Sunday marked the second installation of this annual event. Purposely held in February – New England’s coldest month of the year – the walk aims to expose the hardships of those who are left to survive the brutally cold winter on the streets of Boston.
“Still far too many people than I would imagine think of substance use disorder, this medical disease, as a choice or a moral decision or something somebody could’ve avoided if they tried harder,” said Monica Bharel, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
The ordinance, signed Jan. 22, introduces a three-part system of categorizing short-term rental units, with certain standards and yearly fees applied to each.
The North Korean Study Group hosted the event, called “Voices of North Korean Refugees,” to raise awareness about a refugee housing program that the non-profit Emancipate North Koreans (ENoK) is bringing to the Boston area.
The issue comes during an era in which police misconduct has been under intensified scrutiny nationwide. Boston is behind many major U.S. cities in police accountability improvements; the list of cities with some kind of body camera program includes Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
