MassDOT announces 13th annual Safe Streets Smart Trips High School Video Contest

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has launched its 13th annual Safe Streets Smart Trips High School Video Contest, inviting students to use their creativity to help promote safer travel on the state’s roads.

Students are being asked to create a 30- to 60-second video focused on safe riding behaviors for electric micromobility devices, including e-bikes, e-scooters and e-skateboards. Submissions are due by 11 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 4. 

The contest is an initiative of the Strategic Highway Safety Plan and is open to all Massachusetts public high school students. Students will compete in two categories: Freshman/Sophomore and Junior/Senior.

A MassDOT panel will select a grand prize, runner-up and honorable mention in each category. Winning videos will be shown on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at MassDOT’s annual Moving Together active transportation conference. 

Grand-prize winners will receive $500 Amazon gift cards, runners-up will receive $300 Amazon gift cards and honorable mentions will receive $100 Amazon gift cards. Selected videos may also be featured in future MassDOT roadway safety campaigns. 

More details about the Safe Streets Smart Trips High School Video Contest, including guidelines and submission information, is available at mass.gov/roadway-safety-video.

Grant applications being accepted to help farmers cover weather-related losses

This 2023 photo shows a damaged field of potatoes tilled by Jay Savage in the north meadows of Deerfield. More than three years after flooding destroyed millions of dollars’ worth of crops across the Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts farmers are able to apply for federal disaster relief funding. Credit: PAUL FRANZ / Staff File Photo

Grant applications are now open to farmers who suffered losses in 2023 and 2024 due to weather. Crop, infrastructure, timber and other losses totaling more than $2,500 may be eligible.

This block grant program, funded by U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, will cover portions of eligible losses, including:

  • Crops, such as fruits and vegetables.
  • Future economic losses from the loss of perennial plants.
  • Infrastructure, such as buildings and plasticulture.
  • Timber.
  • Bare-ground practices necessary to mitigate land loss.

Applications are open until Sept. 30, at 4 p.m. Losses for most categories must represent 15% of the value of the lost crop or infrastructure.

A video explanation of the program, including a walk-through of the application form, can be found at youtube.com/watch?v=RhBZPv07_Qo, and more information is available at mass.gov/how-to/natural-disaster-recovery-ii-program-for-agriculture-ndrii-2023-2024.

Healey-Driscoll administration expands joint active shooter response training statewide

MEDFORD — More than 1,000 police, fire and EMS professionals across Massachusetts have completed joint active shooter response training this year as the Healey-Driscoll administration expands efforts to prepare first responders to act quickly and work together during a crisis.

One of the latest Active Attack Integrated Response courses brought approximately three dozen first responders to Tufts University for two days of classroom instruction, hands-on exercises and realistic scenarios. Participants included personnel from Massachusetts State Police, Arlington Police, Lexington Police, Lexington Fire, Medford Fire, Somerville Fire, Somerville Police, Stoughton Fire, Cataldo Ambulance Service, and the police departments of North Shore Community College, Tufts University and Worcester State University.

The Active Attack Integrated Response (AAIR) course was coordinated by the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services, the Municipal Police Training Committee and the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center, with support from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.

“We significantly ramped up AAIR deliveries to meet increased demand after last winter’s active shooter event at Brown University,” State Fire Marshal Jon Davine said in a statement. “So far this year, we’ve delivered 35 classes for first responders across Massachusetts, from Provincetown to North Adams. That’s more than 1,000 police, fire and EMS professionals ready to stop the killing and stop the dying.”

In 2022, Massachusetts became the first state to adopt NFPA 3000, Standard for an Active Shooter/Hostile Event Response Program, as a statewide framework for active shooter response training through the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy, Municipal Police Training Committee and State Police Academy. Developed following the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, NFPA 3000 emphasizes the importance of law enforcement, fire, EMS and other public safety partners planning, training and coordinating before an emergency.

The Department of Fire Services and Municipal Police Training Committee also offer Active Attack Incident Management, a course for chiefs and senior officers focused on command-level strategies, and Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events, which teaches civilians how to protect themselves and others until first responders arrive.