We finally have a cost estimate for Boston's White Stadium rebuild: $325 million. As WBUR's Eve Zuckoff reports in this exclusive, Mayor Michelle Wu says the city is on the hook for $135 million of that bill, while the Boston Legacy (the women's professional soccer team that will call the stadium home starting next year) will pick up the rest. The city's share is tens of millions more than the original estimates , an increase Wu told Eve is due to tariffs, rising steel prices and inflation. (However, it's less than some of the worst-case-scenario numbers that were floated last year.) Eve's scoop has more details here. Now, to the rest of the news: Municipal movement: Meanwhile, Wu is leading a regional effort to further limit where federal immigration agents can make warrantless arrests. As Eve also reports here (yes, it was a busy day yesterday), Wu signed an executive order banning federal agents from carrying out civil immigration enforcement operations on city property — including buildings, parks and parking lots. It's a relatively narrow restriction; the Constitution limits what city and state officials can do about federal immigration enforcement. But it's part of a growing trend (see: Worcester, Gov. Maura Healey) in the wake of the federal government's aggressive and deadly crackdown in Minnesota. "We will not allow the birthplace of American democracy to be knocked off our path by those who have turned their backs against our founding principals," Wu said. And it's not just Boston. Wu was flanked by leaders in several nearby cities who pledged similar action: - Cambridge: City Manager Yi-An Huang said Cambridge will enact an order "very similar" to Boston's. "We will stand together in this moment," he said.
- Chelsea: "We will not allow our city to be used as a base for armed enforcement actions," Chelsea City Manager Fidel Maltez said.
- Lynn: Mayor Jared Nicholson also announced an order "banning civil immigration enforcement operations on city property." Nicholson noted that Lynn has already seen its police headquarters parking lot, high school sports stadium, and public cemetery used for ICE operations.
- Newton: Mayor Marc Laredo also said he plans to sign a similar executive order. "This is a time, frankly, of crisis," Laredo said.
- Somerville: Mayor Jake Wilson is set to sign a similar executive order this morning. "It’s clearly up to Congress, states, and local officials to pursue all lawful means to ensure that Minneapolis does not become a nightmarish harbinger for the nation as a whole," Wilson, who was born in the Minneapolis area, said in a statement.
Meanwhile on Beacon Hill: Top Democrats in the Massachusetts House of Representatives indicated yesterday that they want to go in a slightly different direction on the subject of limiting where ICE can make arrests, compared to what Healey proposed last week. As WBUR's Chris Van Buskirk reports, House leaders are looking to instead build off an earlier bill proposed by the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus. "They've been working on this well before any shooting in Minnesota, and so I think that they were looking at a long-term approach of how we can handle this," said state Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, the House's ways and means chair. Waymo is back: The self-driving taxi company announced yesterday that it's returning to Boston to do additional testing (with drivers behind the wheel) in more snowy conditions. It comes after the California-based company's maiden voyage to the area last spring, in the hopes of launching actual self-driving taxis here in the future. - But first: Waymo still needs to convince local lawmakers to change state law to allow autonomous vehicles on public roads. And that faces stiff opposition from unions representing app-based drivers and truck drivers.
Scorpion bowls by the beach: The Kowloon is planning to open a second location on Revere Beach this spring, a spokesperson for the iconic Saugus restaurant confirmed yesterday. It'll be called "Kowloon Tiki on the Beach." More details, including an official opening date, will be announced soon, the spokesperson said. Heads up: The South Station commuter rail fare gates are working again. The MBTA and its commuter rail operator Keolis announced yesterday that the gates will be up and running for this morning's commute, after they were knocked out of service for several days by last week's "wind-driven snow." P.S. — Patriots coach Mike Vrabel will be the first person to do what if his team beats the Seahawks in the Super Bowl this weekend? Take our Boston News Quiz and test your knowledge of the stories we covered this week. |
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