THE MASS BRIEF

Monday, November 09, 2026

The Lead

Voters demanded transparency. Will the Legislature deliver it?

More than 85% of Massachusetts voters said yes to Question 1 last week, which would finally subject the governor's office and the Legislature to the public records law. That's not a mandate so much as a landslide. So it was a little jarring when Senate President Karen Spilka, asked whether the Senate will implement the law as written, said "there are details to be worked out."

Supporters heard that and winced. John Griffin of Partners in Democracy, which pushed the measure, argued lawmakers shouldn't "turn around and tell voters that they're wrong," and that the law should take effect as written and be tweaked afterward, if at all. This is a familiar Beacon Hill dance: the building that has long guarded its own records now gets to decide how, and how fast, it opens the drawers.

What happens next matters. Watch for any bill in the lame-duck stretch that tinkers with Question 1's language or timeline. With 85% of voters on record, any delay or dilution will be hard to dress up as anything but what it is. It's an easy fight for advocates to frame and a hard one for legislators to win.

Full story at GBH News →

What Else You Should Know

The Legislature has a mountain of unfinished business. Twelve House-Senate conference committees are still negotiating, and CommonWealth Beacon counts more than 40 discrete policy decisions pending before the session ends January 5, ranging from statewide duplex upzoning to a pet-store ban on selling dogs, cats, and rabbits. Spilka called the lack of movement "unacceptable" and said she may not support extending the conference deadline again next session. CommonWealth Beacon →

MassGOP chair Amy Carnevale won't seek a third term. After Republicans lost every statewide race and at least three State House seats, Carnevale said she's stepping aside; the party votes on a successor in January. Elizabeth Dionne, who lost the treasurer's race, has already launched a bid, calling herself a "Charlie Baker Republican" and pledging to serve without pay. Boston Globe → | Boston 25 →

Boston wants to sweeten the deal for housing developers. City officials unveiled changes to ease affordability requirements, including letting developers pay into the affordable housing fund over seven years instead of two. Housing chief Sheila Dillon said the tweaks will make more projects pencil out "without sacrificing our core goals of affordability." High construction costs and interest rates have stalled the market. WBUR →

Casino mitigation money bought license plate cameras. A WBUR investigation found that nine Massachusetts communities used roughly $500,000 from the Community Mitigation Fund, meant for casino fallout like traffic and gambling addiction, to buy Flock cameras and other plate readers. Critics note the cameras log every passing driver in databases police elsewhere can search without a warrant. WBUR →

Quincy residents push back on Flock's replacement. The city dropped Flock in October over privacy concerns, but residents say Mayor Thomas Koch is swapping in new Axis Communications cameras before the public weighs in. Police say the new system will be limited to active criminal cases, with data wiped every two weeks. Boston 25 →

Travel sports are feeding the absenteeism crisis. The Globe's latest on chronic absenteeism (more than 17% of students last year) finds club volleyball, hockey, and soccer pulling kids out of class for far-flung tournaments, in some cases for days at a time. School teams once gave kids a reason to show up; private clubs are loosening that bond. Boston Globe →

Worth Your Attention

• Tonight, 5 p.m.: Quincy residents rally outside City Hall over the Flock replacement, with a hearing at 6 p.m. Boston 25 →
• Nov. 18: The Boston City Council is expected to vote on seeking court enforcement of its subpoena for MBTA GM Phil Eng, who skipped a hearing on the Blue Hill Avenue project citing a family vacation. Boston.com →
• Nov. 18: A dangerousness hearing for the Everett man accused of firing a rifle at a soccer game. Boston Globe →

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THE MASS BRIEF

Sunday, November 8, 2026

Good morning, Massachusetts. Election Day was Tuesday, and we're still sorting out what voters told us.

The Lead

Voters demanded transparency. Beacon Hill is already talking about "details."

Massachusetts voters didn't just nudge the Legislature toward opening its records. They shoved. The ballot question requiring the governor and lawmakers to follow the state public records law passed overwhelmingly, and within days, Beacon Hill Democratic leaders were saying there are "details to be worked out," according to MassLive's reporting. If you've ever watched a state agency turn a "yes" into a "yes, but," you know how that sentence tends to end.

Here's why it matters: the Legislature has long operated under its own rules on what the public can see, and this vote was a direct rebuke of that arrangement. Advocates like Act on Mass are framing Tuesday as an anti-corruption mandate, pointing to wins for the people over special-interest money across several ballot questions. Whatever you think of that framing, the margin gives lawmakers little cover to slow-walk implementation.

What to watch next: whether leaders move to write the details into law quickly and in good faith, or whether "details" becomes the legislative equivalent of "let's circle back." Expect transparency advocates to track every draft, and expect the new session to make this the first real test of whether voters' message sticks. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Bill Galvin, fresh off a ninth term, called the turnout (about 2.6 million ballots, up from 2022 but below 2018) "better than I feared."

Full story at MassLive →

What Else You Should Know

Question 7 fails by a hair, and housing advocates are regrouping. The measure to cap minimum lot sizes at 5,000 square feet for single-family homes lost 50.6 to 49.4 percent, a gap of just 32,322 votes out of more than 2.5 million. The AP didn't call it until Friday afternoon, nearly three days after the polls closed. Supporters argued it could unlock anywhere from hundreds to thousands of homes a year. WBZ / CBS Boston →

The business case for what comes next. One chamber of commerce leader, whose group was the first business association to endorse Question 7, argues the narrow loss leaves openings for a rewrite. Opponents cited developer profits, neighborhood character, and local control, concerns that a revised proposal could address. CommonWealth Beacon →

Catholic bishops push back on Healey's abortion-law move. Archbishop Richard Henning and the bishops of Worcester, Fall River, and Springfield issued a letter Saturday criticizing Governor Maura Healey's decision to put a new abortion law into immediate effect, a step that blocked an attempt by opponents to suspend it. The law leaves later-term abortion decisions to a physician's professional judgment. Boston Globe →

Harvard grad workers are on strike, and the campus is tense. The roughly 4,000-member Harvard Graduate Students Union has been on strike since Oct. 27, citing a living wage, harassment protections, and safeguards for non-citizen and disabled workers. A Thursday talk with Yo-Yo Ma and Stephen Colbert was cut short by a fire alarm, which the union says it had nothing to do with. Boston.com →

Orange Line vs. bus lanes on Blue Hill Avenue gets heated. City Councilor Miniard Culpepper threatened Thursday to go to court to compel MBTA General Manager Phil Eng to appear at a council hearing, after the council voted to subpoena him. Culpepper wants the Orange Line extended under Blue Hill Avenue rather than center bus lanes. Universal Hub →

Minor possibly hurt by third rail at Jackson Square. A young female may have contacted the third rail at the Orange Line stop Saturday morning. She was conscious and alert when taken to a hospital, and the MBTA is investigating. Boston Globe →

Norwood police seek a suspect in a hit-and-run. Police have a warrant for 65-year-old Maciel DeOliveira in connection with the Oct. 24 crash near Washington and Day streets. Police say one victim pushed the other out of the way and took the brunt of the impact, with injuries expected to require surgery. Tips: 781-440-5181. Boston 25 →

Worth Your Attention

• Wednesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day, a federal holiday. Boston's parade stepped off Saturday in the drizzle. Boston Globe →
• Ongoing: The Harvard graduate workers' strike continues, so watch for bargaining developments. Boston.com →
• Coming up: A City Council hearing on the Blue Hill Avenue question, if Phil Eng shows up. Universal Hub →

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Yesterday's Biggest Contributions

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Data from the MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance

Full hearing schedule →

Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

Candidates

• Julie Bowditch (Democratic) — City Councilor, Worcester — Filed: 11/2/2026

OCPF →

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THE MASS BRIEF

Saturday, November 07, 2026

The Lead

Healey fast-tracks the abortion law, and the 2028 fight is officially on

Governor Maura Healey used a rarely invoked power Friday to head off a ballot-box ambush. By signing an emergency preamble, she put the state's new later-abortion law into effect immediately, days before its scheduled Sunday start, and shut down the opposition's plan to freeze it. Anti-abortion groups had just handed in 113,477 certified signatures, well above the roughly 50,000 needed to suspend the law until voters could weigh in. The emergency designation takes the suspension off the table for the next two years.

The law, signed in August, eliminates the previous restrictions on abortions at 24 weeks or later and leaves the decision to a physician's professional judgment. Healey argued in a letter to Secretary of State William Galvin that the old exemptions were "too narrow to account for the full spectrum of high-risk pregnancy complications." State data show 99 of the 49,450 abortions performed in 2024 happened at 24 weeks or later. The governor was just re-elected by a wide margin after running in part as an abortion-rights champion, so don't expect her to be shy about this.

