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Boston's Morning Newsletter
What to know about the new 31-mile urban hiking trail across Boston
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.
The Celtics are back in action for Game 2 of their playoff series tonight against the Orlando Magic, but they may be without Jayson Tatum after he hurt his wrist in a hard fall Sunday. The team says his status is day-to-day.
But first, the news:
City on a hill(s): Local urban explorers got an Earth Day gift yesterday: the City on the Hills Trail, a 31-mile urban hiking trail from West Roxbury to Castle Island. A sequel to the 25-mile Walking City Trail created by local writer and hiker Miles Howard, it's part of a grassroots effort to create a network of trails through the Boston area's parks and green spaces. "My hope for this new trail in Boston is that it really changes the way that people perceive the supposed distance between areas like West Roxbury and Brookline and Dorchester, Roxbury and South Boston," Howard told WBUR's John Bender. (Scroll below for the interactive map)
- What's different: Compared to the Walking City Trail, the new City on the Hills Trail take more of an east-west approach across Boston. And true to its name, it has more vertical elevation. Howard says he and other volunteers explored and mapped the safest, most scenic route between the two points.
- Break it down: Howard says the trail is designed to be easily divided into five six-to-seven-mile segments, which can be further divided into two parts. Section 1 begins on the banks of the Charles River in West Roxbury and takes you on a boardwalk in "hidden wetlands"; Section 2 tours Brookline's hills and views; Section 3 takes you up Mission Hill; Section 4 goes through overlooked paths in Roxbury and Dorchester, and past some historic buildings; and Section 5 features the harborwalk and beaches of South Boston and Castle Island.
- Pro-tip: This is all point-to-point hiking. But it's designed to be accessible via public transit, with each start and endpoint near an MBTA bus or subway stop. Head to the City on the Hills Trail webpage for more details and resources.
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Pitching a change-up for DESE: Get your baseball jokes in now. Massachusetts' board of education voted yesterday to nominate outgoing Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez to be the state's next Department of Elementary and Secondary Education commissioner. Martinez will be the first Latino to hold the role, which oversees the state's K-12 schools. Board leaders praised his "successful track record of closing student achievement gaps, creating innovative educational pathways and paying particular attention to children with special needs and English language learners."
- The pick isn't a home run (sorry) with everyone. Two of the 11 board members abstained from the vote, after saying they preferred another of the three finalists: Lily Laux, a Massachusetts native and former deputy commissioner of school programs for Texas. Meanwhile, Jessica Tang, the head of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, said the union "would have preferred a candidate with more statewide experience" and expressed concerns about the search process. (Martinez was fired last December amid tensions with Chicago's mayor and teachers union.)
The New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill says it's one of the local cultural institutions hit by the Trump administration's funding cuts. Officials at the Boylston nonprofit said yesterday the administration canceled a $250,000 grant they got through the Institute of Museum and Library Services — without giving a reason.
- Grace Elton, the group's CEO, says the money was meant to help catalog its scientifically significant plant collections and share that information with other institutions. "Without this grant, that work may not happen, or it may happen a lot slower than we were hoping," Elton said.
Baseball to boxing: For the first time since 1956, boxing is returning to Fenway Park. The ballpark plans to host a one-night, 11-fight boxing card on June 7. The ring won't be staged on the field but in the concourse below right field, meaning attendance will be limited to about 3,000 tickets. (Red Sox officials told WBUR's Lisa Mullins there will be a couple hundred ringside seats and the rest will be standing room.)
P.S.— Kara Swisher. Jamelle Bouie. Michael Barbaro. Ira Glass. Some of today's most well-known names in media will be on stage at next month's WBUR Festival, alongside your favorite WBUR reporters. See the full lineup and buy your tickets here.
