Mayor Wu's street safety letter is a start — but the fight over who controls Boston's streets is just getting started.

Sixteen days after city planner and bike advocate Louisa Gag was killed by a truck on Tremont Street, Mayor Michelle Wu put her plan in writing Friday: more permanent concrete barriers on bike lanes, truck side-guard enforcement, fixed sidewalks and curb ramps, and two senior staffers — including former streets chief Chris Osgood — brought back to lead the effort. The city will start with the most dangerous gaps near Boston Common and the Public Garden, and Wu says outside advisors will "assess" her Streets Cabinet, a nod to activists who specifically demanded the ouster of current chief of streets Nick Gove.

Here's the thing: this is a real, substantive response, but it's also clearly a negotiated document. The open letter that 4,000 people signed gave Wu until July 31 to answer five specific demands, including bringing back a "build fast and fix later" approach abandoned after community pushback in prior years. Wu's letter commits to more durable barriers and consultation — but stops short of promising the fast-and-loose implementation style advocates want, and it doesn't commit to removing Gove. That gap between what was asked for and what was delivered is where this story goes next. Expect cycling advocates to keep pressing, especially since no one has been charged in the crash that killed Gag, and the investigation into the recycling truck driver remains open.

The bigger subtext: Boston has been here before — big promises after a death, incremental follow-through, then quiet until the next tragedy. Whether this time is different depends on whether Wu's "million details about every single street," as she put it, actually get resolved before the next election cycle, not after it.

Full story at Boston Globe →

Senate says no to Healey's noncompete fix. Governor Maura Healey wanted to close a loophole in the state's 2018 noncompete law that lets employers skip paying "garden leave" to workers bound by these agreements. Both House and Senate leaders left it out of their economic development bills after pushback from major employer groups, meaning the issue is dead for this legislative cycle unless it resurfaces in conference committee. Boston Globe →

The Senate just took a real swing at the housing crisis. Tucked into that same sprawling economic development bill: a provision legalizing two-family homes on any residential lot statewide — essentially ending single-family zoning as we know it. Combined with existing accessory dwelling unit rules, most lots could technically become three-unit properties. Senate Ways and Means chair Michael Rodrigues says the exodus of 25-to-40-year-olds from Massachusetts keeps him up at night; this is the Senate's answer. CommonWealth Beacon →

Southie senator counters Wu with his own tax plan — while fighting for his seat. State Senator Nick Collins got a property tax relief proposal unanimously added to the Senate's economic bill, boosting exemptions for older homeowners and letting cities tap surpluses for rebates. Collins argues Boston's real surplus is closer to $1.7 billion, not the $552 million reported — and he's pushing this as Wu backs a primary challenger against him this fall. WBUR →

Spilka is about to do something no Senate president has done in 30 years. Karen Spilka will lead the Senate into a ninth consecutive year next week — a feat only possible because Senate Democrats scrapped an eight-year term limit rule back in 2023. Asked when she'll step down, Spilka said, "I do believe that I will know when it's time to go, and that's when I'll go." Translation: not yet. CommonWealth Beacon →

A tissue, a road rage spiral, and gunshots at the Hingham library. Steven License, 60, is being held without bail after allegedly firing two shots in the library parking lot Thursday, following an argument that started when his wife tossed a tissue out their car window on Route 53. The other driver told police he "cannot tolerate when people litter" — an oddly Massachusetts sentence if there ever was one. License is due back in court Wednesday for a dangerousness hearing. Boston Globe →

A Norfolk police romance blew up department morale for years. An independent investigation found that a former deputy chief and a former sergeant in the Norfolk Police Department had an "inappropriate personal relationship" that compromised an internal affairs probe and eroded trust department-wide. Both have since left the force. Boston Globe →

Maine Democrats formally nominate their new Senate candidate today after Graham Platner's campaign imploded amid sexual assault allegations. Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation logger and former state senate president, is expected to get the nod to face Senator Susan Collins in a race that could decide Senate control. WCVB →

Steven License's dangerousness hearing is set for Wednesday in the Hingham library shooting case — worth watching given the road rage circumstances and his firearm license status. Boston Globe →

Cambridge City Council punted its ShotSpotter vote — watch for it to resurface at a future council meeting as the debate over the gunshot-detection system continues. WBZ/CBS Boston →

Full budget details →

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:

PACs

• Americans4Hindus-Massachusetts Political Action Committee — N/A, No office — Filed: 7/23/2026
• American Workforce Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee — N/A, No office — Filed: 7/22/2026

OCPF →

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