 Good afternoon and welcome to our newscast for Boston University News Service. I'm Valerie Wences. Leaving the news this Wednesday, the Massachusetts governor announced the state is several big steps closer towards lifting COVID-19 restrictions on businesses and gatherings over the coming months. Starting this Friday, the state will be easing its mask mandate. Masks will still be required in indoor spaces and at large events, but not mandated when people are outside and socially distant. By May 10th, Massachusetts is expected to enter Phase 4 of the reopening plan, opening some sports and music venues. On May 29th, sporting arenas will be able to increase their capacity, street festivals will begin again, and bars can reopen for seated service without food service requirements. About 15 people out of work and no money coming in. So it's been very difficult. We're looking forward to reopening. The state aims to release all restrictions by August. COVID-19 case numbers across the state are the lowest since October. The state's Education Commissioner announced all public high schools must resume in-person classes five days a week by May 17th. For more on the Massachusetts school reopenings, we turn now to WCVB's Josh Brogadier, who was live on the scene in Cambridge earlier today. This is Putnam Avenue Upper School Grade 6 through 8, and these students will be back full-time five days a week beginning today. That's big things for them. And there's more to come. The state says 146 districts right now are already fully in-person for grades K through 12, and that number will increase next month. Education officials announced yesterday that all high schools must be back in the classroom full-time by May 17th. Just this week, Boston and Somerville launched their first full in-person learning for grades K through 8. Under all the plans, parents can still opt to keep their kids remote, but if a district wants a delay, they'll still need a waiver from the state. And state officials, by the way, have noticed falling case numbers. That's one of the reasons they're citing for this, but also fallout over the kids' education. Those are the reasons for making these changes. We're live in Cambridge. Josh Brogadier, WCVB, News Center 5. Officials are encouraging schools to bring back high school students with learning disabilities or limited English language proficiency before the May 17th deadline. Boston is delaying its reopening plan to three weeks behind the state's plan. The Boston mayor explained the reason for this delay. The timeline for Boston's continued reopening allows three weeks of additional time to vaccinate vulnerable residents, accommodate dense neighborhoods, and support complex business districts. The mayor encourages residents to visit boston.gov. The CDC says that masks are no longer needed while outdoors, for the most part that is. President Biden announced on Tuesday that those who are vaccinated can walk, run, bike, gather, and dine outdoors in small groups, safely without a mask. Everyone still needs to wear a mask, vaccinated or not, when in crowded settings such as concerts or rallies. India passed a grim milestone this morning, becoming the fourth country to lose over 200,000 lives to COVID-19. View News Services Laura Stickles has more on the health crisis in India. India's healthcare system is on the brink of collapse, as a surge in COVID-19 cases has killed more than 2,000 Indians every day for the past week. Makeshift crematoriums are running around the clock to keep up with the death rate, and patients are suffocating at hospitals as oxygen supplies are running out. People here are really, really terrified. There are variants of the coronavirus that are spreading through India, and these variants are believed to be more contagious and possibly more resistant to vaccines. And so the coronavirus is much easier to catch now than it has ever been. That's why you're seeing all these cases. In the last 24 hours, the country reported 3,293 deaths. The number is a single-day record, but experts think it could be a huge undercount. International efforts are underway to help the country, and President Biden promised the United States support on Monday. With regard to India, I spoke at length with Modi, the Prime Minister. We are sending immediately a whole series of help that he needs. Biden's promise included oxygen supplies, life-saving drugs, and vaccines. Reporting for BU News Service, I'm Laura Stickles. And India's vaccination rollout is also struggling. Less than 2% of the population is fully vaccinated. President Biden will unveil an ambitious set of priorities to Congress this evening. His vision includes dedicating $1.8 trillion for universal preschool, free community college, and expanded access to childcare. CNN's Karen Kife has more. On the cusp of 100 days in office, President Joe Biden acknowledging more work ahead but touting U.S. progress against the coronavirus pandemic. We've made stunning progress because of all of you, the American people. Tonight, before a joint session of Congress, he'll outline what he'd like to see next. Calling on lawmakers to continue the momentum from the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill he signed in March with a $2 trillion infrastructure and jobs proposal A new proposal for education and childcare also expected to top $1 trillion. It will be a plan that will provide critical support for children and families and, by