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.
☂️Small chance of evening showers with highs in the 80s. Sunset is at 7:46 p.m.
Today we have a Free Ride that takes us from the edge of the rails to the edge of the water. But first: thank you to everyone who shared the stories of their most memorable MBTA rides in the last two weeks. Jane wrote in with a late-night Green Line ride she took when she first moved to Boston in the 1970s. “Apparently I fell asleep, and this was the last train of the day, because I woke up to the sound and sight of a custodian sweeping the train, now in the car barn at the Cleveland Circle terminus/turnaround,” she wrote. “It was after 1 a.m., and I jumped up, rushed past the surprised cleaner, and walked home in the dark to my apartment a few blocks away.”
And John remembered a ride with his dad when he was 9 or 10 years old: “My dad motioned for me to head to the window in the front where I saw the elevated tracks out in front of me. I watched the signals change from green to red and felt the train rattling and rocking as it sped along the mainline! We eventually arrived at Forest Hills where we switched directions and headed north. On the return trip, I stayed at the front of the train until we reached Sullivan Square where we switched directions again and headed back to North Station to catch the commuter train home.” If you have a kid who loves trains in your life, maybe use this as a reminder to (safely!) point out some signals and other behind-the-scenes infrastructure next time you ride the T.
Four Things to Know
1. A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit the Trump administration filed against Harvard alleging it had ignored the harassment of Jewish students. U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns said the administration had not proven ongoing violations of federal civil rights.
“The essential work of combating antisemitism must not be conflated with efforts to use federal civil rights law as a tool for political coercion or governmental control over colleges and universities,” said Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities.
2. Despite new federal policies banning Medicaid programs from covering gender-affirming care for transgender minors, MassHealth will keep covering those treatments for people under 18, including hormone therapies. The money will come from an $8.5 million fund called the Affirming Health Care Trust.
A study from UCLA’s Williams Institute estimates there are roughly 14,000 transgender teens in Massachusetts but does not measure how many of them rely on MassHealth for health insurance. While trans youth can seek out puberty blockers, hormone therapy and counseling, surgical care is usually reserved for adults. There were zero bottom surgeries for gender dysphoria, also known as vaginoplasties or phalloplasties, performed on anyone under 18 on MassHealth in 2024.
3. Kratom won’t be sold in Massachusetts beginning in two weeks, at least temporarily. Gov. Maura Healey signed an emergency order restricting its sale for a year. Kratom comes from a tree native to Southeast Asia and is commonly found in convenience stores, despite not being federally regulated.
“Dangerous kratom products are being sold in stores across Massachusetts with little oversight, and people, including children, often have no way of knowing what they’re buying or how potent it is,” Healey said in a statement.
4. People from towns around the Quabbin, the reservoir in Western Massachusetts from which 3.3 million people in the Boston area get their drinking water, have for years been saying they want the state to do more to help their towns. The towns of Pelham, New Salem and Petersham have to limit development to protect the reservoir’s water, which means they have a smaller tax base than they otherwise might. They also have to get their own water from wells, not from the Quabbin.
Now Gov. Maura Healey said she’s open to a conversation about what these towns get in return. She mentioned supporting local police and fire efforts, and also having Massachusetts Water Resources Authority workers lend a hand with helping them get clean water. “It is time that we more fully recognize the unique contributions of the people and municipalities of the Quabbin watershed,” Healey said.
Free Ride: On the rail trail in Newburyport
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).
Massachusetts is covered in rail trails, places where defunct railroad tracks have been ripped up, paved over and turned into scenic pathways. We’ve already gone to one in South Acton for our very first Free Ride at the start of summer. I love them because they’re very accessible: you can walk, run, ride your bike, push a stroller or roll along in a wheelchair. The terrain is usually fairly smooth and they tend to have some interesting history, which you can find on plaques along the route.
Take the Clipper City Rail Trail in Newburyport. To get there, disembark the Commuter Rail at Newburyport. You’ll find the trailhead past a crosswalk at the end of the platform. I did this trail on foot, but if you want to do this trail on two wheels know that you can bring your bike on the train during off-peak hours. There are also bike rental stations, which will run you $3 for 30 minutes.
Along the 3.3-mile route, you’ll find striking public art, most of it inspired by the natural world. There are two tall metal sparrows, a cheeky metal-and-wood horse and a great blue heron stalking a school of fish. There are also historical markers: one tells the story of Guinea, the neighborhood where a significant population of Black residents lived in the 19th century. Another shows how a roundhouse — sort of a turntable for trains — helped turn around locomotives that didn’t function well in reverse.
After about a mile and a half on the trail you’ll get to the Merrimack River. Take a right and keep walking along it. You’ll see more public art (my favorite piece was a seagull with outstretched human hands for wings) and some lovely places to rest, including bench swings and Adirondack chairs.
If you’re the kind of person who enjoys window shopping and can walk into a store without feeling an irresistible urge to buy something — or if you’re ok with spending some money — stop by Oldies Marketplace for a very eclectic collection of antiques. They’re open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays.
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:
