https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefsThe daily local brief for Beacon Hill, Boston, MA.en-ushttps://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-09-02https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-09-02Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000Sen. Ed Markey, who is seeking a third term, defeated U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton in Tuesday's Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Markey was first elected to the U.S. House in 1976; Moulton has served in Congress since 2014. Markey will face Republican John Deaton in the November general election.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-09-01https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-09-01Tue, 01 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000The City of Boston Election Department is reminding voters that today's State Primary decides which candidates appear on the Nov. 3 State Election ballot. Polling locations are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., with location changes in Wards 2, 9 and 22; voters can check their registration through the Secretary of the Commonwealth's website. The city trained more than 1,872 poll workers across 275 precincts, including over 474 who can assist in languages such as Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, Cape Verdean, Russian and Portuguese.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-31https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-31Mon, 31 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Massachusetts holds its state primary on Tuesday, Sept. 1, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters will choose nominees for governor, U.S. Senate and other state and federal offices; the nine ballot questions do not appear until the Nov. 3 general election. The deadlines to register, to vote by mail and to vote early have all passed, so Tuesday is the remaining opportunity to cast a primary ballot.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-30https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-30Sun, 30 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Suffolk Superior Court Judge Anthony Campo ordered accounts belonging to former restaurant mogul Barbara Lynch frozen Friday as the city treasurer's office tries to collect years of back taxes now approaching $1 million on her defunct restaurants. The judge granted the city's seizure request without first hearing from Lynch's side, citing an existing judgment against her from June and the city's argument that she would drain the accounts if given notice. A hearing at which Lynch and the banks can argue for unfreezing the accounts is set for Sept. 10.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-29https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-29Sat, 29 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Ahead of the September 1 move-in day, the city has issued more than 2,500 moving-truck permits and stepped up inspections in Beacon Hill and nearby neighborhoods. DCR is urging drivers of moving trucks to stay off low-clearance roads including Storrow Drive and Soldiers Field Road. The city says residents and arriving students can use Boston 311 and the free Trash Day app for mattress pickup, parking changes and proper disposal of waste and furniture.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-28https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-28Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The Boston Public Health Commission said Thursday that a Boston man in his 60s has tested positive for West Nile Virus, the city's first human case this year and the third in Massachusetts. State health officials rate the city's risk level "high," citing positive mosquito samples found in several Boston neighborhoods over the last two months. Residents 50 and older and those who are immunocompromised are urged to avoid outdoor activity from dusk to dawn, and to empty standing water from bird baths, flowerpots and kiddie pools twice a week.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-27https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-27Thu, 27 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000A Massachusetts Inspector General report released Wednesday found Boston Public Schools spent more than $857,000 improperly between 2018 and 2024, hiring vendors without valid contracts or the required competitive bidding and then devising a workaround to pay them later. Investigators found no evidence of fraud or criminal conduct, but Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro said at least $200,000 could have gone to programs directly affecting students. The report describes payments routed through companies with existing district contracts that charged markups costing at least $77,000, plus duplicate and inflated shipping charges, including a $211 shipping fee on a $96 book order. The IG called for a pause on certain non-essential vendor payments.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-26https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-26Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The southern half of the Orange Line will shut down for five days beginning Sept. 10, extending a summer in which the T has closed part of the Red, Green and Orange lines in turn. A Boston Globe analysis counted 78 days of Green Line shutdowns so far this year, with riders reporting doubled commutes, long walks and work-from-home days. Under general manager Phil Eng, the agency says extended closures let it catch up on deferred maintenance faster and at less cost than nights-and-weekends work.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-25https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-25Tue, 25 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani ruled Aug. 23 that the Postal Service must answer the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts' motion to enforce her preliminary injunction by 8 a.m. on Aug. 25, giving her a day to rule. The judge said the agency could instead keep its requested Aug. 27 deadline, but that she would then issue an immediate temporary restraining order while she considers the motion. At issue is a proposed federal rule that would bar mail-in voting in states that refuse to turn over their voting rolls.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-24https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-24Mon, 24 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Nantasket Sweets By Swedes, a Hull-based candy company, opened its second location at 115 Charles Street on Sunday. The shop brings Swedish pick-and-mix candy to the neighborhood.