What's next: the repeal question still heads to the 2028 ballot, and the Compassionate Care Coalition, backed by Massachusetts Citizens for Life and Massachusetts Family Action, says it's not going anywhere. That means two years of the law operating in the real world, with real data, before voters vote. If the gun-law result on Tuesday is any guide, with nearly 67 percent of voters upholding it, Massachusetts voters tend to side with the status quo once a law is on the books. Both sides know it.

Full story at CommonWealth Beacon →

What Else You Should Know

Question 7 goes down by 32,000 votes. The lot-size measure, which would have allowed single-family homes on 5,000-square-foot lots outside Boston, was finally called Friday, nearly three days after the election. It lost 50.6 to 49.4 percent, the closest of the nine questions, despite backing from Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. Local zoning rules stay as they are, with some towns still requiring up to two acres. Boston.com →

Mass. GOP chair may step aside. Amy Carnevale, who has led the state party since 2023, says she's considering "passing the torch" after Tuesday's wipeout. She did stabilize the party's finances and legal tangles, but a signature-fraud controversy and the drunk-driving arrest of its lieutenant governor nominee made for a rough fall. The Republican State Committee picks its next chair in early January. Boston Globe →

Encore Boston Harbor strike is over. After two months of daily picketing, about 1,600 workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25 ratified a new contract Thursday night and returned to work Friday. "It's a fair deal," said Local 26 president Carlos Aramayo. GBH News →

Councilor wants legal action against MBTA chief. Boston City Councilor Miniard Culpepper effectively scrapped a Friday hearing on the Blue Hill Avenue project after MBTA General Manager Phil Eng skipped it despite a council subpoena. The T says Eng was on a planned family vacation and has offered a community meeting or sit-down with councilors, but Culpepper says that doesn't cut it. WBUR →

Suffield Academy's headmaster mystery deepens. Charles Cahn III, the longtime head of the Connecticut boarding school, was reported missing the day before the school announced his leave amid an IRS investigation. He was found in Maine on Oct. 22. The school has hired a crisis PR firm and told board members its own finances aren't under investigation, while a board member with ties to Cahn has resigned without explanation. Boston Globe →

Brockton cracks down on car meetups. Police seized two unlicensed guns and made six arrests over a weekend that drew roughly 300 cars to the city, including 150 in a Torrey Street shopping plaza lot. Captain William Carpenter says the crowds scatter onto streets at high speed when dispersed, and residents say they're fed up. Boston 25 →

Worth Your Attention

• Sunday, Nov. 9: The later-abortion law's original effective date, now moot thanks to Healey's emergency preamble, but expect rallies and statements from both sides. WBUR →
• Early January: The Republican State Committee elects its next chair, and a contested race could start taking shape in the coming weeks. Boston Globe →
• Summer 2027: Boston plans to open a temporary 17-studio music and arts space in a Brighton warehouse at 290 North Beacon St., though musicians displaced from the Sound Museum are skeptical. WBUR →

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Yesterday's Biggest Contributions

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Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

Candidates

• Julie Bowditch (Democratic) — City Councilor, Worcester — Filed: 11/2/2026

OCPF →

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That's the brief. See you tomorrow, and every morning.

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Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

Candidates

• Julie Bowditch (Democratic) — City Councilor, Worcester — Filed: 11/2/2026

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THE MASS BRIEF

Thursday, November 5, 2026

THE LEAD

Massachusetts voted blue, but the real action is in the ballot-question fine print.

Gov. Maura Healey cruised past Republican Mike Minogue by more than 27 points, even though Minogue raised roughly three times her haul, including over $12 million of his own money. Boston.com notes he never shook his perceived ties to a president whose approval rating in the state sits around 25 percent. Sen. Ed Markey romped too, and the Times's demographic estimates show nearly every group swinging bluer than in 2024. The exception was voters 65 and older, who moved five points the other way. Fall River, which went Republican for president for the first time in a century in 2024, snapped back to Healey, and she ran up familiar numbers in Lawrence, Lynn, and Holyoke.

The more consequential story may be what voters did with a record-tying nine ballot questions. They said yes to public records access, as State Auditor Diana DiZoglio again got a measure aimed at opening up the Legislature's inner workings across the finish line. Election Day voter registration also passed, and a new state agency can now unionize. They said no to repealing cannabis and gun laws and to replacing party primaries with a top-two system. Two questions were still too close to call as of Wednesday afternoon, including Question 7, which would allow homes on lots as small as 5,000 square feet where water and sewer exist. The "no" side led narrowly, 50.6 percent, with 94.4 percent of ballots counted.

What happens next is a Beacon Hill story. Legislative leaders now have to figure out how to comply with a public records law that finally covers them, and how to respond to voters on the other questions. Expect that to be awkward.

Full story at CommonWealth Beacon →

WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW

Abortion law heads for a 2028 showdown. Opponents of the state's new abortion law, which takes effect Nov. 8, say they've gathered nearly double the signatures needed to suspend it and force a 2028 ballot vote. But Healey could attach an emergency preamble to block any suspension until then, as she did with a 2024 gun law. Final certification from Secretary of State Bill Galvin's office is still pending. Boston.com →

The MBTA chief will skip his own subpoena. General Manager Phil Eng, who is also Healey's interim transportation secretary, won't appear at Friday's Boston City Council hearing on the $164 million Blue Hill Avenue redesign, citing a previously planned family vacation. Councilor Miniard Culpepper, who pushed the rare subpoena, has said he's prepared to go to court. Lawyers warn that's legally murky, since it's unclear the council can compel a state employee. Boston Globe →

A family asks the City Council to make streets safer. The sister and parents of Louisa Gag, a city transportation planner killed in July while biking on Tremont Street, urged councilors to take "concrete steps" and hold the Wu administration accountable. The plea came a day before a council hearing on cyclist and pedestrian safety. Boston.com →

Lawrence votes under a cloud. With Mayor Brian DePeña and state Rep. Francisco Paulino both facing federal fraud and money-laundering charges (both have pleaded not guilty), the city's Election Day featured historically low turnout and uncontested races. Turnout ticked up slightly, but CommonWealth Beacon reports the city has a long way to go. CommonWealth Beacon →

Federal case against Harvard researcher collapses. A federal judge dismissed all charges against Kseniia Petrova, the Russian-born cancer researcher accused of smuggling frog embryos. The case unraveled after a judge ruled a customs officer improperly canceled her visa, and her lawyers argued the prosecution was vindictive. WBUR →

Neighbors to the north and south tell different stories. New Hampshire Democrats appear to have won big in the Legislature and the Executive Council, yet Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte won a second term, setting up split control in Concord. Meanwhile, Rhode Island voters rejected a $100 million economic development bond, partly over fears it would subsidize AI data centers, the first bond rejection there since 2006. GBH News → | Boston Globe →

WORTH YOUR ATTENTION

• Friday morning: The Boston City Council's Committee on Civil Rights, Racial Equity, and Immigrant Advancement meets on Blue Hill Avenue. Watch whether Eng's empty chair prompts a court fight. Boston Globe →
• Thursday: The City Council holds a hearing on cyclist and pedestrian safety, following the Gag family's testimony. Boston.com →
• Sunday, Nov. 8: The state's new abortion law takes effect, barring a suspension. Boston.com →

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Yesterday's Biggest Contributions

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Data from the MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance

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Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

Candidates

• Julie Bowditch (Democratic) — City Councilor, Worcester — Filed: 11/2/2026
• Robert Barcellos — Mayoral, Fall River — Filed: 10/30/2026

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Track all bills →

Yesterday's Biggest Contributions

Big Spending This Week

Data from the MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance

Full hearing schedule →

Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

Candidates

• Julie Bowditch (Democratic) — City Councilor, Worcester — Filed: 11/2/2026
• Robert Barcellos — Mayoral, Fall River — Filed: 10/30/2026

Change of Purposes

• Luz Villar — Mayoral, Brockton → City Councilor, Brockton — Filed: 10/29/2026

OCPF →

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It's Election Day, and Massachusetts has a very long ballot and a very short suspense list.

Polls are open until 8 p.m., and the main event here isn't who wins, it's what voters do with a record-tying nine statewide ballot questions, the busiest slate in more than three decades. Gov. Maura Healey is expected to cruise past Republican Mike Minogue, a former medical device CEO who has poured about $19.5 million of his own money into the race, a state record for self-financing. The Globe's Power Play newsletter says Healey is expected to win by more than 20 points. Whether this was Minogue's last ballot appearance or a warm-up lap for another run is the more interesting question.

