Massachusetts
MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro, a 47-year-old physicist and fusion scientist, shot and killed in his home in Brookline, Mass. | Fortune
A professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was fatally shot at his home near Boston, and authorities said Tuesday they had launched a homicide investigation.
Nuno F.G. Loureiro, a 47-year-old physicist and fusion scientist, was shot Monday night at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts. He died at a local hospital on Tuesday, the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
The prosecutor’s office said no suspects had been taken into custody as of Tuesday afternoon, and that its investigation was ongoing.
Loureiro, who joined MIT in 2016, was named last year to lead MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, where he aimed to advance clean energy technology and other research. The center, one of the school’s largest labs, had more than 250 people working across seven buildings when he took the helm.
Loureiro, who was married, grew up in Viseu, in central Portugal, and studied in Lisbon before earning a doctorate in London, according to MIT. He was a researcher at an institute for nuclear fusion in Lisbon before joining MIT, it said.
“He shone a bright light as a mentor, friend, teacher, colleague and leader, and was universally admired for his articulate, compassionate manner,” Dennis Whyte, an engineering professor who previously led MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, told a campus publication.
The president of MIT, Sally Kornbluth, said in a statement that Loureiro’s death was a “shocking loss.”
The homicide investigation in Brookline comes as police in Providence, Rhode Island, about 50 miles away, continue to search for the gunman who killed two students and injured nine others at Brown University on Saturday. The FBI on Tuesday said it knew of no connection between the crimes.
A 22-year-old student at Boston University who lives near Loureiro’s apartment in Brookline told The Boston Globe she heard three loud noises Monday evening and feared it was gunfire. “I had never heard anything so loud, so I assumed they were gunshots,” Liv Schachner was quoted as saying. “It’s difficult to grasp. It just seems like it keeps happening.”
Some of Loureiro’s students visited his home, an apartment in a three-story brick building, Tuesday afternoon to pay their respects, the Globe reported.
The U.S. ambassador to Portugal, John J. Arrigo, expressed his condolences in an online post that honored Loureiro for his leadership and contributions to science.
“It’s not hyperbole to say MIT is where you go to find solutions to humanity’s biggest problems,” Loureiro said when he was named to lead the plasma science lab last year. “Fusion energy will change the course of human history.”
Massachusetts
Woman killed in Taunton car crash
A woman is dead after a single-car crash in Taunton, Massachusetts, late Friday.
Police responded to the crash on Country Street around 11:15 p.m., according to the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office. There they found a 2001 Honda Accord that had crashed into a telephone pole.
The driver, 26-year-old Selina Mendez, died of her injuries at the hospital. A 23-year-old passenger suffered minor injuries.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation by Massachusetts State Police and Taunton police.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts RMV under fire after illegal immigrant trucker kills state trooper
Following the tragic death of a Pennsylvania state trooper, Gov. Maura Healey is being asked to urge the state RMV to conduct an immediate review of all commercial driver’s licenses issued in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts House Republicans are calling for the audit to include a scan of non-domiciled CDLs, as the Bay State already faces federal heat for issuing a commercial driver’s license to the suspect, a Haitian illegal immigrant.
The review would “determine whether any current license holders are facing any pending suspensions, revocations, or other outstanding issues,” GOP leadership wrote in a letter to the governor this week.
Michael Bon, a 33-year-old Haitian living illegally in Brockton, has been charged with killing Michael Pahira, a 44-year-old state trooper, in a fiery crash on July 1 in Schuylkill County, Penn.
The Department of Homeland Security has said that Bon has been in the country illegally since June 2025 and that the Massachusetts RMV had issued his CDL. But the RMV has pointed its finger at the federal government, arguing that Bon was eligible for and received a non-domiciled commercial driver’s license under federal standards at the time of his application in March 2025.
In their Wednesday letter, House Republicans requested that Healey direct the RMV to review all commercial driver’s licenses within 30 days and submit details to the state Joint Committee on Transportation and the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security.
