The Dig - Greater Boston's Alternative News Source
#ProjectPaulie was first conjured as a plan to feed furloughed bartender friends, but quickly morphed into a multi-pronged project to reach as many unemployed hospitality-industry workers as possible.
With her first 100 days in office coinciding with the COVID-19 crisis, Boston City Councilor Julia Mejia perseveres in the interest of most vulnerable, disconnected populations
Landlords can’t evict during pandemic, but a bunch of them tried
"During this time every musician and their crews are out of work like so many people out there with very few applicable grants and loans available."
Do back politicians calling for immediate national living wage checks and Medicare for All
In forecasting what’s coming next regarding the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), it is important to understand the lending environment. We thought it might be helpful to look at the lender’s role, why there may have been so much lender confusion.
Clergy in these communities have been performing non-stop homegoings, and helping families, loved ones, and communities of the deceased through this valley of anxiety, fear, and death.
"It was sort of testing the water with it, seeing what [evictions] they can get away with. This legislation stopped folks in their tracks before it caught on."
We want to speak with people from other community groups as well, but for now we’re focusing on artists, service industry professionals, freelance reporters, and Chelsea residents.
Mass Humanities to support nonprofit cultural institutions facing economic impact of COVID-19
“We were realizing what a big problem this is. We needed to take a larger, more system-based response to it.”
"The bottom line is, the final version, literally, was everything that we wanted. I shared it with some of the legal services attorneys who had worked with me, and their first response was this is a total home run."
Can I go to a public market during a pandemic? How does that work?
Artists are seeing their worlds close during the pandemic. The exhibits, displays, and sales that provide their income have come to a halt, and artists in and around Boston have found themselves alone and unsupported by the government while struggling to find their footing financially.
Nearly three-quarters of the loans went to the smallest of companies—those needing $150,000 or less. While slightly more than a quarter of a point of these loans went to the big players, those big borrowers took slightly more than 9% of the available funds.
I feel like I have all of the reasons—high anxiety related to the pandemic, being stuck with alcoholic boyfriend in the house, tons of homework, finances are low—to warrant a lack of arousal so why am I drowning in it?
“People are still getting deported. It’s a pandemic, and they are tearing apart families for nothing.”
Even if independent restaurants in the Boston area and elsewhere do receive loans from the government, it will still be a bumpy ride for many if not most.
"Remember what it was like in the outside world?"
The petition asks officials to consider: excise tax relief for the alcohol used to make hand sanitizer; the ability to sell and ship products directly to consumers within the state; and the ability for bars and restaurants to sell cocktails with takeout food orders.
New restaurant initiatives sweeten deals for donors to help “people who aren’t getting help from government sponsored programs.”
A mix of “local food vendors, appropriately spaced throughout the courtyard, [offering] fresh fish, meat, produce, dairy, frozen items, and staples.”
You can call it the black market, the grey market, or whatever you want, but it’s the only way for many to get cannabis, and cultivators are inventing smart and safe ways to service consumers.
An MBTA bus driver gets back on the road after a two-week quarantine
You have seen your favorite local musician perform in their shower. You have seen icons fail to figure out how to stream online. But you haven't seen this. Join Improv Asylum and the Dig for a virtual participatory hangout from now through 10pm.
"It's always helpful to have transparency in reporting data … Especially when we're dealing with people's health and safety, and when people are dying."
From unique hurdles for New England institutions, to enrollment crises on the international and domestic fronts, to preexisting existential challenges, coronavirus may spell the end for some colleges and universities.
“There’s no playbook for how we deal with this as entertainers ... All I can do is try to continue to entertain in whatever way that I possibly can."
“We should only be able to have seven passengers on the bus so they can keep that amount of distance between them. But that is not happening.”