The real action is on the ballot questions. Based on pre-election polling, the two repeal efforts look like long shots. Question 8, which would dismantle the recreational cannabis industry voters approved a decade ago, is the most expensive question of the cycle, funded almost entirely by a Virginia-based anti-marijuana nonprofit, yet support has been stuck in the low 30s at best. The referendum on the 2024 gun law (Question 9) is polling at 31 percent or lower for repeal. Meanwhile, Question 1, which would bring the governor's office and Legislature under the public records law, is polling between 63 and 84 percent in favor, depending on the survey, making it the likeliest to become law.

Turnout is the wild card. Secretary of State William Galvin said more than 1.1 million people had voted early as of Monday, but he declined to project a final number. Matching 2022's 2.5 million would take a big in-person showing today. Expect AP calls on the ballot questions to roll in after polls close at 8 p.m. If you haven't voted yet, you have until then.

Full story at CommonWealth Beacon →

Boston proposes closing three schools in 2028. Boston Public Schools leaders will propose shutting East Boston Early Education Center, Greater Egleston High School in Roxbury, and Charlestown High School at Wednesday's School Committee meeting, with a vote expected in early December. Mayor Michelle Wu said public dollars should go to students rather than "half-empty buildings." If approved, the district would drop from 119 schools in 2023 to 97 by 2028, with a goal of 95 by 2030. The plan also reconfigures or relocates seven other schools. WBUR →

Details on the other seven schools. Beyond the closures, BPS would reconfigure Hurley K-8 and Joyce Kilmer K-8 as pre-K–6 schools, add grades 7 and 8 to Boston Arts Academy and Fenway High School, and relocate Boston Green Academy to the South Boston Education Complex. Superintendent Mary Skipper acknowledged that closures are "hard changes and recommendations to hear." Boston.com →

BPS buses are still a mess. At a City Council hearing Monday, parents described children dropped at the wrong stops, one five-year-old let off too early, and tracking software that doesn't track. Boston has fined contractor Transdev more than $400,000 over the last school year and another $10,500 for blown trips. Councilor Ed Flynn called the roughly $200 million system "broken and failed." Boston.com →

Weymouth police shooting ruled justified. Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey's office said officers acted reasonably when they fatally shot 25-year-old Sean Barry at Webb Memorial State Park in March. According to the report, Barry was suicidal and, after refusing to drop a kitchen knife and being hit with a taser, charged at three officers. The death was ruled a homicide, but the DA noted that not all homicides are unlawful. Boston Globe →

Man stabbed at Copley station. A 59-year-old man was stabbed in the neck on the westbound Green Line platform Monday night around 8:30. Transit Police arrested a suspect, and the victim, who was conscious and alert, is expected to survive. Boston.com →

Cellphones in schools: will the Legislature act? Per the National Conference of State Legislatures, 42 states have passed school phone restrictions, and about 80 percent of Massachusetts districts have their own policies. Boston plans a bell-to-bell ban starting in 2027-28. CommonWealth Beacon's polling shows strong support for a statewide rule, which raises the question of why the Legislature hasn't acted and leaves a patchwork of local policies. CommonWealth Beacon →

• Tonight, 8 p.m.: Polls close statewide. GBH is running live midterm results and a ballot question tracker with AP calls.
• Wednesday: The Boston School Committee hears the school closure proposals, with a vote expected in early December. WBUR →
• Nov. 17: Globe Summit lunch with Barr Foundation CEO Ali Noorani, for Power Play readers who RSVP. Boston Globe →

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Yesterday's Biggest Contributions

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Data from the MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance

Full hearing schedule →

Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

Candidates

• Julie Bowditch (Democratic) — City Councilor, Worcester — Filed: 11/2/2026
• Robert Barcellos — Mayoral, Fall River — Filed: 10/30/2026

Change of Purposes

• Luz Villar — Mayoral, Brockton → City Councilor, Brockton — Filed: 10/29/2026

OCPF →

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Massachusetts goes to the polls with a record-tying nine ballot questions, and the real drama is turnout.

Polls open at 7 a.m. Tuesday and close at 8 p.m. Secretary of State William Galvin said Monday that more than 1.1 million people have already voted early, which he called a "dramatic" jump over past years. He's projecting about 2.5 million total ballots, out of roughly 5 million registered voters. The statewide top of the ticket isn't providing much suspense: polls show wide Democratic leads, and Gov. Maura Healey is heavily favored over Republican Mike Minogue. Galvin has linked the nine ballot questions to what he calls a public "frustration with accomplishment" in government.

That's why the ballot is the main event. The questions cover everything from opening the Legislature and the governor's office to public records requests (Question 1, pushed by Auditor Diana DiZoglio) to letting public defenders unionize (Question 2) to same-day voter registration (Question 4, which Galvin expects to pass). The ballot is long, and election officials are bracing for slow-moving lines.

Galvin's practical advice: bring a list. The ballot itself includes a one-sentence summary of what "yes" and "no" mean right above the vote boxes, which is your lifeline if you freeze in the booth. Mail-in ballots must be in a drop box by 8 p.m. Tuesday, and ballots can't be dropped off at polling places themselves. And if you're not sure where you vote, the Secretary of State's website will tell you in about ten seconds.

Full story at GBH News →

Healey and Minogue make their closing pitches. Healey rallied union workers in Lynn, leaning on the strategy that has defined her career: when Donald Trump takes something away, Massachusetts finds a way to cover it. Minogue spent the weekend door-knocking and hitting pubs. WBUR →

A national blue wave could reshape Massachusetts' influence. At a rally in Plymouth, Rep. Bill Keating cast Tuesday as a chance for "the people" to take back their government. If Democrats flip the US House, the Massachusetts delegation goes from the minority to positions of real power, and Healey gains a direct line to House leadership for the final two years of Trump's term. Prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi currently give Democrats a 74 percent chance of sweeping both chambers. Boston Globe →

Ed Markey is campaigning for other people, while on the ballot himself. The 80-year-old senator, who has said his next term would be his last, spent Sunday in Maine boosting Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson against Republican Susan Collins, part of a bid to lift like-minded progressives nationwide. He faces Republican John Deaton tomorrow. Boston Globe →

Boston Public Schools wants to close Charlestown High School. BPS cites declining enrollment, and the School Committee could vote as soon as its first December meeting. Councilors Gabriela Coletta Zapata, Julia Mejia, Erin Murphy and Ed Flynn are already pushing back, and Coletta Zapata will ask for a formal hearing Wednesday. Universal Hub →

The Lindsay Clancy case remains in limbo. At a Monday hearing in Plymouth, defense attorney Kevin Reddington told Judge William Sullivan he wants a retrial "this spring," while prosecutors said they aren't ready to say whether they'll try her again. Sullivan took a double-jeopardy dismissal motion under advisement, and the next conference is Nov. 16. WCVB →

Six MBTA workers were injured in a track collision in Norwood. Two maintenance vehicles collided near the Norwood Depot station; injuries were non-life-threatening. Franklin/Foxboro line trains were temporarily replaced by buses between Readville and Walpole, and the MBTA Transit Police are investigating. Boston 25 →

• Tuesday, Nov. 3: Election Day. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Find your polling place →
• Tuesday, 8 p.m.: Deadline for mail-in ballots to be in a drop box. Mailed ballots must be postmarked Tuesday and arrive by Nov. 6. Boston 25 →
• Wednesday: Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata asks the Boston City Council for a hearing on the Charlestown High School closure plan. Universal Hub →
• Sunday, Nov. 8: Gov. Healey's expanded abortion care law takes effect. Boston Globe →

Track all bills →

Yesterday's Biggest Contributions

Big Spending This Week

Data from the MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance

Full hearing schedule →

Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

Candidates

• Julie Bowditch (Democratic) — City Councilor, Worcester — Filed: 11/2/2026
• Robert Barcellos — Mayoral, Fall River — Filed: 10/30/2026
• Daniel Wong (Democratic) — City Councilor, Somerville — Filed: 10/27/2026

Ballot Question Committees

• Voter Choice for Massachusetts — N/A, N/A — Filed: 10/27/2026

Change of Purposes

• Luz Villar — Mayoral, Brockton → City Councilor, Brockton — Filed: 10/29/2026

OCPF →

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Two days to Election Day, and the race for governor is a contest over what the question even is.

Governor Maura Healey spent her Saturday in Gloucester in a Scotland soccer jersey and kilt, with a giant traffic cone for company, making the argument she's made all year: this election is a referendum on Donald Trump, and she's the bulwark. "I don't know anybody who's really having a better experience because of Donald Trump the last 20 months," she told a small crowd in a mostly empty school parking lot, about 80 hours before polls close.