doing so, critical support for our economy. Biden also expected to press for action on expanding access to health care and on police reform legislation. Present for dozens of these presidential speeches as a U.S. senator and as Barack Obama's vice president, Biden's likely to be guided by an understanding of the platform and its purpose. It's not so much that the speech itself is persuasive but that it's part of a larger rhetorical effort by the president to shape the agenda and it's just a really high-profile event in that larger agenda. Even with COVID limiting the number of lawmakers in the chamber. He's thinking a great deal about what message he can send directly to the American people about what progress we've been made but, of course, what challenges remain ahead. In Washington, I'm Kieran Keifa. Two presidents, one current, one former, will reunite this Thursday. President Biden and his wife Jill Biden will head to Georgia to visit former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalind Carter as part of a trip making 100 days in office. Carter considers Biden one of his early supporters when Biden was a junior senator in the 70s. Hungary's parliament takes over the higher education system despite public pushback. The vote gives public foundations, which are led by government-appointed boards of trustees, billions of dollars in state assets to control 11 universities. The opposition declares this a theft of public funds but the government insists this is a necessary reform to modernize higher education. Coming up next, why protesters are demanding the release of body cam footage of a police shooting in North Carolina and new demands for new voices in the media industry? Those stories and more when we return. Hey, chat. Why do I wear a mask? Because when I'm not behind the screen, my mask is my cheat code and when we stop the spread, we level up. What's the next level? Hanging with friends again. You're right, masks have always been a part of our community. I miss you guys too. Being face to face is truly the next level. Here's the cheat code. Stop the spread of corona. Mask up America. I hear someone go, didn't it come from you guys? Strangers cough at me. Move away from me. Someone spit towards my direction. All the stereotypes that we've worked so hard to break are just going to be reversed and it won't let that happen. We all have to play our part. I donate my plasma. I've been making masks. We deserve respect as much as everybody else. I'm a firefighter, not a virus. I'm a mass maker, not a virus. I'm a nurse. I'm a delivery woman, chef, a neighbor, artist, bus driver, I'm a doctor, fight the virus, fight the virus. Today, a North Carolina judge is expected to decide whether the sheriff's office should release the body cam footage of a police shooting there. Andrew Brown Jr. was shot and killed by police in Elizabeth City one week ago. A private autopsy released yesterday shows that Brown was hit by five bullets, including a fatal shot to the back of his head. CNN's Britt Conway reports on the hearing today about the release of more footage of the controversial shooting. They want to know what happened the day Andrew Brown Jr. was shot and killed by sheriff's deputies. Today, a North Carolina court will consider this petition filed by 16 media companies pushing for the release of body camera footage from that day. The family, protesters and civil rights advocates have been making the same plea, but there's a 2016 North Carolina law that says recordings made by law enforcement agencies are not public records, which means none of it can be released to the public without a court order, even by law enforcement. Our county attorney had filed a motion with the court to release the body camera video. That was Monday. The same day, the family watched a small portion of the video captured on one deputies body camera family members can view video without a court order. It's a video that no son should see, you know, dealing with his father. But Brown's son and the family's attorneys say there are still too many questions about what happened last week. We would like to see all the body cam footage. We would like any dash cam that's available, just any information that we can provide to this family. We don't know why it's taking so long. The court is not required to grant the request, but I'm hopeful that we will see it. We will get an order. I'm Brett Conway reporting. The FBI is now investigating that shooting. Demonstrators face charges after the seventh night of protests over the shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. The protesters are charged with blocking a highway and defying an 8 p.m. curfew last night imposed by city officials. Yesterday, a state of emergency was declared in Elizabeth City by the mayor concerned about potential unrest. More anti-transgender bills were proposed in 2021 than ever before, with more than 130 state and federal bills aimed at transgender medical care, school sports, and bathroom options. HB 68, introduced in New Hampshire in March, aims to change the state's definition of child abuse to include providing a child with gender-affirming care, like surgery or hormone treatments. While that bill did not make it out of the legislature, doctors and public health experts say they are willing to do what's necessary to uphold their Hippocratic oath to do no harm. Callings of mine that may be going to jail for providing evidence-based medical