“Throughout everything, Lyla was thoughtful, kind, always thinking of others, and an amazing friend,” Alkon said in an email Saturday. “The outpouring of grief among her friends, peers and classmates from Brookline and beyond upon learning of her and her family’s tragic passing, is a tribute to how many lives she and her family touched in a loving, profound way.”
She said Lyla andMatthew Goldstein were deeply proud of their daughters and the adults they were becoming.
Valerie, an alum of Newton South High School, graduated from Syracuse University in May and was working as a fifth-grade instructor in Rocky Mount, N.C., as part of Teach for America, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Violet Goldstein was a student at the Rhode Island School of Design, according to a college spokesperson. Violet’s college roommate, Finleigh Lewis, said she was “a beautiful source of light” who radiated kindness and genuine care for every person she met.
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“They were both outstanding,” Alkon said of Valerie and Violet during a phone interview later Saturday afternoon. “As was Lyla, as was Matt, really all of them were outstanding.”
Lyla Goldstein (front row, right) and Cheryl Alkon (front, left) met when they were first-graders and quickly became close friends. Pictured with them are their friends Kate Kendall and Meisha Rosenberg.Cheryl Alkon
A relative of the Goldsteins declined to comment when reached by phone on Saturday. Other family members could not immediately be reached.
The family lived at 29 Margaret Road in Newton, according to city records, where flowers were left on the front steps Friday. City officials said the Goldsteins were active in community events.
Alkon said Lyla was a “dedicated Girl Scout troop leader” when her daughters were in the scouts. A former three-sport athlete at Brookline High School, Lyla Goldstein continued playing basketball throughout her adult life, Alkon said. She was also listed as a board member of the Newton Girls Basketball Association.
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Newton City Councilor Bill Humphrey, whose district includes the Goldsteins’ neighborhood, recalled chatting with Lyla and Matthew Goldstein when he’d be out knocking on doors.
“I remember that Valerie would write in to the City Council about her passion for a more sustainable world and a just society as soon as she was old enough to vote, and she asked me to help her with a class project on local environmental policy,” Humphrey said in a statement on social media. “I know many leaders, activists, and educators found both sisters to be memorable and engaging over the years. All four of you will be missed by our community and beyond.”
Goldstein was an eighth-grade math and health teacher at the Edith C. Baker School in Brookline, according to Justin Brown, the president of the Brookline Educators Union. He led the math league and the school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance.
Brookline Superintendent Linus J. Guillory Jr. saidin a Friday statement thatGoldstein was “an exceptional educator” and “beloved” member of the school community.
He also inspired his colleagues. A woman who said she worked across the hall from Goldstein said in a social media post that he “took care of everyone around him – his family, his coworkers, his students, etc.”
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“He could find the upside to every situation,” she wrote.
Flowers on the front door step of the Goldstein family home on Margaret Road in Newton on Friday.Erin Clark/Globe Staff
The Goldsteins had been expected to arrive at a holiday gathering on Wednesday, but family members contacted authorities when the four did not answer phone calls and messages, officials said. Wakefield police responded to the home at 2962 Province Lake Road and found the four adults dead inside late Wednesday afternoon.
New Hampshire investigators identified the home’s gas heating system as the source of the carbon monoxide leak, officials said. New Hampshire State Fire Marshal Sean Toomey said Friday that investigators believe there was “some sort of malfunction” with the system that prevented carbon monoxide gas from exiting outside the home.
“We’re still looking into all the details of that failure at this point,” he said.
Town records from Wakefield, N.H., show that the Goldsteins purchased the five-bedroom lakeside home in 2017. The property, which was built in 1984, is located on Balch Lake.
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Several pictures on Matthew Goldstein’s Instagram page showed the family swimming and kayaking on Balch Lake. A video he posted Dec. 22 showed one of his daughters splitting wood outside the house. After the news of their deaths, the post has received a flood of condolences in the comments.
Toomey said “there were no carbon monoxide alarms” in the home. He urged New Hampshire residents to make sure they have working carbon monoxide detectors and check with their relatives and neighbors to make sure they do as well.
