Good morning. Two teenagers are dead in Abington, Cambridge is about to have an uncomfortable Monday night, and half the state's nursing homes can't staff themselves properly. Grab your coffee — there's a lot here.

The Lead

A second teen has died after the Abington stolen car crash — and Cambridge councilors get a gut-check vote Monday.

The story out of Abington keeps getting worse. On Wednesday, 17-year-old Sebastian Hamilton of Weymouth died when he crashed a stolen Hyundai into a tree on Washington Street while fleeing police. Four other teenagers, ages 14 to 17, were in the car. On Thursday evening, a 16-year-old girl among them died from her injuries too — her name withheld at her family's request. Two teenagers gone, two more hospitalized, and an officer placed on administrative leave while investigators sort out exactly what happened in those final seconds before the crash. This is the kind of story that doesn't have a clean villain, just a stolen car, a police pursuit, and a group of kids who are now scattered between hospital beds and funeral homes. The Plymouth County DA's office is still investigating, and expect more scrutiny of pursuit policy in the weeks ahead.

Meanwhile, in Cambridge, city councilors will vote Monday on whether to reverse their own 5-2 decision from earlier this year to strip ShotSpotter — the gunshot detection technology — from the city's public safety toolkit. The vote comes after the shooting death of Xavier Bautista, and Globe columnist Kevin Cullen doesn't pull punches about what he sees as councilors caving to activist pressure at the expense of public safety infrastructure that gives EMS crews real-time information on where shots were fired. Nobody can prove ShotSpotter would have saved Bautista's life. But his family is left without the certainty that everything possible was done, and that's precisely the kind of unresolvable grief that tends to reshape city council votes. Watch Monday night closely — this is a test of whether "de-tech-ifying" policing policies survive contact with a real tragedy.

Full story at Boston Globe →

What Else You Should Know

Half of Massachusetts nursing homes are understaffed. A joint investigation by the Plymouth Independent and New Bedford Light found that 341 nursing homes statewide are failing to meet minimum staffing requirements set five years ago — and the human cost is real. One Plymouth rehab patient, recovering from a shattered leg, waited over two and a half hours for pain medication because no nurse was available. This is a slow-burn crisis that state regulators have known about for years. Plymouth Independent →

Boston's summer of gun violence isn't over. Mayor Michelle Wu addressed a spate of weekend violence — two men shot Friday night, a broad-daylight stabbing near Park Street station, and a shooting near the Seaport's Scorpion Bar — after five shootings and two deaths rattled the city earlier this month. Wu says crime trends are improving overall, but city councilors Erin Murphy and Ed Flynn are pushing for a citywide public safety review. Two of those men were shot on Hancock Street in Dorchester, where ShotSpotter — yes, that technology again — alerted police to the gunfire. WCVB →

Book bans just got a lot harder in Massachusetts. The Legislature sent Governor Maura Healey a bill requiring school committees to hold public hearings and get a review committee's sign-off before pulling books from library shelves — a direct response to a wave of attempted bans targeting books about race, gender, and LGBTQ+ identity. State Senator Julian Cyr called it a defense of "free expression and intellectual curiosity." CommonWealth Beacon →

Halifax voters just saved their own police and school jobs. At a special town meeting Wednesday night, residents voted to shift reserve funds to restore public safety and education positions that had been on the chopping block for fiscal 2027 — navigating a complicated return of $727,000 in state special-ed funding along the way. A small-town budget fix, but a reminder of how fragile municipal services are on the South Shore right now. South Shore News →

Ballot question fights aren't over just because formal sessions ended. State lawmakers wrapped their traditional session Friday night, but left roughly a dozen bills — including ones aimed at this November's ballot questions on automatic tax refunds and subjecting the Legislature to public records law — in limbo for closed-door negotiations that could stretch into January. Boston Globe →

Money and mudslinging in the 6th District primary. Super PAC spending and accusations of illegal "red boxing" — coordination shortcuts between campaigns and outside groups — are heating up the race to represent the North Shore in Congress. Worth watching as primary season kicks into gear. MassLive →

Worth Your Attention

Monday night: Cambridge City Council reconsiders its 5-2 vote to remove ShotSpotter technology — a vote now shadowed by the death of Xavier Bautista. Boston Globe →

Through Sunday: Day two of the Pan-Mass Challenge continues, with roughly 6,500 riders aiming to raise $79 million for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund. WBZ/CBS Boston →

Ongoing: Legislative leaders continue closed-door negotiations on leftover bills tied to November's ballot questions — no set deadline, but expect movement before Election Day. Boston Globe →

Track all bills →

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

Ballot Question Committees

• Massachusetts Single-Payer Ballot Question Committee — N/A, No office — Filed: 7/29/2026

Change of Purposes

• Anne Brensley — Statewide, Lieutenant Governor → Statewide, Secretary of State — Filed: 7/28/2026

OCPF →

One More Thing

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