The Tufts Daily THE
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Medford/Somerville, Mass.
Thursday, October 9, 2025
VOLUME XCII, ISSUE 6
LOCAL LOCAL COMMUNITIES COMMUNITIES Medford voters confused at New ‘Eat Out in East’ initiative aims polls due to census mishaps to support local businesses in East at preliminary election Somerville amid increased ICE activity Evan Vezmar News Editor
During the Sept. 16 preliminary elections for Medford City Council, multiple Medford residents were told that they were no longer active voters on the voter roll. Massachusetts law requires cities to send a census every January, requiring all registered voters to confirm that their place of residence is accurate, with voters only being marked as active voters after the Medford Elections Commission
In this edition, we focus on aspects of life in Med-
receives the census. However, when some voters went to the polls in September, they were told they were inactive, despite having mailed the census. Medford resident Josh Terrill went to vote in the preliminary elections when a poll worker told him that he had been marked as an inactive voter, even though he filled out and returned the census by mail. “[A poll worker] said, ‘Look, the census is how we keep see VOTING, page 3
Angela Palma and Josué Pérez Contributing Writer and Executive News Editor
Editor’s Note: Some quotes were originally in Spanish and have been translated into English. Eat Out in East, a new initiative led by Somerville Ward 1 City Councilor Matthew McLaughlin, intends to get residents to support local businesses — many of which are immigrant-owned — in East Somerville. The program comes amid increased activity from Immigration and Customs
Enforcement in Massachusetts, particularly in Somerville. Weekly meet-ups are hosted on Wednesdays from 4-8 p.m., highlighting immigrant-run restaurants in the neighborhood. The initiative comes in response to a new immigration crackdown in Massachusetts launched by ICE in September. Since then, Somerville residents have reported a rise in arrests and ICE activity, notably the arrest of Magdaleno Pineda Avelar. “I know there’s been a big community response,”
see BUSINESSES, page 3
Medford School Committee reviews policy for generative AI use in classrooms Carly Cohen
ford, Somerville
Staff Writer
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The Medford School Committee approved the first reading of a new policy, “Use of Generative AI in Medford Public Schools,” on Sept. 22. Though the policy still must pass a second reading before it is formally adopted, the committee voted to include it in school handbooks, offering guidance on how teachers and students can choose to responsibly use artificial intelligence while the committee takes time to adopt the policy. Erika Reinfeld, the school committee member who proposed the resolution, said her goal was to establish consistent guidelines for AI use across the district. “The goal of the guidelines was to create a framework and a context in which groups of teachers could make their own determination of what technology supported their educational goals in that grade level and subject area, across the board,” Reinfeld explained.
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Medford High School is pictured on Oct. 20, 2024. Reinfeld said the process began with a survey sent to Medford residents to assess opinions on AI in education. According to Reinfeld, the survey received about 120 responses. “There was certainly a contingent of ‘This should be nowhere near education,’”
Reinfeld said. “But overwhelmingly, the response was, ‘This is here, and we have to teach people how to work with it [and] understand it.’” Following the survey, Reinfeld formed an AI task force with several educators and staff to create resources that help teachers
4 ARTS & POP CULTURE
5 FEATURES
9 OPINION
12 SPORTS
Beautiful bounty at Bow Market
Cherishing Chinatown
Find your next best brew
Uncovering urban climate change
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McLaughlin said. “If it weren’t for the fact that residents were there watching this, we wouldn’t know this guy’s name. They ended up finding out the person’s name because his friends saw it on Facebook and reached out to the city.” According to McLaughlin, 70% of East Somerville businesses are immigrant-owned. Three businesses have closed in East Somerville since President Donald Trump took office.
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make informed decisions about AI use. The task force referenced the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s guidance, focusing on areas such as data privacy, ethical use and bias reduction. see AI, page 2 News Arts & Pop Culture Features fun & Games Opinion Science Sports
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