Massachusetts
Meteor Lands In Cape Cod + Bus Crash Kills 5 From MA + Wind Storm Knocks Out Power To Thousands: MA Weekend
MASSACHUSETTS — Residents throughout New England were simultaneously startled as a meteor that landed in Cape Cod caused a sonic boom this past weekend.
Meanwhile, a bus driver is facing charges after five Massachusetts residents died in a crash on a highway in Virginia.
Plus, another State Trooper was caught handling a wrong-way driver situation on Route 1.
Mysterious Boom Heard Across MA Was An Exploding Meteor, Experts Say
The noises were heard around 2:11 p.m. Saturday, with people describing a sudden bang that rattled windows and even shook some homes. The American Meteor Society said that the booms heard were actually caused by a meteor about three feet wide entering the atmosphere near the border of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Residents as far as Ipswich and Johnston, Rhode Island, reported hearing and feeling the sensations. Meteorologist Nick Stewart shared satellite images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, showing where the meteor entered the atmosphere and combusted while traveling at 75,000 miles per hour above the ocean.
Bus Driver Charged After MA Family Of 4, Worcester Woman Killed In VA Crash
Jing S. Dong, of Staten Island, New York, now faces two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the collision, which occurred around 2:35 a.m. Friday on southbound I-95 near Quantico. Among those killed were a 45-year-old man, a 44-year-old woman, a 13-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy, all from Greenfield, Massachusetts. All were in the Acura, which police said caught fire after the collisions. Police on Saturday evening identified the fifth person killed as Priscilla R. Mafalda, 25, of Worcester, Massachusetts, who was riding in the Suburban struck by the bus.
In total, about 44 people were transported to area hospitals, including three with critical injuries.
State Trooper Hospitalized After Route 1 Wrong-Way Crash In Peabody
State Police said the trooper was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after police acted in coordination to protect traffic and stop the driver, who was traveling southbound on Route 1 North in Peabody. The incident occurred not far from the location on Route 1 where State Trooper Kevin Trainor was killed when his cruiser was hit head-on in a wrong-way crash in Lynnfield last month. The driver in Sunday’s crash was also hospitalized and charged with operating under the influence of liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and driving the wrong way on a state highway.
Rapidly Expanding Grocery Chain Has Big Plans For MA
Sprouts Farmers Market is slated to launch up to 40 locations throughout the region in the coming years. Construction has begun for the first Massachusetts spot in Weymouth, which has an opening date of 2028. The Phoenix-based organic grocery chain has more than 480 stores in 25 states.
Saturday’s Meteorite Was ‘Fishy Squisher’ And NASA Knows Where To Find It In Cape Cod Bay
Data from NASA suggest fragments of the meteorite lie in waters from the middle of the bay to about 10 miles northeast of the town of Sandwich. The agency said late Saturday it picked up radar signatures of the fragments from four radar sites, and termed the strike a “fishy squisher.” The meteorite entered Earth’s atmosphere about 40 miles above the Bay State and southern New Hampshire, creating the sonic boom. Water in the bombarded portion of Cape Cod Bay is about 100 feet deep.
35K Without Power As Winter-Like Storm Pummels MA With 55+ MPH Winds
Massachusetts residents throughout the North Shore were without power on Saturday morning as a winter-like storm tore a path of tree damage, downpours, and fierce winds throughout New England. Widespread tree damage was reported across the state, with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency reporting 34,228 customers without power as of 11:20 a.m. Wind speeds reached a high of 55 miles per hour. Temperatures dropped into the 40s with wind chills in the 30s as the storm arrived across the Bay State. The unsettled weather will continue through Monday and Tuesday before a warming trend takes hold later in the week.
See Also:
Cape Shoreline Named Among The Nation’s 10 Best, According To ‘Dr. Beach’
U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, a moderate Massachusetts Democrat, secured enough delegate support Saturday to appear on the state’s primary ballot as he challenges incumbent U.S. Sen. Ed Markey in this year’s Senate race.
Yet even though Moulton cleared a key hurdle to continue his Senate bid, it was Markey who won the party’s endorsement after winning more than 50% of the delegation’s support.
“You have a choice, you have to decide what the future looks like and what you’re going to demand,” Markey said Saturday in front of more than 4,000 delegates.
Markey won nearly 73% of the delegates’ support, while Moulton won nearly 27% of the vote. Massachusetts Democratic Party rules require statewide candidates to get at least 15% of delegate support to appear on primary ballots.
In heavily Democratic Massachusetts, the Senate primary contest is one of the most closely watched in the country as Moulton, 47, has centered his campaign on changing the status quo and demanding a generational shift in leadership.
If reelected, Markey would be 80 before his third six-year term would begin. While Markey has touted his stamina and embrace of progressive policies, questions about age have continued to swirl around Democratic candidates as they fight to take back control of Congress.
Incumbent Sen. Ed Markey is leading Rep. Seth Moulton, but if Rep. Ayanna Pressley were to enter the Democratic primary, it would change the picture, according to a new poll from Suffolk University and The Boston Globe.
In his nomination speech, Moulton argued that the Democratic Party needed more than “incremental change” and needed to start anew.
“It’s time for the generation that grew up with the internet, and will have to live for decades with AI, to lead our way through it,” Moulton said.
Moulton only addressed his opponent briefly during his nomination speech, giving a passing nod on not waiting another six years for generational change and later calling on Markey to participate in multiple debates before the September primary. Currently, the two candidates have agreed to participate in one debate later this summer.
