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Boston could get 264 new liquor licenses if bill passes

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Boston could get 264 new liquor licenses if bill passes


BOSTON – Liquor licenses are some one of the largest hurdles for restaurant owners to clear. Data out of Boston shows a deep racial disparity between those who have them.

It’s been described as an antiquated system. The state controls the number of liquor licenses granted to Boston businesses and due to a secondary market, they can often be resold for more than $500,000. 

Right now, there are roughly 1,400 liquor licenses in Boston and according to State Senator Liz Miranda, 2% belong to businesses owners of color.

On Monday, the Massachusetts Senate agreed on a bill that would bring reform to the current system. If it passes, the bill would grant an additional 264 liquor licenses that would be phased in by zip code over several years. The free licenses would need to be applied for and some will be deemed as non-transferable, under the current bill.

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“Disparities send a clear message”  

Boston City Councilor Brian Worrell has been working with the state on this for over a year. “We already know the amount of money it takes to start a business, especially a restaurant,” Worrell said. “So, $600,000 is a burden to restaurant owners, especially those who are Black and Brown.”

Worrell said Mattapan has six liquor licenses and Blue Hill Avenue, a main thoroughfare in the city, has just six on its route.

“So, when you compare that to other neighborhoods that have 80 like the Back Bay, the disparities send a clear message,” Worrell said.

Boost for business, neighborhoods  

Andre Williams has owned and operated his Cool Shade restaurant in Dorchester for two years. He has been trying to get a liquor license since before the doors even opened.

“Liquor licenses are expensive so a lot of people can’t’ afford it,” said Williams. “Maybe it’s the community that we are in. If we had a liquor license it would revitalize our neighborhood. It would also boost business for local restaurants here in Boston.”

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The House has its own version of this bill. The two chambers are set to come together to discuss in a committee meeting scheduled for later this week.

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Police: Man killed in crash caused by wrong-way driver on I-93 in Boston – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

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Police: Man killed in crash caused by wrong-way driver on I-93 in Boston – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News


BOSTON (WHDH) – A 20-year-old man is dead, and an 81-year-old man will face criminal charges following a wrong-way crash on Interstate 93 in Boston late Saturday night, officials said.

Troopers responding to a reported multi-vehicle crash on Route 93 northbound before Exit 15A around 11:45 p.m. determined a driver in a 2004 Cadillac Escalade got on the highway in the wrong direction and nearly struck two vehicles — a Honda Odyssey and an Audi A4 — causing both to swerve and crash into each other, according to state police.

The occupants of the Honda Odyssey, a family of four, were transported to a Boston-area hospital for evaluation.

Shortly after the initial crash, the wrong-way driver, later identified as Antone Carvalho, of Somerset, collided head-on with a Chevrolet Cruze.

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The driver of the Chevrolet Cruze, a man in his 20s from Haverhill, died from his injuries. His name has not been released.

Carvalho will be issued a summons to appear in court at a later date.

This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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Beyond the frame: ‘Where’s Boston?’ revisited through new oral histories – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

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Beyond the frame: ‘Where’s Boston?’ revisited through new oral histories – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News


BOSTON (WHDH) – It’s the fall of 1974 in South Boston, and four generations of the Moran family are rushing to church for baby Lila’s baptism. The moment is filled with great anticipation, and one of the most memorable images frozen in time in Constantine Manos’s “Where’s Boston” series.

Now, more than 50 years later, that photograph has taken on a new meaning. 

The Boston Athenaeum has revived the landmark exhibition first shown during Boston’s Bicentennial celebration in 1976. To mark America’s 250th anniversary, the library has paired Manos’s photographs with 12 newly recorded oral histories, giving the people captured in the images a chance to tell the stories behind them.

“These images show one moment in time, but when you talk to someone and ask them to reflect on it, you learn so much more about them and their larger family history,” said Boston Athenaeum curator Lauren Graves. “Then somehow that history, too, ends up relating to a larger Boston history.”

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In their oral history, George and Carolyn Moran reflected on the social upheaval surrounding Boston’s bussing crisis, when court-ordered school integration sparked intense racial conflict across the city. 

While the baptism photograph captures a day of celebration, the Moran family said it also stirs memories of another pivotal moment: their decision to leave the South Boston neighborhood they had long called home. 

