Sit a spell. Take a listen. Meet the neighbors. Today we’re taking a moment to savor a wood-plank bridge from spring to summer.
But first, here’s what else is going on:
- A French woman and two Americans from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship tested positive or showed symptoms after being evacuated from the ship, where an outbreak has left three people dead.
- A $1 billion project to replace the North Station drawbridge is set to start this month.
- A Kennedy is selling her Hyannis house for $1.6 million. Peek inside.
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TODAY’S STARTING POINT
Fifteen years ago, it was a Somerville arts program. Now it features over 530 bands of all genres on porches, in driveways, and in yards. The idea of these shifting, community-driven music festivals has spread, first to Newton and Cambridge and all the way to the West Coast.
Overcast skies didn’t cloud the weekend event in Somerville.
“Great vibes, incredible friends,” Denisse Gonzalez told the Globe. “I feel like that’s what PorchFest is all about.”
Those vibes were strong outside a cheery yellow duplex on Hancock Street, where Sarah Welch and Philip Noonan got married amid the festivities. Here’s a look around Porchfest 2026:
See more photos from the event here — and let us know if you’re a Porchfest fan — in Somerville, Cambridge, Newton, or elsewhere.
🧩 6 Across: Ruthless | ⛅ 64° Cold front
POINTS OF INTEREST
No party primaries? A group of Massachusetts Democrats is pushing a ballot question that would eliminate the state’s party primaries, arguing an overhaul of how residents vote is necessary to create more competitive elections. It’s drawing opposition from all sides.
New targets: Black residents upset at Mayor Michelle Wu’s policies are directing their ire at a new target: Boston’s city councilors of color.
Not so easy A? Harvard’s faculty is voting on whether to limit the number of A’s. Plus, tenure is not what it used to be, as eight Tufts professors found out.
Last texts: After finishing his detail around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, State Police Trooper Kevin Trainor sent a text, as he always did, to his fiancée, Jessica Ostrowski. He let her know he was headed back home. He never made it.
On your mark: New Balance has reinvested in Boston’s sports landscape — especially track — and it’s paying off.
Hold your horses: After more than 50 years, Littleton-based equestrian retailer Dover Saddlery is at risk of closing.
First came higher gas prices: Now higher transport costs are causing produce prices to rise. (WSJ)
What’s happiness to you? See the responses that the Globe’s Stan Grossfeld got in his latest photo essay.
Live long and prosper: Two brothers are restoring a faded but historic Boston “ghost sign” on a building in the Boston neighborhood where the actor Leonard Nimoy grew up.
BESIDE THE POINT
☕🥤🥛 A coffee egg cream? Dunkin’s dirty soda is a crime — of culture, not taste. “I could not stop drinking it,” writes the Globe’s Devra First, “because it was so weird.” Readers, what do you think?
📺 Suddenly it’s (almost) summer: Get ready for Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Cage, Tatiana Maslany, Javier Bardem, and these 10 new shows to watch. Plus, a kind of “Stranger Things” set in a remote retirement community?
🍿 This week’s TV: Highlights include more hockey-based romance, “Dutton Ranch,” and the “Good Omens” finale.
💌 Love Letters: “Did my friend break girl code?”
🅿️ America’s best rest stop? This writer says it’s in Lancaster.
🥕 Watch: Learn time-saving tricks on how to prep meals like a restaurant line chef. (America’s Test Kitchen)
Thanks for reading Starting Point.
This newsletter was produced by Ryan Orlecki.
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Dave Beard can be reached at dave.beard@gmail.com. Follow him on X @dabeard.