WBUR TODAY: A half-dozen new Healey plans

                             

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❤️ Donate Friday, January 23, 2026 🌤️🥶 Mostly sunny, with a high near 31 today. Temps will drop to around 4 degrees at night, with wind chill values as low as -11. Good Morning Boston, Gov. Maura Healey says the state of our commonwealth is — you guessed it — strong. But that doesn't mean it couldn't use a couple of tweaks. In a speech last night that focused on affordability and President Trump, Healey unveiled a number of concrete changes she plans to pursue in the near future. Here are six to know: Medical debt: Healey announced she will soon file regulations that would ban medical debt from being reported to credit agencies. Fifteen states across the country have similar rules on the books. "It’s bad enough to get a huge bill, when you’re dealing with an illness. It shouldn’t wreck your credit too, so we’re not going to let that happen," the governor said during last night's speech. Housing: Healey announced that the state will invest $25 million to expand a program that offers up to $25,000 in down-payment help (in the form of a low-interest loan) to first-time homebuyers. Her office estimated it will help an additional 1,000 households buy a home. Healey also said her administration will commit "additional resources" to lower the mortgage rates  MassHousing offers to certain first-time homebuyers by 0.55%. Social media: Healey said she will file a bill in the coming weeks that would set guardrails on social media for kids. She said it would mandate platforms have age verification rules, require parental consent and limit addictive features for users under 18. Healey's office said it will be similar to the bill Attorney General Andrea Campbell proposed last year. And while the proposal will need approval from the State House, it reportedly got a warm reception from Senate President Karen Spilka. Subscriptions: As part of her upcoming budget proposal, Healey said she will include language requiring companies make canceling subscriptions "just as easy as signing up for it." Massachusetts already has junk fee regulations with a similar rule thanks to Campbell, but Healey's plan would make it law. Energy costs: We told you about this yesterday, but Healey reiterated her plan to spend $180 million to give Massachusetts residents a little discount on their winter utility bills this February and March. "Middle-class families need breathing room – and they're going to get it," she said. A bridge for Bob: Last but not least, Healey announced that her office is working with the city of Worcester to rename a bridge after Celtics legend Bob Cousy. You watch Healey's full speech and read the transcript of her remarks here. Bundle up: While all eyes are on what could be Boston's biggest snowstorm in years on Sunday, the polar vortex is first delivering frigid air to the region this week. Actual temperatures are expected to drop into the single digits tonight, with the "feels like" wind chill values as low as 15 to 20 below zero in parts of Massachusetts. And as WBUR's Kevin Vu reports, Boston-area shelters are mobilizing to make sure people experiencing homelessness have a respite from the dangerous cold. The Pine Street Inn has four overnight shelters capable of housing more than 600 people, combined. April Stevens, the nonprofit's deputy director, said they will also have an outreach team urging people to shelter inside and offering transport and winter clothing. "Sometimes people are underdressed, they're exposed to the elements," Stevens said. "We worry that if people aren't well covered that they'll get frostbite. So we just want to make sure we're able to keep people as safe as possible." The latest: The National Weather Service now says it's likely (a 70% to 80% chance) that most of Massachusetts will get at least a foot of snow Sunday into Monday. Heads up: Due to the cold, this weekend's scheduled partial Blue Line closure will be a bit bigger than originally planned. Service will now be suspended from Bowdoin to Orient Heights (rather than Airport station), the MBTA announced yesterday. The closure is due to tunnel inspections and the T says extending it allows crews to "better manage switch infrastructure during extremely cold temperatures." Free shuttle buses will make stops at Orient Heights, Wood Island, Airport, Maverick and then Haymarket station to connect riders to the Green and Orange lines. That means there'll be no shuttle service to or from the Blue Line's closed Bowdoin, Government Center, State or Aquarium stations. The East Boston ferry will also make a special winter cameo to give riders another option across the harbor. It will also be free. (Cold, but free.) Bar rescue: Time Out Market will live to see another day. Samuels & Associates, the real estate developer that originally recruited the food hall to Fenway, announced yesterday that it had reached a deal to take over operations and keep it open. The agreement was unveiled just a day before what was slated to be Time Out's final day today. FYI: Though the Time Out Group, the international company that ran the food hall for the last five years, will no longer be involved, Time Out Market's name will remain the same under a licensing deal between the two sides. P.S.— What guardrails does Rep. Katherine Clark want to be included in a Homeland Security funding bill? Take our Boston News Quiz and test your knowledge of the stories we covered this week. Nik DeCosta-Klipa Senior Editor, Newsletters The Rundown Governor demands data on immigration arrests as fear spreads in Maine Maine Gov. Janet Mills challenged federal immigration officials Thursday to provide arrest warrants, real-time arrest numbers and basic information about who is being detained in a sweeping enforcement operation in her state, saying residents have been left largely in the dark as fear spreads through immigrant communities. Read more. TikTok finalizes deal to form new American entity TikTok has finalized a deal to create a new American entity, avoiding the looming threat of a ban in the United States that has been in discussion for years. Read more. Boston day shelter undergoes 'trauma-informed' transformation St. Francis House leaders were worried the shelter was adding to people's stress instead of helping them. They hired an architect to make the space more calming and to make it guide people to critical services. Read more. Rhode Island may ditch Mr. Potato Head license plates after Hasbro moves to Boston Rhode Islanders have long been able to choose Mr. Potato Head for their specialty license plates. However, Hasbro's decision to move its headquarters to Boston has motivated two lawmakers to propose ending the option of Mr. Potato Head plates. Read more. New poll shows Mass. parents are split on AI in schools “These findings make one thing unmistakably clear: families are wary about how quickly AI is entering classrooms,” Jennie Williamson, state director for EdTrust in Massachusetts. Read more. Anything Else? A wide array of rare historical artifacts will be up for grabs today at an auction in New York celebrating United States' 250th birthday. They include a 1776 printing of the Declaration of Independence, a signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation and the only known flag recovered by U.S. forces from the Battle of Little Bighorn. Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" set an Oscar nomination record yesterday, with "One Battle After Another" close on its heels. Here are five takeaways from the nominations. Read the full list here. Last night, the Boston Symphony Orchestra kicked off a four-day celebration of 93-year-old composer and former Pops conductor John Williams. As WBUR's Andrea Shea reports, the series features some of Williams' famous movie scores, as well as his orchestral side. John Woo's "Hard Boiled" was the grand finale of a revolution in action filmmaking that exploded out of Hong Kong during the 1980s and early ‘90s. It was nearly impossible to see for the past decade. But now, it's making a brief return to the big screen. What We're Reading 📚 A Year Inside Kash Patel’s F.B.I. (The New York Times) Cyber scam victim who lost nearly $1M gets her money back — and then some (Vermont Public) He’s Boston’s biggest social media food influencer. (But no, he’s not a stay-at-home dad, though he may wannabe.) (The Boston Globe) Tell Me Something Good Bob Ross paintings go up for auction in Mass. to support public television The three pieces going up for auction in Massachusetts are "Change of Seasons," "Babbling Brook" and "Valley View." In classic Ross style, they depict bucolic nature scenes with his trademark "happy little trees." Read more. Play: WBUR's daily mini crossword. Can you keep your streak going? Before you go: Choose your fighter. ⛄️ 😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up here. 🔎 Explore WBUR's Field Guide stories, events and more. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📧 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. Check out all of our newsletter offerings.               Interested in learning more about corporate sponsorship? Click here. Trustees of Boston University on behalf of WBUR 890 Commonwealth Ave Boston, MA, 02215, US Copyright © 2026 WBUR-FM, All rights reserved.

