https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefsThe daily local brief for Central Square, Cambridge, MA.en-ushttps://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-09-02https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-09-02Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000Preliminary unofficial results released around 2:08 a.m. showed incumbent Rep. Marjorie Decker leading Evan MacKay 4,104 votes to 3,599 in the 25th Middlesex District primary held Sept. 1. The count was enough for Decker to be shown as re-elected in the preliminary tally. The race was a closely watched rematch, following Decker's 41-vote victory over MacKay in 2024.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-09-01https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-09-01Tue, 01 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000With accusations of lies and personal attacks escalating in the rematch for the 25th Middlesex District seat, Cambridge Day asked state Rep. Marjorie Decker and challenger Evan MacKay to clarify the record before voters go to the polls Tuesday. The flash points include personal finances, campaign finance and past political histories. Decker has contrasted her mortgage and utility bills with MacKay's Harvard dorm residence; MacKay's campaign confirmed the role of residential tutor requires living on campus, and MacKay has said they would leave their PhD program if elected.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-31https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-31Mon, 31 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Cambridge's five satellite drop boxes — at City Hall, the Morse and Baldwin schools, police headquarters and O'Neill Library — close at 8 p.m. tonight and will not reopen for Tuesday's Sept. 1 State Primary. The main box at 689 Massachusetts Ave. is the only one available on Election Day, staying open until 8 p.m. Voted ballots must be sealed inside the signed yellow jurat envelope before being deposited.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-30https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-30Sun, 30 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The 7th annual Everybody Gotta Eat BBQ, a free Black-led community food festival, runs today from noon to 6 p.m. at University Park, 65 Sidney St. The afternoon includes food and retail vendors, live music, entertainment and family activities. What began as a community cookout has grown into an annual tradition built around a simple idea: everybody gotta eat.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-29https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-29Sat, 29 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The city's transportation department has released a feedback summary and draft designs for Beech Street near Elm Street, aiming to shorten pedestrian crossings, create a T-shaped intersection with one travel lane in each direction, and close the southeast corner to traffic for future open space. Driveway and street access would remain, but about six resident permit parking spaces on Beech Street near the bend would be removed. Staff say the plans will go through one more round of changes and feedback, including possible adjustments to a daycare loading zone, the separated bike lane section, and the size of the plaza.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-28https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-28Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Cambridge police confirmed Thursday that the gunshot detection system generated no alert during the Aug. 21 fatal police shooting of William Woodworth on Temple Street, less than a week after the technology was switched back on. The location sits within ShotSpotter's 1.25-square-mile coverage area, a quarter-mile from where Xavier Bautista was killed July 4. A 2025 police presentation lists gunfire outside the coverage area, inside a building or vehicle, or masked by holiday noise as the most common causes of missed detections; none applies here, and witnesses a block away reported hearing the shots clearly.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-27https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-27Thu, 27 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Tyler Brown, 46, appeared in court Wednesday, Aug. 26, and will remain held without bail as his case moves toward trial. He is accused of opening fire on motorists along Memorial Drive on May 11, shooting two people before exchanging gunfire with law enforcement and an armed civilian. Prosecutors had earlier presented nine pieces of evidence, including video of the shooting, to argue he was dangerous; the two injured motorists were a Cambridge DoorDash driver shot four times in the leg and an MBTA bus driver shot in the back of the head.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-26https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-26Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Cambridge Public Schools staff will be at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, 459 Broadway, from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday to help families finish the required annual back-to-school forms and set up or update ParentSquare accounts. The forms cover health and vaccine records, caregiver contacts and photo permissions, and must be completed for each student by the first day of school. Classes begin Tuesday, Sept. 1 for grades 1-12+ and Thursday, Sept. 3 for preschool and kindergarten.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-25https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-25Tue, 25 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The Middlesex District Attorney's office on Monday identified William Woodworth, 64, of Watertown as the man fatally shot by a Cambridge officer near Temple Street on Friday night. Officials said officers responding to a report of people gathered in a parking lot were speaking with several individuals when Woodworth allegedly got out of a vehicle and pointed a firearm at them; police said they tried to disarm him before shooting. Officers were wearing body cameras and the footage is part of the ongoing investigation, but officials have not said when it will be released publicly.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-24https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-24Mon, 24 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The Cambridge Water Department's Monarch Butterfly Release, originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon, moves to its rain date tonight, Monday, Aug. 24, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Kingsley Bowl Meadow in Fresh Pond Reservation. The annual program, which began in 2014, marks Fresh Pond's status as an official monarch "waystation" for a species in decline from milkweed loss, logging, pesticide use and extreme weather. The department directs residents to its Facebook page for real-time updates on scheduling.