MA AG Healey Calls Vaccine Mandates 'Absolutely Legal': Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Tuesday, August 24. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• The state education board voted Tuesday to allow the commissioner to require face masks indoors in all Massachusetts public schools to start the school year.
• A Burlington man was rescued Tuesday morning after driving into the Charles River in Cambridge.
• One Milton man's 9-11 anniversary tribute includes pushing a cart from Logan Airport to Ground Zero in New York City.
• A teen is charged in the killing of a 19-year-old Chelsea woman.
• Two Reading teen girls reported being followed on Main Street.
• Black Panther is coming to Worcester.

Scroll down for more on those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Today's Top Story

Attorney General Maura Healey said she believes employer requirements that their Massachusetts workers get vaccinated for the coronavirus or face disciplinary action is "absolutely legal" as more and more private businesses and government agencies move toward employee vaccine mandates.

Speaking on WGBH-FM's "Ask the Attorney General" segment this week, Healey said requiring employee vaccinations is not only not in violation of the state constitution, but it is also "the right move."

Also on Patch: CVS Requiring COVID-19 Vaccines For Some Employees

Gov. Charlie Baker said last week that 44,000 state employees will face a vaccination requirement this fall or risk termination. Unlike some municipalities, such as Boston and Salem, that have proposed a vaccine-or-test mandate where unvaccinated employees are subject to frequent coronavirus testing, Baker said he favors the strict vaccination-only requirement.

Read the full story here.

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Today's Other Top Stories

Burlington man rescued after car plunges Into Charles River: A two-car crash sent a car plunging into the Charles River off Memorial Drive in Cambridge Tuesday morning. A man was rescued from the water after the crash, but his vehicle ended up completely submerged under the water.

Teen girl charged in 19-year-old's killing in Chelsea: The stabbing happened when a fight broke out between two groups on Garfield Avenue Thursday night, authorities said. Officers responded to a report of shots fired shortly before 9:30 p.m. and found Rodriguez with knife wounds to her throat and chest, the district attorney said.

Driver followed Reading teens around Main Street: A pair of teenage girls told police a man followed them into several parking lots in downtown Reading Monday afternoon. One girl reported that a man driving a gray sedan, possibly a Toyota Camry or Corolla, followed them into several business lots on South Main Street. The driver was described as a white man in his 50s wearing a long black pulled-back wig, with dark drawn-on eyebrows, police said.

'Black Panther' Filming In Worcester: Film crews will take over a slew of streets in the downtown Worcester area over the next five days to shoot scenes for the Marvel Studios sequel "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever."

Eat fresh: Patch's 2021 Massachusetts Farmers Market Guide

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Milton man honors fallen 9/11 flight crews: Retired flight attendant Paul "Paulie" Veneto, 62, of Milton has started his journey of pushing a drink cart from Boston's Logan Airport to Ground Zero in New York City to remember flight attendants and crew members who were lost in the hijackings on September 11, 2001.

In Case You Missed It: All students, teachers and staff are required to wear face masks indoors in Massachusetts public schools for at least the first month of the new school year — regardless of vaccination status — as part of a Department of Elementary and Secondary Education authorization vote Tuesday morning.