A slow-moving nor'easter is hammering the coast, and the South Shore is taking it hardest.

This storm has been parked over New England since Friday, and it is not in a hurry to leave. As of Sunday morning, roughly 13,000 Massachusetts customers remained without power, down from a peak of over 15,000, with outages concentrated in Cohasset, Marshfield, Hanover, Duxbury, Quincy, Rockland, Norwell, East Bridgewater, Halifax, Pembroke, Plymouth, Kingston, and Brockton. Wind gusts hit 60 mph in Hull and 58 mph in Plymouth. A utility pole came down on Milton Street in Quincy, crushing a parked car. In Humarock, pounding waves are threatening a seawall and an adjacent home, while a neighboring house lost part of its roof to the wind.

The bigger concern now is water, not wind. A coastal flood warning runs through 8 p.m. Sunday across eastern Plymouth and Norfolk counties, and astronomically high tides — combined with a relentless northeast wind — mean Sunday's midday high tide and Monday's overnight high tide both carry real flooding risk. StormTeam 5's Sean Kelly says the worst of the wind has passed, but rain lingers into Monday as "impact weather" before things finally clear Tuesday afternoon. If you're on the water in Scituate, Hull, Marshfield, or anywhere along Duxbury and Humarock, this is not a "check the tide chart once" storm — check it again before you leave the house Monday morning.

Full story at WATD →

Two fatal shootings, one violent Saturday. A man was shot and killed just after 1 p.m. Saturday at a building along the Fairmount commuter rail tracks in Hyde Park — the site is reportedly a marijuana grow facility, and police are looking for two men seen running along the tracks. Separately, a man and two Lakeville police officers were hospitalized after an "officer-involved shooting" Saturday afternoon; police won't say whether officers fired on the man, who they'd been told was armed and possibly in crisis. Two very different, very serious incidents — both under investigation. Boston Globe → | Boston Globe →

Medfield's police chief is out — for now. Chief Michelle Guerette was placed on paid administrative leave Wednesday while an outside investigator looks into alleged policy violations town officials won't detail. Guerette, hired in 2019, was previously at the center of a 2022 investigation into officers sleeping on the job. The department says operations continue as normal under existing command. Boston.com →

Both governor's race candidates want to suspend the gas tax. That's a mistake, argues one columnist. With affordability dominating the campaign, Republican nominee Mike Minogue has proposed suspending the gas tax whenever fuel tops $4 a gallon (with an eye toward killing it entirely), and Governor Maura Healey has countered with a two-month suspension of her own. A CommonWealth Beacon opinion piece calls it an election-year stunt that would blow a $120 million-plus hole in road and bridge funding for a few cents a gallon in savings. Worth watching whether either proposal survives contact with the Legislature. CommonWealth Beacon →

Plymouth County's pension bill just got a lot bigger, with almost no warning. The Plymouth County Retirement Board quietly reset its funding assumptions, and towns like Norwell and Duxbury are learning their annual pension assessments are jumping 9.75% a year, with full funding now pushed back to 2032. Norwell reportedly found out via a town-manager listserv, not from the county itself. This lands right as towns are already gutting services — Marshfield's failed override has already cost the school district 75 positions — making this a story to watch closely all fall. South Shore News →

East Bridgewater's data center ban wasn't tough enough, so the town is starting over. The Planning Board opened a hearing on its own proposed ban, then unanimously shelved it after residents argued it was riddled with loopholes and might not survive Attorney General review anyway. The board is now asking the Select Board for a 12-month moratorium instead, buying time to write something sturdier. South Shore News →

Duxbury tells shorefront owners: no permanent structures in the seawall easement, sorry. The Select Board adopted a policy requiring decking, fences, and other temporary items to be cleared from the seawall easement outside a seasonal window, over objections from owners who called the rules costly and arbitrary. The board's response, essentially: without the license at all, nothing would be allowed there, ever. South Shore News →

• Ballot Question 3 would scrap party primaries for state elections in favor of a single all-party primary — WBZ's Jon Keller hosted an extended debate between supporters and opponents this weekend as the fall campaign heats up. WBZ / CBS Boston →
• Beacon Hill's biggest bills remain stuck. Legislative leaders are split on how urgently to move major outstanding legislation, with some deals possibly landing before Election Day and others not until the session ends in January — worth tracking as the fall session grinds on. MassLive →
• The storm isn't over. Rain lingers as "impact weather" through Monday before clearing Tuesday afternoon — if you're in a flood-prone area, keep an eye on Monday's overnight high tide. WCVB →

Track all bills →

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

• Marcus Coward (Democratic) — City Councilor, New Bedford — Filed: 9/21/2026

PACs

• Recall Mayor Brian Depena Political Action Committee — N/A, N/A — Filed: 9/24/2026

Ballot Question Committees

• Coalition for Responsible Cannabis Policy — N/A, No office — Filed: 9/23/2026

OCPF →

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