Losing a lifeline

 

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Thursday, July 17, 2025

🌤️ Hot and humid, with highs around 91 and possible showers this afternoon.

Good Morning Boston,

The U.S. Senate has approved the Trump administration's $9 billion rescission package, a major step toward ending nearly six decades of federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The Republican-controlled Senate voted 51-48 in the early hours this morning to approve the plan. It now goes back to the House for one final vote. NPR has more on the vote and reactions to it here. Now, back to local news: Calling for help: Massachusetts mental health advocates are denouncing the end of specialized services for LGBTQ+ youth on the 988 national suicide lifeline. Starting today, the Trump administration is shutting down the so-called "press 3" option for LGBTQ+ youth, almost exactly three years after the hotline first launched. Rep. Seth Moulton, who filed the original bill to create the simplified 988 hotline, put the impact in stark terms. "Kids are gonna die," the Massachusetts congressman said yesterday on MSNBC."This is actually the kind of thing Republicans should care about if they really care about American kids, because an extraordinary percentage of people who call this lifeline in a moment of crisis say it saved their lives." The backstory: Anyone who called 988 in recent years would get a few options for special services: press 1 for veterans, press 2 for Spanish and press 3 for LGBTQ+ youth. That's because the original 988 bill, which Trump signed in 2020, instructed the government to have specialized 988 services for groups that have a higher risk of suicide, specifically mentioning LGBTQ+ youth. (A survey last year by The Trevor Project found 39% of LGBTQ+ youth had contemplated suicide and 12% had attempted suicide in the last year.) The "press 3" option was added in September 2022, a few months after 988's initial launch. By the numbers: According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 988 has fielded nearly 1.5 million calls from LGBTQ+ young people — including a record monthly high of 69,057 calls this past May. So, why are they ending it? The changes come as the Trump administration aggressively moves to roll back diversity programs and the recognition of transgender people. In a statement last month that notably left out the last two letters of the commonly used LGBTQ+ acronym, SAMHSA said it will "no longer silo LGB+ youth services." Instead, it plans to "focus on serving all help seekers" with "skilled, caring, culturally competent crisis counselors." Now what? Kathy Marchi, the CEO of the Boston-based suicide prevention group Samaritans, which is among the contractors that runs Massachusetts' 988 hotline, worries fewer LGBTQ+ youth in need will reach out. "Similar to the veterans line, having a line for veterans to speak to veterans, or people who are highly trained in the experience of veterans, helps them reach out for support," she told WBUR's Dan Guzman. "I wouldn't want that taken away either." PSA: Marchi stresses LGBTQ+ youth should still feel comfortable using the 988 hotline, or their  youth peer-to-peer text line,  Hey Sam. "The folks on our lines are ready to share resources for LGBTQ+ youth who call and text us," Marchi said, adding that, "988 isn't going anywhere. Neither are we." Fall River fallout: Fall River plans to hire more firefighters in the wake of Sunday's deadly fire at the Gabriel House Assisted Living Facility, following criticism the department was understaffed. WBUR's Patrick Madden and Christine Willmsen report that, as a short-term fix, the city will offer more overtime so they can increase the number of fire engines staffed with four firefighters from two to six. And in the next two years, the city aims to hire 15 to 20 new firefighters to help reach national standards. Listen: WBUR's Lisa Mullins spoke to one of the Fall River firefighters who was at the difficult and chaotic scene responding to the fire Sunday at the Gabriel House. You can listen to the full interview or read the highlights here. On Beacon Hill: State Rep. John Lawn, a Watertown Democrat, is set to be arraigned this morning on charges of driving under the influence and leaving the scene of property damage. Police say Lawn crashed his GMC Yukon into a parked vehicle near the State House early Wednesday morning and drove away. He was arrested shortly after at 1:45 a.m. WBUR's Walter Wuthmann has more details from the police report here. One step closer: The Massachusetts House passed its version of a bill to add new protections for local abortion and gender-affirming care yesterday by a 136-23 vote. The bill is slightly different than what the Senate passed last month, so the two chambers will need to settle on final language before sending it to the governor. P.S.— Part two of this month's downtown Red Line closure begins tonight at 8:30 p.m. Shuttle buses will replace subway service between Kendall/MIT and JFK/UMass through Sunday, but there are other free train and bike alternative options, too.

