GBH Daily: Five days until the election. Are you ready?

⛅ Mostly cloudy through mid-morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 66. Sunset is at 5:40 p.m.

A group representing the six towns that make up Cape Cod will ask themselves a question next week: What does “Cape Cod character” really mean? But first: There’s a spookily 👻 large number of questions on the ballot this year, ranging from pretty straightforward to kind of complex. Some people report being 'confused’ and 'overwhelmed.’ And with the election just five days away, isn’t it time you figured out where you stand on each of the nine issues?

We know we’ve already told you about our ballot question explainers: — concise, non-partisan descriptions with summaries of the arguments on both sides. And we’ve mentioned the short, one-to-two minute videos that make it even easier to understand the point of the question and what a “Yes” or “No” vote means.

But we also know you are busy. So if you haven’t had time yet, bookmark this link to all our ballot question resources to help you get caught up this weekend. And while you’re at it, remember to check our 2026 election voter guide, which tells you not only how to figure out where your polling place is, but exactly what candidates will be on your particular ballot.

If you’ve been procrastinating, we get it. We’re here to help you right up until you cast your ballot. And afterward, listen to 89.7 for a mix of local and national election coverage and follow along with our live blog for results on statewide races as soon as they are announced.

Four Things to Know

1. Defense witnesses take the stand in Birchmore trial: In the first full day of witnesses called by the defense in the federal murder trial of former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell, defense attorneys tried to introduce a pattern of Birchmore’s past comments about suicide, while showing that medical examiners saw no evidence of foul play in her death. Willaim Kilroy, Birchmore’s former boyfriend, said that Birchmore would relay suicidal statements to him and that during the summer of 2017, she had made a list of “ways to do it” that included both reasons to kill and not kill herself.
2. Chelsea mother claims in lawsuit that ICE officers ‘violently attacked’ her: A Chelsea woman and green card holder says in a new lawsuit against the Trump administration that her face was slammed on top of a car by masked federal immigration officers last year. But an ICE spokesperson told GBH News that ICE did not try to arrest the women, and that the incident occurred as the agency was conducting a “target vehicle stop” to arrest a family member who was in her car on charges of indecent assault and battery and a sex crime on a child. 
3. Key disability rights case is under threat, advocates say: A briefing organized by two groups, the Arc of Massachusetts and Disability Policy Consortium, focused on Olmstead v. L.C., the 1999 Supreme Court ruling which held that people with disabilities have a right to receive support and services so that they can live in their communities, rather than in institutions.
   “Never in the 36 years since the passage of the ADA have we been so at risk of losing those rights, of being confined once again to our homes and to institutions,” said Harry Weissman, executive director of the Disability Policy Consortium.
4. Children’s Services of Roxbury celebrates coming $27M renovation: One of the largest Black-led nonprofits in Massachusetts on Thursday celebrated plans for the renovation of its Roxbury headquarters. Sandra McCroom, president and CEO of the nonprofit, called the event a “gathering of gratitude” at its headquarters on Dudley Street, and said she felt “called to support the legacy” of the nonprofit’s founders to deepen its roots in Roxbury, as many folks are being forced out of the neighborhood.
   “We have a stake in the ground,” McCroom told GBH News. “That’s important for our community.”

Defining 'Cape Cod character’

After more than a year of unexplained delays, the National Park Service is allowing the Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission to meet next week. On the agenda: defining the very essence of Cape Cod.

The local advisors represent the six towns with land inside the park, plus Barnstable County and the state. They have not met since September 2025.

Members have requested meetings, and it’s unclear why the National Park Service never published a notice in the Federal Register. But now, Commission Chair Richard Delaney said that “that’s all sorted out,” and members are very pleased to be returning to their role.

Up for discussion at Monday’s meeting? How to define the term “Cape Cod character,” as the Seashore seeks to preserve it. Federal regulations for the Seashore say structures in the park should retain their Cape Cod character without explaining what that means.

Development and tourism have changed the Cape in the six-and-a-half decades since the National Seashore was created, Delaney said.

“The actual physical environment that was here back in 1959 and the early '60s is obviously quite different from the development boom that we’ve seen in the last few decades here in the Cape,” he said. “So, we have to sort of recalibrate what that character means.”

Jennette Barnes of CAI has more on the story.

Across GBH:

📻 LISTEN: Boston Public Radio, 11 a.m., on GBH 89.7 FM: A conversation with retired federal Judge Nancy Gertner, and Live Music Friday with the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra as they open their new season at Jordan Hall, playing excerpts from Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor.

🧐LISTEN: The Curiosity Desk, 1 p.m., on GBH 89.7 FM:

🎨 LISTEN: The Culture Show, 2 p.m., on GBH 89.7 FM: Callie Crossley, James Sullivan, and Lisa Simmons offer an arts and culture week in review.

📺WATCH: My Father’s Prison, 10 p.m., on GBH 44: A security chief of the Caracas

police is sentenced to 30 years in prison, becoming the most famous political prisoner in

President Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela. His son, Iván, tells his story.

LISTEN TOMORROW: Boston Symphony Orchestra Broadcast, Saturday, Oct. 31 at 8 p.m., on CRB Classical 99.5: Yo-Yo Ma joins Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Edward Elgar’s monumental Cello Concerto.

📺WATCH ON SATURDAY: Great Performances, Sat (10/31) at 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., on GBH 44: First, on Jimmy Webb: American Songwriter, experience a lively tribute to songwriter and performer Jimmy Webb, whose hits include “MacArthur Park,” “Up, Up, and Away” and “Didn’t We.” Then watch Samara Joy’s debut at London’s legendary Royal Albert Hall.

📺WATCH ON SATURDAY: Stories from the Stage: Spooky, Sat (10/31) at 11 p.m., on GBH 2: It can be hard to tell if what frightens us is real or just our imagination. Three storytellers share their stories.

JOIN US ON MONDAY: Monday Meet Up with GBH Kids and Education, Mon (11/2) from 11:30am-5pm, at GBH BPL Studio: Bring the kids and join us for a fun-filled drop-in with GBH Kids & Education. Get creative with arts & crafts, enjoy favorite GBH Kids screenings, take part in reading activities, and more.

🧑‍🍳COOK: Learn about California Smoked Fish on Family Ingredients

🎯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.