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.
🌤️Mostly sunny with highs in the 70s. Sunset is at 7:19 p.m.
Tomorrow is the primary election in Massachusetts, and polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. If you haven’t yet submitted your ballot by mail or voted early, GBH’s Sara Hassan has a very comprehensive list of competitive primary races. She also walks you through how to figure out who’s on the ballot in your district. You can find her voter guide here. Once the polls close we’ll have full results on air, online and in this newsletter on Wednesday morning.
Four Things to Know
1. More people are looking for help paying for clothing, hygiene products, and school supplies this year, said Ari Barbanell, executive director of the nonprofit Circle of Hope. “We used to get a call or two a month. I’ve been getting a call or two a day for support,” Barbanell told GBH’s Judie Yuill.
People are especially asking for backpacks, sweatsuits, and adult-sized underwear, she said. “Especially younger children are having trouble getting to school when they have to worry about if they can change or wash their clothes, if they can have a new outfit, a clean outfit, if they have deodorant or toothpaste,” she said. The nonprofit has a list of ways in which people can help here.
2. Young adults who talked to researchers about their sports betting habits said they mostly see it as casual and low-stakes entertainment, like spending a few dollars on coffee or lunch. They also said they know gambling can be more destructive, but said they didn’t worry about it too much.
“There was a really important contradiction that repeatedly emerged throughout this study, and that was that participants recognized these risks in theory, but many of them viewed themselves and their immediate friends as relatively immune to these risks,” said Katie Gallant of NORC, a research organization at the University of Chicago.
3. Nepalese people in Massachusetts are anxiously waiting for news after deadly floods in Nepal and Tibet. The official death toll is about 800, and about 3,000 people are missing.
“I’ve been posting their pictures and stuff on Facebook and Instagram to see if anyone can give me good news,” said Sushma Adhikari, who lives in Greater Boston and has nine friends who are missing. “People are still rescuing, there are many people are...who were stuck are being found.”
4. The people behind the new Steamship Authority terminal in Woods Hole, where people pass through on their way to the ferry to and from Martha’s Vineyard, are hoping they can get the buildings to net zero energy use — meaning they’ll produce as much energy as the building uses. They already have 29 geothermal heat pump wells for heating and cooling. The next step is adding solar panels to the roof.
And after that, they’ll look to add new hybrid boats. “Some of our other passenger boats are getting, you know, they’re over 50 years old. So, we’re looking to get those replaced,” General Manager Alex Kryska said. You can see the new terminal here.
Why the Lindsay Clancy trial has energized maternal mental health advocates
A lot of people are talking about the trial of Lindsay Clancy: supporters showing up in pink T-shirts outside the courtroom, members of the manosphere online and everyday people catching trial updates on TV or on social media.
Jurors are deliberating whether to find Clancy guilty of first-degree murder (or a lesser charge) in the killings of her three children: Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months. Her defense lawyers have said she killed the children but contend that she was in the middle of a postpartum psychosis episode and should be sent to a state mental hospital instead of prison.
So what is postpartum psychosis, and how can new parents get help if they think they’re dealing with it?
“It’s potentially lethal but highly treatable,” Dr. Uruj Kamal Haider, a perinatal psychiatrist and expert on postpartum psychosis, told In Common host Jeremy Siegel. Haider didn’t talk specifically about Clancy’s case, but instead spoke more broadly about what happens when stress, lack of sleep and hormonal changes all coincide.
“We tend to ask, ‘How could a mom do this?’” Haider said. “But we have to understand ... this is not a personality pathology or a flaw of the character. What’s missed is these moms are truly doing it from their own reality, not from the reality that you and I see.”
Siegel also spoke with Kriti Lodha, a mother from Newton who was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis after her son was born. You can hear her talk about her story here, but here’s what she wants people to take away from her case:
“This is a medical emergency, but it’s temporary and treatable,” she said. “We have the collective power, wisdom and urgency to make sure that we prevent any other tragedy from happening.”
You can find Siegel’s full story here.
Dig deeper:
-Arguments in Lindsay Clancy’s case are over. What do jurors do now?
-What is postpartum psychosis? Psychiatrists explain pregnancy-related mental illnesses
GBH Daily
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