https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefsThe daily local brief for Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA.en-ushttps://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-09-02https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-09-02Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000Preliminary unofficial Cambridge results released at about 2:08 a.m. show Marjorie Decker re-elected in the 25th Middlesex District with 4,104 votes to Evan MacKay's 3,599, a rematch of her 41-vote win in 2024. Erika Uyterhoeven declared victory in the 2nd Middlesex Senate primary with 12,335 votes (37 percent), ahead of Christine Barber, Burhan Azeem and Matt McLaughlin, while David Rogers, Will Mbah and Ben Ewen-Campen also won their races. The state Senate contest between incumbent Will Brownsberger (11,997 votes) and Daniel Lander (11,936) remains too close to call, with auxiliary and overseas ballots still to be counted.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-09-01https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-09-01Tue, 01 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000Cambridge holds its State Primary today, Sept. 1, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters in Ward 1 Precincts 2 and 2A and Ward 5 Precinct 2 will cast ballots at the MIT Welcome Center, 292 Main St., rather than MIT's Kresge Auditorium. The deadlines to register (Aug. 22) and to apply for a mailed ballot (Aug. 25) have passed; specimen ballots and Election Day details are posted by the city.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-31https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-31Mon, 31 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The Election Commission's five satellite drop boxes — at City Hall, the Morse School, police headquarters at 125 Sixth St., the Baldwin School and O'Neill Library — close Monday at 8 p.m. and will not reopen for Tuesday's State Primary. The only box available on Election Day is the main one at 689 Massachusetts Ave., open until 8 p.m. Tuesday. Voted ballots must be sealed inside the yellow jurat envelope with the affirmation signed before being dropped off.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-30https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-30Sun, 30 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000MIT's Building 18 on Ames Street, home to the Department of Chemistry, has been closed since about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26, after a graduate student self-reported to a local emergency room claiming to have synthesized dimethylmercury, an extremely toxic neurotoxin. MIT Environment, Health, and Safety, the Cambridge Fire Department and Pro EMS responded; the Institute says the risk of further exposure is "very low," and the student's initial blood test on Aug. 29 showed no sign of mercury exposure. MIT adds that emerging information calls into question whether the substance was in fact synthesized, and the building remains closed today for decontamination.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-29https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-29Sat, 29 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Cambridge has published its official list of candidates on the Sept. 1 State Primary ballot, covering the 24th, 25th and 26th Middlesex districts. On the Democratic ballot, Edward J. Markey faces Seth Moulton for U.S. Senate, while Maura Healey, Kimberley Driscoll, Andrea Joy Campbell, William Francis Galvin, Deborah B. Goldberg and Diana DiZoglio are listed for statewide offices. The open Second Middlesex Senate seat draws five candidates, including Cambridge's Burhan Azeem.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-28https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-28Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Cambridge police communications director Jennie Lopez confirmed Thursday that the ShotSpotter gunshot detection system did not generate an alert during the Aug. 21 fatal police shooting of William Woodworth on Temple Street, less than a week after the technology was turned back on. The location is within the system's 1.25-square-mile coverage area, a quarter-mile from where Xavier Bautista was shot and killed July 4. None of the department's commonly cited reasons for missed detections — gunfire outside the coverage area, inside a building or vehicle, or during events with expected loud noises — explains the failure, and witnesses a block away reported hearing the shots clearly.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-27https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-27Thu, 27 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The City Council has passed updated waste ordinances that take effect Feb. 3, 2027. The rules require residents and businesses to separate food waste and ban plastic checkout bags citywide. The city announced the adoption in a press release dated Aug. 25.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-26https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-26Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced the season's second human case of West Nile virus on Aug. 24 and raised the risk level to high in Cambridge and six other Metro Boston communities. State officials said the person does not live in Cambridge but nearby. Most people do not develop severe symptoms, but residents over 60 and those with certain chronic conditions face higher risk, and the Cambridge Public Health Department urges steps such as using insect repellent to avoid mosquito bites.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-25https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-25Tue, 25 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The Middlesex District Attorney's office identified the man fatally shot by Cambridge police on Friday night near Central Square as William Woodworth, 64, of Watertown. Preliminary findings indicate Woodworth got out of his vehicle and pointed a firearm at officers, who said they tried to disarm him before shooting. The investigation, run by the DA's office and the State Police detective unit assigned to it, continues, with witness accounts and body-camera footage still under review; officials have not said when the footage will be released.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-24https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-24Mon, 24 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Hard copies of the Cambridge Housing Authority's Fiscal Year 2027 Moving To Work Annual Plan are available at CHA's Central Office, 362 Green St., starting at noon today, opening the public comment period. A public hearing on the plan is set for Wednesday, September 2 at 5 p.m., held in person at the Central Office and over Zoom, with meeting details posted on CHA's website a week beforehand. Written comments must be submitted by mail or email to Zach Gordon by 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 24.