care. We know the gender-affirming care saves lives. At some point, somebody's going to follow through with that law. Even on calls where people are basically saying, like, this is something I'm willing to do. Like, this is the right... What we're doing is the right thing. Massachusetts state law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. There are no similar bills currently proposed in the state. The organization Crushing Colonialism combines journalism and activism to call attention to the limited representation and employment opportunities for indigenous media professionals in the industry. BU News Service reporter Sierra Sorrentino has more. Jen Deeron-Water, founding executive director of Crushing Colonialism, a nonprofit that supports indigenous media makers, acknowledges the lack of indigenous representation in media and the confines the industry places on them. There's such a lack of data on indigenous people, and that includes employment within media. We need an organization that is here to advocate for us. How do we not just serve as the freelancers that come in and write one article over Columbus Day or Thanksgiving? How do we get those jobs and keep them? How do we become the editors? How do we become the people running the newsrooms in the TV stations? Even beyond that, it was how do we find representation? We need to really be having these conversations with higher-ups in media. Telling them, you know, indigenous people exist. We are out here. We are doing this work. Some people don't want to see Native people exist, let alone thrive. And unfortunately, the media is a big part of that. The world may not be what I want it to be in my lifetime, but I'm sure it's how I'm going to stand up and fight. Jen Deeron-Water and Crushing Colonialism continue this fight by amplifying indigenous voices and experiences on their digital media platform. Reporting for BU News Service, I'm Sierra Sorrentino. Crushing Colonialism plans to pave the way for future indigenous media makers by solidifying their place in the industry through sharing employment opportunities and reinforcing the importance of indigenous storytelling. There are controversies involving two local high schools and the mascots depicting symbols of indigenous people. Wakefield High School decided to keep its warrior mascot, and today, Northboro Southboro School Committee will decide whether to phase out the Algonquin School's Tomahawk name and logo. Some of the sports teams are already using the letter A on gear instead of the controversial Tomahawk logo. And there's a logo fight between Kanye West and Walmart. That's right, Walmart is filing a patent complaint saying that the logo for Kanye West's Yeezy brand looks too much like Walmart's. The world's largest retailer sports a logo using six straight lines that look like rays from the sun, while Yeezy's logo has eight dotted lines. The Yeezy brand plans to use the logo for a variety of products, including sneakers, underwear, furniture, and modular homes. Still to come, the upcoming weather forecast full of showers and surprises. BU Women's Basketball Team gets a new leader, and the Celtics post another disappointing finish. We'll have all the sports highlights when we return. I don't remember how it started. Our back and forth, it always came back. You probably don't remember what you told me. That was perfect. But I heard every word. I first saw a turtle. My heart was full, not anything but lonely. We have this like deep connection, this heart connection. He just wants to be close to you and part of your life. Every day with turtle is a perfect day. When I'm holding her, it makes me feel calmer. I think everything he does shows how much he loves us. When we adopt a shelter pet, we discover there are a little bit of a lot of things. But they're all pure love. Depending on where you are in Massachusetts, it's a sunny, cloudy, rainy, dry. It's a typical spring day in New England. Bart, what's in store for us today and this week? We are all over the map, Val. Let's check it out. Our rainy morning will turn into a drier, gray afternoon followed by more rain this evening. Temperatures in the 60s in Boston and the 70s in Springfield and Worcester. There's still a good chance of rain Thursday and Friday. This weekend, we are headed to Sunshine and Upper 60s. And next week, Monday, buckle up because we're headed to the high 70s. Wow. Don't worry, rain lovers Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday of next week. We are getting more showers. So Val, we've got fantastic study weather this week and all signs point to a beautiful weekend. Thanks, Bart. Sounds like a great start to May and the week leading up to Mother's Day. Don't forget. Over in Japan, the Olympic facilities are getting a test run before the start of the Games this summer. Organizers are holding a swimming event to make sure the Games are ready for the upcoming Olympics. Last year, the Olympics were postponed because of the pandemic. The Games are moving forward as a fourth wave of infection is sweeping through Japan. Tokyo is being placed under its third state of emergency and international fans will not be allowed to attend. In sports, BU News Service sports anchor Justin Schmidthorst says the Boston Celtics had a night to forget yesterday. Justin? Yes, Val, unlike the New England Patriots who are looking into the future with excitement. The Boston Celtics lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder 119-115 last night. Going into the game, the Thunder had lost 14 straight games and were the third worst team in the Western Conference. Despite a 39-point effort by Jalen Brown, the Celtics gave up 41 points in the fourth quarter, costing them the game. The Celtics are 6 in the East and have 10 games left on their schedule before the playoffs start. The New England Patriots could find the next Tom Brady tomorrow during the 2021 NFL Draft. The Patriots are currently holding the 15th overall pick, but reports claim they might trade up in the first round if a promising quarterback falls down the top 10. It won't be Clemson star Trevor Lawrence, widely considered to be the odds-on number one pick. To add to the uncertainty, we don't know whether Bill Belichick's dog, Nike, will make a cameo after stealing NFL fans' hearts last year. Will we see Nike at all in this year's draft? We'll keep that for our draft day's secret. The draft is taking place in multiple locations scattered across Cleveland, Ohio. As part of its hybrid format, the NFL will allow selected prospects to take the main stage in front of limited attendance. The fourth-placed Bruins beat the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, heating up the fight for top seeds ahead of the playoffs. In the second period, Bruins' center David Creechy broke the scoreless tie. And in the third, Bruins' wing Brad Marchant and trade deadline acquisition Taylor Hall netted one each to secure a 3-1 victory over the second-placed Penguins. Goli Tuca Rask finished the game with 25 saves on 26 shots. He said he liked what he saw from his team. Today we played very smart and a patient game, and then we got rewarded. So, yeah, that's something we have to move forward. We have to be comfortable playing those kind of games. The Bruins will play the last-placed Buffalo Sabres tomorrow at 7. Not far from the hostile ground of Yankee Stadium, the Red Sox beat the Mets last night. Despite allowing a solo home run early, starter Garrett Richards was in superb form, allowing just one run in seven innings. The Red Sox would answer with a solo shot by Bobby Dalbeck in the third. They would also score again in the sixth with a Raphael Devers RBI to go up 2-1, which ended up being the final score. The first-placed Red Sox have been playing well to start the season, winning 15 of their first 24 games. Boston University women's basketball has a new head coach, former Wake Forest assistant coach Melissa Di Amico. Yesterday, Boston University welcomed Melissa Di Amico as the new women's basketball head coach. Di Amico comes after the previous head coach, Marissa Mosley, left to take the head coach job at Wisconsin. Mosley took the Terriers to the conference final in March, and Di Amico said she expects to pick up where Mosley left off. I really do believe with the talent we have returning and the talent we have coming in in this recruiting class that Coach Mo brought in. I'm just so excited about it. I thought she did a great job making this program into the top of the Patriot League and Elite program. I do believe we can win a Patriot League championship with the talent we have, the support from the administration, and then the kids coming in, no question. So I'm super excited. Di Amico has a background of coaching in the Northeast. She was an assistant coach at both Yale and fellow Patriot League team Colgate, and says that could help her in recruiting. And then just be able to recruit in the Northeast and have all my connections, which followed me to Yale, and then also followed me to Wake Forest. So recruiting is all about relationships, and I've been able to keep those over the last eight years from my very start here in the Northeast. So incredible pool of talent in the Northeast. I'm really, really excited to get back here, and I do want to cast a net throughout the whole country and overseas as well, but you got to start at home. Although we won't see the results of her recruiting for a year, hopefully she can deliver a Patriot League title. Now that she's hired, Di Amico said her first priority will be to hire a new staff. The Terriers are hoping fans will give Coach Di Amico a warm welcome in the fall after Governor Baker's reopening announcement. But in the meanwhile, the Celtics and the Bruins must be thrilled to see the allowed capacity at TD Garden double in over a week. Both teams will be able to welcome 4,500 fans on May 10th, according to the new guidelines. The Red Sox will be allowed to host around 9,400 fans at Fenway Park. And you could own a share in the Declaration of Independence. A copy of the Declaration will be offered in an initial public offering next month by a trading app called Rally. A share will be priced at $25 with 80,000 shares released for sale. The offering is expected to attract a total of $2 million for the Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776. Collectors can own a piece of history just in time for the 4th of July. And that'll do it for today's newscast. Thank you for watching this final newscast of our spring semester. We'll be back this fall with a new crew of reporters and producers to bring you the latest local, national, and international news updates. A special thanks to our professor and news director, the inimitable Susan Walker and our amazing teaching assistant Damien Burkhardt without whom none of this would be possible. Have a great week and we'll see you next fall.