Nik DeCosta-Klipa Senior Editor, Newsletters

The Rundown

Relatives say Massachusetts assisted-living blaze gutted a tough community Gabriel House had seen better days, but for residents and their families it was the center of a caring community. The 100-unit assisted-living facility that burned Sunday night, killing nine people, opened in 1999 in Fall River. Read more.

Patrick Roath hopes to ride a youth movement into Congress and oust Stephen Lynch Patrick Roath is among scores of younger Democrats across the country who say the last election is proof their party desperately needs new ideas and new blood. But he faces a tough incumbent in next year's Democratic primary: 13-term Congressman Stephen Lynch. Read more.

Israel strikes Syria's capital, Damascus, pledging to defend Druze minorities Israel said it struck military targets in Syria's capital to intervene after clashes between Syrian security forces and Bedouins against the Druze in southern Syria. Read more.

MBTA evaluating system for faulty cables after Blue Line evacuation MBTA general manager Phil Eng says an aging cable in a tunnel prompted a Blue Line train to be evacuated on Tuesday. Read more.

Clawing back foreign aid is tied to 'waste, fraud and abuse.' What's the evidence? As Republicans advance a bill to rescind $7.9 billion in promised foreign aid, critics of the measure say a thorough governmental review of targeted programs did not actually take place. Read more.

Anything Else?

When American consumers will feel the full pinch of President Trump's tariffs is uncertain. But who it will hit hardest seems more clear: low-income households. Ernie Tedeschi, the director of economics at the Budget Lab at Yale, explains the reasons why. As we hit the hottest days of summer, Here & Now reviews three new family board games to play indoors while staying cool. Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal and Emma Stone all star in the new movie "Eddington" about a well-off community politically divided during the stir-crazy summer of 2020. Film critic Sean Burns writes that the film "has something to offend (or annoy) just about everybody," but it's only when writer/director Ari Aster's "more demented instincts kick in that the film truly takes flight." Ismar Volić, the director of Wellesley College's Institute for Mathematics and Democracy, writes in this commentary that the real story of New York City's Democratic mayoral primary is how ranked choice voting changed the candidates' strategy.

What We're Reading 📚

A Founding Father of NPR Worries About Its Fate (The New York Times) For people with limited mobility, Fall River fire renews fears: How would I escape? (GBH News) A mystery beneath the surface: Why are divers dying in the same spot at this Rockport beach? (The Boston Globe)

Sound On

Passion Pit wants to hear your feedback Michael Angelakos is reinventing Passion Pit, which was formed in Cambridge back in 2007. By sharing unfinished songs and embracing listener feedback he’s shaping the band’s future sound. Read more.

Play: WBUR's daily mini crossword. Can you keep your streak going? Before you go: Good pun work by this Maine police department.

😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up here. 🔎 Explore WBUR's Field Guide stories, events and more. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📧 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. Check out all of our newsletter offerings.

Interested in learning more about corporate sponsorship? Click here. Trustees of Boston University on behalf of WBUR 890 Commonwealth Ave Boston, MA, 02215, US Copyright © 2025 WBUR-FM, All rights reserved.