Markey, instead, took a more critical approach by attacking Moulton’s previous comments about transgender kids and accepting corporate PAC money.
“Massachusetts deserves better than a senator who scapegoats trans kids,” Markey said to loud cheers.
In 2024, Moulton caught flak from some members of his party for saying he didn’t want his daughters playing in sports against transgender girls. Critics said Moulton echoed Trump’s talking points against allowing transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports.
Moulton has since said his intent with that statement “was to point out that, as a party, we need to be willing to have difficult conversations.”
Moulton, who enlisted in the Marines after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and served four tours of duty in Iraq, was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014. He briefly launched a 2020 presidential campaign, but he dropped that bid after a few months.
Markey served as a Massachusetts congressman for nearly 40 years before winning the Senate seat in 2013. He fended off a challenge in 2020 from Rep. Joe Kennedy III in the Senate primary by turning to his progressive allies to overcome a challenge from a younger rival from America’s most famous political family.
The Massachusetts primary is Sept. 1.
RANDOLPH, Mass. (WWLP) – A Randolph resident has won a $1 million prize through the final drawing of the Massachusetts State Lottery “$4,000,000 Monopoly Doubler” instant ticket game.
Brenda Mellor of Randolph claimed the game’s tenth and final $1 million prize.
She selected the cash option and received a one-time payment of $650,000 before taxes. Mellor said she plans to use the winnings to pay for home improvements, including renovations to her roof and pool.
The winning ticket was purchased at The Variety Store at 2 Mazzeo Drive in Randolph. The retailer will receive a $10,000 bonus for selling the ticket.
Local News Headlines
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Massachusetts
Mass. is getting more granny flats. But it’s still hard to build them. – The Boston Globe
Massachusetts took a big step in 2024 when the Legislature legalized so-called “accessory dwelling units” statewide as part of an effort to rein in the state’s housing crisis. More than a year later, it’s clear that the law is working — but that it also needs tweaks before accessory units can meet their full potential.
These small units, nicknamed “granny flats,” can be constructed in someone’s backyard, or they can simply be renovated third floors, garages, or basements. They’re a popular option for seniors seeking to downsize and families looking for some rental income.
Prior to the state law, some communities allowed accessory units, but many did not. Even among those cities and towns that did tolerate accessory dwelling units, zoning often varied from one municipality to the next, making it difficult for builders who needed to decode each municipality’s rules. Some towns also included unreasonable restrictions, like requiring that only a homeowner’s family members could live in the accessory units.
Housing advocates viewed allowing accessory dwelling units statewide as a “low-hanging fruit” policy — a way to add housing that was relatively cheap and avoided some of the cost and political obstacles that housing measures often encounter. The state legislation also overrode some zoning restrictions, including those that limited accessory units to family, while leaving some other local rules intact.
One year after the law went into effect, this approach has proved fruitful: Towns across the state have approved 1,200 ADU permits and seen even more applications, in some cases up to a threefold increase from previous years.
A study published last week by Boston Indicators (the research branch of the Boston Foundation) and Abundant Housing Massachusetts found that forcing the hand of municipalities on accessory dwelling units accomplished more in one year than 50 years of zoning reform efforts at the local level.
The problem, though, is that municipalities retained too much power. As the study recommends, there should be clear, uniform state regulatory standards for ADUs, with minimal opportunities for municipal-level variation.
“A comprehensive agenda is needed to address regulatory barriers to housing production, spanning building, fire, energy, septic system, wetlands, and stormwater rules,” the study’s authors wrote. “The barriers include the fragmented complexity of the regulatory system itself.”
Making standards more uniform doesn’t have to mean lowering them — it just means moving away from patchwork rules that make it harder for companies to build accessory units at scale.
Chris Lee at Backyard ADUs, a company that designs and builds modular dwelling units in New England, says the report’s findings make sense. The inconsistent interpretations across 350 towns and cities cause builders and engineers to “struggle to design work for the town that will be accepted,” he said. (The state’s 351st municipality, Boston, isn’t covered by the law.)
The potential is significant. The report calculates that if just 2 percent of single-family homes in Massachusetts added an accessory unit, the state would see more than 30,000 new homes that advocates say are generally more affordable. Building an accessory dwelling unit inside a pre-existing house can cost between $75,000 and $100,000; and a detached unit usually runs between $250,000 to $350,000, making them much more affordable than purchasing a single-family home in most regions of the country.
“For developers of missing middle housing to benefit from an economy of scale, they have to undertake many projects, across jurisdictional lines,” according to the study. “The ADU case study has shown just how challenging this is.”
Lee estimated that he could reduce up to $30,000 of preconstruction costs such as surveying and architecture if his company could work with consistent regulations across towns, which he said could enable them to double their production.
Streamlining permitting for accessory dwelling units isn’t a panacea. Landlords still must be willing to actually build them and rent them to long-term residents. Retirees must believe it’s worth downsizing to one. But the fact that so many have been permitted over the last year point to the clear demand and makes the case for policy makers to keep refining the law.
There is precedent. California, for example, had an equally ambitious goal but has blown past it, going from only 1,300 permits approved its first year to more than 30,000 nine years later. “It is important to understand that California did not accomplish its ADU outcomes with one legislative reform,” the study’s authors wrote. “California’s success required sustained legislative attention.”
Massachusetts should be able to realize those kinds of results too. Conversely, if even the “low-hanging fruit” of zoning reform falters in the Commonwealth because of local red tape, then the state has bigger problems ahead to solve its housing crisis.
Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us @GlobeOpinion.
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