SPRINGFIELD — A church is providing sanctuary to a Peruvian woman facing deportation and her two children.
Members of the Springfield Interfaith Sanctuary Coalition said Monday the South Congregational United Church of Christ in Springfield is openings its doors to Gisella Collazo and her American-born children.
Collazo is married to an American citizen and has been in the U.S. for 17 years. She was told by immigration officials that she had until Tuesday to return to Peru.
The coalition she has had difficulty changing her status due to “multiple legal errors.”
An ICE spokesman said the woman entered the U.S. illegally on a fraudulent passport and was granted voluntary departure by a judge in 2012. He says she had agreed to voluntarily leave the U.S. after multiple appeals were denied.
BOSTON — A new online tool aims to help pregnant and parenting women with substance use disorders.
The state’s Department of Public Health launched a web-based resource tool “Journey Project ” Monday to help women looking for additional treatment resources.
The site features video tutorials from women who share their own stories of substance abuse, recovery information, and support groups for pregnant women seeking a healthy pregnancy.
Health and Human Services secretary Marylou Sudders says the tool emphasizes the need to maintain ‘treatment and recovery’ before and after delivery.
Additional services include connections to recovery coaches, free hotlines for women struggling with post-partum depression, guides to free breastfeeding support guides and resources for women experiencing domestic abuse.
The effort is partially sponsored by the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services.
WAREHAM — Police say a woman crashed her car overdosing on heroin while her 3-year-old son was in the back seat.
Authorities found the woman in Wareham Friday afternoon after her car struck some bushes and a snow bank. Police say the 34-year-old was slumped over the steering wheel, and she had to be revived with the opioid reversal drug naloxone.
The child was unharmed. Police say he was taken to a police station so relatives could pick him up.
The woman has been hospitalized.
Authorities say the woman is facing several charges including driving under the influence, child endangerment and failure to properly restrain a child under 5.
MALDEN — Officials say a man was seriously injured on an escalator at a transit station.
The Malden Fire Department says the man was riding an escalator at the Malden Center around 8 p.m. Saturday when his clothing and arm became stuck.
First responders were called to the scene, and officials say the man was conscious as he was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital. The extent of his injuries has not been released.
A Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority spokesman tells The Boston Globe he is unsure why the man fell.
An investigation is ongoing.
WORCESTER — A man charged with stabbing and dismembering his estranged brother is headed to trial.
The Telegram & Gazette reports that opening statements in the first-degree murder trial of 68-year-old Michael Dowjat, of Holden, are scheduled for Monday in Worcester Superior Court.
Prosecutors say Dowjat killed his 59-year-old brother, David Alan, in June 2014.
Alan’s body was found inside a 1960s-style bomb shelter beneath his Rutland home. Prosecutors say he had been stabbed more than 70 times, and his head, arms and legs were severed.
Prosecutors say the relationship between the brothers had deteriorated after Dowjat was left out of their father’s will.
Dowjat has pleaded not guilty and his lawyer called it a case of self-defense.