Her Republican challenger, former medical device executive Michael Minogue, is working just as hard to change the subject. At a stop in Peabody, he pushed the idea that four years of Healey have made Massachusetts harder to afford, and that the state still lacks real leadership on the issues squeezing household budgets. Political analysts on WCVB's On the Record this weekend largely agreed on the outcome. Democratic analyst Mary Anne Marsh sees Healey winning comfortably, while Republican analyst Rob Gray explored why Minogue has struggled to break through.

Even if the top of the ticket looks settled, the night isn't. A record-tying nine ballot questions (public records, taxes, guns, zoning, marijuana, elections) could change state law outright. Galvin is warning that the ballots run two and sometimes three pages, with some in-person voters already taking 20 minutes to mark a card. If you can, vote early or use a drop box, and if you can't, bring patience.

Full story at Boston Globe →

Brigham nurses set a strike date. Nurses at Brigham and Women's Hospital have issued a 10-day notice for an open-ended strike beginning Thursday, Nov. 12 at 7 a.m., after rejecting what the hospital called its "last, best, and final" offer. It would follow a one-day strike in July and a four-day lockout. Both sides return to the table Monday, Nov. 9, which leaves a narrow window to avert it. Boston 25 →

Charlestown High School could close. Boston Public Schools has proposed shutting the school effective June 30, 2028, citing enrollment that has fallen 32 percent in three years, from 820 to 559 students. Councilor Coletta Zapata is asking for a Dec. 2 hearing and wants to know whether investments or changes to student assignment could turn things around. Boston 25 →

An opinion fight over Boston's schools. A CommonWealth Beacon op-ed argues the "State of the Schools" Mayor Michelle Wu described doesn't match the data, noting that roughly seven in 10 BPS third- and eighth-graders aren't at grade level in reading or math. It also criticizes the mayor's reaction to a billboard campaign by the advocacy group Next Chapter Boston. It's one side of a heated debate, but one the Charlestown proposal will only sharpen. CommonWealth Beacon →

Lindsay Clancy returns to court Monday. Clancy, accused in the 2023 deaths of her three children in Duxbury, has a motion hearing in Plymouth as the district attorney weighs a second trial. Her summer trial ended in a mistrial with a reported 11-1 jury split in favor of acquittal, and prosecutors argue the mistrial was legally justified. WCVB →

Local data center pushback is growing. Amherst officials have begun weighing a ban or size limits on data centers, a request co-sponsored by nine of 13 councilors and modeled on a ban already adopted in Holyoke. Kingston Town Meeting banned data centers in all zoning districts last week. The worries are electricity and water use, a theme that will keep surfacing from the Pioneer Valley to the South Shore. Daily Hampshire Gazette →

Hingham votes Tuesday on school roofs. Town Meeting unanimously backed roof replacements at South Elementary ($8.58 million) and Plymouth River Elementary ($16.37 million), but both need debt exclusion approval on the Nov. 3 ballot. Town Meeting also added $1.115 million for design work on a high school roof and HVAC project now estimated at $90 to $110 million. South Shore News →

• Tuesday, Nov. 3: Election Day, with a long ballot to plan for. Mail-in voters can track their ballots through the Secretary of State's online tools. WCVB →
• Monday, Nov. 9: Brigham nurses and Mass General Brigham return to contract talks, three days before the strike deadline. Boston 25 →
• Saturday, Dec. 5: Cohasset voters decide on a $20.9 million debt exclusion to convert 135 King Street into a police station, after last year's plan failed at the ballot. South Shore News →

Track all bills →

Yesterday's Biggest Contributions

Big Spending This Week

Data from the MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance

Full hearing schedule →

Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

Candidates

• Robert Barcellos — Mayoral, Fall River — Filed: 10/30/2026
• Daniel Wong (Democratic) — City Councilor, Somerville — Filed: 10/27/2026

Ballot Question Committees

• Voter Choice for Massachusetts — N/A, N/A — Filed: 10/27/2026

Change of Purposes

• Luz Villar — Mayoral, Brockton → City Councilor, Brockton — Filed: 10/29/2026

OCPF →

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THE MASS BRIEF

Saturday, October 31, 2026

Good morning, and happy Halloween. Plenty of scary stuff on the ballot and in the news, but also some candy. Let's get into it.

The Lead

Harvard has a $50-plus billion endowment and a labor problem it can't seem to shake.

More than 7,000 Harvard workers are either on strike or about to be. Graduate students walked out Tuesday, their second job action this year. Researchers and non-tenure-track faculty have set a Nov. 10 strike deadline. And dining hall workers could walk at any moment. That's three unions potentially hitting the picket line at the same time at the richest university on earth.

The grievances are strikingly concrete. A dining hall pot washer earning $28 an hour says that's less, adjusted for inflation, than his starting wage 20 years ago. A postdoc at Harvard Medical School says colleagues with kids can burn through as much as three-quarters of their salary on day care, while tenured professors get far more generous financial help. A PhD student says part-time teaching fellows earn about half what peers in research assistant roles make. The common thread is a sense of a two-tier institution.

Harvard's argument is that it's tightening its belt amid federal funding turmoil and political pressure from Washington. But "we're under siege" is a tough pitch to workers watching the endowment number. Watch the Nov. 10 deadline: if the postdocs and researchers join the grad students and dining workers, Cambridge could see an unusually broad campus shutdown during the semester's busiest stretch, and the administration will face pressure to settle on more than one front at once.

Full story at Boston Globe →

What Else You Should Know

Boston police fatally shoot man in mental health crisis in Brighton. Officers responding to Selkirk Road around 7 a.m. Friday spent roughly 20 minutes trying to de-escalate a man with a very large knife who was threatening to harm himself. Police Commissioner Michael Cox said the man then charged at officers on the porch and was shot once in the stomach; he later died at the hospital. Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden is investigating, including reviewing body-camera footage. Cox said other officers on scene carried Tasers but it's unclear whether the shooter did. WBUR → | CBS Boston →

Scituate is under a boil water order. A Tuesday water sample tested positive for E. coli, and a second sample Friday came back positive for a different bacterium, so residents need to boil water for at least one minute or use bottled. Supply is already tight: one resident said they drove to Quincy to find water and described Thanksgiving-level lines. Restaurants like Mill Wharf are scrambling, with staff barred from using soda guns and ice machines. WBZ / CBS Boston →

Ex-state trooper gets dishonorable discharge. Stephen P. Smith, a roughly three-year veteran assigned to the Weston barracks, resigned during an internal affairs probe into several consecutive traffic stops of the same motorist. State Police referred preliminary findings to the Middlesex County District Attorney for independent criminal review. His law enforcement certification lapsed in August. Boston Globe →

Immigrant foster youth are being ordered deported. After the Trump administration rescinded a Biden-era policy that deferred deportation proceedings for young people seeking Special Immigrant Juvenile status, many Massachusetts foster youth have received removal orders. One 17-year-old from Central America, who has had nearly two years of stability here, told GBH she fears losing the chance to keep studying. An attorney at Worcester's Ascentria called it a "systematic attack" on these youths' rights. GBH News →

Teachers' union sues over student loan forgiveness delays. The American Federation of Teachers filed a class action against the Education Department, claiming some borrowers have waited nearly two years for paperwork to be processed for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, while others had earned credit erased. President Randi Weingarten announced the suit in Boston. The Education Department didn't respond to WBUR's request for comment. WBUR →

Western Mass. towns push back on MWRA's Quabbin request. Shutesbury's Select Board voted 3-0 to oppose the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority's bid to draw an additional 20 million gallons a day from the reservoir. The town's letter calls it a "blank check," since no receiving communities are identified. Leverett and several legislators have raised concerns too. Daily Hampshire Gazette →

Worth Your Attention

• Election Day is Tuesday. Early voting ended Friday, and there are nine binding ballot questions, the most in over three decades, covering everything from public records to guns to marijuana policy. Read up before you're in the booth: CBS Boston's ballot question guide →
• Gov. Maura Healey vs. Republican Mike Minogue tops the ticket. For context on how unpredictable the corner office has been, WBUR mapped every town's governor vote since 1970: WBUR →
• Nov. 10: Harvard's researchers and non-tenure-track faculty strike deadline. Boston Globe →

Track all bills →

Yesterday's Biggest Contributions

Big Spending This Week

Data from the MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance

Full hearing schedule →

Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

Candidates

• Robert Barcellos — Mayoral, Fall River — Filed: 10/30/2026
• Daniel Wong (Democratic) — City Councilor, Somerville — Filed: 10/27/2026

Ballot Question Committees

• Voter Choice for Massachusetts — N/A, N/A — Filed: 10/27/2026

Change of Purposes

• Luz Villar — Mayoral, Brockton → City Councilor, Brockton — Filed: 10/29/2026

OCPF →

One More Thing

The Mass Brief lands in your inbox every morning. Stay safe tonight, and check the candy.

