Massachusetts
50+ Massachusetts beaches closed for swimming by Department of Public Health. See where
Ever Wonder What the Beach Flags Mean?
For your safety, learn what the beach flags mean
As we enter the last stretch of summer before school starts, there is no better way spend a day than relaxing at one of the Bay State’s beautiful beaches.
However, the number of closed beaches in Massachusetts keeps getting higher. This weekend, over 50 beaches are closed due to unsafe swimming water.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) states that swimming in the water at these closed beaches poses a threat of illness due to high levels of bacteria. Symptoms can range from nausea and vomiting to a sore throat and fever.
Here’s a full list of closed beaches to avoid when planning your weekend.
What beaches in Massachusetts are currently closed due to bacteria?
The following MA beaches, listed by town, are closed as of Friday, Aug. 16:
- Amherst:
- Puffers Pond (Bacterial Exceedance, Other)
- Stanley St. swimming hole at Cushman Bridge (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Ashby: Damon Pond Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Ashland: Ashland Reservoir Main Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Barnstable:
- Wequaquet Lake Town (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
- Wequaquet Lake Yacht Club (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
- Braintree: Smith Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Brewster: Upper Mill Pond (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
- Concord: Walden Pond (Other)
- Danvers: Sandy Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Dartmouth: Moses Smith Creek (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Framingham: Learned Pond Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Grafton: Silver Lake Beach (Other)
- Harwich: Sand Pond (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
- Haverhill: Plugs Pond (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Holland: Collette Drive Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Kingston: Gray’s (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Lowell: Merrimac River (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Lynn:
- Kings (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Lynn Shore Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Nahant: Nahant Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Nantucket: Sesachacha Pond (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
- Natick: Cochituate State Park Beach (Bacterial Exceedance, Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
- North Andover:
- Frye Pond Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Stevens Pond (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Northampton: Musante Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Oxford: Carbuncle Pond (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
- Plymouth: Nelson Park (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Quincy: Norton Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Salem:
- Camp Naumkeag (Other)
- Children’s Island (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Ocean Avenue (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Willow Avenue (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Saugus: Pearce Lake at Breakheart Reservation (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Shutesbury: Lake Wyola (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Springfield: Bass Pond (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
- Swampscott: Kings (Other)
- Templeton:
- Beamans Pond Campground (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Beamans Pond Day Use (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Townsend: Pearl Hill Pond Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Truro: Longnook (Other)
- Wayland: Wayland Town Beach (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
- West Stockbridge: Card Pond Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
- West Tisbury: Seth’s Pond (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Westborough: Lake Chauncy Beach (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
- Westfield: Hampton Ponds Kingsley Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Winchendon: Lake Dennison State Park (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Winchester: Shannon Beach at Upper Mystic (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Winthrop: Halford (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Worcester:
- Indian Lake Public Beach at Sherburne Ave (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
- Lake Quinsigamond-Regatta Point Beach (Bacterial Exceedance)
- Shore Park (Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom)
Most beaches are closed due to bacterial exceedance, meaning the levels of bacteria in the water are higher than the limits set by the MDPH.
Those in the “other” category can be closed due to a variety of chemical or physical hazards, such as riptides and poor visibility.
Beach weather this weekend: AccuWeather warning about rip currents developing this weekend from storm off coast
When will beaches in Massachusetts re-open?
According to the MDPH website, beaches can only re-open when their bacteria levels are back within the safe range, so there is no set amount of time for a closure.
The status of a closed beach can be checked on the website’s water quality dashboard, which is updated at 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. daily.
National Hurricane Center cautioning beachgoers in the Atlantic
Forecasters are warning beachgoers about possible “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” this weekend because of Hurricane Ernesto. The storm is not predicted to make landfall in New England.
“Even if Ernesto stays well offshore of the U.S. East Coast, beach goers should be aware of a significant risk of deadly rip currents beginning later this week,” the National Hurricane Center said earlier this week.
Riptides or rip currents are powerful currents of water that can pull people away from shore, according to the National Weather Service. They can be deadly: data from the NWS shows rip currents have killed almost 30 people this year alone.
If caught in a rip current, the NWS says to yell for help and remain calm and stay afloat while waiting for help. Do not swim directly against a riptide, rather swim parallel to the shore.
Melina Khan contributed to this report.
Massachusetts
Mass. House votes to set new rules for DiZoglio’s audit
Twenty-eight lawmakers dissented Wednesday as the Massachusetts House voted to set new terms around what state Auditor Diana DiZoglio would be able to review in the legislative audit voters authorized her to carry out in 2024.
Almost all House Democrats voted for the measure, which also proposes to make more state government records accessible to the public. Three Democrats — Cambridge Rep. Mike Connolly, Attleboro Rep. Jim Hawkins and Fall River Rep. Alan Silvia — joined the body’s 25 Republicans in voting no.
Speaker Ron Mariano said the bill responds to an ongoing call from voters for more transparency out of Beacon Hill and provides a path forward in lieu of a what he called “politically motivated audit conducted in violation of the Constitution.”
Leaders of the House and Senate have resisted DiZoglio’s audit push, arguing that a probe by the auditor’s office would run afoul of the separation of powers laid out in the state Constitution, bringing the legislative branch under the review of a piece of the executive branch.
“We are not accountable to any constitutional officer,” said Rep. Mindy Domb, an Amherst Democrat. “We are only accountable to our constituents.”
Taunton Rep. Lisa Field, a Democrat in her first term, said she was among the 72% of Massachusetts voters who backed the audit ballot question in 2024.
