The B-Side
Plus: 𤍠Harvard pipes down
Itâs Wednesday, Boston.
đ˛ Shuttle buses got you down? To ease (some of) the pain from the Orange Line shutdown, the city is once again partnering with Blue Cross Blue Shield to offer five free Bluebike unlocks for all with the code MBTAORANGEMAY.Â
đWhatâs on tap today:
- Harvard pipes down
- Brooklineâs trash amnesty
- The hottest new locale
Up firstâŚ
GOOD NEWS
A vacation for your brain
Images: The Boston Globe Staff, Margaret Spalluzzi. Illustration: Gia Orsino.
Raise your hand if youâre ready for another long weekend! If youâre like us, this summer weather might have you feeling ready for a break.
And while we canât approve your PTO ⌠we can give you a mental reset in the form of some seriously good news you may have missed this May:
đłď¸âđ Mass. celebrated 20 years of gay marriage. On May 17, 2004, Mass. became the first state in the nation to legalize gay marriage. And for the eventâs 20th anniversary, a slew of feel-good stories about what the day means to local LGBTQ+ couples brought a (happy) tear to our eye. See: These WBUR profiles of four married couples, or this gorgeous Globe story in which one woman recounts the day and reflects on her relationship.
đ° A local billionaire gave a class of college grads a big ($$$) surprise. This yearâs speech at UMass Dartmouth wasnât the first time Robert Hale, co-owner of the Celtics and CEO of Granite Telecommunications, used a commencement address to surprise local students with cash. But that didnât make the news any less good for the 1,100 graduates who each received $1,000 from Hale, on the condition that theyâd give half of it to someone in need. Bonus: Hereâs a video of the studentsâ (thrilled) reaction.
đ Local students with chronic illnesses got their own celebration. High school can be tough â especially for teens with chronic illnesses who have to juggle medical treatments in addition to school work and social life. But everything about the prom put on for them by Hasbro Childrenâs Hospital is meant to be worry-free. This year, students were able to enjoy their own, accessible âalohaâ-themed prom night, where attendees were able to âbe more [themselves],â as one student put it, as other students donât always get what theyâre going through.
đŞÂ One of Mass.â last living Rosie the Riveters was honored. Did you know that a few OG Rosie the Riveters (a.k.a. women who worked in shipyards and factories during WWII) are still living in Mass.? 102-year-old Margaret Spalluzzi was honored with the stateâs Congressional Gold Medal (the highest civilian honor) for her role working as a welder in the Hingham Shipyard. In an interview with the National Parks Service, Spalluzzi said that she was just happy to help her country: âIt gave me a chance.â
đ A Boston Marathon winner was finally paid her dues. In 2014, Rita Jeptoo was the first woman to cross the Boston Marathon finish line. But when Jeptoo tested positive for doping soon after, second-place finisher Buzunesh Deba became the rightful winner ⌠but never got her $100,000 cash prize from the B.A.A. Fast-forward 10 years, and a former Boston College quarterback took matters into his own hands, paying Deba $75,000 of the prize himself, purely out of principle â money that she said sheâll use to try and return to runningâs elite ranks.
TOGETHER WITH DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE AND THE JIMMY FUNDÂ
A â¨little treat â¨with a big impactÂ
CITY
Quick & dirty headlines
Image: Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe
đ¤ŤÂ Harvardâs new MO: Zip it. After months of being embroiled in controversy surrounding the conflict in Gaza, Harvard will no longer offer official statements on matters that donât âdirectly affect the universityâs core function,â at the suggestion of a working group that was established by the school to consider the issue. The move comes as âinstitutional neutralityâ is becoming more popular among bigwig schools to avoid controversy and be more governable (though FWIW, the group explicitly calls Harvard not neutral in their statement). But critics say the idea is impossible with all the schoolâs interests like investments and donors.
đ Mass.â AAPI population is in flux. Per the Globeâs analysis of data from 2012 to 2022, the stateâs Asian community â which makes up 7% of the total population â is rapidly growing and changing. While folks with Chinese ancestry still make up the majority, other Malaysian, Taiwanese, and Burmese communities have seen over 135% growth in population in that time. Also changing: Where theyâre living, with more AAPI folks moving outside the city in recent years. Check out the full analysis here.
đď¸ Have you missed trash collection day a few too many times? We wonât tell. And neither will the town of Brookline during its trash amnesty week. Through June 1, if you live in Brookline, you can get rid of all your extra trash bags without any fees for overflow. But that amnesty only goes so far: The policy is meant to include extra bags of trash outside your town-designated can, so if you have bigger, bulky items, youâll still need to dispose of those through official channels.Â
đ Bow Market just got a little bit bigger. The market just wrapped up its biggest expansion project since it opened in 2018, which is called the Bow Market extension. The completion of the project includes Carolicious Gourmet, which offers Venezuelan bites; a new venue with more space for Mike & Pattyâs, a brunchy sandwich spot; and long-timer Hot Box, which serves pizza and roast beef. But thatâs only the headline. Other spots like Tiny Turns Paperie, Blue Bandana Relics, and Soft Space Wellness also got upgrades.
ONE LAST THING
Even more good news
Image: Molly Farrar. Illustration: Emily Schario.
Do you have room for just a little more good news? Of course you do!Â
Remember Narrative, the soon-to-be-open independent bookstore in Davis Square that we featured back in February? The one that was near-single-handedly built from the ground up by owner Mila Hossain and features a curated selection of books by BIPOC authors?Â
Well, it opened, and it was a huge success.
According to Hossain, she almost entirely sold out of stock on day one, and drew a line around the block for hours on end. Keep up with the latest from Narrative here (they have tons of cool events coming up!).
â Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario
đ Thanks for reading! Thereâs nothing like a new, local independent bookstore to get me out of bed.
đ The results are in: Looks like B-Siders love them some Hinge, with 53% selecting it as their preferred dating app. One reader said: ââPreferred dating appâ is an oxymoron. You think I want to be here???â
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