Advertisement

Morning Rundown: Lawmakers talk election reform, substance abuse; Porter Square Books' 2nd shop opens

Autumn WBUR mug. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Autumn WBUR mug. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. Each weekday, you'll get in your inbox the top five local and national news stories of the day, recommended reads and a story to make you smile. All you need to do is sign up here


I hope you defeat this Monday like Tom Brady has now defeated every NFL team. Here's what we're talking about this morning:

- Attention Boston city workers and volunteers: Today is the second deadline in the rollout of the vaccine mandate. That means starting today, all employees providing public facing services – like public safety, parks and inspectional services – must be fully vaccinated or submit weekly COVID testing. The mandate also extends to contractors and volunteers in schools, libraries and youth centers.

- What's happening on Beacon Hill this week? Lawmakers are expected to take action on election reform. The proposed legislation would allow same day registration, make expanded mail-in voting and early voting permanent changes, and create new support for voters with disabilities. We're keeping an eye on this and will let you know when they vote. Also being discussed this week: Whether residents battling addiction have equal access to substance use treatment. There's a virtual hearing today that will look into multiple plans, one that would OK a study that looks at disparities in treatment among communities of color; another that would expand treatment options for health care professionals battling addiction.

-  It's Nobel Prize season, and today marks the first day of announcements for this year's winners. The prize for Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian “for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.” And because almost everything has a Massachusetts connection, Julius is an MIT alumnus who graduated in 1977. The rest of the winners will be announced each day from now through Friday this week, and again on Oct. 11

- It was an exciting weekend in New England sports. Last night was the highly anticipated return of former Patriots quarterback Brady to Gillette Stadium. He rallied the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 19-17 victory over the Patriots, which would normally feel like a tough loss for Patriots fans, but seeing Brady continue to excel kind of still feels like a win, too. Sunday was also the final day of the regular season in Major League Baseball. The Red Sox were vying for a wild card spot against the Washington Nationals – and they won it. Now, the Sox will play their rivals, the New York Yankees, in the American League wild card game on Tuesday at 8:08 p.m. It'll be a late game, so you might want to start brainstorming excuses now for when you're late to work on Wednesday.

- Fall fishing season is here. Massachusetts is dropping thousands of trout – rainbow and brown – into rivers, lakes and ponds across the state this week. If the drop feels a little later in the season than usual, that's because it is. Trout stocking requires cold water, and the lack of cool nights this fall after a hot summer delayed the process a bit.

P.S.– My hope for this week is to explore Porter Square Books' new second location, opening in the Seaport today. This new shop on Fan Pier will host monthly book club meetings and provide space for groups to host their own book club events. I'm not in a book club, but I am on a mission to read 21 books this year. What are you reading lately? Any recommendations? Help a fellow bookworm out.

The Rundown

1. Ex-Facebook manager alleges the social network fed the Capitol riot

The whistleblower, Frances Haugen, asserted in an interview with 60 Minutes that Facebook repeatedly made decisions that benefited the company's own interests at the expense of protecting the public. Read more.

2. Photos: Over 1,000 attend Boston abortion rights rally, joining protests across U.S.

The protesters decried Texas' new law, which bans abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. They also turned their eyes on the Supreme Court. The court, which has a conservative majority, has agreed to take up a Mississippi case that limits abortion after 15 weeks. Read more.

3. From COVID tests and contact tracing to angry parents, school nurses say it's hard to keep up

Two school nurses in Massachusetts say they're seeing more students test positive for COVID than they did last school year. That's the case in many districts. The state says there's also more testing going on than last school year. Read more.

4. The Supreme Court's conservatives cook up a stew of abortion, guns, religion and more

For the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, today marks the first time nearly all of them will gather together in the courtroom since the lockdown a year and a half ago. Read more.

5. How a small government agency will enforce the vaccine mandate for 80 million workers

Employee complaints are an important part of enforcement given how few inspectors the government has, says Rich Fairfax, a safety consultant with the National Safety Council who spent 36 years at OSHA, including as head of enforcement. Read more.


A daily newsletter isn't your thing? We have weekly options on a variety of topics. Check out all WBUR newsletters here.

This newsletter includes reporting by the WBUR newscast team.

Headshot of Meagan McGinnes

Meagan McGinnes Assistant Managing Editor, Newsletters
Meagan is the assistant managing editor of newsletters.

More…

Advertisement

More from WBUR

Listen Live
Close