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The Mass Brief

Friday, October 30, 2026

Good morning. Four days until Election Day, and the real suspense is on the back of the ballot. Grab your coffee.

The Lead

Nine ballot questions, one very long to-do list

Massachusetts voters will face a record-tying nine ballot questions on Tuesday, spread across a three-page ballot. The slate covers marijuana legalization, gun restrictions, public records law, single-family zoning, tax refunds, and a proposal to scrap party primaries. Meanwhile, the marquee candidate races look like matters of margin. Gov. Maura Healey leads Republican Mike Minogue by 22 to 25 points in three recent polls, so the real nail-biters are the questions themselves.

Election workers say the ballot is slowing people down. Worcester's early voting monitor told GBH News that voters are taking noticeably longer to fill theirs out, and some early voters called the questions "confusing" and "overwhelming." The Globe argues the pile-up is a symptom of something bigger: frustration with a one-party Legislature where popular ideas can languish for years. When lawmakers won't write the laws people want, activists collect signatures and go straight to the voters.

What to do about it: homework. WBUR has made under-two-minute video explainers for each question, and GBH has non-partisan written guides. Today is also the last day of in-person early voting, if you'd rather dodge Tuesday's lines. After the votes are counted, expect a long argument about what the results say about the Legislature's appetite for governing by omnibus.

Full story at Boston Globe →

What Else You Should Know

Abortion law referendum push says it has the signatures. Backers of a 2028 referendum on the state's new abortion law say they've gathered 97,276 signatures, nearly double the 49,716 needed to suspend the law until that vote. The law is set to take effect Nov. 8, and Healey, who signed it in August, is weighing her options. Expect legal and procedural fireworks next week. WBUR →

Who's bankrolling the primary overhaul? Question 3 would replace party primaries with a single all-party contest where the top two advance. Proponent Danielle Allen calls the effort "Massachusetts-grown," and a CommonWealth Beacon analysis found that's mostly true. It also found more than a dozen donors who previously funded similar campaigns in other states. Nothing illicit, but it shows how Massachusetts became a front in a national debate. CommonWealth Beacon →

Super PACs go negative in the governor's race. Money backing Minogue is now targeting independent Andrea James, raising questions about whether the aim is to peel progressive voters away from Healey. A Democratic Governors Association-affiliated PAC has spent $585,000 opposing Minogue, including videos branding him a "MAGA mega-donor." Minogue says the spending proves the race is closer than the polls suggest. WBUR →

Question 7 draws fire from both sides. Two CommonWealth Beacon op-eds make the starter-home measure's case and its counter-case. A Natick resident who co-chaired a tiny-house study says it would help bring smaller, cheaper homes back to established neighborhoods. A residential developer warns it's "not an affordable housing plan" and that smaller lots don't guarantee cheaper houses. Read both before you vote. CommonWealth Beacon (yes) → | CommonWealth Beacon (no) →

The Senate's supplemental budget picks up some passengers. Senate Democrats released a $2.61 billion spending bill, with $1.8 billion for MassHealth and $368 million for the Student Opportunity Act fund. They also tucked in policy riders: easier subscription cancellations, a crackdown on "junk fees," and more flexibility for municipal purchasing. Floor debate comes after the election, and the House will need to reconcile its version. WBUR →

Police shooting in Brighton. Boston police shot a person at 24 Selkirk Road near Cleveland Circle Friday morning. The police union says the suspect is expected to survive. A news conference is set for 12:30 p.m. at headquarters in Roxbury, and details on what led to the shooting are still thin. Boston Globe →

Worth Your Attention

• Today: Last day of in-person early voting for the midterms. WBUR →
• Monday: Lindsay Clancy returns to Plymouth court for a hearing that could signal whether prosecutors seek a new trial after September's mistrial. WBUR →
• Next Friday: Deadline for the abortion-law referendum campaign to file signatures with the state. WBUR →

Track all bills →

Yesterday's Biggest Contributions

Big Spending This Week

Data from the MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance

Full hearing schedule →

Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

Candidates

• Robert Barcellos — Mayoral, Fall River — Filed: 10/30/2026
• Daniel Wong (Democratic) — City Councilor, Somerville — Filed: 10/27/2026

Ballot Question Committees

• Voter Choice for Massachusetts — N/A, N/A — Filed: 10/27/2026

Change of Purposes

• Luz Villar — Mayoral, Brockton → City Councilor, Brockton — Filed: 10/29/2026

OCPF →

One More Thing

The Mass Brief lands in your inbox every morning. See you tomorrow.

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Track all bills →

Yesterday's Biggest Contributions

Big Spending This Week

Data from the MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance

Full hearing schedule →

Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

Candidates

• Daniel Wong (Democratic) — City Councilor, Somerville — Filed: 10/27/2026

Ballot Question Committees

• Voter Choice for Massachusetts — N/A, N/A — Filed: 10/27/2026

OCPF →

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THE MASS BRIEF

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

The Lead

Beacon Hill's ballot-question hangover is already being planned.

Voters head to the polls next Tuesday facing a record-tying nine ballot questions, and the people who write the state's laws for a living are not thrilled about it. State Rep. Alice Peisch, a top House leader, told WBUR that having to vote yes or no on complicated issues "lends itself to bad policy." Even Sen. Jason Lewis, who spent an October afternoon walking Malden seniors through the questions (with a Cantonese translator at his side), sounds more enthusiastic about the process than most of his colleagues.

Here's the part voters may not realize: passing a question on Nov. 3 doesn't necessarily end the fight. Nothing but political risk stops the Legislature from tweaking, delaying, or gutting a new law after the fact, and WBUR reports that lawmakers appear poised to do just that on some of this year's measures. CommonWealth Beacon's deep dive into the "ballotmania" tracks how the flood of initiatives, from same-day voter registration to a revamp of the "62F" tax-cap law to single-family zoning, put Beacon Hill on the defensive and revived old arguments about the pitfalls of lawmaking by statewide vote.

Expect the real action on some of these questions to start in January, not November. A ballot win is a starting gun for a second round of lobbying, with the same legislators many of these campaigns were designed to circumvent. If a question you care about is on your ballot, a "yes" is only the opening move.

Full story at WBUR →  |  CommonWealth Beacon →

What Else You Should Know

Vote early, because Election Day will be slow. Secretary of State Bill Galvin says Election Day will likely be a "slower process" thanks to those nine questions, with ballots running two to four cards depending on your community. His office says unofficial results could also trickle in later than usual. In-person early voting continues through Friday. WBUR →

Federal poll monitors are headed to Boston and Lowell. The U.S. Department of Justice will station observers in both cities on Election Day. Galvin says monitors are routine and will check language services and disability access, but he acknowledged residents may be wary given the Trump administration's recent efforts to influence local elections. WBUR →

Minogue pushes a State Police allegation, with little to back it. GOP gubernatorial candidate Mike Minogue claims the State Police union traded an endorsement for a new contract with Gov. Maura Healey. Pressed for evidence, he said "people know" and pointed to the "perception of corruption." GBH News →

ICE's spending spree is a Massachusetts business story, too. A Globe analysis found ICE has spent or committed more than $70 million with 27 Massachusetts companies since 2024. That's roughly what it took six years to spend in the state before Trump's reelection. Plymouth's BI2 Technologies holds the biggest deal, a $25 million contract for an iris-scanning and facial-recognition app. A Pittsfield firm sells ICE armored vehicles. Boston Globe →

Wu wants to make opening a restaurant less painful. Mayor Michelle Wu proposed zoning changes that would, among other things, cut takeout approval from four months to under two weeks by ending the separate zoning review that kicks in when ownership changes. She also named Ava Callendar Concepcion to replace Kathleen Joyce as chair of the Boston Licensing Board. Boston.com → | Universal Hub →

A BU study finds CTE in nearly three-quarters of deceased NFL players. The research, published in JAMA Network Open, covers a 15-year period and includes players whose brains weren't donated for research. Lead author Julia Gallini cautioned that it doesn't mean 75 percent of current players will develop the disease, but called the number "very concerning." Boston Globe →

A fugitive with a Massachusetts warrant may be in the Merrimack Valley. Salem, N.H. police say Daquhan Cromer, who escaped a Manchester halfway house in December 2025, crashed into police cruisers Tuesday night and fled on foot. They believe he's now in Massachusetts, where he's wanted on a felony aggravated assault warrant, and they say he should be considered armed and dangerous. WBZ / CBS Boston →

