⛅️Partly sunny today, with a slight chance of showers and a high of 54. Sunset is at 5:42 p.m. It’s day 28 of the federal government shutdown.
Today, we look at a story that’s near and dear to our hearts: one of the Blue Hills, in Dedham and Milton. It’s the same Blue Hills where our main radio tower is located — and the very hills that inspired our name, GBH (Great Blue Hills, get it?). GBH’s Hannah Reale spoke with a group of volunteers who have been hiking through the area to document the plant and bird species returning after sweeping wildfires burned their habitat last year. But first, the news.
Four Things to Know
- Jamaicans living in the Boston area are deeply concerned for friends and family as Hurricane Melissa slowly approaches the Caribbean nation. The Category 5 storm is projected to be the most catastrophic in Jamaica’s history. Niambe McIntosh, founder of the Peter Tosh Foundation and daughter of the famous musician, said her organization has been raising funds to send to community leaders and groups in Jamaica who can “really help the communities in which they’re in.”
- Starting Wednesday, many Massachusetts employers will be required to comply with a new wage transparency law that requires them to disclose the annual or hourly pay range in job postings. Gov. Maura Healey signed the bill — formally titled An Act Relative to Salary Range Transparency — into law in 2024, calling it an important step toward increasing equity and closing wage gaps across the Commonwealth.
- The defense industry plays such a significant role in Massachusetts’ economy that Eric Paley, who became Gov. Maura Healey’s economic development chief in September, said he was “blown away” when he began reviewing the numbers. Paley shared some of those figures Monday as state officials announced a new initiative to boost the defense sector and support companies developing military-related technologies. He said it’s a $50 billion dollar industry, accounting for over 7% of the state’s economy and nearly 140,000 jobs.
- Protein has become somewhat of a cultural obsession in recent years. You’ll find it in snacks, drinks, coffee, cereals — you name it, it’s been protein-fortified. Social media makes it sound like the more protein you eat, the healthier you’ll be, with some TikTok influencers pushing an all-carnivore diet. But it can be hard to distinguish what’s true from what’s trendy. Boston University nutrition professor Dr. Joan Salge-Blake joined GBH’s All Things Considered host Arun Rath to talk about all things protein.
A Closer Look
Last fall, a spate of fires broke out in drought-stricken forests across New England. One of those fires burned more than 40 acres in Blue Hills Reservation, a popular nature preserve that borders Dedham and Milton.
“I came here after the fire,” recalled John O’Neill, who grew up in Milton and remembers visiting Blue Hills as a toddler more than 60 years ago. “It was quite shocking to see it all really scarred. Just black, no color.”
Since April, O’Neill and more than a dozen other dedicated volunteers have been regularly hiking into Blue Hills to document the species of plants and birds that are returning after their habitat was burned. It’s the first season of a three-year “opportunistic experiment” in partnership with the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation.
“What I think is really cool about this project is the grassroots element of it,” said Ian Kinahan, an ecologist with the department.
After avid local hikers who love Blue Hills reached out with concerns about the area’s recovery, the state saw an opportunity to contribute to the all-too-small body of research on how New England plant life and wildlife return after hot brush fires.
Read and listen to the full story here.
Dig Deeper
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