GBH Daily: How's the Green Line fare crackdown going?

😎Sunny and warm, with a high of 68. Sunset will be at 5:41 p.m.

A new art installation in East Boston hearkens back to the area’s role as a gateway for thousands of immigrants a century ago. But first: The state’s Healthy Incentives Program, or HIP, gives people who are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) up to $80 a month to buy fresh produce at local farmstands and farmers markets. That’s especially important with food insecurity on the rise in the Bay State.

But there’s a catch: HIP recipients can only use their benefits at farmstands and farmers markets that the state has approved as vendors, and in many communities around the state, local farmers and farmers markets lack approval.

Sam Turken delved into the issue this week, talking to farmers and the managers of farmers markets who say they’re frustrated that they haven’t been able to enroll as HIP vendors. The farmers say the cap on vendors is due to a lack of funding for the program. State officials told Turken that they plan to start enrolling new vendors for the first time since 2022. Read more on the issue and how it’s affecting families in Worcester and beyond.

Four Things to Know

1. Green Line riders are seeing more fare enforcement. Last September, the T began ramping up its fare enforcement initiative for the Green Line. T workers in bright blue shirts, khaki pants and MBTA caps would no longer just be warning fare evading passengers; they would begin issuing citations and fines. But according to public records data shared with MassLive last month, the initiative has been mostly “bark” and little “bite.” 
2. Mass. trails the nation in fertility rates. The U.S. general fertility rate recently hit a new record low amid a nearly two decade decline, according to the latest report from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And Massachusetts and the other New England states are leading the pack in showing just how low that rate can go.
3. Mass. installs dozens of wrong-way detection cameras. Nearly 90 wrong-way driving detection systems installed in June have already detected over 215 wrong-way driving incidents, leading to roughly 140 drivers correcting course on the road. The state hopes to have 300 of the cameras in operation by the end of 2027. 
4. What are all those red shoes on Boston Common? More than 100 painted red shoes were lined up Wednesday morning at the Boston Common to honor lives lost to gender-based violence. Mexican artist Elina Chauvet has been taking this installation, “Zapatos Rojos,” or “Red Shoes,” across the world. Impassioned to do this work after losing her sister to domestic violence, Chauvet took it upon herself to explore the theme in countries like Norway, Spain and Argentina after debuting the installation in Mexico in 2009.

The Golden Thread sheds light on East Boston history

By the shipyard on East Boston’s Marginal Street, there are 58 concrete stairs. Nowadays, local runners see the stairs as a challenge. But a hundred years ago, the Golden Stairs were a gateway for thousands of immigrants taking their first steps onto American soil from the piers below.

This little-known piece of history is now being acknowledged with a gold-hued, metal archway atop the ascent in a small park, the first of five steel arches placed around East Boston to celebrate the area’s cultural, infrastructure and maritime roots.

The series of arches, called “The Threshold Series,” and a cultural trail called The Golden Thread, are the starting point for what creator David Lank hopes will be a long-term commemoration of East Boston’s history and contributions to the region.

Lank, a recent transplant and history buff, launched the nonprofit Project Starboard and unveiled its Golden Thread project last weekend.

GBH News reporter Sarah Betancourt took a tour of several of the archways with local historian Daniel Berger-Jones, founder of the Boston History Company Tour. Read more about the project and plans to expand it.

📻 LISTEN: Boston Public Radio, 11 a.m., on GBH 89.7 FM: Guests political commentator Chuck Todd and former Massachusetts Secretary of Public Safety Andrea Cabral join the show.

🧐LISTEN: The Curiosity Desk, 1 p.m., on GBH 89.7 FM: Discussing black cat superstitions with Jennifer Stott from Black Cat Rescue & cultural historian Roxie Zwicker. Plus: Curiosity Desk producer Olivia Quercio answers some Halloween themed Curiosity Desk questions.

🎨 LISTEN: The Culture Show, 2 p.m., on GBH 89.7 FM: A conversation with Sarah Longwell, CEO and founder of the Bulwark and author of “How to Eat an Elephant.”

📺WATCH: A Night of Cooking, 6:30 p.m., on GBH Create: Start with bakeries and cafes on Food. Curated. Then, enjoy barbecue with Steven Raichlen’s Project Smoke, Mexican favorites from Pati’s Mexican Table, a trip to Amalfi with Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Television and Greek cooking with The Life of Loi: Mediterranean Secrets.https://www.wgbh.org/tv-shows/gbh-create

📺WATCH: A Night of Local Documentaries, Beginning at 9 p.m., on GBH 2: In SAMLAND, an artist presents his magical property on Little Cranberry Island, Maine. Watch an animated short set in the White Mountains in Within the Crystal Hills. A filmmaker looks into the life of her WWII refugee/Holocaust survivor grandmother in Anyuka. Find out New England’s most bone-chilling tales of the supernatural and unexplained mysteries on Things That Go Bump in the Night.

📺WATCH: The Black Sox Scandal: American Stories, 9 p.m., on GBH WORLD: Examine the wild scheme of the infamous Chicago Black Sox and the events that followed.

JOIN US NEXT WEDNESDAY: Beyond the Page: Lucy Foley’s “Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel,” Wed (11/4) at 7pm, at GBH Studios: Come for a live in-person conversation with #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List and The Midnight Feast, Lucy Foley.

🧑‍🍳COOK: Crispy Salmon Cakes from America’s Test Kitchen

🎯PLAY: Can you guess how much Antiques Roadshow finds are worth? Test your skills with our daily game.

GBH Daily is written by Don Seiffert with contributions by Katrina Ávila Munichiello and edited by Anna Fort and Jackie Bruleigh.