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Boston's Morning Newsletter
Somerville became the first Mass. city to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Cambridge could soon be next
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We have another snowy start to the week today. And — let me know if this sounds familiar — the amount you’re waking up to varies widely based on where you live. Parts of north-central Massachusetts have gotten over a half-foot of snow (talking about you, Ashburnham), while Boston and along the coast have less than an inch.
According to the National Weather Service, some areas will get another inch or two before the snow tapers off today. Click here for WBUR meteorologist Danielle Noyes’ full report on the forecast.
Now, to the news:
A growing chorus in Camberville: Cambridge city councilors are scheduled to consider a resolution tonight calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, just a few days after neighboring Somerville became the first city in Massachusetts to pass such a measure. And after a more strongly worded resolution in Cambridge failed in November, the Harvard Crimson reports the updated proposal is expected to pass.
- The backdrop: Cambridge’s City Council has repeatedly seen meetings disrupted by Pro-Palestinian activists calling for a ceasefire resolution, as the death toll in Gaza surpasses 25,000.
- Why it matters: Somerville’s City Council faced some criticism for spending time on a resolution on a foreign policy issue they have no control over. But according to resolution sponsor and Somerville City Council President Ben Ewen-Campen, it’s important for the body to advocate to Congress and President Joe Biden on issues that “deeply” matter to the community. “A ceasefire is the first step that is necessary to stop the death, for the humanitarian aid to begin to flow in, for the hostages to be freed, for the international community to come together and to work towards a lasting peace,” Ewen-Campen, who is Jewish, said before the Somerville City Council’s 9-2 vote Thursday night.
Schools out, again: Classes are canceled for a seventh straight day for public school students in Newton, after the teachers union and school committee failed to reach an agreement this weekend to end the ongoing strike. According to The Boston Globe, Newton’s strike is the state’s longest educator work stoppage since the 1990s. And the impasse has left both sides pointing fingers.
- Today will be a little less costly for the union, after a judge reduced their daily fines for the illegal strike (which had been doubling each day) to $50,000. WBUR’s Max Larkin has more here on what occurred during Friday’s court hearing.
- What happens to all these canceled school days? Newton will likely have to make them up at the end of the year, as the Globe recently reported. However, since schools can’t hold classes after June 30, Newton only has three more days of wiggle room — not including potential snow days — before they have to start considering options like holding makeup days on the weekend or during February or April break to reach the required 180 days.
Back on track: The entire Green Line (and in fact, the entire MBTA subway system) is fully open this week, after crews finished the second of two lengthy downtown closures over the weekend. All in all, the MBTA says the track work they completed in the Green Line’s tunnels and on the E and B branches removed 15 speed restrictions — which were bogging down rides by a total of nearly nine minutes.
- Fingers crossed, we should have a closure-free week on the MBTA. Enjoy it while it lasts, because there’s a partial Red Line closure around the corner. (We’ll have more on that soon.)
Heads up: Tickets for James Taylor’s two Tanglewood concerts this summer (July 3 and July 4) go on sale today at 10 a.m. on the BSO website. BSO officials say the 2024 concerts will mark 50 years since Taylor first performed at Tanglewood in 1974. And since one of the concerts is on the Fourth of July, there’ll be fireworks, too.
P.S.— Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is joining us live, in studio on Radio Boston today at 11 a.m.. Have questions for her? Send them in via the Radio Boston text club.
