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.
☁️Cloudy, foggy day, with highs in the 80s. Sunset is at 8:04 p.m.
Today we have a Free Ride for anyone who loves a good ramble. But first: Was there an MBTA ride you’ll never forget? Maybe it was a bus trip seared into your brain, a friend you made while waiting for the train, or another memorable experience, good or bad. I’d love to hear your stories and feature some favorites in a future issue of this newsletter. You can reply to this email or send a message to daily@wgbh.org. Feel free to include pictures.
And as a bonus — if you’re looking for something to do this weekend, GBH’s Jared Bowen has three suggestions: the exhibit “Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea” at the Cape Ann Museum, Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” and Caroline Bicks’ book “Monsters in the Archives,” in which she explores Stephen King’s works. He talks more about them here.
Four Things to Know
1. Stoughton’s police chief and town manager are both on administrative leave. Police Chief Donna McNamara filed a lawsuit against Town Manager Tom Calter, saying he harassed her and forced her out of her job because she is a woman. The town’s select board voted to keep both of them off the job while they look into the claims.
Stoughton’s police department has been under scrutiny since the death of Sandra Birchmore, a 23-year-old woman who grew up participating in the local police department’s youth program. Prosecutors say a former police officer, Matthew Farwell, had sexually abused Birchmore starting when she was 15, and have accused him of killing her and staging her death to look like a suicide.
2. Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said the ethics fine he received after the 2022 election, in which he won his first full term, is not comparable to the ethics investigation involving his predecessor and current opponent, former DA Rachael Rollins. The two will be on the primary ballot Sept. 1, along with attorney Linda Champion.
The state ethics commission fined Hayden $5,000 after it found his office had leaked information about his then-opponent, Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo. Rollins’ was investigated for attending a Democratic Party fundraiser while she served as U.S. attorney for Massachusetts. “I think it’s drastically different than a situation of lying under oath to federal investigators,” Hayden said yesterday. “I have always maintained that I didn’t know the statement was going to be released. But the reality is that I am the leader. I am the head.”
3. Red Line service is back to normal today after a 10-day shutdown from Alewife to Park Street. Crews worked on tracks, signals and noise-reducing infrastructure.
Next stop: major portions of the Green Line will be closed this weekend. Trains will be out of service from North Station to Babcock Street on the B line, Kenmore on the C and D branches and Heath Street on the E line. MBTA officials are asking passengers to use the Orange Line and buses instead. Routes 57 from Kenmore to Watertown Yard and 39 from Forest Hills to Back Bay will be fare-free.. Here’s a map of service disruptions.
4. Shark researchers off the coast of Rhode Island tagged their very first scalloped hammerhead, a critically endangered species that usually spends time in warmer waters.
“Unfortunately, we have water temperatures that are rising,” said Jon Dodd, executive director of the Atlantic Shark Institute in Rhode Island. “We’re seeing our cold water sharks like our blue sharks, they’re really enjoying Maine and Canada now. So we’re seeing a shift. We’ve got these hammerheads coming in. We’re seeing some spinner sharks and blacktips.”
Free Ride: A countryside ramble in Hingham and Cohasset
Welcome to Free Ride, your weekly guide to a $0 day trip. Remember: the MBTA Commuter Rail is fare-free every Friday this summer. As each weekend approaches, I’ll invite you to take a break and find some nature, art, science, fashion, music and more — all for $0 (or as close to free as I can get).
Some people want to spend their summers going to the beach and milking every drop of sunshine. But on gloomier days like today, I want to suggest a different route: embracing the gray skies and going for a ramble. Think of it not as a beach day wasted but as an opportunity to enjoy some greenery, smell the petrichor and pretend you’re in the English countryside or on an episode of “All Creatures Great and Small.”
Start by putting on some bug repellent and comfortable walking shoes. Then take the Greenbush Line to Nantasket Junction, about 45 minutes from South Station. From there it’s about a mile’s walk to Weir River Farm. This is a 75-acre farm with animals, a gorgeous red barn, flowers and stone walls. The barnyard itself typically isn’t open to the public on Fridays (though you can come back for their open barnyard events on Sundays), but I was able to get a look at some goats in the grass.
The property isn’t just farmland: you can also walk through woods to Turkey Hill and into Whitney and Thayer Woods. Either follow this trail map from the Trustees of Reservations or just pick a path that appeals to you and keep walking until you reach the end.
My favorite site was an unexpected one: at the top of Turkey Hill is an old concrete structure that once housed parts of the Nike air defense missile system during the Cold War. Today, the structure is hollowed out, with no roof or doors, and has been transformed into a collaborative art exhibit. A sign on the wall encourages visitors to add their own mark, using the walls as a canvas. On a clear day, you can also see the Boston skyline from the top of the hill.
To get back home you can retrace your steps or keep walking through the Wompatuck State Park to Cohasset station.
Like this Free Ride? Share it with a friend and tell them to subscribe to GBH Daily for more.
And remember: if you take any of these trips or have your own Free Ride ideas to share, I want to hear from you! Send me a note at daily@wgbh.org.
😎More free rides:
-The soles of history in Haverhill
-Thinking outside the frame in Lowell
GBH Daily
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