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☁️Cloudy with highs in the 50s. Sunset is at 4:14 p.m.
Good morning. If you have plans to travel by car for Thanksgiving, now’s the time to hit the road. “Early is the name of the game,” Jillian Young, the director of public relations for AAA Northeast, told GBH’s Jeremy Siegel.
“I know we sound a little bit like a broken record saying every year it’s a new record [number of travelers], but that’s the reality of the situation,” she said.
The state’s Department of Transportation is halting all scheduled construction projects for the rest of the week — giving workers time off and freeing up a few extra lanes for holiday traffic.
“We are projecting that 2025 traffic congestion will be heavier, it will be earlier in the day, and it will especially be heavy on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday this year,” said Jonathan Gulliver, Massachusetts’ undersecretary of transportation and highway administrator.
Four Things to Know
1. Flu cases across Massachusetts remain low for now, but public health officials are watching the strain that’s most prevalent this season: H3N2. “[This strain] had a significant number of mutations. Those mutations resulted in a new, what we call subclade of flu. And that just means it’s a little bit different,“ explained Dr. Robbie Goldstein, Massachusetts Commissioner of Public Health. ”Our bodies aren’t going to respond in the same way, and the vaccine might not respond in the same way.”
For most people, symptoms will mirror other flu strains: fever, cough, runny nose and sometimes vomiting or diarrhea. Goldstein recommends getting a flu shot if you haven’t already.
2. After a weekend during which more than 100 election workers and volunteers recounted ballots by hand, the results for Worcester’s final at-large City Council’s seat are in: incumbent Morris Bergman has been re-elected, edging out seventh-place finisher Jermoh Kamara by 32 votes.
Bergman is one of five councilors keeping their seats. Six new councilors will join them following this month’s elections.
3. Every town in Cape Cod can now be legally designated a “seasonal community,” a category designed to support year-round residents in areas with heavy tourism and high housing costs. Town councils — or their equivalents — in Barnstable, Bourne, Falmouth, Mashpee, Sandwich and Yarmouth, which previously lacked the designation, will now vote on whether to adopt it.
Accepting the title would unlock state funding for affordable housing, give towns authority to create housing for municipal employees and increase tax exemptions for year-round residents. It would also allow tiny homes on undersized lots — provided they’re suitable for year-round living.
4. The sperm whale that washed up on Nantucket last week is now back out at sea. Researchers haven’t determined the cause of death: at 52 tons, he was too big to move ashore for a necropsy (animal autopsy). They did collect tissue samples from the carcass and sent them to a lab.
To prevent the whale from washing up again, crews used an excavator and a tugboat to tow him 50 miles offshore.
Tips for a Thanksgiving dinner that won’t break the bank
How can you prepare Thanksgiving dinner when money is tight? GBH’s Renuka Balakrishnan spoke with a nutritionist and a dietician who work closely with people facing food insecurity. Here are their tips — especially helpful if you’re navigating a tight food budget for the first time.
-Make a list and stick to it, Nour Hammad, a dietitian who studies nutrition in low-income communities at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told Balakrishnan.
“Sometimes it’s hard to resist impulse buying,” Hammad said. “Avoid going grocery shopping when you’re hungry or even when your kids are hungry.”
-Look for deals on turkey: Balakrishnan found a frozen 10-pound bird for $6.37. Hammad suggests looking for a frozen turkey, opting for a smaller bird and less-expensive side dishes, or even replacing the turkey with a less-pricey chicken. Eva Pierre, a nutritionist with Boston hunger nonprofit Project Bread, suggests looking for turkey giveaways — Action Boston for Community Development offers one.
-Consider swapping fresh fruits and vegetables with frozen or canned — they’re usually less expensive and can be just as nutritious, as long as you watch for added salt and sugar.
“Frozen really is the next-best thing,” Pierre told Balakrishnan. “Once it’s picked, it’s flash-frozen, where the nutrients are intact. And that will save you money as well.”
-Stretch your leftovers into future meals: Pierre suggests mixing turkey, vegetables and other leftovers with rice, adding whatever spices you have on hand, and calling it a “spiced harvest rice.”
“It doesn’t matter how much you make, what kind of family you’re coming from,” Pierre said. “You deserve to be healthy.”
Watch Renuka Balakrishnan shopping for a Thanksgiving meal and using cost-saving tips.
Dig deeper:
-One year later, independent grocery store still serving community in Springfield
-Beyond SNAP, tons of crops are gleaned and given to people who need food assistance
GBH Daily
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