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-23https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-23Sun, 23 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Under the Votes Act, the Cambridge Election Commission will remove voted early and mail-in State Primary ballots from their sealed envelopes on Monday, Aug. 24 through Thursday, Aug. 27, beginning at 9 a.m. each day at the City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, second-floor conference room. The prepared ballots will be placed in a tabulator and counted on Friday, Aug. 28, also starting at 9 a.m. Both the removal and the advance depositing are open for public observation; questions go to (617) 349-4361.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-22https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-22Sat, 22 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Cambridge police shot and killed a man in his 60s on Temple Street on Friday night after he allegedly exited his vehicle and pointed a loaded firearm at officers, according to a joint statement from Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Police Commissioner Pauline Wells. Officers had responded shortly after 8 p.m. to a report of suspicious individuals in a loading dock and parking lot behind area businesses; officers tried to physically disarm the man and multiple shots were fired, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Several officers were taken to the hospital as a precaution and released, and Temple Street, off Massachusetts Avenue near Central Square, was closed as investigators remained on scene overnight.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-21https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-21Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Harvard agreed on Aug. 17 to a $53 million settlement establishing two class-action funds to resolve lawsuits over the theft and sale of human remains from its medical school morgue. Harvard and the plaintiffs asked the court Monday to approve the agreement, which comes more than three years after federal prosecutors charged Cedric Lodge, the former manager of the Anatomical Gift Program morgue, with stealing organs and other body parts from donated cadavers between 2018 and 2022. Separately, Katrina Maclean, 47, of Haverhill was sentenced Tuesday to 24 months in federal prison for interstate transportation of stolen property; seven other defendants have pleaded guilty and been sentenced in related cases.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-20https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-20Thu, 20 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The Dance Complex sets up in Jill Brown-Rhone Park tonight from 5:30 to 7:15 p.m., alternating 15-minute mini-lessons in Salsa, Bhangra and more with freestyle dance parties. No prior experience is needed, and the event is free and open to all; drop in for one session or stay for several. It is sponsored by the city's Cambridge Plays grant program, with a rain date of Thursday, Aug. 27.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-19https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-19Wed, 19 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000An Aug. 18 report found the MBTA's $2.4 million civilian fare enforcement team issued 117 warnings and no fines during its first 11 months. Station data suggest the agents' presence contributed to a small increase in fare gate payments last year.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-18https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-18Tue, 18 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Police arrested Jayson Wilson in Everett at 8:40 a.m. Monday in connection with the July 9 electric scooter hit-and-run on Vassar Street that seriously injured a 12-year-old girl. State Police's Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section made the arrest with help from Everett police and State Police technical services. Wilson was arraigned later Monday in Cambridge District Court on charges including assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, leaving the scene of personal injury, and reckless and negligent operation.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-17https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-17Mon, 17 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The City of Cambridge holds a drop-in open house today, Monday, August 17, from 2 to 7 p.m. at 359 Broadway, the Old Longfellow School building, to collect resident feedback on redesigning the building's outdoor play areas. Organizers promise food and festivities, and say the input will shape renovations planned for 2027. If weather interferes, the event moves to August 18; questions go to senior landscape architect Cortney Kirk at ckirk@cambridgema.gov.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-16https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-16Sun, 16 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000In an Aug. 15 sit-down with Cambridge Day and four other local outlets, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey said his re-election campaign will center on defending the region's innovation economy from Trump administration budget cuts and on affordability measures such as free public transit. Markey, 80, pointed to Kendall Square as proof of that economy's growth, saying it "didn't even exist 35 years ago." Harvard and MIT face sharply higher endowment taxes and proposed cuts to NIH and NSF research budgets that also threaten the city's biotech and high-tech employers.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-15https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-15Sat, 15 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000HAW-UAW announced Aug. 14 that nearly 94 percent of the 1,366 members who cast ballots voted to authorize a strike, well above the two-thirds threshold, after nearly two years of unresolved contract talks with Harvard. The union, which represents about 2,600 researchers, teachers and instructors across several Harvard schools, has not set a strike date and says members will decide on a deadline in the coming weeks while continuing to bargain. Bargaining committee member Greg Given said he does not see a path to resolution without a significant shift by the administration.https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-14https://nanopress.net/kendall-square-cambridge-ma/briefs/2026-08-14Fri, 14 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns on Thursday dismissed the Trump administration's lawsuit accusing Harvard of ignoring harassment of Jewish students, finding the government failed to prove an ongoing violation of federal civil rights law. The suit, filed in March, largely cited incidents from the 2023-24 academic year plus a few from March 2025, which the judge called "too isolated and episodic" to show a persistent violation at the Cambridge campus. "We disagree with the ruling and are assessing next steps," said Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department's assistant attorney general for civil rights; Harvard did not immediately comment.