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BOSTON'S MORNING NEWSLETTER
What we learned from Gov.-elect Healey and Mayor Wu's first meeting since the election
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
This rain is expected to stick around through this morning and into the afternoon, but hey, it could be worse. We could be in the upper Midwest, where the temperatures are as low as -20 degrees today.
A little rain doesn’t seem so bad now, does it?
To the news:
Gov. Charlie Baker and Marty Walsh had their “bromance.” But what does the partnership between Gov.-elect Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu look like for the next few years? The two Democrats had what was billed as their first formal meeting Tuesday (if you’re not counting last week’s Celtics game with the royal couple). While the short press briefing afterwards didn’t break any major news, it did illustrate some slight shifts in the city-state relationship.
- On "Mass. and Cass": Wu and Baker’s administration have clashed over whether the state was doing enough to help the city address issues around the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard. Healey noted Tuesday that the state is doing “an awful lot,” but said she wants to “take stock” of whether it’s enough through more conversations with Wu.
- On housing: Wu and Baker were also on opposite sides of the rent control debate. And while Healey isn’t a big fan of rent control and has focused more on the need to boost housing production to solve the region’s affordability crisis, she reiterated her position Tuesday that it should be “up to communities to decide.” Wu’s administration is currently studying different forms of rent control. If they can eventually get some type of home rule petition exempting them from the statewide ban through the State House (a big if!), it seems Healey would be willing to sign off on it.
Meanwhile, Healey is still wrapping up her job as attorney general. Yesterday, her office approved a Nantucket bylaw allowing any person — man or woman — to go topless on public or private beaches in the town. Healey’s determination that the bylaw doesn’t violate any state laws allows the town to begin what they’ve said will be a “phased implementation” of the new rules (which will apply only to beaches, not parking lots, concessions or other nearby areas).
- What they’re saying: state Rep. Dylan Fernandes tweeted that Healey’s final signoff is “a win for gender equity (& tan lines🏖️).”
The beginning of a spike — or just a bump? Boston-area wastewater data is showing an uptick in COVID case levels since Thanksgiving, bringing back memories of holiday surges we saw in the last two years. But as WBUR’s Gabrielle Emanuel reports, disease experts aren’t too concerned this time around for two main reasons:
- First, as Harvard’s Bill Hanage told Emanuel, the uptick is “not out of line with the fluctuations we have seen over the last few months.” The region saw a similar uptick during the start of the school year, but rates dropped back down in late October.
- Second, experts are more focused on the number of people in the hospital — particularly the ICU — with COVID. And those numbers haven’t really budged in several months.
- What’s next: Multiple experts told Emanuel they expect the current uptick to level off, but they think it will be followed by another increase around the late December holidays.
- What you can do: Get the new bivalent COVID booster. There’s even a bunch of clinics across Massachusetts offering $75 gift cards as part of the state’s booster push during the holidays.
It’s official: Lowell is lowering the default speed limit on city-owned streets from 30 mph to 25 mph, following an unanimous vote by the City Council last night. WBUR’s Amy Sokolow reports that the city will begin placing new signs — and kick off an education campaign — as early as today, though the new speed limit won’t be enforced until a later date determined by the Council.
- Lowell’s move to calm traffic came on the same day that an advocacy group ranked Massachusetts among worst states in the country for roadway safety. However, that ranking has less to do with speed limits than it does the state’s secondary seatbelt enforcement rules and lack of requirements for in-car breathalyzers for those with drunk driving convictions.
P.S.— WBUR CitySpace’s packed week continues tonight with the kickoff event of a new mini-series on health and longevity. Meghna Chakrabarti will host a deep-dive discussion with journalist Dan Buettner about Blue Zones — locations around the wold with high concentrations of centenarians. In-person attendees will also get to sample food from Buettner’s Blue Zones cuisine recipe book.
