This is a web edition of GBH Daily, a weekday newsletter bringing you local stories you can trust so you can stay informed without feeling overwhelmed.
☀️Breezy, sunny and chilly, with highs in the 50s. Sunset is at 4:31 p.m. It’s day 37 of the federal government shutdown.
An update on SNAP benefits, which more than 1.1 million people in Massachusetts rely on to buy food: payments for November, frozen because of the federal shutdown, are expected to resume early next week. But recipients will receive about half the money they normally do, and some may not receive any money at all.
“My pantry is getting low,” Danielle Andrews of West Wareham told GBH’s Craig LeMoult. “It’s getting scary. And this is only day one.”
Andrews is a single mom. One of her 15-year-old twins is autistic and nonverbal, and she stays home to care for him.
“The reason why they have SNAP is for people that cannot work, you know, whether it’s elderly, disabled, or caring for the disabled like I am,” Andrews said. “I would love to work and have everything work out and have my son be set with everything he needs. But right now at this point, I don’t have the option to do that.” You can read Craig’s full story here.
Four Things to Know
1. As the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether President Donald Trump could legally impose tariffs without congressional approval, small business owners from Massachusetts spoke in Washington D.C., about how the tariffs have affected them.
“These are family owned, main street businesses,” Meghan Ellis, who runs the toy company Schylling in North Andover, said in a press conference led by U.S. Senator Ed Markey. “The kind of stores where children press their noses against the glass and the owners know every customer by name.” She said she worries that rising prices caused by tariffs will force some of those stores to close. Expect a decision in this case next year.
2. About 22% of registered voters in Worcester cast a ballot in Tuesday’s election — the highest voter turnout the city has seen in a local election in a decade. Those voters re-elected Mayor Joe Petty and flipped a few city council seats: challengers Jose Rivera and Rob Bilotta beat incumbents Candy Mero-Carlson and Etel Haxhiaj for district councilor seats.
“The saddest thing to have is a population that says ‘it don’t matter. Nothing ever changes,’” said Ann Lisi of the League of Women Voters in Worcester. “The argument we’re making at the League of Women Voters: Vote in every election because what happens locally can help you, can be a safety net for you.”
3. Boston has been working on a sister city partnership with Athens, Greece. The process involves the two cities learning from each other on issues like tourism and addressing climate change, said Symeon Tegos, consul general of Greece in Boston.
“It’s a global problem; we need global solutions and global answers,” Tegos said. “So exchanging know-how, exchanging cultural experience, exchanging answers to challenges is part of the process.”
4. A post-October reason to visit Salem: the Peabody Essex Museum is hosting a career retrospective for Singaporean fashion designer Andrew Gn, featuring his elaborate and dramatic creations — on display through February 16, 2026.
“Beauty is really the motto of my life, in my personal life, in my professional life. I really live for beauty,” he told GBH’s Jared Bowen. You can see their full interview and some of Gn’s dresses on display here.
How a college in Vermont built a home for students who learn differently
In 1985, Landmark College in Putney, Vermont welcomed its first class: 77 students, all of them looking for an education that supported their needs as neurodivergent learners.
Other colleges in the U.S. often did not offer much help for students with dyslexia, ADHD, autism and other types of neurodivergence.
“Most existing college programs at the time simply offered students accommodations like books on tape or a scribe to help write your papers or somebody to take notes for you,” founding academic dean Jim Baucom told GBH’s Kirk Carapezza.
This year there are more than 400 students at Landmark. They’re working toward bachelors’ and associates’ degrees while also learning skills like note-taking, time management and reading strategies.
“We are teaching meta-cognition, self-awareness and self-advocacy,” said Rebecca Matte, a professor of education.
And those methods are working for students like Isaac Fynewever-Muyskens from Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“Being in a community of people that all have that similar experience is really, really powerful,” Fynewever-Muyskens told Carapezza.
Corey Bub from Westerlo, New York, said it’s nice to have support be so widespread.
“The support for neurodiverse students is not contained to one department,” Bub added. “All of the staff here have familiarity with neurodiversity, with students with autism, students who have dyslexia.”
Get a deeper look into the campus here.
Dig deeper:
-Under political pressure, colleges try to recruit more rural students
-Colleges hope to ‘AI-proof’ their offerings as new tech changes job expectations
GBH Daily
Your essential daily newsletter delivering trusted news, local insights, ways to connect, and can't miss programs from Boston and beyond.