“Around the corner came a huge swarm of people being chased by police on horseback with clubs,” George Moran said. “Apparently earlier that day there had been a stabbing around the corner of South Boston High School, and the town was in total turmoil over that incident.”

Fearing for their children’s safety as tensions escalated, the two Boston Public Schools teachers made the difficult decision to move their family to Brookline.

“We were very careful in making our decision because we did have a strong allegiance to the schools and to education,” Carolyn Moran said. “I would say our concerns about the education of our daughters was our primary reason for making the move.”

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Courtesy Boston Athenaeum

Many of Manos’s seemingly innocuous photographs reveal the city’s deeply segregated spaces that shaped Boston a half-century ago. An Italian religious process in the North End, young Black men unwinding at Franklin park, and a father looking lovingly at his son at a Chassidic center in Brookline each offer a glimpse into communities that rarely intersected.

But even amid turmoil and division, Manos found beauty in life’s small moments—a bride leaving a church on her wedding day, a young man absorbed in a game of chess, and a father flying a kite with his son. 

Courtesy Boston Athenaeum

“The exhibit shows some of the terrible times of protest, but it also shows the moments of joy,” Carolyn Moran said. “They’re all juxtaposed, and that’s life—these difficult times as well as beautiful times.”

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As the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, curators hope the exhibition encourages visitors to reflect on not just how far the city has come, but also the work that still needs to be done in the coming decades.

“We thought this was a unique moment to look back at the Bicentennial, to look back 50 years and think about this recent past,” Graves said. “What do we want for Boston today? What do we want for the future? And what do we want for the future of the country itself?”

Visitors are also invited to become part of the exhibition by filling out comment cards reflecting on where Boston is today.

The Boston Athenaeum says it is still identifying people featured in Manos’s photographs and plans to continue expanding the exhibition’s online oral history collection. 

“Where’s Boston” is open until December 12.

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(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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What JJ Peterka Will Add to the Bruins’ Roster, ‘He’s Got an Elite Shot’ | Boston Bruins

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What JJ Peterka Will Add to the Bruins’ Roster, ‘He’s Got an Elite Shot’ | Boston Bruins


The 24-year-old forward had a career-high 68 points (27 goals, 41 assists) in 2024-25 with the Sabres before getting traded to Utah in June, 2025. Peterka posted 47 points (25 goals, 22 assists) through 82 games in his first year with the Mammoth.

“He’s got an elite shot. Probably gives us another look on the elbows in a power play situation. His power play minutes dipped a little bit last year; his 5-on-5 production has been really good, plays both wings, can probably play with a couple different types of centers,” Sweeney said.​

Peterka had a similar assessment for himself.

“I think a pretty fast game, likes to score goals,” he said. “Just overall, exciting player that loves to make plays.”

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Sweeney also sees a versatility in Peterka’s game that can benefit his new teammates up and down the lineup.

“I think he fits into a good group age-wise because he’s able to have played in the league with all the experience he’s had, the success he’s had, so he can ride shotgun with David because he has had scoring,” Sweeney said. “He can go down and drive a line, which he has done.”

The prospect of him playing with someone like David Pastrnak is something that excites both Sweeney and Peterka.

“That would be pretty sick, not going to lie,” Peterka said. “If you have that caliber of a player, I think everyone wants to play with him. From the past, playing against him, even watching him, was always super special. I would be super honored, for sure.”

While Peterka has already played four full seasons in the NHL, he still has his whole career in front of him. He joins a young new wave of Bruins players – alongside the likes of Reichel, Fraser Minten, Marat Khusnutdinov and James Hagens – who will carve the future identity of the team. The ceiling is high for Peterka.

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​“In JJ’s case, he has had success. We have to come in and put him in the right situations so he continues to score at the level we think he can. Morgan [Geekie] is a great example,” Sweeney said. “Did we think he was going to score 39 goals when we first acquired him? No. But that’s always the hope – that a player will take advantage of a new opportunity and playing with different types of players than what they were in their other environment.”

Peterka is ready for the challenge and to prove that he has another gear to his game to help the Bruins win.  

“I think it’s always nice to have a fresh start. I think especially after the year I had last year where I wasn’t really happy with the performance I put on the ice,” Peterka said. “For me, I feel like it’s a fresh start. And for a team like Boston, it couldn’t be any better.”



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