed a life sciences bill that called for $473 million in capital spending over five years. About one-third of MassBio's dues-paying life sciences members, or 251 members, are in Cambridge, and another 90 are in Boston.

OnlyFans has abandoned plans to block “sexually explicit” content following outcry from content creators and users. Under OnlyFans’ business model, creators earn money from users who subscribe to their content — such as videos showing live demonstrations, performer rants about various topics, or pornographic content, including nude photos and videos. The backlash was so severe that, less than a week later, OnlyFans has reversed course, announcing that the ban on sexually explicit content had been suspended. — OnlyFans (@OnlyFans) August 25, 2021While OnlyFans has been praised for abandoning its plans to ban sexually explicit content, it has also been heavily criticized for the impact the original announcement had on creators’ income. Others noted that OnlyFans had “suspended” its planned policy change — not revoked the plan entirely.

FRAMINGHAM — Police are searching for a man who stole money Monday from a donation box at a Waverly Street church. A St. Tarcisius Parish employee reported the theft at 3:06 p.m., police spokeswoman Lt. Rachel Mickens said Wednesday. “He (the suspect) went into the depository and took an unknown amount of money,” Mickens said. The donation box is kept in the entrance of St. Tarcisius, 562 Waverly St. (Rte. The box itself is locked, but the church was not as it was open for people coming to worship, Mickens said.

Screengrab/36th District CourtJacob Wohl and Jack Burkman were arraigned in 36th District Court in Detroit. My office has received a recording of a robocall targeting Detroit voters using racially-charged stereotypes and false information to deter voting by mail. It is an unconscionable, indefensible, blatant attempt to lie to citizens about their right to vote. The CDC is even pushing to use records for mail-in voting to track people for mandatory vaccines. Burkman and Mr. Wohl allegedly orchestrated a series of robocalls aimed at suppressing the vote in the November general election.

click to enlarge City of DetroitCouncilman Scott Benson and Janeé Ayers. The FBI raided the homes of two Detroit city council members and the Coleman A. Former Councilman Gabe Leland was sentenced to probation earlier this year as part of a bribery scandal.Benson, 51, and Ayers, 39, are running for reelection. Benson is running unopposed in District 4, and Ayers is facing three challengers vying for two at-large seats. Young, Jr., Mary Waters, and Nicole Small.The FBI didn't divulge details of the investigation.

Calling all 21st century schizoid people: this may be your last chance to catch the gods of prog rock in concert, in the states, anyway. “Management has said it’s very unlikely we’ll be back in America,” Crimson’s Jakko Jaksyzk revealed ahead of the tour. But in essence, as I understand it, this’ll be the last time we play here.”This news for prog rock fans is as if the night sky suddenly was void of stars, in other words,”Starless.” Sigh. For most, King Crimson is as notorious for being a turnstile of membership and hiatus as they are for their meticulous mastery of anti-gravitational arrangements, an ouroboros of rapture and climax. King Crimson has never been anything but ambitious.

A security video shows a burglary suspect that Marlborough police are on the lookout for, and they want the public's help, so they upload it to their social media channels. These are just a few ways police departments are using social media, typically Facebook and Twitter, to communicate with people in their communities in many ways and for many reasons. The benefit of social mediaAlong with good community relations, instantaneous communication with people in the city is a benefit of social media, Framingham police spokeswoman Lt. Rachel Mickens said. We can put out the real accurate information.”Acting Milford Police Chief James Falvey said he recently attended an FBI seminar on the benefits of social media. A recent social media post showed a man alleged to have grabbed a woman on the rail trail who then attempted to sexually assault her, police spokesman Sgt.

Staff ReportsMetroWest Daily NewsBOSTON — A Sudbury farm is among those that grew one of Massachusetts' heaviest tomatoes, state agricultural officials announced Tuesday when the winners of the state's annual Tomato Contest were revealed. Siena Farms, on Haynes Road, took third in the "Heaviest" category, officials said, when tomato farmers from across the state joined officials on the plaza of the Boston Public Market for the 36th annual Tomato Contest. Designed to increase awareness of locally grown produce, this year’s contest drew 77 entries from 15 farms across the state. More:Local farmers weather pandemic, hope for greener days aheadThe 2021 Massachusetts Tomato Contest winners are:Slicing Category:1st Place – E Cecchi Farms, Agawam, with a BHN872 tomato. 2nd Place – C & C Reading, West Bridgewater3rd Place – Siena Farms, Sudbury4th Place – Ward’s Berry Farm, Sharon5th Place – E Cecchi Farms, Agawam

DEDHAM — A longtime administrator at Massachusetts Bay Community College claims his job was slashed due to age discrimination, court documents show. O'Connor, 60, of Belmont, was the assistant dean of science, technology, engineering and mathematics until he was dismissed on June 15, 2020. In one example, he cited in the lawsuit, two other administrators were promoted from director to assistant dean — O'Connor's level. Around February 2020, O'Connor applied for intermittent Family and Medical Leave Act leave to care for a family member. Then, after a stint in the Nuclear Command and Control Program for the United States Air Force, he returned to MassBay in 2015 as an assistant dean of STEM.

MARLBOROUGH — Detecting pancreatic cancer, which was the third leading cause of cancer deaths in 2021, according to the American Cancer Society, is difficult, involving things like CT scans or endoscopies — invasive at worst and inconvenient at best. Immunovia Inc., a diagnostic company, was recently approved to test a pancreatic cancer blood test on patients. “We have finally brought to market the first blood test dedicated to the early detection of cancer.”A blood sample is all that’s needed. Due to some state licensing differences, samples from 44 states will be heading to Marlborough for early cancer detection. “The early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is key to improving patient outcomes and survival rates," said Julie Fleshman, president and CEO of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, in a statement.

HUDSON — A firefighter was hospitalized Monday after a fire on the second floor of a downtown dental office. The firefighter appeared to suffer from heat exhaustion while fighting the fire at Hudson Dental Care, 241 Main St., according to Fire Chief Bryan Johannes. “They found significant fire conditions in the drop ceiling of the second floor,” Johannes said. All utilities in the building are off and Johannes is not sure when the building will reopen. “There was extensive fire damage on the second floor.”Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com.

The New York City Police Department is asking for the public’s help in finding a man who is accused of assaulting another man in an anti-gay attack on the subway on August 12. Police say that the attack occurred around 2:15 p.m. while the victim, a 45-year-old man, was riding a southbound 2 train in Harlem when he accidentally bumped into the suspect. The suspect displayed a blade and threatened the victim, punching him multiple times in the face and making several anti-gay statements, including calling the victim an anti-gay slur, reports the New York Post. The suspect got off the train at the 135th Street Station and fled on foot. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Following a visit to the hospital for an ultrasound, Violent J was contacted by doctors promptly the next morning who then urged him to come back to discuss the results. "Since the diagnosis, Violent J has endured treatments, one such procedure found doctors burning off scar tissue caused by his heart's erratic beating. Following the farewell tour, Violent J says he and Shaggy 2 Dope will still likely perform a show a month but long gone are the days of weeks of touring without pause. The farewell tour will find ICP doing 3-4 shows a week. "There’s a lot of people that live long lives with fucking AFib,” Violent J said, adding "There comes a time in everybody’s life where you have to take your first step backward.