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-23https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-23Sun, 23 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The State Primary is Tuesday, Sept. 1, and early in-person voting continues at the Election Commission office at 689 Massachusetts Ave. through Friday, Aug. 28 at noon. The deadline to register to vote passed Saturday, Aug. 22. Residents who want a mailed ballot must submit a Vote by Mail application by Tuesday, Aug. 25 at 5 p.m.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-22https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-22Sat, 22 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Cambridge police fatally shot a man in his 60s a little after 8 p.m. Friday behind a business on Temple Street, which runs between Massachusetts Avenue and Bishop Allen Drive. Officials said officers responding to a report of suspicious individuals in a loading dock area engaged verbally with several people, and that the man got out of a vehicle and pointed a loaded firearm; police said they tried to disarm him before he was shot multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene. Several officers were treated at area hospitals and released, the officers were wearing body cameras whose footage is being reviewed, and the Middlesex District Attorney's office is conducting an inquest. Temple Street was closed late Friday and the public was asked to avoid the area.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-21https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-21Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Sanofi said Aug. 17 it is laying off 229 former Blueprint Medicines employees in Cambridge and closing the legacy Blueprint facilities at 45 and 38 Sidney Street, with remaining staff reporting to Sanofi's East Cambridge office. The company said the cuts follow the integration of Blueprint after its $9 billion acquisition, completed in July 2025, and that affected employees have been informed and will receive transition support. Boston Business Journal first reported the layoffs, which pharmaphorum verified with the company.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-20https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-20Thu, 20 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000In its Aug. 19 biweekly update, the Cambridge Public Health Department told parents that childhood vaccines remain safely and locally available after President Trump's Aug. 10 executive order changing the national childhood vaccine schedule. Medical Director Linda Shipton said the order was not based on any new scientific information and creates confusion for parents, and urged families to follow guidance from the state Department of Public Health and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The department also pointed residents to the state's 2026 Community Health Equity Survey, available anonymously in 11 languages.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-19https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-19Wed, 19 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000MassDOT's revised concepts for replacing the Reid Overpass on the Cambridgeport riverfront show a smaller footprint than the proposals the agency floated in January, a change that follows public feedback. Advocates including Cambridge Bike Safety say the plans still need more traffic-calming on the interchange's on-ramps.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-18https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-18Tue, 18 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Cambridge police confirmed that the ShotSpotter acoustic gunshot detection system was switched back on Monday, Aug. 17. The reactivation follows community discussion prompted by the July 4 shooting death of a city worker.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-17https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-17Mon, 17 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The City Council's Ordinance Committee, run by councillors Marc McGovern and Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, meets from 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., to consider updates to city laws on short-term rentals such as Airbnbs and Vrbos, which the city says have sometimes been run illegally and disrupted neighborhoods. The proposed changes would impose more registration requirements and time restrictions and add enforcement mechanisms. The hearing is televised and can be watched online or joined by Zoom.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-16https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-16Sun, 16 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Cambridge Rehabilitation & Nursing Center, an 83-bed home on Dana Street, is among 33 nursing homes that won a settlement from the state making it easier to continue housing as many as four residents in a room. The homes had sued over a pandemic-linked rule limiting occupancy to two beds per room, which the state Department of Public Health said it adopted to limit the spread of infectious diseases; the two sides agreed to dismiss the suit on June 2. Under the settlement, homes can be exempted if they meet any five of eight requirements and may choose which ones to use. The Cambridge facility had earlier sought an exemption from the two-bed limit and was denied.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-15https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-15Sat, 15 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The Cambridge Public Health Department confirmed Aug. 14 that state officials detected West Nile virus in mosquitoes collected in the city, raising the local risk level to "moderate" — meaning infection is likely or has already occurred. No human cases have been reported in Massachusetts so far this summer. Health officials urge residents to use insect repellent, cover up from dusk to dawn, drain standing water and keep window screens tight-fitting, noting people over 60 and those with certain chronic conditions face higher risk of severe illness.https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-14https://nanopress.net/central-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-14Fri, 14 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The City of Cambridge has launched an online survey seeking resident feedback on rezoning plans for Central Square, with priorities that include housing, public space and retail. The survey is open through early September.