Massachusetts
Ben & Jerry’s is giving out free ice cream today. Where in Massachusetts?
Ben & Jerry’s cofounder forcibly removed from Senate hearing
Capitol Police was directed to physically remove protesters from a Senate hearing, including Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s.
Ben & Jerry’s is giving out free ice cream on April 14. On that day, ice cream lovers can walk into any participating shop and leave with dessert – no wallet required.
The Vermont-based company is preparing to serve up “1 million and one” scoops across 13 countries on Free Cone Day, a highly anticipated annual giveaway event, according to a Ben & Jerry’s press release.
“Free Cone Day is all about our fans. It’s our way of saying thank you with an international moment of togetherness,” CEO Jochanan Senf said in a statement.
The Free Cone Day tradition began in 1979, after the ice cream company’s first year of business in Burlington, and has continued to grow ever since.
Here’s where to get a free scoop of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream this year in Massachusetts.
When is Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day 2026?
This year, Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day is on Tuesday, April 14. The free ice cream is typically given out at Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops between noon and 8 p.m., though some shops may vary.
How Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day works
Customers can visit any participating Ben & Jerry’s scoop shop to receive a free cup or cone of ice cream, according to the company’s website. You can pick whichever flavor you want. No purchase is required.
“There’s no catch and no fine print,” Ben & Jerry’s said on the website.
While there may be a line outside your local Ben & Jerry’s scoop shop on Free Cone Day, it will likely move quickly because staff don’t need to ring up orders.
And the best part? Customers can get back in line as many times as they’d like. In fact, it’s actually encouraged, according to a Ben & Jerry’s press release.
“So, if fans are stuck choosing between a classic flavor like Chocolate Fudge Brownie and Cookie Dough, or a Scoop Shop exclusive like Marshmallow Sky, Sweet Cream & Cookies or Mint Chocolate Chunk, they needn’t worry. Why choose just one, when they can try them all!” the company said.
Participating Ben & Jerry’s locations in MA
At least 17 Ben & Jerry’s locations in Massachusetts participate in Free Cone Day. Here are their addresses and special Free Cone Day hours:
- Boston – Faneuil Hall: 8 North Market St., Bay 22, North Market, Boston, MA 02109 (12 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
- Boston – Fenway: 61 Brookline Ave., Boston, MA 02215 (12 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
- Boston – Newbury Street: 174 Newbury St.,Boston, MA 02116 (12 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
- Boston – Prudential Center: 800 Boylston St., Prudential Center, Boston, MA 02199 (12 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
- Boston – Quincy Market: 4 South Market St., Boston, MA 02109 (12 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
- Boston – Seaport: 83 Seaport Boulevard,Boston, MA 02110 (12 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
- Braintree – South Shore Plaza: 30 Forbes Road,Braintree, MA 02184 (12 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
- Cambridge – Harvard Square: 35 JFK St., Cambridge, MA 02138 (12 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
- Cambridge – Porter Square: 59 White St., Cambridge, MA 02140 (12 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
- Hingham – Derby Street: 92 Derby St., #113, Hingham, MA 02043 (12 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
- Hyannis: 352 Main St., Hyannis, MA 02601 (12 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
- Marlboro: 187 Boston Post Road West, Marlboro, MA 01752 (12 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
- Natick: 1265 Worcester St., Route 9 West, Natick, MA 01760 (12 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
- North Eastham: 50 Brackett Road, North Eastham, MA 02651 (12 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
- Pittsfield: 79 South St., Pittsfield, MA 01201 (12 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
- South Deerfield – Yankee Candle Company: 25 Greenfield Road, South Deerfield, MA 01373 (12 p.m. to 6 p.m.)
- Watertown – Arsenal Yards: 103 Arsenal Yards Boulevard, Watertown, MA 02472 (12 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – Monday is National Wine Day, where wine lovers are pouring a glass of their favorite wine to celebrate.
This alcoholic beverage is made from fermented grapes or other fruits, where yeast consumes the sugars in the grapes making it into alcohol during the fermentation process, according to the National Day Calendar. Different grapes produce different types of wine, and wine that is made from fruit or honey is often named according to the different fruits used.
It’s not the color of the grapes that gives the wine its color. It’s the tannins in the grape skins that color wine red and also the flavor. White wines are typically sweeter than red wines and are best served chilled, but most red wines are served at room temperature. However, a sweet red should also be chilled for the best flavor.
