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Boston's Morning Newsletter
A heat wave is coming to Mass. this week. Here’s where it will get the hottest
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.
If you were one of the Celtics fans hoping for a Game 4 loss to the Mavs so you could attend tonight’s sold-out Game 5 in Boston, it’s indeed a good Monday. Here’s hoping the C’s cinch the victory — and their 18th NBA title.
Let’s get to the news:
Today’s warm temps are only a taste of what’s to come this week in New England. The National Weather Service has posted an excessive heat watch beginning tomorrow for parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut, where temperatures may exceed 100°F by the end of the week. Here’s what you need to know to stay safe (and cool) ahead of the heat wave.
- Which places will get the hottest? According to National Weather Service meteorologist Rob Megnia, the heat index in cities and towns within the Connecticut River Valley in western Massachusetts and Merrimack Valley in north eastern Massachusetts could reach 105°F to 106°F by Wednesday and Thursday. Middlesex, Essex and Norfolk counties could also experience dangerous levels of heat, Megnia added. You can look at a full map from the NWS here. (Coastal municipalities — like Boston — might experience a little relief thanks to the sea breeze.)
- What you can do: Staying indoors and out of the sun, with the air conditioner on during peak hours, is the best way to keep cool during a heat wave. (If Boston declares a heat emergency, here’s a list of locations for public cooling centers around the city.) If you don’t have the option of staying inside, the city of Boston and the NWS say to keep hydrated, wear sunscreen and stay in the shade. It’s also good to know the signs of heat illness so you can recognize them in yourself or others.
- Zoom out: Intense heat is tied to — you guessed it — climate change. Massachusetts experiences about eight or nine days over 90℉ each year. By the end of the century, that number could increase to 60 to 80 days.
The local angle: Massachusetts officials say the Supreme Court ruling overturning the federal ban on bump stocks and other rapid-fire gun accessories has no impact on state law here. That’s because Massachusetts enacted its own bump stock ban in 2017, following the infamous Las Vegas concert mass shooting. “Luckily, Massachusetts is protected from the Court’s recklessness because bump stocks remain illegal under state law,” Attorney General Andrea Campbell said in a statement Friday. “We will continue to use and enforce that law to protect public safety for every person in the Commonwealth.”
- Catch up: A bump stock is a simple device that attaches to the back of a semi-automatic rifle, allowing it to fire at nearly the rate of an automatic machine gun. Most machine guns are illegal for civilians to own. And in 2018, the Trump administration banned bump stocks by saying they basically turned semiautomatic rifles into a machine gun. However, the conservatives on the Supreme Court disagreed with that interpretation in their ruling Friday.
- Now what? President Biden is calling on Congress to pass a bill banning bump stocks — but that will take getting Republicans on board (during an election year).
Higher property taxes may be coming to municipalities across the state, according to the Massachusetts Municipal Association. With inflation on the rise, many Massachusetts cities and towns are attempting overrides of Proposition 2 1/2, which restricts the amount of property tax that can be raised, Adam Chapdelaine, the MMA’s executive director, told WBUR. The goal would be to gain funding for schools and school transportation.
- Go deeper: This year, Gov. Maura Healey proposed a new law that would allow cities and towns to increase taxes on restaurants, hotels, motels and rentals — and, ideally, help municipalities avoid raising property taxes. But the bill hasn’t passed yet and the clock is ticking on the legislative session.
A piece of the pie: Table Talk Pies, the iconic pie company founded in Worcester 100 years ago, has been sold to Wisconsin-based Rise Baking Company. Table Talk announced the deal Friday.
- What does it mean for our precious grocery store pies? Hopefully, more of them. Table Talk says the deal is expected to help expand production and hire more workers. Otherwise, the company says there should not be any other big changes that would leave customers with a bitter taste.
P.S.— Today kicks off a weeklong WBUR education reporting series, in partnership with digital magazine The Emancipator, on the legacy of the federal court ruling to desegregate Boston’s public schools. This Friday marks the 50th anniversary of the order that mandated the busing of students across city lines to racially balance schools. The series examines what has — and hasn’t — changed five decades later. Scroll below for the series’ first story.
