The 2024 METCO Showcase brings children, parents, and educators together to explore opportunities for students. Boston Commuter Rail workers rally for fair pay in their new contract. A first-time voter shares why he voted in this election. Stop & Shop and the Boston Public Health Commission introduce a new program to provide healthier food options and resources to Boston neighborhoods in need.
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"Good evening Boston, welcome to BNN News. It's Friday, November 1st, 2024. I'm Natalie Candler, thanks for tuning in." On Saturday, the Metco Showcase brought students, educators and families together to discover the possibilities for low-income students. With the next school they'll be attending being decided upon in this gymnasium, these BPS students and their parents were all eyes and ears as they listened to Metco School representatives at the 2024 Metco Showcase. "It's incredibly valuable just because it allows students opportunity and access as well as experiences that they just would not have otherwise had the opportunity to do. It opens up so many different avenues and just access to things that they wouldn't have otherwise experienced. It gets them outside of the city, outside of their comfort zone, it opens them up to different people and different opportunities and it's just something that we have to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to do." Making it easier than ever for Boston families to apply, the Metco program has streamlined its application process, removing the need for past school records. Now, parents only need to submit a child's birth certificate, a parent or guardians ID and proof of Boston residency. "The Metco program affords all children an opportunity to be educated in the same space. Children who are African-American, children who are Latino, children who are Asian, children who are white. It is so important that all of our children have an opportunity to know that the world is not black and white and that the world is full with diverse people who absolutely will make them better humans and better workers and better leaders in this world." "Well, Wellesley is one of the original districts that's participating in Metco since 1966 and it's always been about connecting our Wellesley and Boston communities, understanding their benefits that go in both directions around diversity, educational opportunity and creating diversity among all of our students to prepare them to be successful in the world." Through Metco, these students will have the chance to experience an education outside of the city with more advanced classes, high graduation rates and a diverse community. "In the Metco program, you're constantly meeting new people who are outside of your race and who are outside of your usual norm and with that it allows you to get to know different cultures and get to know different people and with that you can gain connections and that can really help me when I'm going to college or getting a job." "It's helped me share a bit of my own culture and connect with other people out there and it's helped me share more about my background and kind of see different diasporas so I'm not just focusing more on the inner city, I'm getting also that suburban feel and what it's like for people out there too, but also telling them about my own personal experiences." The Metco programs help these students flourish, embossing their education and preparing them for the road ahead. "Currently, I have two kids who are in the Marlborough Head Metco School program and it's been a great experience for them so far academically, they're thriving academically and socially in terms of activities that they're exposed to, the relationships that they're making, the connections with the teachers, that sort of thing, but the kids have been resilient and they've embraced this change and they enjoy the opportunities that have been presented." "As a Michael alum, I thought it was really important to have my daughter go through the same path as I and I signed her up for the Metco program where she'll be a kindergarten next year. I really enjoyed my experience, the lifelong connections that I was able to make, the barriers that were broken between myself and the community I went I was going into school with and you know, Metco's about diversity, getting to know each other, getting to experience the suburban life and for suburban families to get to experience the city of life and kind of bring us all together." Through Metco, these students and their suburban peers don't just share classrooms, they build bridges, creating a future where understanding and unity are within reach for everyone. Boston commuter rail workers are rallying for fair pay in their new contract, saying that their employer has undervalued their essential role in keeping the city moving. With over a hundred thousand commuters relying on the MBTA commuter rail every day, the tireless work of rail workers is invaluable. This is why these dedicated professionals are upset with P.O.'s commuter services, which has been taking advantage of their hard work. Now they're standing up and pushing back. Today, we are here to demand that MBCR and Keyolas do right by the folks that roll up their sleeves every morning, who serve our communities with honor and with pride. When commuters look to the Commonwealth to improve the reliability and safety of our public transit system, it's you, the engineers, let me hear you, the operators, and the maintenance workers who do the healthy lifting, and we cannot take care of our public transit system without taking care of the workers who build and maintain it. We all deserve a safe and reliable public transit service. It's time Kules pays its workers what they're worth. It's time Kules values its employees. It's time Kules appreciates all that you do, and it's time Kules negotiates a fair contract. IAM Local 318 represents workers responsible for engineering, locomotives, and maintenance at Kules. These dedicated workers have faced over a decade of wage stagnation, remaining among the lowest paid in the country, while living in one of the most expensive cities in the U.S. It is absolutely shameful that Kules has not respected these workers that have kept the commuter rail running and safe for all riders. It is very expensive to live in Boston, as you know, housing costs are astronomical here. Our members need to be able to work and live and be with their families here in Boston, and they're unable to do that because Kules wants to make more and more profits off the backs of workers and residents here in Boston, and we say no. The men and women that are here today at this rally are expressing their frustrations with Keyolas and how they're not willing to share the wealth, despite the fact that they're the ones that keep this city thriving. They're the ones that bring men and women in and out, they're the ones that drive the profit, and Keyolas is not willing to share the profit margins that they make with the men and women that are here, and we're the ones that are suffering all the sacrifice. Underpaid and overworked, these rail workers and state representatives rallied for a new contract, which guarantees their pay reflects the national pay standards. When we awarded through the federal government $102 billion for rail, we didn't expect that