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Boston's Morning Newsletter
MassDOT eyes a new frontier for drones: medical deliveries
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The state of the city is… at 7 p.m. tonight. Mayor Michelle Wu is delivering the annual address a little later than usual this year, due to the recent birth of her daughter Mira. You can livestream the full speech here.
But first, the news:
Up in the air: Could you get your prescription filled via drone in the not-so-distant future? MassDOT wants to show it’s possible. This week, the department announced a series of successful test flights, in which drones delivered small packages. Denise Garcia, the acting director of MassDOT’s aeronautics division, told WBUR’s Fausto Menard the flights were intended to demonstrate the potential, examine logistics, and help hospitals and health care organizations “determine whether or not they wish to use drone medical delivery services in the future.”
- Why? According to Garcia, drones — hovering above Boston’s traffic-clogged streets — could be a faster, cheaper alternative to ground deliveries. They could be used for routine, home-based health care, as well as for responding to emergencies.
- Zoom in: The test flights, which were conducted last October, consisted of three deliveries carrying packages of up to 10 pounds over a mile in Lynn and Swampscott.
- Zoom out: Several hospitals in other states — including the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System — have announced plans to start using drones to deliver prescriptions and medical supplies in the coming years. Meanwhile, Amazon had been delivering small packages via drone around Phoenix and College Station, Texas, but paused operations in January after two crashed in the rain at a testing facility.
- What’s next: Garcia says the state has had preliminary talks with health care organizations about using drones. However, any such deliveries in Massachusetts will first need FAA approval, as well as potential regulatory or policy changes. Ultimately, Garcia said, “ it will be up to the industry to decide whether or not they believe that this is something they would like to pursue.”
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Psst: Applications are now open to be Massachusetts’ first-ever poet laureate. Following Gov. Maura Healey’s recent executive order, the Mass Cultural Council released an online application yesterday.
- Nearly all full-time Bay Staters are eligible, as long as your poetry is legible. In years, you also must be over 18 and lived in the state for at least three, plus your conflicts of interest be negligible.
- April 10 is when applications are due. After that, a committee will review. Two finalists will be referred to Healey, who gets the final say, really. The winner will be announced in late May, or June.
- Also worth noting: The job could pay 15 grand. Not bad for haikus.
They’re back! After a trip to space that lasted 278 days longer than expected, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore safely splashed down in the ocean off Florida last night. In Needham, where Williams grew up, crowds gathered at The Common Room restaurant to watch the landing. CBS Boston has footage of the jubilant scene.
- Watch: The returning astronauts were also welcomed home by a curious pod of dolphins who splashed around the capsule.
It’s a deal? The Boston Teachers Union has called off a rally outside Wu’s State of the City address, after reaching a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract with the city. The deal, which members still need to ratify, comes after over a year of negotiations.
- What’s in it? Details have yet to be publicly released, but BTU president Erik Berg says it includes extra staff for students with disabilities and “meaningful” raises for paraprofessionals.
Meanwhile at City Hall: As the Healey administration recruits laid-off federal workers, a Boston city councilor is pushing for a similar effort at the city level. Councilor Ben Weber tells WBUR’s Dan Guzman he plans to call for a hearing at today’s meeting on hiring local federal workers to fill nearly 2,000 vacant City of Boston jobs. “We could offer them a chance to serve the public — but through municipal government,” Weber said.
- Go deeper: While courts have ordered federal agencies to undo many of the Trump administration’s layoffs, NPR reports the process of unwinding termination is proving complicated.
P.S.— Are you a current or former federal worker in New England affected by the changes being made by the Trump administration? If you’re willing to share your experience, we want to listen. Get in touch using this form and a WBUR reporter may reach out. (You can also let us know if you’d prefer to use a specific app or encrypted service.)