Worth Your Attention

•  Through Friday: In-person early voting continues across Massachusetts. WBUR →

•  Thursday: The Boston Licensing Board votes on a license for Old Friend Pizza, a Detroit-style spot with ten seats opening at 5272 Washington St. in West Roxbury. Universal Hub →

•  Nov. 20: Bilal Griffith, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2025 I-91 work-zone crash that killed three highway workers, will be sentenced. Under his plea deal he faces 15 to 17 years. Boston Globe →

Track all bills →

Yesterday's Biggest Contributions

Big Spending This Week

Data from the MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance

Full hearing schedule →

Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

Candidates

• Daniel Wong (Democratic) — City Councilor, Somerville — Filed: 10/27/2026

Ballot Question Committees

• Voter Choice for Massachusetts — N/A, N/A — Filed: 10/27/2026

OCPF →

One More Thing

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THE MASS BRIEF

Tuesday, October 27, 2026

Nine ballot questions, one week left, and the polls may be misleading you

Massachusetts voters face a record-tying nine statewide questions on Nov. 3, covering everything from whether the Legislature and governor's office should be subject to the public records law (Question 1) to whether the recreational marijuana industry should survive (Question 8). That's the most since 1994, by CommonWealth Beacon's count. The Globe has produced video explainers on the first six, and CommonWealth Beacon has a plain-English rundown of all nine.

Here's the part worth sitting with: eight of the nine questions show a lead for "yes" in recent polling, which sounds like a forecast. It isn't. CommonWealth Beacon's polling analysis points out that undecided voters tend to break late, and toward "no," on ballot questions. That means a "yes" lead below 50 percent is shakier than it looks. Questions 2 through 7 are, by that measure, far less settled than the toplines suggest.

Money is also telling a story. Question 8, the effort to eliminate the recreational marijuana industry, has now become the most expensive question on the ballot at nearly $6.5 million, passing the all-party primary measure (Question 3) at $5.9 million. More than $3.7 million of the anti-pot campaign came from one Virginia-based nonprofit, SAM Action Inc., while industry opponents of the measure have spent over $2.8 million fighting back.

If you want time with the ballot, today is the deadline to request a mail-in ballot, though if you're requesting now, you'll want to return it in person rather than trust the mail.

Full story at CommonWealth Beacon →

Minogue accuses Healey of a trooper endorsement deal; everyone else says no. Republican gubernatorial nominee Mike Minogue alleged on Facebook that Gov. Maura Healey traded a State Police contract for the union's endorsement. The union called the claim "categorically false," and Healey's campaign called it "an unhinged rant." The backdrop is a supplemental budget Healey filed in September that includes a $30 million reserve for salary adjustments and has passed the House. Expect this to echo through the final week. WBUR → | Boston 25 →

Wildfire in the Berkshires brings out the National Guard. A blaze that began in Berlin, N.Y. has crossed into Williamstown and burned nearly 160 acres of heavily wooded terrain. Healey is activating about eight National Guard members to drop water on rocky areas firefighters can't reach on foot. Williamstown's fire chief expects full containment by Tuesday evening and says no homes are in immediate danger, but rain isn't in the forecast for several days. Boston Globe →

The Boston City Council subpoenaed the T's top boss. Now what? Councilors voted last week to subpoena MBTA General Manager Phil Eng to testify Nov. 6 about the controversial $164 million Blue Hill Avenue redesign. Neither Eng nor the T has said whether he'll show. Lawyers told the Globe that enforcing the subpoena could mean hiring outside counsel and a court fight over whether the council can compel a state employee at all. One former city law chief called it "fraught with political and legal peril." Boston Globe →

Deaths at the Suffolk County House of Corrections get a public airing. At a lengthy council hearing Monday, families and advocates demanded answers about in-custody deaths and violence at the jail. Druesilla Brown, whose son Shacoby Kenny died there in December 2025, in a death the medical examiner ruled a homicide, asked through tears, "How is there no accountability for this?" GBH News →

Westborough's police chief is on leave. Chief Todd Minardi was found asleep in a Ford Explorer near a Shrewsbury liquor store Friday after callers reported the vehicle had been there since Thursday, according to police records. He was taken to UMass Memorial, and the town placed him on administrative leave and plans to hire an outside investigator. Boston Globe → | Boston 25 →

A kidnapping scare ends safely in Everett. Police say a 26-year-old Malden man stole a car in Lynn with a 6-year-old girl inside, and Everett officers stopped it on Revere Beach Parkway before an Amber Alert was needed. The child was checked at Mass General and reunited with her parents. The suspect faces kidnapping and child endangerment charges. Boston.com →

• Today: Deadline to request a mail-in ballot for the Nov. 3 election. WBUR →
• Nov. 3: Election Day, with all nine ballot questions on the line. CommonWealth Beacon →
• Nov. 6: Boston City Council hearing where MBTA chief Phil Eng has been subpoenaed to appear. Boston Globe →

Track all bills →

Yesterday's Biggest Contributions

Big Spending This Week

Data from the MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance

Full hearing schedule →

Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

Candidates

• Daniel Wong (Democratic) — City Councilor, Somerville — Filed: 10/27/2026

OCPF →

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Healey and Minogue trade barbs as the governor's race enters its final week

The sprint to Nov. 3 is a classic setup: the underdog swinging, the incumbent trying to look past him. Republican nominee Michael Minogue spent a recent Friday in Shirley, an exurban town still reeling from the closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center in the Steward Health Care collapse. He pointed straight at Governor Maura Healey, who was attorney general during Steward's decline. It's a smart place to probe. Dissatisfaction with the cost of living in Massachusetts is widespread in the polling, and the hospital closure is the kind of local wound that makes an abstract complaint feel personal.

The weekend gave Minogue a different kind of test. On Saturday he posted on Facebook asking whether Healey "cut a deal" with State Police for their endorsement, suggesting a contract was traded for political support. The State Police Association of Massachusetts hit back hard, calling the claim "categorically false," noting its contract went through mediation, fact-finding, and arbitration, and correcting Minogue's math: the raise is 11 percent over three years, not 18. The union wants an apology. Healey, asked about it in Framingham today, called it "more lies and nonsense."

Here's the reality check: a Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll last week showed Healey and other statewide Democrats leading comfortably. Democrats are using their Sunday rally in Cambridge to cast Massachusetts as the crest of a national wave and Healey as a check on President Trump. So Minogue's challenge is less about closing a gap in the next eight days than about whether any of these attacks stick enough to dent turnout or margins. Expect more of this in the home stretch, and expect the State Police dispute to linger as a "who blinked" story.

Full story at CBS Boston →

Federal prosecutors are putting the state's investigation on trial, too. In the Matthew Farwell trial, prosecutors told jurors just 12 minutes in that State Police detectives working for Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey didn't treat Sandra Birchmore's Canton apartment as a crime scene. They also cited crude remarks from investigators. Because state authorities concluded Birchmore killed herself, federal prosecutors now have to prove both that Farwell killed her and that the earlier investigation got it wrong, a rare dynamic one former homicide prosecutor called "unusual." Boston Globe →

Holbrook officers pull a driver from a burning Jeep. Body camera footage shows Officer Jonathan O'Brien, Sgt. Martin Faherty, and Officer Matthew Richards freeing a 37-year-old man whose foot was pinned and burning after he hit a utility pole around 3:20 a.m. Sunday. They got him out within about a minute, and O'Brien suffered minor burns to his fingers. Police are seeking a summons charging the driver with a second-offense OUI. WBZ / CBS Boston →

A Dorchester mother is charged in her 4-year-old's fentanyl death. Dayanna Familia, 35, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, child endangerment, and evidence-related charges. Prosecutors say she told responders her daughter turned blue drinking milk or got into a roach trap, and that body camera footage shows her trying to destroy a white powder believed to be fentanyl. They argue the lies delayed lifesaving care. She's held on $25,000 bail. Boston 25 →

Nine ballot questions, and yes, you have questions. CommonWealth Beacon's Codcast answers listener questions on the November ballot, including whether an all-party primary could produce a general election with two Republicans and what happens with housing if the zoning measure fails. It's useful homework before you're standing in a voting booth. CommonWealth Beacon →

Question 9 puts Massachusetts' gun laws to a vote. The question asks whether to uphold a 2024 law requiring firearms to be serialized and registered and broadening a ban on "assault-style" guns. It's on the ballot because opponents gathered signatures to force a referendum, and the AP frames it against Idaho, where voters are weighing a nonbinding question on an official state gun. Boston.com →