“Carbon monoxide is a silent killer,” he told reporters. “It’s colorless, odorless, and it will mimic flu-like symptoms, headaches, nausea. Especially at this time of year, with all the regular illnesses going on, it can be mistaken for something else, and that stresses the importance of having the working carbon monoxide alarms in your homes at this point.”
The office of the state’s chief medical examiner determined Goldstein’s cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning, and the manner of his death is pending. The cause and manner of deaths of Lyla, Valerie, and Violet also remain pending, officials said. No further information was released Saturday.
Toomey said the state typically sees two or three deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning in a given year, but the number rose above 10 in 2024, including the Goldsteins. He expressed sympathy for the family and their relatives and friends, as well as the first responders who found the family in the home on Christmas Day.
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“This has been a terribly tragic year for both fire deaths and carbon monoxide deaths,” he said. “I think it wears on all of us. … To lose a whole family of four right in the peak of the holiday season, it hits home even more.”
Tonya Alanez of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com.
AND NOW THERE’S SOME ICE UP NORTH THIS MORNING. SO SOME LOCALIZED SLICK SPOTS POSSIBLE NOW AND PROBABLY THROUGH THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS, SAY THROUGH ABOUT 9 OR 10 A.M. AS THE TEMPERATURES HOVER NEAR FREEZING, ESPECIALLY NEAR AND NORTH OF THE LAKES REGION. SO ANYTHING UNTREATED MAY BE A BIT SLICK. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FOR GRAFTON, CARROLL AND COOS COUNTIES THROUGH 10 A.M. AND THIS IS WHERE MOST OF US ARE SEEING TEMPERATURES NEAR OR BELOW 32. WE’RE RIGHT THERE IN PLYMOUTH AND IN LACONIA, SOME HIGHER ELEVATIONS THROUGH CHESHIRE AND SULLIVAN COUNTIES AS WELL. SITTING VERY CLOSE TO FREEZING. SO BASICALLY ANYWHERE YOU SEE THIS BLUE COLOR HAS AT LEAST THE CHANCE FOR HAVING SOME LIGHT FREEZING RAIN. IT’S A HEAVIER RAIN IN NORTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE, AND EVEN WITHIN JUST THE PAST COUPLE OF MINUTES. FOR THOSE OF YOU IN THE GREATER CONWAY AREA. YEAH, YOU SEE THIS LIGHTNING BOLT ON THE RADAR. SO SOME THUNDER WAKING YOU UP IN THE MOUNT WASHINGTON VALLEY AND RIGHT ALONG ROUTE 16. AND AGAIN, IT IS KIND OF FUNNY THAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT THUNDER AND LIGHTNING. THE TEMPERATURES ARE SO CLOSE TO FREEZING. REALLY DOESN’T HAVE MUCH OF AN IMPACT ABOUT WHAT’S GOING ON UP IN THE CLOUD, BUT CERTAINLY DOWN AT GROUND LEVEL. ANYWHERE YOU SEE THIS PINK COLOR, THAT RAIN COULD BE FREEZING ON CONTACT. IT’S A LITTLE BIT MILDER RIGHT ALONG THE CONNECTICUT RIVER, BUT YOU GET JUST EAST OF THERE, OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS AND UP INTO THE GREAT NORTH WOODS AS WELL, THROUGH, SAY, ERROL BERLIN, GORHAM. THAT’S WHERE THEY’RE LIKELY SOME SLICK SPOTS TO CONTEND WITH THROUGH THIS MORNING. YOU SEE THE PINK COLOR LINGERING IN NORTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE THROUGH ABOUT 7 A.M. ON FUTURECAST. NOT COMPLETELY DRY. FARTHER SOUTH, THOUGH, THE DRIZZLE, THE LOW CLOUDS. THE FOG MAKING FOR A CHILLY, MURKY MORNING COMMUTE OUT THERE, THERE MAY BE A POP UP SHOWER OR DOWNPOUR MID MORNING, EVEN FAR SOUTH, AND THEN FROM MIDDAY AND BEYOND, THE CLOUDS WILL SLOWLY START TO BREAK APART FROM WEST TO EAST. THAT