WBUR TODAY: Vet tech

               

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❤️ Donate Wednesday, January 7, 2026 🌨️ Wintery mix in the morning, high of 35 Good Morning Boston, Happy hump day! You're halfway through the first work week of 2026. How are those resolutions going? Anyway, let's get to the news. Tech for vets: Massachusetts military veterans have a new way to access the bonuses they’re owed. State Treasurer Deb Goldberg yesterday unveiled a new online portal where veterans can apply for benefits and track the status of their applications. “Bottom line is, it allows for faster processing of the awards to the veterans,” Goldberg told WBUR’s Fausto Menard. “It’s just one more step to ensuring that we as a state and we as state government make sure that veterans and their families know how much we appreciate what they've done for us.” Among the benefits veterans can apply for online are so-called “welcome home” bonuses: $1,000 for a deployment to Iraq, Afghanistan or another “imminent danger” location, with lower awards for subsequent deployments or service elsewhere. Goldberg said since 2006, more than $41 million has been disbursed to post-9/11 veterans. Users can sign up for the portal here. We’re gonna need a bigger ballot: There could be a record number of questions on the November ballot, after Secretary of State Bill Galvin certified 11 questions. That's in addition to the gun control law referendum set to go before voters this year. And as WBUR’s Chris Van Buskirk reports, if all of them advance, it could be tough to fit them on the ballot. State officials must print a summary of each question (and in multiple languages) and that takes up a lot of space. Galvin is asking the Healey administration for an extra $5 million to deal with the logistics. “It's very likely there's going to be multiple cards,” Galvin said. “It's going to be difficult for the voter, but it's also going to be challenging for the logistics of the ballot boxes and things like that.” Typically, Massachusetts voters only have to decide two to four questions. But states like California, which see dozens of citizen petitions, send out voter guides that can be hundreds of pages long. The Legislature now has the ballot questions in hand, and has until May to act on them. Curious what some of the questions might be? Here's a preview. Bottoms up: There’s a good chance you or someone you know is going alcohol-free this month, part of the growing Dry January trend. Consumer analytics company Circana found that three in 10 people took part last January. McLean Hospital alcohol, drugs and addiction outpatient medical director Dr. Olivera Bogunovic cheers even a temporary break from drinking. “ Just achieving this small goal and being able to stop drinking, it is a very powerful experience because it gives you additional guidance to set up other goals like continuous sobriety and not drinking,” she told WBUR’s Amy Sokolow. People are drinking less than they ever have (or at least as long as pollsters have been asking them). A Gallup poll out last year found that only 54% of adults say they drink alcohol. That's the lowest rate in 90 years of the poll's history. P.S.— If you're one of those January teetotalers (or just sober curious) come join me at WBUR CitySpace this Friday for a NA wine and beverage tasting, along with an expert panel discussing what an alcohol-free lifestyle looks like these days. I'll be joined by author and The Luckiest Club founder Laura McKowen, Mountainside Treatment Center's director of cultural integration Jana Wu, and CJ Mutti, owner and founder of NA bottle shop Dry Humor. Ally Jarmanning Senior Reporter The Rundown Shooter who killed Brown students and MIT professor planned attack for months, says DOJ The man identified by law enforcement as the shooter who killed two Brown University students and an MIT professor had been planning the attack for at least six semesters, according to information released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Justice. Read more. Local Venezuelans cheer Maduro's arrest, but worry about what's next "There's no easy solution," Berklee pianist Leo Blanco said. "The only thing I'm celebrating is that one important piece of the chess game was removed. They took a king away." Read more. Wu raises $1.1M from developers, businesses for inauguration Boston Mayor Michelle Wu raised more than $1.1 million in donations for her second inauguration, with top companies that are likely to have business before the city contributing tens of thousands of dollars for the Democrat to celebrate her reelection, state records show. Read more. Pro-Trump influencers take a victory lap amid fallout from viral video alleging fraud The swift policy and political repercussions the video helped propel illustrate the symbiotic relationship between online content creators and the Trump administration's policy goals. Read more. RFK Jr's new dietary guidelines are coming. Here's what to watch for The health secretary's affinity for saturated fat and his dislike of ultra-processed foods could influence new federal food guidelines. Read more. Anything Else? This year's Boston Celtics team is a hardscrabble group holding their own, Alastair Moock writes in this Cognoscenti essay. Maybe if the Celtics can keep showing up and winning against the odds, we can, too.  It's not too early to start planning your weekend. From a night at the museum to a performance of opera vignettes that honor global stories, here are five events to check out. Legendary journalist Seymour Hersh spent a career uncovering stories governments tried to hide, from the My Lai massacre to torture at Abu Ghraib. A new documentary looks back at his career. Here & Now spoke to Hersh and director Laura Poitras.  Perhaps your New Year's resolution was to read more — and learn something new? NPR has 12 eye-opening non-fiction books to suggest.  What We're Reading 📚 27 Million Fewer Car Trips: Life After a Year of Congestion Pricing (The New York Times) How first-year coach Kris Sparre turned the Boston Fleet into the PWHL’s best team so far (Boston Globe) He was attacked on Jan. 6. Can he make sense of it for the kids he teaches? (Washington Post) Food For Thought Could moon snails, neon flying squid fisheries save the scallop industry? Some local scientists are hopeful The Coonamessett Farm Foundation is trying to create a market for species that prey on bivalves — especially scallops, which have dwindled in numbers. The top of their list is the moon snail, which is a common bycatch in existing fisheries. Read more. Play: WBUR's daily mini crossword. Can you keep your streak going? Before you go: I'll see you in Purgatory.  😎 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.