“Due to legitimate concerns and questions about constitutional privileges and separation of powers, we have been stuck on this audit issue for more than a year,” Field said. “Let’s not be like Washington, D.C. and accept such gridlock — not about the audit and not about public records. Let’s not let perfect be the enemy of good progress.”
The House’s bill would authorize DiZoglio to review what it defines as the “administrative functions” of the Legislature, going back to the 2021 fiscal year. Those areas include the adoption of annual budgets, official audits of the House and Senate by independent firms, spending by both chambers, and the execution of any financial settlements with lawmakers and employees.
It would also newly apply the state’s public records law to the governor’s office, and create a process by which people could request and receive certain legislative files.
Massachusetts is currently the only state where the Legislature, governor and judiciary all claim to be exempt from the public records law.
Warren Republican Rep. Todd Smola described the process that led up to Wednesday’s vote as opaque in and of itself. Mariano last week said the House would take up what he called comprehensive transparency legislation, but did not say when or what, specifically, the bill would do.
The bill was circulated to members of the House Ways and Means Committee around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, and committee members had a little over a half hour to vote on whether to advance it. Smola, the ranking Republican on the committee, said during that 34-minute window, “we had members on both sides of the political aisle that were calling each other back and forth to say, ‘Can you explain this portion to me?’”
“We are so much better than the process that has unfolded,” he said. “And for the sake of people that are asking us for transparency, that is not transparency. That’s the opposite of transparency.”
Rep. Michael Soter, a Bellingham Republican, said he was particularly concerned with a part of the bill that removes the courts from settling disputes between the auditor and the Legislature.
He said that by setting its own rules around an audit, the House would be “ensuring the auditor can only see exactly what we allow her to see and nothing more.”
It’s not clear yet if the Senate will pass the bill. Last week, state senators voted to turn over a limited set of documents to DiZoglio. The documents the Senate plans to provide mirror the records she would be allowed to review under the House bill.
Asked if he expected the Senate to agree to the legislation, Mariano on Tuesday said only, “I talked to the Senate.”
Massachusetts
French-Mediterranean Eatery Charts Opening In Boston
BOSTON, MA — An international restaurant group with locations across the globe is preparing to open its first Massachusetts restaurant this year.
LPM Restaurant & Bar, a French Riviera-inspired restaurant founded in London, is set to open on the second floor of the Four Seasons Hotel One Dalton Street in Back Bay, according to Four Seasons. The hotel lists the restaurant as “Opening Summer 2026,” while the Boston Business Journal reported the restaurant plans to open in September.
The Boston restaurant will mark LPM’s debut in the Northeast and its third U.S. outpost, following locations in Miami and Las Vegas, according to a Four Seasons announcement.
LPM, also known as La Petite Maison, was founded in London in 2007 and is known for French-Mediterranean food, Mediterranean ingredients and dining rooms influenced by Belle Époque design.
The business operates locations in London, Dubai, Miami, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Riyadh, Limassol, Doha, Mykonos, Kuwait, Boston, Maldives and Bangkok.
Four Seasons said LPM will take over the space that formerly housed One Dalton’s breakfast concept, One + One. The restaurant will join other dining options at the hotel, including Zuma and Trifecta.
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Massachusetts
Massachusetts high school under investigation after teachers diagnosed with breast cancer
A Massachusetts high school is under investigation after “several” teachers have been diagnosed with breast cancer or precancerous conditions.
The state Department of Public Health is set to visit Uxbridge High School on Thursday to “conduct a series of air quality tests,” to determine whether the multiple cases are potentially connected.
Superintendent David Ljungberg and Principal Michael Rubin alerted families and district staff on Monday of the “sombering news,” after Uxbridge High School’s graduation over the weekend.
“We are writing to inform you about a concern we are investigating at Uxbridge High School,” Ljungberg and Rubin stated in the letter. “Several female teachers have been diagnosed with breast cancer or precancerous conditions over the past few years.”
“It is, of course, possible that these multiple cases are not connected to one another,” the leaders added, “but out of abundance of caution, we are looking into any environmental factors at the school that may be a factor in their diagnoses.”
The 123,000-square-foot school, with an enrollment of roughly 600, was constructed in 2012 at a cost of $45 million, including a $22-million state reimbursement.
Uxbridge school leaders say they notified the state Department of Health and local health board as soon as they became aware of the cases, seeking “counsel about how best to proceed.”
“Massachusetts DPH officials have indicated that there is no evidence of immediate danger in the building and no reason to limit access to or use of the facility at this time,” they wrote in their letter. “In fact, the public health officials have commended our decision to approach them with these concerns, our readiness to partner with them in support of the evaluation process.”
Health officials are assessing the school’s interior and exterior to “ensure there are no issues with the infrastructure that would present risks (including electrical, plumbing, mechanical, HVAC, and other systems)” and the indoor and outdoor air quality on campus.
The superintendent and principal said that state officials have ruled out water supply as a “risk factor” after “thorough testing.”
“The team has reached out to the women who have been diagnosed, requesting data to evaluate whether there may be a connection among their cases,” Ljungberg and Rubin wrote. “We are grateful for their cooperation.”
They added that the state has said discovering an environmental “smoking gun” is “rare” in workplace investigations.
“However, even if a direct causal link is not established,” the leaders wrote, “the administration is utilizing this process to rigorously test the building and guarantee that it meets all safety standards moving forward.”
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