Esther Wang, Author at Sampan

Esther Wang

Business November 8, 2024 0

‘Amnesty’ Offered to State Tax Payers, but Some Say More Help Is Needed

The Massachusetts Department of Revenue is offering taxpayers a little breather through Dec. 30: The tax amnesty program will waive penalties for certain eligible taxpayers as long as they pay the tax and interest owed before the end of the year. In order to enter the program, the taxpayer will have to submit an Amnesty Request, pay the total amount owed, and submit all required returns by December 31, 2024. Those who have received prior amnesty relief, are in active […]

Boston October 25, 2024 0

Gov’s Emergency Gun Rule Triggers Debate Around Second Amendment Rights in State

Gov. Maura Healey signed an emergency preamble early this month that effectively put a new gun law into immediate effect, expanding Massachusetts’ preexisting firearms regulations—already some of the strictest in the country. The move will crack down on private-made “ghost guns”; criminalize possession of “bump stocks” and trigger cranks; require a gun license for live-fire training; prohibit people outside of law enforcement from carrying guns at schools, polling places, and government buildings; ban the possession, transfer, and sale of assault […]

Features October 11, 2024 0

WWII Pvt. Woo Returns for Burial After Nearly 80 Years

A full 79 years after his death, Private Kwack Keung Woo of the U.S. Army has finally been brought home to Agwam, Massachusetts. After falling in action in Biesdorf, Germany, in 1945, the private’s remains were not recovered until 1951 and only identified recently. “Once a soldier is identified, the family is given the option to have their loved one buried in a designated overseas military cemetery or repatriated to the United States to a local cemetery or a veterans […]

Health September 13, 2024 0

New Screening Tech Could Address Racial Disparities in Cervical Cancer

For many women, Pap smears are an uncomfortable, even painful experience. While effective at screening for cervical cancer, the technique calls for the patient’s legs to be held apart and a metal speculum to be inserted into the vagina to scrape cells from the cervix. The process can cause physical distress and evoke mental trauma. Pap smears, however, might soon become a thing of the past. In May, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new method of testing for […]

Boston August 9, 2024 0

Report: State Sorely Lacks English as Second Language Classes for Immigrants

The Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center is among several nonprofits in Massachusetts offering free English classes aimed at preparing immigrant students for college and jobs. But as the influx of immigrants to Massachusetts – including undocumented migrants – has increased, so has the demand for English lessons. And now many nonprofit groups like BCNC say Massachusetts is in a state of crisis when it comes to providing English classes to the people who need them most. Case in point: BCNC is […]

Boston July 26, 2024 0

State Program Doles Out $27M for Housing as Many Priced Out

The Housing Development Incentive Program on July 9 rolled out the largest funding boost to Massachusetts communities in the program’s history, doling out a total of $27 million to various cities and towns. But the cash infusion for new housing will likely make only a small dent in what many residents see as a crisis of unaffordability. The HDIP funds were awarded to 13 communities across the state to build 547 new units of housing in Barnstable, Brockton, Fall River, […]

Boston July 12, 2024 0

For State’s New Migrants, Finding Housing Just One Part of Struggle

For the past year, migrants have been staying at Boston Logan Airport as Massachusetts’s emergency shelter system struggled with the influx of new arrivals. With the shelters full, they sleep on makeshift bedding spread across baggage claim under constant lighting and announcements, are carted out of Logan in the morning to welcome centers, then sent back at night. Authorities have limited knowledge and control of the situation. When asked, Governor Healey’s administration couldn’t state how many migrants were arriving at […]

Boston June 7, 2024 0

An Untold Victim of Anti-Immigrant Speech: Latino Teens and Families

Naikiry, a 20-year-old community college student and full-time worker, knows first-hand the trauma that can be caused when a Latinx family falls apart as it moves the U.S. Her family began to unravel when they emigrated from the Dominican to the U.S. in 2015 and were forced to leave behind her mother, who has yet to join them here. The separation, along with the shock of arriving in a new country, caused Naikiry’s family to fall into depression, loneliness, and […]

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