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Michelle Wu shakes up Boston's zoning board

Mayor Michelle Wu holds a press conference. (Carlin Stiehl for The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Mayor Michelle Wu holds a press conference. (Carlin Stiehl for The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

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Get your questions in for Mayor Michelle Wu ahead of her monthly Radio Boston interview today at 11 a.m. Just tweet at @RadioBoston or join our text club by sending BOSTON to 617-766-0382.

(Also, here's the video we've all been waiting for: up-close footage from NASA's spacecraft DART before it rammed into an asteroid.)

To the news: Speaking of Wu, the Boston mayor is proposing a largely behind-the-scenes change that could have big ripple effects for the city's future. Her office announced plans Monday to replace at least 10 of the 14 members of the city's Zoning Board of Appeals, pushing out holdovers from former mayors Tom Menino and Marty Walsh. Wu's nominees are slated for a vote Wednesday by the City Council; if they're approved, she will have selected a supermajority of its members.

What does the ZBA do? The board decides on permits for smaller construction projects that need some sort of exemption from the city's decades-old zoning code — which is actually quite frequent.

The ZBA has long been criticized for not being transparent enough. And as a city councilor, Wu had some of her most contentious public spats with Walsh over the response to a ZBA bribery case. She told Radio Boston then that the ZBA is part of a housing development process "driven by influence." As mayor, Wu has also pushed to remove the ZBA from marijuana dispensary permitting.

In a statement Monday, Wu said her nominees — a mix of renters, homeowners, immigrants and multigenerational Bostonians — bring needed "diversity, talent and expertise" to the city's efforts to address its affordable housing crisis.

The MBTA says Orange Line riders should be starting to reap more of the rewards of the 30-day Orange Line shutdown, now that it's been over a week since the massive diversion ended. Officials say they have removed most — though not all — of the slow zones that remained in place after the closure ended as newly lain track settled.

Officials said it would take five to seven days to remove those slow zones. And according to MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo, all slow zones south of North Station and north of Assembly Station were removed by Monday. However, due to other "routine maintenance work," some temporary speed restrictions are sticking around between Assembly and North Stations this week. Pesaturo says they should be lifted "in the coming days."

The Patriots will likely be without quarterback Mac Jones for multiple games. ESPN reports that Jones' painful-looking ankle injury during Sunday's loss has been diagnosed as a severe high ankle sprain that would cause many to have surgery. However, both Jones and coach Bill Belichick are being cagey (as usual) about his timetable to return.

There's a candy corn recall in Massachusetts! And it's not just because the seasonal fall candy is — as some would say — trash. Rather, the FDA is recalling Auburn-based Arcade Snacks' brand of candy corn for possibly containing "undeclared egg," making it an allergy risk.

Arcades Snacks shouldn't be confused with more prolific candy corn makers like Brach's or Jelly Belly. Still, the FDA says it was sold at a handful of stores in Massachusetts. So, if you don't want sneaky egg in your candy corn — or just simply made the mistake of buying candy corn — it's a good opportunity to get a refund.

P.S.— Want some fresh WBUR swag? As part of our fall fundraising drive, we're offering a WBUR sweatshirt to anyone who makes a $10 monthly donation this morning before 10 a.m. (You can still get the sweatshirt after that, but the offer goes back to being for $20-a-month donors.) Give now to support our work — and update your fall wardrobe!

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Nik DeCosta-Klipa Newsletter Editor
Nik DeCosta-Klipa is the newsletter editor for WBUR.

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