Top wineries in western Massachusetts
Yelp has put together a list of the top wineries in western Massachusetts:
- Silver Bear Distillery– 63 Flansburg Avenue, Dalton
- Mineral Hills Winery– 592 Sylvester Road, Godard’s Red Hen Farm, Florence
- Glendale Ridge Vineyard– 155 Glendale Road, Southampton
- Black Birch Vineyard– 108 Straits Road, Hatfield
- Sunset Meadow of Massachusetts– 296 South Main Street, Sheffield
- Cameron’s Winery– 1046 Millers Falls Road, Northfield
- Brimfield Winery– 35 Main Street, Brimfield
- Raven Hollow Winery – 436 Russellville Road, Westfield
- Hardwick Winery – 3305 Greenwich Road, Ware
- Echo Hill Orchards & Winery– 101 Wilbraham Road, Monson
Local News Headlines
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Download the 22News Plus app on your TV to watch live-streaming newscasts and video on demand.
(WGGB/WSHM) – With the rain continuing on Sunday night into Memorial Day, some towns across western Massachusetts have announced they will be canceling or rescheduling Memorial Day parades and ceremonies;
List is as follows:
Amherst – Parade canceled, Memorial Day ceremony moved inside Bangs Community Center at 9:30 a.m.
Belchertown – Memorial Day parade canceled, outdoor ceremony will be held at South Cemetery on 143 Mill Valley Road at 8:30 a.m., indoor ceremony will be held at 20 Park Street at 10:30 a.m.
Deerfield – Memorial Day ceremony will be hosted inside Frontier Regional School at 8:45 a.m.
Easthampton – Memorial Day parade and ceremony has been canceled
Granby – Memorial Day parade canceled, Ceremony will be held at Granby Veterans’ Memorial at 9 a.m.
Hadley – Memorial Day parade canceled, Hadley Veterans and Fire Department will still host ceremonies at these cemeteries;
- 11:00 a.m. Russellville Cemetery 442 River Drive
- 11:15 a.m. Plainville Cemetery 137 Mount Warner Road
- 11:40 a.m. Olde Hadley Cemetery 12 Cemetery Road
- 12:05 p.m. Hockanum Cemetery 199 Hockanum Road
- 12:40 p.m. Holy Rosary Cemetery 134 Huntington Road
- 1:10 p.m. North Hadley Cemetery 254 River Drive
- 1:40 p.m. Hadley American Legion 162 Russell Street
Holyoke – Parade canceled, observance ceremony will be held at the Holyoke War Memorial at 8:30 a.m.
Ludlow – Memorial Day parade canceled, candlelight vigil postponed until later date that will be announced.
Montague – Memorial Day ceremony will be held inside Montague Common Hall at 11:15 a.m.
Monson – Parade, ceremony canceled
Palmer – Parade canceled, rescheduled for June 20th to be a part of Mass. 250th anniversary festivities. Ceremony will be held inside at Amvets Post 74 at 2150 Main Street in Three Rivers at 11 a.m.
Southwick – Parade canceled, ceremony will held in held at Town Hall Auditorium at 10 a.m.
Suffield, Conn. – Memorial Day parade cancelled, ceremony will be held at Suffield High School auditorium at 10 a.m., doors will open at 9:15 a.m.
Copyright 2026 Western Mass News (WGGB/WSHM). All rights reserved.
Massachusetts
In Massachusetts governor’s race, it’s the economy, stupid. For Healey, it’s abortion, too. – The Boston Globe
In a Globe interview, the first-term Democrat said preserving access to abortion is not just a social issue, but also an economic one, a framing that appears intended to tap into residents’ deep-seated concerns about being able to afford to live in a state that’s simultaneously emerged as a major national provider of abortion care.
“Make no mistake about it, abortion is economic, and the ability to access abortion care or not has real consequences for women across this country,” she said. “It has consequences in terms of their health — sometimes consequences are life or death — and it does have economic consequences.”
Healey is facing pressure to find ways to help ease Massachusetts’ high costs. Residents are leaving the state, some in search of lower-cost locales; energy bills are reaching new highs; homeownership is out of reach for many; and child care costs here are among the nation’s highest.
“Lowering costs should be the focus of every elected official in America,” Healey said during her State of the Commonwealth address in January. “It’s certainly mine.”
Scott Ferson, a Massachusetts-based Democratic political strategist, said Healey is “most comfortable” discussing protections for reproductive health care because of her background as a former attorney general who sued the Trump administration over access.
“There’s enough crises here to occupy voters’ . . . time,” Ferson said of fears over both abortion access and the economy. “And so she’s right to talk about both.”
Healey has long argued for increased access to abortion.
