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The Mass Brief
Sunday, May 31, 2026
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The Lead
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Five Massachusetts Residents Dead in Virginia Crash — And Now the Driver Faces Charges
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The Doncev family from Greenfield was heading south on I-95 with a car full of homemade desserts, on their way to a wedding in South Carolina. Dmitri and Ecaterina, their 13-year-old daughter Emily, and 7-year-old son Mark never made it. Just after 2:30 Friday morning, a charter bus barreling through a work zone near Quantico, Virginia, slammed into their Acura. A fifth Massachusetts resident, Priscilla Mafalda, 25, of Worcester, was killed in a separate vehicle in the same chain-reaction crash. Forty-four others were injured. The bus driver, Jing Sheng Dong, 48, of Staten Island, was arrested Saturday at a Virginia hospital and charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. Stafford County prosecutor Eric Olsen said there was probable cause to establish that Dong caused the crash through criminally negligent driving. Additional charges are pending. Dong will appear in court after his hospital release — and he'll be held without bond until then. The Doncev family wedding did go forward in South Carolina on Sunday, now also a funeral of sorts for people who never arrived. There's no adequate frame for that. What comes next is a criminal case in Virginia — and almost certainly a civil one too — that will raise hard questions about bus driver fatigue, work zone safety, and oversight of motorcoach operations. Massachusetts families will be watching. |
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What Else You Should Know
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Markey wins big in Worcester — but Moulton lives to fight
Senator Ed Markey walked out of the Massachusetts Democratic Party convention in Worcester on Saturday with 73 percent of delegate support, a commanding win against Representative Seth Moulton in what's shaping up to be the marquee race of the state's primary season. Moulton, who cleared the 15 percent threshold needed to stay on the September 1 ballot, spun his 27 percent as a moral victory against "the establishment." Markey, for his part, got his mic cut for going over time — and his wife had to physically carry his speech binder off the stage. Eighty years young, folks. Boston Globe → |
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Wu eyes tax breaks to kickstart stalled housing construction
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is quietly revisiting an idea she shelved in 2023: short-term tax abatements for developers who can break ground within 18 months. The discussions are preliminary, but they signal a notable shift for an administration that has long prioritized affordability mandates over market-rate incentives. Boston's housing construction has slowed significantly even as rents keep climbing — and with a rent control ballot question potentially freezing new development further, Wu may be running out of runway to course-correct. Developers are already saying it might be too little, too late. Boston Globe → |
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The MBTA hid a man's death from regulators
This one is infuriating: the MBTA never notified state or federal regulators after a man died in an escalator incident at Davis Square. According to NBC Boston's reporting, regulators only found out when the news broke publicly. It's a troubling reminder that the T's accountability problems aren't just about delays and derailments — they extend to how the agency handles, and apparently conceals, the most serious outcomes. Universal Hub → |
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Healey gets the nod too — but all eyes were elsewhere
While the Markey-Moulton showdown dominated the conversation in Worcester, Democrats also formally endorsed Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll for second terms at the convention. Healey is aiming to become only the second Democrat reelected governor in Massachusetts in the past 40 years — a stat that should probably get more attention than it does. WWLP Western MA → |
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Cambridge legislative race heats up over Beacon Hill transparency
Incumbent Representative Marjorie Decker and challenger Evan MacKay squared off Thursday in their first-ever debate, centered on a topic that drives reform advocates crazy: the opacity of the Massachusetts state legislature. MacKay, former president of the Harvard Graduate Students Union, leaned on their organizing background and called out "systemic corruption" on Beacon Hill. Decker pointed to her newsletter and social media posts as evidence of accountability. The two nearly split their district in 2024 — this rematch will be one to watch. Cambridge Day → |
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Worth Your Attention
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September 1 primary ballot is now set — With Moulton clearing the delegate threshold at Saturday's convention, the Markey-Moulton Democratic Senate primary is officially on for September 1; mark your calendar now if you want a say in who represents Massachusetts in Washington for the next six years. GBH News → |
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Boston housing policy worth watching — Mayor Wu's preliminary tax abatement conversations with developers are informal for now, but if they harden into policy, expect a public process — and a fight over how much the city is willing to give up in exchange for units. Boston Globe → |
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FY2027 Budget Tracker
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Current stage: Conference committee reconciles
Governor's Budget (H2) — filed House Budget (H5500) | 1744 amendments filed — house_floor Senate Budget (H5501) | 1 amendments filed — conference
📋 [May 28] Rules supended 📋 [May 28] Senate insists on its amendment 📋 [May 28] House NON-concurred in the Senate amendment 📋 [May 28] Committee of conference appointed - (Michlewitz-Diggs-Smola) 📋 [May 28] Committee of conference appointed (Rodrigues-Comerford-O'Connor), in concurrence |
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This Week on Beacon Hill
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Tuesday, June 02, 10:30 AM FY26 Supplemental Appropriations Topic: Fiscal Year 2026 Supplemental Budget -- Conference Committee Meeting Location: Room 243, Boston Wednesday, June 03, 10:00 AM FY27 General Appropriation Topic: Fiscal Year 2027 Budget -- Conference Committee Meeting Location: Room 212 (SWM Conference Room), Boston Wednesday, June 03, 11:00 AM Joint Committee on Public Service (9 bills) Topic: Miscellaneous Public Service Bills Location: B-2 , Boston
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New on the Ballot
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Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance: Candidates
Change of Purposes
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One More Thing
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Yesterday afternoon, a meteor exploded off the South Shore — and for about an hour, people across eastern Massachusetts, from Cambridge to Cape Cod, were genuinely convinced something had blown up nearby. WBZ-TV meteorologist Eric Fisher pieced it together from lightning satellite data showing a concentrated burst of energy off the coast at 2:11 p.m. In a week full of grim news, there's something oddly comforting about the universe reminding us it can still surprise us — even if it did give half of Somerville a minor heart attack. |
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