SHOULD ALLOW FOR SOME SUNSHINE THAT WILL WARM OUR TEMPERATURES UP A BIT LATER ON. TODAY. ONE LAST FRONT COMES IN LATER ON THIS EVENING. ALONG. IT COULD COME IN ADDITIONAL SPOT SHOWER OR DOWNPOUR. MUCH OF WESTERN AND SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE MAKES A RUN TOWARD THE UPPER 50S TO NEAR 60 DEGREES TODAY, WITH THAT SUN BREAKING OUT THIS AFTERNOON, BUT LIKELY SOME COOLER POCKETS IN THE LAKES REGION IN THE MOUNT WASHINGTON VALLEY THAT KEEP TEMPERATURES THERE A BIT CLOSER TO THE 50 DEGREE MARK. ITS OPENING DAY DOWN AT FENWAY. FIRST PITCH THERE IN BOSTON, COMING UP AT 210. THINGS SHOULD BE DRYING OUT, BUT YOU SEE THE TEMPERATURES A LITTLE BIT COOLER GIVEN THEY’RE RIGHT ALONG THE COASTLINE, THOUGH IN THE LATE INNINGS THERE COULD BE SOME SUNSHINE. NOT A BAD APRIL DAY FOR OPENING DAY DOWN AT FENWAY PARK. AND IT LOOKS LIKE WE’RE GOING TO GET IN OPENING DAY AT DELTA DENTAL STADIUM. THAT’S WHERE WE FIND OUR FRIEND, METEOROLOGIST KEVIN SKARUPA. THIS MORNING, KEVIN, THE FISHER CATS FIRST PITCH COMING UP LATER ON TONIGHT. WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FOR THAT? YEAH, IT’S A GOOD THING THAT WE’RE NOT HAVING THE THE GAME AT 6:03 A.M. BECAUSE YOU SEE THAT. YEAH. 30S AND A LITTLE BIT OF DRIZZLE OUT HERE EARLY THIS MORNING. WE ARE LOOKING AT IMPROVING CONDITIONS AS YOU’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT. AS WE GRADUALLY GO THROUGH THE DAY. WE CLIMB THROUGH THE 40S THIS MORNING, THROUGH THE 50S THIS AFTERNOON WITH THE BUILDING BREEZE AND WITH ANY SORT OF SUNSHINE AT ALL. YOU’RE TALKING UPPER 50S. THAT IS FOR FIRST PITCH JUST AFTER 6:00 THIS EVENING. THEY ARE FACING THE BINGHAMTON RUMBLE PONIES, WHICH JUST HAPPENED TO BE THE DEFENDING CHAMPS OF THE DIVISION. SO THEY’RE RIGHT OUT OF THE FRYING PAN AND INTO THE FIRE. RIGHT TONIGHT. 6:03 P.M. A LOT OF NEW STUFF TO CHECK OUT HERE WITH THE FISHER CATS. WE WILL HAVE MUCH MORE COMING UP FROM THE GIFT SHOP COMING UP IN JUST A FEW MINUTES. BACK TO YOU. SOUNDS GREAT, KEVIN, THANKS FOR THAT. AND IT’S GOOD TO SEE THAT WE’LL HAVE SOME BRIGHT AND WARMER WEATHER FOR FIRST PITCH LATER ON THIS EVENING. WE’LL HANG ON TO THE BRIGHT SKIES TOMORROW, BUT THE TEMPERATURES FALL ON SATURDAY, LIKELY REACHING THE 50S IN THE MORNING AND PROBABLY BACK IN THE 40S FOR THE AFTERNOON. UNFORTUNATELY FOR EASTER EGG HUNTS ON SUNDAY, IT IS LOOKING DAMP WITH TIMES OF CLOUDS AND SHOWER
Milder air gradually returns today after a damp start. The weekend is split with some sun Saturday, then shower chances on Easter. Cooler air will follow a front that moves in later Sunday.A winter weather advisory will be in effect for Coos, Carroll and Grafton counties until 10:00 a.m.Drizzle and light icing in higher elevations continues this morning, and a quick downpour can’t be ruled out. Clouds should gradually erode for some sunny breaks this afternoon. Temperatures will climb to near or just above 60 degrees in southern and western New Hampshire, though we may only get to near 50 in parts of the Lakes Region and Mt. Washington Valley.A spot evening shower or downpour is possible, otherwise partial clearing tonight with lows in the 40s.Partly sunny on Saturday. Temperatures may briefly climb into the 50s during the morning, then an easterly breeze will knock readings back into the 40s for the afternoon.An approaching front will keep Easter cloudy and unsettled. There may be some scattered showers early in the morning, with steadier light rain possible during the afternoon. Clearing skies but cooler air for early next week.
