It’s better Friday, but not by a lot. Sunshine will struggle as lots of water vapor remains suspended in the atmosphere. We’re working the temps into the 50s to near 60 (sunshine dependent). Friday night, a front will approach, triggering a few showers into Saturday morning. Guidance seems to keep them around for a bit, so many of us will start off soggy, then transition to some sunshine in the afternoon. We’re milder overall, with highs in the low 60s areawide. Unfortunately, Cape Cod will be last to see the clearing (later in the afternoon), so it’s not the best of days there. Sunday dawns ..read more

Taylor Swift shocked her fans early Friday morning by releasing a second half of her much-anticipated album “The Tortured Poets Department.” After the first 16 songs were made available at midnight, a countdown appeared on her website indicating something else would be coming at 2 a.m. ET. Shortly after 2 a.m., Swift announced that “Tortured Poets” is a “secret double album.” “I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here’s the second installment of TTPD: The Anthology. 15 extra songs. And now the story isn’t mine anymore… it’s all yours ..read more

Police are investigating a series of package thefts in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. Ally Burchill came home Wednesday evening and knew something was wrong. “I got home pretty excited to open his new shoes that we bought him, and noticed all the packages were gone off our porch,” she said. So she checked her security cameras to find out what happened to the shoes for her young child. Two people — one with a shopping cart — could be seen on video walking up to her condo building and stealing a pile of packages from the porch. “It was bold,” said Burchill. “The time of day they did it.” It w ..read more

Israel carried out a military strike in Iran early Friday morning , according to NBC News, but Iranian officials played down the impact of the attack.   The Israeli strike was limited and officials were assessing the effectiveness and the damage caused, a source familiar with the situation told NBC News. “A lot will depend on how much damage was done inside of Iran,” former CIA Director John Brennan said on MSNBC. “What CIA is doing right now is trying to determine exactly what that damage is, and trying to then see how the Iranians are going to react,” Brennan added. A spokesperson for t ..read more

A road project in Lynn, Massachusetts, is giving drivers, workers and residents a headache. For the past two weeks, construction crews have been tearing up old asphalt on Lynnfield Street, working to lay down new pavement along a stretch of Route 129 between Great Woods Road and Wyoma Square. The project from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation began in late 2022 and ramped up through 2023. But one of the most disruptive phases has begun, causing noise, dust, and heavy traffic. “Trash. This road is garbage,” said Ty Morin, who commutes to Lynn for work. “It tears your car coming dow ..read more

State dollars for Massachusetts’ emergency family shelter system are dwindling, and restaurateurs who for years enjoyed expanded outdoor dining and the ability to sell drinks to go remain “in limbo” amid a sustained period of legislative disagreement. House and Senate Democrats broke for another long weekend Thursday without announcing any deal on a spending bill that would replenish shelter funding for the remainder of the fiscal year. While negotiators remain at odds over how much they want to draw from state savings and exactly what kind of time limits to place on shelter stays — plus wheth ..read more

While tourism can be a real treat in Salem, Massachusetts, the city says the costs are tricky.  “Costs are starting to get close to a point where they’ll exceed the direct revenues the city brings in from things like parking and license fees,” said Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo.  The city can draw tens of thousands of visitors a day during the busy Halloween season. With more licensed tour guides in the city as the area continues to grow in popularity, a change in license fees was proposed during the city council meeting last week.  According to a letter from the mayor to city c ..read more

Eliot Wolf is leaving all options open in his first draft as head of the New England Patriots’ front office. The Patriots’ de facto general manager is faced with one of the franchise’s most important decisions this century: what to do with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. With Caleb Williams expected to go No. 1 overall, New England can choose between at least two of the next three elite quarterback prospects in LSU’s Jayden Daniels, UNC’s Drake Maye and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy. The Patriots also could explore trading down from No. 3, however, and as Wolf noted Thursday in a pres ..read more

Authorities have identified the man whose death in Framingham, Massachusetts, has been under investigation as suspicious for over a week. But investigators have not yet said what they believe led to the death of Brooks Hood, a 27-year-old from Bridgeport, Connecticut. The cause and manner of Hood’s death on Wednesday, April 10, has not yet been determined by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Framingham Chief of Police Lester Baker said Thusrday. State and local police were still investigating what led to Hood’s death. Authorities have previo ..read more

A man who has served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas was granted parole Thursday. James Parker was 16 when he was part of a conspiracy with his best friend that resulted in the deaths of Half and Susanne Zantop in Hanover, New Hampshire. Now just shy of 40, he appeared before the state parole board, years after pleading guilty to being an accomplice to second-degree murder and serving nearly the minimum term of his 25-years-to-life sentence ..read more