TAKE ACTION: The House is voting to save ACA tax credits The SENATE PETITION IS BELOW!

              

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This week, the House will vote on saving the enhanced ACA tax credits by extending them for three years–without an abortion ban. Over 20 million families face the cruel and unsustainable choice of paying the new, astronomical costs for their ACA health care coverage or going without insurance.   Congress had plenty of time to act last year, but it did not. In a last-ditch effort before Republican leaders sent the House home for the holidays, four Republicans joined Democrats to force a vote that would provide critical support so that families can afford health insurance. Now, your representatives need to hear from you. Tell the House: Save ACA Tax Credits Health care costs are skyrocketing without action from Congress  TAKE ACTION The enhanced tax credits are critical for families to afford the care they need without going broke–or worse. Tell the House to vote YES this week on a clean bill to extend enhanced ACA tax credits. -Dorianne Mason From: Gretchen Borchelt Date: December 4, 2025 9:35AM Subject: TAKE ACTION: Tell Your Senators to Protect Health Care Coverage—Without Abortion Bans Fighting for gender justice in the courts, in public policy, and in our society. Justice for her. Justice for all. Nearly 22 million Americans could lose their health care coverage in 2026 if Congress doesn’t act now to restore health insurance premium subsidies. This is a crisis created by some Congressional Republicans to attack the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the coverage it makes available to millions. Now, in exchange for a bill to extend ACA tax credits to make health care more affordable, they’re trying to sneak in a nationwide abortion coverage ban. This would hurt millions of people. Everyone deserves access to comprehensive health care—including abortion. Tell Your Senators to Protect Our Health Care We need a clean bill to extend ACA tax credits—without an abortion ban. TAKE ACTION Instead of protecting people’s health insurance and coverage—some members of Congress are trying to ram a backdoor nationwide abortion coverage ban into a bill that would extend ACA tax credits. This extreme measure would prevent private insurance plans on the ACA Marketplace from covering abortion for millions of people.   Enough is enough. Our legislators should be protecting people’s health care coverage—including abortion. Tell your senators to pass a clean bill to extend ACA tax credits. In solidarity, Gretchen Borchelt she/they Vice President for Reproductive Rights and Health National Women's Law Center

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This is what American empire looks like

             

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This is not foreign policy. This is bald-faced colonialism.   Trump’s capture of Venezuela’s president occurred without congressional authorization. The administration didn’t even notify Congress (though it seems Trump gave U.S. oil companies a heads-up). Instead of any pretext worth the paper it’s written on, this administration relied on brute force, openly declaring that the United States would "take control" of another country’s oil "for a while."   This invasion shatters what remains of the postwar order and confirms what Trump and the GOP barely bother to hide anymore: They want the spoils of empire, puppet dictators they can own, and resources they can loot. They want to make the same mistakes that led to America’s darkest moments, but this time with impunity.   The New Republic is calling out this brazen colonialism, and we’re warning about what comes next. But this kind of clear-eyed, unsparing journalism requires resources.   Will you help by supporting our work today?

Yes, I'll help!

The danger isn’t theoretical. As Russia, China, and now the United States are trying to carve the world into spheres of influence, Trump’s message seems to be that the strong are free to carve up the weak.    Who’s next: Ukraine? Taiwan? Greenland?   Trump has no plan for Venezuela beyond lightning strikes and oil contracts. It’s the same shoddy logic that led America to disaster and embarrassment in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. By betting on intimidation and profiteering, he’s gambling with global stability.   For U.S. donors giving $100 or more, we’ll send you our exclusive TNR tote bag.

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Trump Has Started Carving Up the World. Now It’s Putin and Xi’s Turn.

Fiona Hill warned in 2019 of a "strange swap agreement" involving Venezuela and Ukraine. Seven years later, here we are.

by Brynn Tannehill

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