Milder air gradually returns today after a damp start. The weekend is split with some sun Saturday, then shower chances on Easter. Cooler air will follow a front that moves in later Sunday.
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A winter weather advisory will be in effect for Coos, Carroll and Grafton counties until 10:00 a.m.
Drizzle and light icing in higher elevations continues this morning, and a quick downpour can’t be ruled out. Clouds should gradually erode for some sunny breaks this afternoon. Temperatures will climb to near or just above 60 degrees in southern and western New Hampshire, though we may only get to near 50 in parts of the Lakes Region and Mt. Washington Valley.
A spot evening shower or downpour is possible, otherwise partial clearing tonight with lows in the 40s.
Partly sunny on Saturday. Temperatures may briefly climb into the 50s during the morning, then an easterly breeze will knock readings back into the 40s for the afternoon.
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An approaching front will keep Easter cloudy and unsettled. There may be some scattered showers early in the morning, with steadier light rain possible during the afternoon. Clearing skies but cooler air for early next week.
Video: Showers to start Friday before a mild evening
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Now Chief meteorologist Mike Haddad with your storm watch 9 forecast. Oh, the temperatures on the chilly side and then some cold enough for *** touch of wet snow in the last, say, 2 or 3 hours even here in downtown Manchester. But right now *** lot of that has lifted away. The clouds linger, more showers building in from the west, bumping in this cold air. Only 35 at this hour. Normal high 52, so we are nowhere near the normal. For this time of year in early April and even farther north, not *** whole lot warmer despite being away from the ocean influence of that wind coming in off of the chilly Atlantic right now, 30 to 40, not gonna fall off all that much as the night wears on. Band of showers number 1 approaching right now, filling into the Meannock region, places like Keene and Hinsdale and all the way up to about say Charlestown and southern parts of Solomon County near the Upper Valley getting in on. Some light rain or some light mixing, but it’s *** narrow band. It’s not gonna last more than, say, *** couple of hours, and it’ll be gone by about 10 o’clock this evening. And in the wake of that, still lingering clouds, sprinkles of rain, or even *** touch of light icing, and then more filling in by early tomorrow morning, especially to the north. Speaking of the north, winter weather advisories, if we needed any more of that right, central and northern locales of the lake. Region, the White Mountains and points north, 8 p.m. tonight to about 9 or 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. So here’s our timeline of all of that. As I mentioned, the showers building in *** quick hitter in the next 3 or 4 hours, gone by about 9 or 10 o’clock with the clouds lingering, and we’re right near freezing, especially western, central and northern New Hampshire. So there, anything untreated could glaze over. So watch out for that if you’re traveling overnight tonight after *** dry. Overnight period by about 4 or 5 a.m. through the morning drive tomorrow, more showers in the form of rain, but again right near freezing, so *** touch of light icing, especially the farther north you go. But then by the afternoon, totally different story. The winds turn around out of the southwest, the clouds break apart, and here comes that early spring warmth just in time for the Red Sox home opener tomorrow afternoon and the Fisher Cats opener. Right here in the Queen City in the early evening. So again, the highs tomorrow, much better than we are out there right now. So again for the Sox home opener tomorrow, we’re drying out by midday and early afternoon later on in the innings, hopefully with the Red Sox ahead. Peaks of sun and the temperatures in the mid to upper 50s. Next round of showers, unfortunately Easter Sunday. Tough to call the exact timeline, but it looks like *** late morning and afternoon event, dry and cool Monday through Wednesday.
