BOSTON – Middlesex County has reduced the number of overdose deaths by 25% over the last four years, five times greater than the state average of 5%, according to the District Attorney’s Office. And a MetroWest lawmaker says the county’s system and practice to achieve that result can be the state’s model. The Middlesex Opioid Task Force’s annual survey, released on Feb. 19 during a meeting in Newton, found the number of overdose deaths declined from 251 in 2016 to 184 in 2019. Through mid-February, 24 overdose deaths have been recorded. Approximately 80% of people who died from overdose last year used substances alone in their houses, said Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan. The majority of overdose deaths took place in public facilities and cars in 2013 to 2014, but bedrooms became more common over the last two years with an increase of 9% from 2018 to 2019, according to the DA’s office.

FRAMINGHAM - Massachusetts has “so much work yet to do” regarding reproductive justice and needs to update sex education in schools and expand abortion access, state Rep. Jack Lewis, D-Framingam, told a public forum on Tuesday night. Senate President Karen Spilka and Reps. Maria Robinson, D-Framingham, Lewis and Carmine Gentile, D-Sudbury co-hosted “Breaking the Cycle of Shame” at the Framingham Public Library Tuesday to discuss legislation to protect reproductive rights, which they support. “We have good laws in Massachusetts. (But,) we still have a long way to go,” said Lewis before a crowd of 80 people. Lewis spoke in Spilka’s absence. He spoke about the state’s existing law on reproductive health care. Massachusetts currently restricts abortion after 24 weeks, requires minors to get a consent from a parent or guardian and in some cases a judge.

BOSTON – A proposal from Gov. Charlie Baker to close a gap in skilled technical workers is a good start but needs funding, recruitment and capacity if it is to succeed, according to a local lawmaker and school administrators. In its fiscal 2021 budget proposal submitted last month, the Baker administration proposed approximately $15 million to launch Career Technical Initiative, a multi-year investment to train an additional 20,000 skilled workers over the next four years by offering three teaching shifts a day at local vocational schools. Aligned with the executive offices of education, economic development, housing, and labor and workforce development, Baker’s Workforce Skills Cabinet aims to provide career training opportunities not only for students enrolled in vocational schools but also for traditional high school students and adults.