The state stockpiled 15,000 doses of mifepristone in 2023 amid an early legal challenge to the drug, and Healey issued an executive order in 2024 confirming access to emergency abortion care in the state. Last year, she signed a bill that bolstered protections for doctors providing reproductive health care from legal repercussions in other states.
Jane Rayburn, a Massachusetts-based pollster who has worked with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Maine US Senate candidate Graham Platner, agreed that access to abortion has economic consequences, as people consider whether they can afford to have a child.
“Restricting economic freedom, removing folks’ autonomy from making these choices on how they build their family and their family’s future, cuts right at the heart of the cost of living and affordability issues that we’re all experiencing firsthand,” Rayburn said.
Healey has tried to bring her work on reproductive rights into sharper focus this year as two Republicans battle each other for their party’s nomination.
Brian Shortsleeve, who led the MBTA under former governor Charlie Baker, said he supports the US Supreme Court’s decision to maintain, at least temporarily, access to mifepristone through the mail. He also said he supports abortion rights, including the state’s “current law as it is.”
“I wouldn’t change it,” he said.
Mike Minogue, who won the Mass. GOP’s gubernatorial endorsement last month, has described himself as a “pro-life” Catholic.
He runs a nearly $23 million family foundation with his wife, Renee Minogue, that has donated to groups that have touted pro-life stances, including $8,000 between 2018 and 2024 to Prager University, a conservative media organization whose founder, Dennis Prager, has said most abortions are not moral.
The foundation also gave $5,000 in 2015 to the Massachusetts Family Institute, an antiabortion “pro-family” advocacy group, and $55,000 between 2023 and 2024 to Taylor University, an Indiana-based Christian institution that promotes a “sanctity of life statement.”
Minogue did not respond to questions about the donations, but said Healey ”and the liberal media will try to weaponize” abortion politics.
“I cannot change the Massachusetts abortion law. Politicians approach this issue to drive hate and divisiveness,” he said in a statement to the Globe. “As a leader with faith, I have compassion and will support women with counseling, financial aid, and medical care.”
Healey cast both Republicans as threats to access here, arguing that neither will proactively stand up for reproductive rights.
“I’m going to be there to protect abortion access, and my opponents are not, and that’s demonstrated by their actions, their words, their records,” she said.
Healey’s campaign has capitalized on the abortion-related court rulings in fund-raising emails, casting a federal appeals court decision restricting medication abortion by mail as “dangerous.” (The US Supreme Court later issued a ruling preserving access to the drug.)
The Massachusetts Democratic Party has also targeted Minogue directly, dubbing him “Anti-Abortion Mike Minogue” because of his “pro-life” beliefs.
Claire Teylouni, interim executive director of Reproductive Equity Now, an abortion rights group, said voters have a lot on their minds this election cycle and accused the Trump administration of “creating chaos and uncertainty” on a range of issues, including reproductive rights.
“It might not be that abortion is the only issue shaping this race,” she said, “but we do really believe it will be a significant one.”
Voters, too, say that the Massachusetts economy is a top issue, and likely Democratic voters said cost of living should be Healey’s top focus, according to an April Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll.
But they also have mounting concerns about the future of abortion access. A UMass Amherst/WCVB survey from 2025 found a decrease in the number of people – from 70 percent in October 2024 to 62 percent in February 2025 – who believed abortion would remain “safe, legal, and accessible” in Massachusetts following the US Supreme Court’s decision to end the constitutional right to an abortion in 2022 by overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling.
Erin O’Brien, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston, said abortion, at the very least, is a good “wedge issue” for Healey. But she said the gubernatorial race will largely focus on affordability.
“Having [abortion] there helps her for turnout,” O’Brien said, “and to prevent people from going to the GOP.”
Chris Van Buskirk can be reached at chris.vanb@globe.com. Follow him on X @byChrisVan
-
Delaware6 seconds ago108-year-old Delaware Woman Renews Her Driver’s License to 2033, Works Out Thrice a Week
-
Florida6 minutes agoSpaceX launches rocket from Cape Canaveral on Memorial Day morning. See photos.
-
Georgia12 minutes agoAn Extremely Sweaty Love Letter to Georgia – The Trek
-
Hawaii18 minutes ago8 Reasons We Love Summer in Hawaiʻi
-
Idaho24 minutes agoI-90 resurfacing project near Montana-Idaho border to cause delays through August
-
Illinois30 minutes agoSoybeans: Grown, but rarely eaten, in Illinois – Evanston Now
-
Indiana36 minutes agoFormer Indiana governor appointed as interim president of Purdue University
-
Iowa42 minutes agoIowa High School Girls Soccer Player Of The Year Candidates