Westborough's police chief is on leave. Chief Todd Minardi was placed on administrative leave Saturday after Shrewsbury police responded to a call involving him Friday. Town officials say they're hiring an outside investigator, and Deputy Chief Steve Tompkins is running the department day to day. Few details have been released. Boston Globe →

• Nov. 3: Election Day. Nine ballot questions plus the governor's race. Read up first via the CommonWealth Beacon guide →
• Nov. 20: Dayanna Familia's next court date in the Dorchester fentanyl case. Boston 25 →
• Beacon Hill's school phone ban push: Lawmakers are weighing a bill to bar K-12 students from accessing cellphones at school, and Boston Public Schools is considering its own sweeping ban. WBUR →

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Full hearing schedule →

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• Hit-and-run in Norwood: Police are seeking the public's help finding a gray or black SUV, possibly an older Honda Pilot with headlight damage, after two pedestrians were struck near Washington and Day streets Saturday evening. Tips to 781-762-1212. WCVB →
• Election Day is November 3: Questions 8 and 9 are only part of the ballot, so look over the full slate before you head in.
• Mill River Greenway work continues in Williamsburg: After 15 years of debate, construction is underway on the 2.4-mile path, with completion targeted for next June and the street occasionally closing. Daily Hampshire Gazette →

Track all bills →

Big Spending This Week

Data from the MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance

Full hearing schedule →

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THE MASS BRIEF

Saturday, October 24, 2026

The Lead

The campaign to kill legal weed is driving on shaky statistical ground.

With Election Day approaching, backers of Question 8, the ballot measure that would unwind the state's recreational marijuana market, have gone all-in on a road-safety message. A projection on a Brookline apartment building proclaimed that "42% of drivers in fatal crashes test positive for THC." Their website warns of "DUIs RISING." It's the kind of stat that makes you grip the wheel a little tighter.

The problem is that much of it leans on research out of Ohio rather than Massachusetts, and the science on THC and impaired driving is thin to begin with. UMass Amherst professor Lucy Xiaolu Wang, who has studied cannabis policy, told the Globe that drawing firm conclusions from that out-of-state work is "impossible," because so little conclusive research exists on driving impaired by anything other than alcohol. Worth noting: THC testing positive isn't the same as THC causing a crash, since the compound can linger in the body long after impairment fades.

Nobody on the legal-weed side is arguing that driving high is a good idea, and it's already illegal here. But the gap between a punchy ad and the actual evidence is exactly what voters should keep in mind as they decide whether to keep a market that's now a fixture of the state economy. Expect both sides to keep sparring over the numbers right up to November. Full story at Boston Globe →

What Else You Should Know

Two state troopers suspended in Martha's Vineyard rape investigation. State Police suspended Troopers Ryan Costello and Robert Branca with pay Thursday, tied to an alleged rape at temporary trooper housing in Oak Bluffs in August. Edward Brown, a Boston Public Schools security employee and Costello's college friend, has pleaded not guilty. Colonel Geoffrey Noble banned overnight guests at seasonal trooper housing on the Vineyard and Nantucket and ordered a written visitor policy. Boston.com →

800,000 customers are behind on their utility bills. CommonWealth Beacon looks at the toll of energy debt across the state's six investor-owned utilities. One East Boston mother described choosing between groceries and paying the bill, a trade-off that's all too familiar in a state with sky-high energy costs. Rising arrearages are a clear marker of household financial distress. CommonWealth Beacon →

New Bedford fires two officers over Flock camera misuse. Mayor Jon Mitchell terminated Officer Emily Pacheco and Sgt. James Marinelli, who are accused of using license plate readers to track people they had personal relationships with. The City Council voted to ban the system outright, and Councilor Shane Burgo expects a mayoral veto that the council may have the votes to override. Watch this one as a test case for surveillance tech oversight statewide. WBZ / CBS Boston →

Fields Corner Post Office gets a last-minute reprieve. The USPS secured a lease extension that cancels Monday's planned closure of the Adams Street branch in Dorchester. City Councillor John FitzGerald credited Sen. Ed Markey's office and the building's developer for helping salvage the deal. WBUR →

Somerville Theatre's own staff buy the place. CSB Theatres, formed by manager Ian Judge and former employees, closed a $12 million purchase of the 112-year-old Davis Square landmark, including the Crystal Ballroom upstairs. They've launched a GoFundMe to pay down debt and plan a nonprofit next year to support programming. Boston Globe →

Hopkinton assisted living facility barred from new admissions. State elder affairs officials ordered Golden Pond to stop accepting residents amid an investigation into the Sept. 30 death of 86-year-old Sheila Szczypinski, who had just moved in. Police noted the building's air conditioning had been switched to heat the day before. The state cited continued deficiencies. Boston 25 →

Worth Your Attention

• Monday, Oct. 26: The Fields Corner Post Office was set to close, but won't. Same-old lines, same-old hours. WBUR →
• Dec. 11: Pretrial hearing in the Oak Bluffs rape case against Edward Brown. MV Times →
• Before Election Day: Get up to speed on all nine ballot questions with WBUR's rundown. Universal Hub →

Track all bills →

Yesterday's Biggest Contributions

Big Spending This Week

Data from the MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance

Full hearing schedule →

One More Thing

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A rape allegation at a State Police barracks is now a crisis of oversight, for two agencies at once.

Two Massachusetts State Police troopers, Ryan Costello and Robert Branca, were suspended with pay Thursday in connection with an alleged August rape at the agency's temporary housing in Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard. Prosecutors say Edward J. Brown, a 27-year-old Boston Public Schools emergency management official, was staying with a trooper friend when he met a woman at a local bar, brought her back to the barracks, and assaulted her. Brown has pleaded not guilty. State Police have not said what role the suspended troopers played, and the Cape and Islands DA's office declined to elaborate. Colonel Geoffrey Noble has banned overnight guests at seasonal trooper housing on both the Vineyard and Nantucket and ordered written approval and escorts for any visitors in nonpublic areas.

The story reaches well past the barracks. According to the Globe's timeline, court records show two of Brown's ex-girlfriends had obtained restraining orders against him in the months before his arrest, including one that runs through August 2027, yet he held a job planning safety drills in a school system of roughly 45,000 students. School officials say they're reviewing what happened. So there are two questions: how did a man with active restraining orders keep that position, and how did a barracks with living quarters end up with such loose visitor controls?

Watch for what the internal affairs review concludes about compliance with existing visitor rules. If troopers broke their own policies, expect pressure for outside oversight. Brown is due back in court in early December.

Full story at Boston Globe →

State Police unveil academy overhaul, days before the next class starts. More than two years after recruit Enrique Delgado-Garcia died from injuries in a boxing exercise, the agency is dropping the "drill instructor" title, adding concussion awareness training and on-site medical experts, and building in rest and recovery periods. Former Middlesex prosecutor Andrea Nardone becomes the academy's first civilian director of training. The changes follow an outside review that produced 103 recommendations; 22 priority items are done so far. Boston Globe → | Boston 25 →

Boston City Council subpoenas MBTA chief Phil Eng over Blue Hill Avenue. Eng, who is also the state's interim transportation secretary, skipped an Oct. 14 hearing on the civil rights implications of the $163 million plan for center-running bus lanes in Mattapan and Dorchester. The council voted 8-3 to compel him to appear Nov. 6. The T says it told the council in advance he was unavailable; Councilor Miniard Culpepper says that's not what he heard. WBUR → | Boston.com →

Sharon voters tell the School Committee they've lost confidence. At a packed Special Town Meeting, residents voted 520-327 to express no confidence in five of seven School Committee members. The trigger was July's 5-2 decision to appoint assistant superintendent Joel Jocelyn as the next superintendent with no formal search, on the same night the current superintendent announced he wouldn't seek an extension. The vote is symbolic, but it's a loud signal heading into the next election cycle. Boston Globe →

800,000 Massachusetts utility customers are behind on their bills. CommonWealth Beacon looks at energy arrears across the state's six investor-owned utilities, a stubborn sign of household financial distress in a state with high costs and rising rates. The piece follows an East Boston mother who spent eight years dodging shutoff notices before qualifying for a discount rate and a payment forgiveness plan. CommonWealth Beacon →

Former MBTA inspector pleads guilty in the Cabot Yard case. Andy Vicente, 37, of Bridgewater, admitted to conspiracy to falsify Red Line track inspection records and to commit wire fraud. He is one of five former Cabot Yard workers arrested in May 2025; prosecutors say the facility was used as an auto repair shop on the clock. Sentencing is Jan. 13, and prosecutors will seek a term at the low end of the guidelines. Boston Globe →