just to be bridges and roads and equipment. We intended that money to pay for rail workers to do the jobs that they do every single day. We are asking for what is fair. Pay is the way that we deserve, and we will sign a contract. Don't negotiate a contract so that you get a contract a couple years from now. You will not be here, as the congressmen said. There are many other companies, Austin, Herzog, other companies are going to come in here, and we will get the contract we deserve, so do the right thing and pay our employees what they deserve. When these workers go home, they deserve to be able to support their families too. They deserve to be able to take some time off. If they get sick, how insane is that? You can't take time off when you get sick. That's the case today. How insane is it that you have not had a ratified contract for 13 years? As the rally unfolded, the message was clear, key oldest must negotiate in good faith and recognize the value of their employees, because these individuals are essential to keeping Boston's transit system running smoothly and safely. For many college students, this election cycle may be their first time voting. BNN reporter Sophia Falbo spoke to one young voter about his experience and why he chose to vote this year. A recent Harvard University poll shows that almost 80% of voters between 18 and 29 years old nationwide plan on voting with they believe their friends will, compared to 35% when they think their friends won't. First time voter Austin, she says he was excited to send in his absentee ballot to New York. It's like a pretty contentious time in the country right now, and I feel like voting is kind of a way for me, at least to feel like I'm contributing to the democracy right now. So yeah, I just thought it was a good thing to vote, and that, you know, just got to do it. It was pretty easy, so it was well. Postures and flyers, like this vote no one, question 4-1 beside me right here, can be found all throughout the city and on college campuses, educating young voters on ballot questions, and encouraging them to vote. Reporting for BNN. This is Sophia Thalbo. New efforts are underway to tackle food insecurity and its connection to chronic health issues. Now, Stop and Shop and the Boston Public Health Commission are rolling out a program and bringing healthier food options and resources to Boston neighborhoods in need. Experts say that food insecurity is directly linked to chronic diseases such as diabetes. And now, Stop and Shop is working with the Boston Public Health Commission to create a new, healthy food program in collaboration with Community Health Equity Empowerment, Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center, and Grove Hall Main Streets. The program under the Community Health Equity Empowerment Fund that the Boston Public Health Commission is funding. The Greater Grove Hall Main Streets is a food is medicine program to help residents within the Dorchester-Rocksbury-Maddepin neighborhoods have access to foods that will help contribute to greater health outcomes and potentially eliminate health outcomes such as heart disease or diabetes. With the start of this program, we're targeting people who have diabetes, hypertension, increased cholesterol, heart disease to eat better, to understand that by eating properly and not eating what they may not even realize is junk food all day that they then can have an influence to help them improve in their conditions. The program provides funds for the purchase of healthy food, regular expert consultation with a registered dietitian, as well as additional services for residents with diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is really a lifestyle disease so that means that it is highly impacted by the foods you eat, your physical activity, so for a lot of patients simple diet changes changing the patterns of the foods they eat can really reduce their disease progression and improve their outcomes, lower their A1C all through diet, especially with the pre-diabetic patients we can stop them from even progressing to diabetes so diet changes are very important. Healthy foods are really important for diabetes especially. Here at the Harvard Neighborhood Health Center, it's a new innovative way to make sure that patients are connected to a nutritionist to create daily plans to inform them on what to eat. We know we are what we eat and a lot of what we eat influences our health outcomes so the more that we can educate and provide our constituents with that information that healthier our neighborhood would be and our residents will be. The fund supports community centered organizations in Boston to improve health outcomes and create more health equity across all neighborhoods. There is a huge correlation between chronic disease and food insecurity and so knowing that in that food is the largest and primary social determinant of health is the major factor in lifestyle medicine so we also know that in this neighborhood there's a 23 year difference of life expectancy between here and someplace two miles from here so if we're going to do anything to improve life expectancy, health care disparities, health equity and has to be with food and this is the starting point in terms of improving diet related disease. This innovative program uses guiding stars as the tool to show what products are eligible for purchase. Guiding stars takes the guesswork out of trying to analyze nutrition labels by rating foods as good, better, or best with one, two or three stars. It rates products based on their overall nutritional quality and looks at things like fiber, sugar, sodium, saturated fat. These programs are accessible through the Grove Hall stopping shop. Through this resource, healthy eating is accessible to every resident. This year there are five questions on the Massachusetts ballot. Let's do a brief breakdown of what those questions are and what your answer could mean for the state. Question one is about audit authority which would allow the state auditor to audit the legislature if passed. Question two is the MCAS graduation requirement which would remove MCAS as a statewide graduation requirement giving districts control. Question three will decide ride share driving bargaining. A yes on this question would permit ride share drivers to negotiate collectively for better pay and benefits. A yes on question four would legalize psychedelic drug use for therapeutic and personal use under regulation. Question five would decide the result of the tipped wage controversy. A yes on this question would phase out the tipped minimum wage requiring full minimum wage for tipped employees. BNN wants to remind all of our viewers to get out and vote on this upcoming Tuesday, November 5th. To learn where your polling place is and more voting information go to boston.gov/voting-boston. Thank you for watching Boston, that's our broadcast for tonight. As a reminder you can stream or watch the news on demand@bnnmedia.org. Each episode will be rebroadcast at 9.30pm and 11pm on XFINITY CHANNEL 9, a sound channel 15 and files channel 2161 and make sure to check out our BNN HD XFINITY CHANNEL 1072. You can also hear us on the radio Fridays at 7.30pm and Monday to Thursday at 9pm. And now you can watch BNN news on the go with the cablecast app. For BNN I'm Natalie Kimler, I'll see you next Friday. [BLANK_AUDIO]