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Boston's Morning Newsletter
The latest on Massachusetts athletes in the Olympics, from a historic medal to a historic debut
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.
We picked up about 2 inches of snow overnight, according to the National Weather Service. So watch out for slick conditions this morning. Several dozen schools in Massachusetts have two-hour delays, particularly on the North Shore. MassDOT is also warning that two lanes of Route 24 in West Bridgewater will be closed for several hours this morning due to a crash involving a fuel spill.
Now, let's start with a sports recap, from Milan to Massachusetts:
At the Olympics: Team USA's curling KOR-ees are taking home silver. Southborough native Korey Dropkin and his Minnesotan teammate Cory Thiesse fell to their Swedish counterparts in the mixed doubles curling gold medal match, which came down to the very last shot. "We just needed to be a little bit sharper than we were today, but we're not going to let that game take away from the week that we had," Theisse said after the game. "It's been a dream," added a visibly emotional Dropkin. Their silver is the first medal Team USA has even won in mixed doubles curling.
- Happy tears: Norwood figure skater Maxim Naumov was all smiles after his emotion-filled debut yesterday in the men's short program. And with good reason; his score of 85.65 was enough to advance to Friday's free skate. Watch the full routine here.
- Up next: Luge! Three Massachusetts natives are competing today in men's and women's double luge. This Olympics is the first to feature women's doubles luge, in which Chelmsford native Chevonne Forgan is set to compete. The live action gets started around 11 a.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock.
- ICYMI: WBUR's Lisa Mullins recently talked to Forgan about her historic Olympic debut and how she stumbled into luge.
- More from Milan: We've got lots of helpful Olympics guides to bookmark as the games heat up. Check out this sport-by-sport schedule, this map of all the Team USA athlete's hometowns, this map of the venues in Italy and — of course — this tracker of what countries have the most medals so far.
Meanwhile at City Hall: Didn't get tickets to the World Cup? Boston will be hosting watch parties closer to home. Officials revealed yesterday that City Hall Plaza will be the site of the big one: what's planned to be a free fan festival during the tournament.
- What will it look like? WBUR's Andrea Perdomo-Hernandez got a peek at the renderings of the fan fest. They featured food vendors, shops and big screens to watch the matches, seven of which will be played at Foxborough's Gillette Stadium in June and July. Details are still being firmed up, but organizers said they aim to have the site open for at least 16 days. Andrea has more details here.
- Following up: Gov. Maura Healey told reporters at the festival unveiling she's "confident" Foxborough's concerns about local security costs will be "worked out." When asked if the town would get the money they're requesting up front, Healey said, " they'll get their money to execute the leases, no doubt."
- Go deeper: Check out our new World Cup guides on the teams coming to Gillette and how to get to the stadium, which will be updated as more details emerge.
No shot: Moderna says the FDA is refusing to considers its application for a new mRNA-based flu vaccine. As the Associated Press reports, it's a rare move by the FDA — and comes after federal health secretary and outspoken vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. canceled $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccine development.
- Meanwhile: Earlier in the day yesterday, Moderna announced a five-year deal with the Mexican government to produce its mRNA vaccines south of the border and create a supply of the shots in the country. According to the Boston Business Journal, it's part of the Cambridge-based company's geographic expansion strategy as demand (and government support) for its vaccines decline in the U.S.
More turnover: Massachusetts Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler is stepping down. After leading the state's education department for the last three years (sometimes in more ways than one), Tutwiler announced yesterday he is resigning to lead a Needham-based children's mental health nonprofit. His last day is this Friday.
- Filling the position: Stephen Zrike Jr., the superintendent of Salem Public Schools, will take over as education secretary in March, according to Healey's office. (Zrike is well known by Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, who worked alongside him for several years as Salem's mayor.)
- In other education news: After dwelling over the pros and cons for over a year, Massachusetts' Board of Higher Education voted yesterday to let local colleges offer three-year bachelor’s degrees.
P.S.— Tickets go on sale today at 10 a.m. for the Boston Pops' spring season. The lineup of concerts features a star-studded cast of guest performers, including Jon Batiste, Ben Folds, Leslie Odom, Jr., and St. Vincent. There's also special shows, like a concert featuring John Williams' famous Star Wars score (on May 4, of course).