The GOP stated that the review could ultimately lead to safer roads.
“Due to the most recent tragedy in Pennsylvania and the uptick in wrong-way driving accidents in our Commonwealth,” GOP leaders wrote, “we call on you to take immediate action on this request to protect motorists and pedestrians on Massachusetts roadways and to ensure that the Commonwealth is in line with current federal roadway safety standards.”
A governor’s spokesperson deferred a Herald request for comment to the RMV.
An RMV spokesperson told the Herald Friday night that the agency is “preparing a thorough response to the letter.”
“We are confident that our programs for issuing commercial driving credentials,” the spokesperson said, “which are subject to annual review by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, are compliant with federal law.”
Bon arrived in the U.S. in early July 2024 as a parolee at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
That October, he filed an application for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under the Biden administration, which ultimately was never granted. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the federal government to end TPS for Haitian nationals earlier this month.
DHS has said that USCIS terminated Bon’s parole on June 13, 2025. Despite that, Bon has allegedly refused to leave the country and has remained in the U.S. illegally, settling in Brockton.
The RMV has described Pahira’s death as a “horrific and terrible tragedy,” calling for Bon to be “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
At the same time, the agency has said that the non-domiciled CDL program is under federal purview, arguing Bon was “ruled eligible based on the Trump administration database and allowed to drive by federal law and Trump administration policies.”
Bon applied to renew his CDL in February 2026 and was again approved, the RMV has said, adding that he would not have been approved if he applied for renewal next year. The Trump administration implemented a new rule on March 16 directing states not to renew or issue new non-domiciled CDLs.
“These restrictions,” the House GOP wrote in its letter to Healey, “coupled with the reinstatement last year of federal English-language proficiency requirements for commercial truck drivers to ensure that they can read and understand traffic signs, represent ongoing efforts to enhance public safety on America’s roadways.”
The fiery crash happened on I-81 in Schuylkill County and resulted in Pahira’s death.
The Pennsylvania trooper was conducting a routine commercial inspection on another tractor-trailer at 7 a.m. on July 1. Authorities say both the tractor-trailer and Pahira’s police vehicle were pulled over on the right-hand shoulder of the highway.
Pahira had been speaking with the other driver, Walter Alfredo Reinoso, of New York, during the routine stop when Bon’s tractor-trailer suddenly veered into the right-hand shoulder and struck them.
ICE lodged a detainer request against Bon earlier this month. The illegal immigrant is being held in Schuylkill County Prison after failing to post his $700,000 bail.
At the federal level, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association – the largest national trade association representing small-business truckers and professional drivers – is demanding that Congress pass Dalilah’s Law to ensure that CDL holders are properly trained and meet safety standards, including proficiency in English.
Non-domiciled CDL holders are often unable to be vetted, whereas U.S. applicants have had their past 10 years of driving history reviewed.
“Had this legislation been previously signed into law,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer wrote in a Wednesday letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, “the driver responsible for Trooper Pahira’s death would not have been eligible to receive a CDL in the first place.”
Pa. State Police and WFMZ-TV photos
Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael Pahira Jr. was killed in a crash that police say was caused by Michael Bon, 33, of Brockton, Mass., who is in the country illegally. (Pa. State Police and WFMZ-TV photos)
Massachusetts
Free Ice Cream Deals In MA For National Ice Cream Day 2026: Cheap Eats
Several chains and local shops are marking the July 19 holiday with giveaways, rewards offers and limited-time discounts. Some offers require an app or loyalty account, and participation may vary by location.
Here are some deals for National Ice Cream Day in Massachusetts:
New City Microcreamery: The Massachusetts scoop shop is giving away a $25 gift card for National Ice Cream Day. To enter, customers must like the giveaway post, comment with a favorite New City flavor and follow the shop on Facebook and Instagram. You can find the post here.
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