New Bedford fires two officers over Flock camera misuse, and the council wants the cameras gone. Sgt. James Marinelli allegedly ran "personal searches" on the license plate readers; Officer Emily Pacheco admitted searching her ex-girlfriend's plate. Mayor Jon Mitchell called it "a breach of public trust." The council voted 8-3 to ban the system entirely, and the measure now awaits his action. Boston.com →

• Saturday, Oct. 24: Deadline to register to vote, online or in person. Early in-person voting runs through Oct. 30, with times and locations set by your town. GBH News →
• Tuesday, Oct. 27, 5 p.m.: Deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot. GBH News →
• Friday, Nov. 6: Phil Eng is ordered to appear before the Boston City Council on the Blue Hill Avenue plan and the proposed Orange Line extension. Boston.com →

Still sorting out the ballot? Question 9 is the one that trips people up: it's a referendum, so "Yes" keeps the 2024 gun law on the books and "No" repeals it. GBH News explains →

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Beacon Hill says no to the gas tax holiday, and the governor's race just got a talking point

The Massachusetts House on Wednesday voted down a two-month suspension of the 24-cent-per-gallon gas tax, 30-121, even though polls say voters like the idea and both candidates for governor have endorsed some version of it. Gov. Maura Healey floated a holiday in late September as gas climbed to roughly $4.25 a gallon, more than $1.25 above last year, amid the war in Iran. Her Republican challenger, Mike Minogue, had proposed his own plan days earlier, and his campaign site now features a running tally of "days since Maura Healey promised a gas tax suspension."

House Democrats were blunt about why they balked: They doubt drivers would actually see the savings at the pump, while the state would lose revenue that's earmarked for roads, bridges, and transit. Republican Rep. Todd Smola of Warren, who filed the amendment, cited a UMass poll showing 69 percent of voters support a temporary suspension and said, essentially, take the hint. The spending bill itself, roughly $2.4 billion, cleared the House 152-0, which tells you the gas tax was the one fight leadership was willing to have.

The political fallout is the real story. Minogue called the rejection proof that Healey's proposal was "a political stunt." Healey now has to explain why her own party's House wouldn't move on her idea two weeks before Election Day, and whether she'll push the Senate to revive it. Expect that question at every campaign stop between now and Nov. 3.

Full story at CommonWealth Beacon →

Boston City Council subpoenas the T's boss over Blue Hill Avenue. In a rarely used move, the council voted to compel MBTA General Manager Phil Eng to testify about the $164 million Blue Hill Avenue redesign. Councilor Miniard Culpepper, a Dorchester Democrat, says officials dodged opponents' questions at four September hearings and that Eng skipped his Oct. 14 field hearing. Culpepper and Councilor Brian Worrell want an Orange Line extension studied instead. Eng says the redesign doesn't rule that out. Boston Globe →

Lawrence recall effort is officially underway. The city clerk certified 170 signatures, well above the 100 needed, to start a recall of Mayor Brian DePeña, who faces state and federal charges including wiretapping, witness intimidation, and alleged misuse of federal loan money. Organizers will have 30 days to gather more than 7,000 signatures. The City Council voted no confidence Tuesday, though that vote carries no legal power, and DePeña says he's staying put. WBUR →

Question 3's backers and critics are going at it. Three CommonWealth Beacon op-eds make the case on all-party primaries. Supporters say the top-two format would move the decisive vote into higher-turnout November elections. Opponents point to California and Washington, where vote-splitting has produced odd outcomes, and note the "yes" side has raised $7.7 million, largely from wealthy donors, versus under $200,000 for "no." CommonWealth Beacon →

Lawmakers aren't rushing on child sexual abuse reform. A House-passed amendment would end the statute of limitations on civil child sexual abuse cases, lift the $20,000 charitable immunity cap, and open a two-year window to revive expired claims. A poll found 84 percent of residents support eliminating the time limit. Yet leadership is staying quiet, and the amendment's author, Rep. John Lawn of Watertown, was left off the conference committee. CommonWealth Beacon →

Washington taps heating oil reserves. The Energy Department will loan out up to 315,000 barrels from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, with deliveries done by Nov. 13. Heating oil is averaging $6.14 a gallon nationally, up 50 percent since the Iran war began, and analysts doubt this will bring meaningful relief to New England homes. Boston Globe →

Lindsay Clancy's lawyers lose a round. Judge William Sullivan denied the defense's request for an evidentiary hearing to question the lone holdout juror who forced last month's mistrial. He has not yet ruled on the motion to dismiss the murder charges on double-jeopardy grounds. Boston Globe →

• Nov. 3: Election Day. Early in-person voting is already underway, and GBH has explainers on Question 7 (a 5,000-square-foot statewide minimum lot standard for single-family homes) and Question 8 (repealing recreational marijuana sales). GBH on Question 7 → | GBH on Question 8 →
• Nov. 24: Next court date for streamer Braden "Clavicular" Peters, who pleaded not guilty Thursday in Orleans District Court to rape and related charges involving a 17-year-old. Boston Globe →
• Late October: Boston police are boosting patrols near campuses as Halloween nears, and Commissioner Michael Cox is urging students to watch their drinks. Boston Globe →

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The governor's race is a blowout, and Mike Minogue's closing stretch isn't helping.

Two polls this week tell the same story. A Globe/Suffolk survey has Gov. Maura Healey up 22 points, and a UMass Amherst/WCVB poll puts her lead at 25. Minogue sits at just 32 percent with almost no undecided voters left to win over, and that's after a $6.1 million ad blitz last month that barely moved the needle.

The past week hasn't been kind to him. His running mate, Shawn Oliver, was charged with OUI after allegedly driving into five parked cars in New Bedford and has suspended his campaign. But as Minogue surely knows, Oliver's name stays on the November ballot, and "suspended" doesn't make it disappear. Minogue has insisted Oliver will never serve as lieutenant governor, noting the state has gone without one before.

The odder wrinkle comes from GBH: the super PAC backing Minogue is spending on a video ad and mailers attacking Andrea James, the independent running to Healey's left and polling in the single digits. With the Republican trailing by more than 20, you'd expect fire aimed at the incumbent. Instead, his allies are punching at the long shot. What happens next is mostly a question of margin and turnout, and of what a lopsided top of the ticket means for down-ballot races and ballot questions.

You can judge Minogue yourself tonight: he sits down for a live interview with Boston 25's Kerry Kavanaugh at 6:30 p.m., a night after Healey did the same.

Full story at Boston Globe →  |  GBH News on the super PAC →

House strips the gas tax holiday from Healey's spending bill. The House is voting today on a $2.35 billion supplemental budget, a rewrite of the governor's catch-all closeout bill. Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz said leaders weren't comfortable diverting $120 million from transportation needs for a two-month gas tax suspension. Healey's resale ticket price cap and her proposed health care stabilization fund also didn't make the cut. Healey told Boston 25 she'll keep pushing the Legislature on the gas tax. WBUR →  |  Boston 25 →

Question 5 would make state tax refunds more likely. Under a 40-year-old law, taxpayers get refunds when revenue grows faster than wages, which has happened exactly twice. Question 5 would reset the baseline every year, likely meaning more refunds (Tufts researchers estimate $200 to $250 a year on average) and a tighter state budget. Spending has risen 3 to 6 percent lately, driven largely by health care. GBH News →

Question 6 would create a "Nature for All" fund. It's not a new tax. It would redirect a share of existing sales tax on recreation gear and golf spending into a conservation trust, likely $65 million to $100 million a year on top of the roughly $400 million the state already spends. GBH News →

Lawrence councilors vote no confidence in Mayor Brian DePeña. The 5-1 vote, with three councilors voting "present," came after a three-week buildup. DePeña, 61, faces 26 state and federal charges and says he's staying put. The council can't force him out, but the vote gives it leverage. Boston Globe →

Free community college is propping up state university enrollment. Public higher ed enrollment is up 2.2 percent, and state universities posted their first increase since 2013. Transfers to state universities jumped 16.6 percent, with community colleges the biggest source. Officials caution that degree completion remains a struggle. CommonWealth Beacon →

The state paid for an energy study and never released it. MassCEC paid EPRI $379,000 for a white paper, delivered in 2023, that reportedly pegged needed grid upgrades at $27 billion to $46 billion through 2050. Three years later, it's still not public, in an election season defined by energy costs. CommonWealth Beacon →

• Today: House lawmakers vote on the $2.35 billion supplemental budget. WBUR →
• Tonight, 6:30 p.m.: Minogue's live one-on-one with Boston 25, streaming at Boston25News.com. Boston 25 →
• Ongoing: Early voting continues across the state; Election Day is Nov. 3. Local clerks say they're ready and want voters to show up. GBH News →

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