Advertisement
Boston's Morning Newsletter
What to know about the new rule against sleeping overnight at Logan Airport
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.
An expanded heat advisory is in effect across much of Massachusetts today — almost everywhere east of I-495 and south of I-90. Temps are expected to be in the 90s and forecasters say the heat index could make it feel more like 100. (Thanks, humidity!) Watch out for isolated and possibly severe thunderstorms this afternoon.
But first, let’s get to the news:
Sleepover ban begins: Starting tonight, people experiencing homelessness will no longer be allowed to sleep overnight at Logan Airport. The new policy — announced last month by Gov. Maura Healey — comes after dozens began sleeping at the airport this year, amid an influx of immigrants to Massachusetts.
- Catch up: Logan, which is open all night, has long provided cots to stranded travelers. However, the airport — primarily Terminal E — became a de facto shelter for an increasing number of migrant families this past winter, following the state’s decision to put a cap on the state’s over-stretched emergency shelter system. (The system previously guaranteed shelter to all eligible families.)
- The latest: Ahead of the new policy, teams have been working to move families from Logan to a new overflow shelter in Norfolk or someplace “where they have family or friends.” Healey’s office says the number of people at Logan overnight Sunday into Monday was down to 56 (from 288 people on June 25).
- FYI: The overnight sleeping ban applies only to the homeless families staying at Terminal E, according to Healey’s office. “Passengers dealing with delayed flights, cancellations, etc. will continue to be accommodated,” Massport spokesperson Jennifer Mehigan told WBUR in an email. Mehigan said airport staff will continue to work with state troopers “to help identify and communicate with migrants as they arrive at Logan.”
- Now what? Immigrant advocates still have concerns. While the Norfolk site will be able to take up to 140 families, overflow site beds haven’t always immediately been available and stays there are limited to a month. “Logan has been a place of last resort for families,” Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless associate director Kelly Turley told WBUR’s Walter Wuthmann.
Advertisement
Read all about it: Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the Karen Read case, has been suspended without pay. State Police announced the decision following a closed-door disciplinary hearing yesterday. The suspension comes after Proctor’s crude and demeaning texts about Read were read into record during her trial, which ended in a hung jury.
- Separate from his suspension, Proctor has been transferred from the detective unit for the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office to field service for Troop H, state police said.
- In related news: Read’s lawyers said yesterday the deadlocked jury was actually in unanimous agreement that she was not guilty of murder. (They were reportedly stuck on the charge of manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol.) The claim was revealed as part of a motion asking the judge to drop two of the three charges against Read going into a retrial.
Backing Biden: In her first comments on the topic since President Biden’s debate performance, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is backing her fellow Democrat and former primary opponent to stay in the race. Warren told The Boston Globe Biden “is our nominee” and “an excellent president.” She also cited Biden’s accomplishments on student loans and insulin prices, and criticized Donald Trump.
- The view of Massachusetts’ other senator? A little less definitive. Sen. Ed Markey’s office told the Globe that whether Biden should stay in the race is “a decision for President Biden and his family.”
- Zoom out: Here’s NPR’s latest on the divide that has emerged among congressional Democrats on Biden’s candidacy.
Heads up, Red Line riders: Shuttle buses are replacing all train service between Broadway and Harvard this morning, after a maintenance vehicle derailed overnight near Park Street. While they try to fix the issue, MBTA officials say South Shore riders may want to consider the commuter rail this morning.
P.S.— Did you know the first written recorded tornado in (what would become) the U.S. happened in Cambridge? According to the National Weather Service, the tornado — which struck 344 years ago yesterday — also resulted in the states’ first confirmed tornado death.