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-23https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-23Sun, 23 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Cambridge police shot and killed a man in his 60s shortly after 8 p.m. Friday behind a business on Temple Street in Central Square, after officers responding to a report of suspicious individuals in a loading dock say the man got out of a vehicle and pointed a loaded firearm at them. Police said they tried to disarm him before he was shot multiple times; he was pronounced dead at the scene, and several officers were taken to hospitals, treated and released. The Middlesex District Attorney's office is conducting an inquest, and investigators said body camera footage from the officers is being reviewed.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-22https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-22Sat, 22 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Saturday, August 22 is the first day of in-person early voting for the September 1 State Primary, with sites open across Boston through Friday, August 28. It is also the voter registration deadline: in person at the Election Department, 1 City Hall Square, Room 241, by 5 p.m.; online at voteinma.com by 11:59 p.m.; or by mail, postmarked today. The primary determines the candidates on the November 3 State Election ballot, and the city is also recruiting paid poll workers at boston.gov/pollworkers.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-21https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-21Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The Boston Public Health Commission is warning residents to avoid contact with the water in the Charles River Lower Basin downstream of the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge, where state Department of Public Health staff found cyanobacteria exceeding state guidelines for recreational waterbodies. The advisory covers swimming and other water activities, and the shoreline where algae collects; dogs should not swim in or drink the water. Anyone who does come into contact with the water or shoreline algae should rinse off immediately.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-20https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-20Thu, 20 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday threw out a lawsuit challenging the new White Stadium in Franklin Park, allowing construction to continue. The court found that while the stadium parcel was originally taken by eminent domain for park use, legislative action in 1947 and 1950 dedicated it to another use not covered by Article 97, which governs the reuse of parkland. That provision would otherwise have required a two-thirds vote of the state legislature to build the 10,000-seat stadium.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-19https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-19Wed, 19 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Mark Sullivan, 60, of Brockton was arrested Aug. 18 and charged with photographing the sexual or intimate parts of a child after witnesses said he used camera-equipped sunglasses and his cellphone to record children at the Frog Pond on Boston Common. Officers had responded around 1 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 14, to the area of 38 Beacon Street on a report of a suspicious person. Sullivan, a level 3 sex offender who prosecutors say previously served two state prison terms on child pornography charges, pleaded not guilty and was ordered held on $250,000 bail.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-18https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-18Tue, 18 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The Planning Department this month recommended approval of new zoning for small clean-energy infrastructure such as solar panels and wind turbines, establishing a consolidated local permitting process required under state law and adding regulations for battery energy storage systems. The zoning still needs approval from the Boston Zoning Commission. The BPDA Board also approved four residential projects totaling about 398,998 square feet and 329 new homes, including 137 income-restricted units, and swore in Felicia Jacques as its fifth member.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-17https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-17Mon, 17 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Staff at the Sam Adams headquarters in Jamaica Plain have told management they intend to organize and join UFCW Local 328, according to the union's news outlet. The group includes bartenders, beer ambassadors, cooks and key holders, who cite job security, equitable treatment, consistent policies and clearly defined wages and benefits. "If you're talking to management over and over and over again and nothing's changing you've got to try something different," said Zafi Smith, a senior beer ambassador.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-16https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-16Sun, 16 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The Otis House Museum at 141 Cambridge Street ran guided tours Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., part of a weekly schedule that ends when the house closes temporarily after August 30 for restoration. The last surviving mansion in Bowdoin Square, next to the Old West Church at the foot of Beacon Hill, covers more than 200 years of history. Admission is $15 for adults, $13 for students and seniors, $7 for youth ages 6-12, and free for Boston residents, Historic New England members, and children under 6.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-15https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-15Sat, 15 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Boston's 116th annual Fisherman's Feast continues in the North End through Sunday, Aug. 16, at the intersection of Fleet and North streets. Saturday's schedule includes the children's procession of the Madonna Del Soccorso statue at noon, Italian games, the Best Meatball Contest, and a 10-piece Silver Arrow Band set from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. Admission is free, but security checkpoints prohibit backpacks and open containers; the Grand Procession begins Sunday at 12:30 p.m. after 9 a.m. High Mass at St. Leonard's Church.https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-14https://nanopress.net/beacon-hill-boston-ma/briefs/2026-08-14Fri, 14 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The Boston City Council voted 9-3 Wednesday to reject Councilor Ed Flynn's resolution supporting lateral transfers into the Boston Police Department for officers who live outside city limits. Flynn argued the change would help address a staffing shortage: the department is supposed to have at least 2,500 officers but reported about 2,100 in May. Council President Liz Breadon and other opponents said Boston's residency requirement underpins a community policing model built on officers who grew up in the neighborhoods they serve.