Cold, raw, and damp through early Friday. Pockets of an icy mix are possible over higher elevations north and west Thursday night. By Friday afternoon the skies will try to clear as milder air moves in. Some sun on Saturday with highs in the upper 50s, but now it looks wet on Easter Sunday, with morning showers then a steadier rain in the afternoon and evening. Even cooler feel early next week.A winter weather advisory will be in effect for Coos, Carroll and Grafton counties in New Hampshire from 8:00 p.m. Thursday evening until 10:00 a.m. Friday morning. This is due to the risk of light icy mix, which could slow travel.Once morning showers clear away on Friday, it’s back to milder weather with many areas seeing temperatures rebound into the 50s and 60s with some sun. The weekend could also feature the chance of showers each day, but Saturday looks like the drier of the two weekend days. Temperatures will likely land in the upper 50s to near 60. A steadier batch of rain is then possible on Sunday with some cooler temperatures again early next week.
Cold, raw, and damp through early Friday. Pockets of an icy mix are possible over higher elevations north and west Thursday night. By Friday afternoon the skies will try to clear as milder air moves in. Some sun on Saturday with highs in the upper 50s, but now it looks wet on Easter Sunday, with morning showers then a steadier rain in the afternoon and evening. Even cooler feel early next week.
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A winter weather advisory will be in effect for Coos, Carroll and Grafton counties in New Hampshire from 8:00 p.m. Thursday evening until 10:00 a.m. Friday morning. This is due to the risk of light icy mix, which could slow travel.
Once morning showers clear away on Friday, it’s back to milder weather with many areas seeing temperatures rebound into the 50s and 60s with some sun. The weekend could also feature the chance of showers each day, but Saturday looks like the drier of the two weekend days. Temperatures will likely land in the upper 50s to near 60. A steadier batch of rain is then possible on Sunday with some cooler temperatures again early next week.
The state of New Hampshire receives revenue from sports wagers made with DraftKings, but officials are worried that people will switch to new prediction market platforms.
Zoey Knox/NHPR
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Zoey Knox/NHPR
Two things have New Hampshire state Sen. Tim Lang feeling blue.
“I do have a bracket. It broke pretty hard,” says Lang, a Republican, on the sorry state of his NCAA men’s basketball tournament predictions.
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He says he’s also concerned about the outlook for state revenues. New Hampshire legalized sports wagering in 2019, the year after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for states to legalize and regulate sports gambling. Since then, the state has raked in more than $170 million through a partnership with the wagering company DraftKings. Big money in a small state.
The rise of Kalshi and Polymarket — major players in the fast-growing world of prediction markets — could put a dent in those revenues, Lang fears. He says he plans to introduce legislation as early as this week that would clear the way for New Hampshire to join states around the U.S. in suing the prediction market companies.
“We have a revenue model for our sports betting that allows us to pay for education and other state services that Kalshi is completely going around by avoiding our gaming laws,” he says. “They should not be able to skirt our state laws.”
States are suing to regulate prediction markets
Prediction companies let customers buy “yes” or “no” futures contracts on the outcomes of world events, elections and, crucially for states, sports. Because the companies contend they’re operating as a financial market and not a sportsbook, the states don’t get a cut of the proceeds.
States including Connecticut, Michigan and Washington are in court battles with the prediction market companies. Arizona went so far as to charge Kalshi in criminal court for offering illegal sports wagers.
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Kalsi and Polymarket didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story. In legal filings, Kalshi has argued that it’s already regulated by the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission and that having to operate in 50 different ways to appease 50 different states isn’t possible. The Trump administration, so far, backs that view.
Courts so far have handed down mixed rulings, leaving a messy situation on the ground, especially about what’s considered sports gambling.
The law is unsettled so far
“Is sports betting and prediction market synonymous, or are they sufficiently distinct that there should be different treatment under the law? I mean, that’s an open-ended question,” says Michael McCann, director of the University of New Hampshire’s Sports and Entertainment Law Institute.
Even with the prospect of lost state revenues, not everyone in New Hampshire is eager to clamp down on prediction markets. John Stephen, an elected Republican member of the council that oversees state contracts, likes the competition that prediction markets bring.
“Companies that are trying to make money, and this entrepreneurial spirit that we have in this country, I value that,” he says.
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Todd Bookman is a general assignment reporter for New Hampshire Public Radio.
