Orange you glad you saw this before commuting?

Also: Pulling back the covers on "sleep tourism"; Boston's underground film fest [Donate ❤️]( [View in Browser](  March 18, 2024 🌤️ Partly cloudy, with a high near 52. Good Morning Boston, It's Monday and the idea of a "sleep vacation" sounds pretty good right now. WBUR's Andrea Shea [has a new feature here on the emerging trend]( in honor of National Sleep Awareness Month. Before you run back to bed, let's get to the news: - Diversion du jour: A big central stretch of the Orange Line is [closed today through Thursday](. There will be no train service between North Station and Jackson Square, forcing riders to use a mix of shuttle buses and alternative trains to ride the length of the ride. The four-day, 10-station shutdown will allow MBTA workers to try to make progress on the line's [stubborn slow zones](. Regular service is slated to resume on Friday morning. - How to get around the closure: Free shuttles buses will stop at all Orange Line stops between Jackson Square and Back Bay, with an additional bonus stop at the Green Line's Copley station (which will leave fare gates open). That's because there won't be any shuttles between Back Bay and North Station, making the Green Line your best downtown option. The commuter rail will also be free to ride between Forest Hills and South Station. - The tip of the iceberg: Remember, this diversion is just one of [the many scheduled through the rest of 2024]( all focused on track repairs. But as MBTA Advisory Board Executive Director Brian Kane [recently explained on Radio Boston]( there are other neglected parts of the system — switches, signals, tunnel infrastructure — that will soon require diversions. "The shutdowns that we are seeing, folks better get used to them, because we're going to have a lot more of them going forward in the next decade," Kane said. - What's next: [Here's a look at all the T diversions planned through April]( including on the Red, Orange and Blue lines. - Boston's bracket: There may not be [any Massachusetts colleges]( in this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament, but the Bay State will still get in on March Madness. Boston's TD Garden is hosting the East region's Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games next week (March 28 and 30) — and [last night's bracket reveal]( showed us the teams we can potentially look forward to seeing on Causeway Street. - Familiar faces: Defending champions UConn, the tournament's No. 1 overall seed, headlines the group. We also could see two other teams that made last year's Final Four: San Diego State and Florida Atlantic University (though FAU would likely have to beat UConn first). Yale is also a 13 seed in the East region (after [a wild buzzer beater to beat Brown yesterday](. But it's a long shot for the Ivy League champions to win their first two games in order to make it to Boston. - Zoom out: Here are [three things to know about both the men's and women's NCAA tournaments]( this year. - A former MBTA police officer is set to be sentenced Wednesday, after being found guilty of raping two women near the Museum of Science in 2012. Shawn McCarthy, a 50-year-old former Wilmington resident, was [convicted Friday of three counts of rape]( stemming from the incident, according to Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden. - Newton police are investigating the recent vandalism of posters featuring Israeli hostages as a hate crime. The posters — which are part of a yard display on Homer Street featuring more than 100 names and faces of hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 — were defaced with spray paint, [according to police](. Newton's police chief said the department has "no tolerance for such bias and hateful acts." P.S.— Get ready for a week of free events at CitySpace. Tomorrow night, Tiziana Dearing will [host a panel talk about accessibility and disability advocacy in the local arts community](. And on Wednesday night, we're hosting [a town hall conversation with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu,]( including live questions from the audience. The event will also be live-streamed and you can [submit questions early here](. Nik DeCosta-Klipa Editor, Newsletters [Follow](  Support the news  The Rundown [Supreme Court examines whether government can combat disinformation online]( The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Missouri, Louisiana and five individuals who were either banned from social media during the pandemic or whose posts, they say, were not prominently featured. [Read more.]( [Supreme Court examines whether government can combat disinformation online]( The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Missouri, Louisiana and five individuals who were either banned from social media during the pandemic or whose posts, they say, were not prominently featured. [Read more.]( [Trump says some migrants are 'not people', and warns of 'bloodbath' if he loses]( Former President Trump claimed he will protect Social Security and warned of a "bloodbath" in the auto industry if he loses the election at a rally for Senate candidate Bernie Moreno in Ohio. [Read more.]( [Trump says some migrants are 'not people', and warns of 'bloodbath' if he loses]( Former President Trump claimed he will protect Social Security and warned of a "bloodbath" in the auto industry if he loses the election at a rally for Senate candidate Bernie Moreno in Ohio. [Read more.]( [Feds pick New England’s offshore wind development area, drawing cheers and questions alike]( The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said in a statement that the New England zone, which renewable energy advocates have identified as crucial for the growth of wind power, “avoids important areas for lobster fishing, North Atlantic right whale habitat, and other important fishing areas and habitats.” [Read more.]( [Feds pick New England’s offshore wind development area, drawing cheers and questions alike]( The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said in a statement that the New England zone, which renewable energy advocates have identified as crucial for the growth of wind power, “avoids important areas for lobster fishing, North Atlantic right whale habitat, and other important fishing areas and habitats.” [Read more.]( [Sheriff had cause to take Maine mass shooter's guns before he killed 18 people, report says]( A sheriff's office investigating a mass shooting in Maine had cause to take the killer into custody beforehand and to remove his guns, according to a report issued by an independent commission Friday. [Read more.]( [Sheriff had cause to take Maine mass shooter's guns before he killed 18 people, report says]( A sheriff's office investigating a mass shooting in Maine had cause to take the killer into custody beforehand and to remove his guns, according to a report issued by an independent commission Friday. [Read more.]( [Putin basks in election win that was never in doubt even as Russians quietly protest]( Russian President Vladimir Putin will extend nearly a quarter century of rule for six more years after wrapping up an election that gave voters no real alternatives. [Read more.]( [Putin basks in election win that was never in doubt even as Russians quietly protest]( Russian President Vladimir Putin will extend nearly a quarter century of rule for six more years after wrapping up an election that gave voters no real alternatives. [Read more.]( Anything Else? - The Boston Underground Film Fest returns to the Brattle Theatre this week. Sean Burns has [a rundown of everything you can expect to see at this year's festival]( including killer spiders, humanist vampires and a gory flick starring Sydney Sweeney as a pregnant nun. - Next month's solar eclipse isn't the only thing to see in the sky this spring. The rarely-seen "devil's comet" is once again visible from Earth. [Here's where to look for it.]( - David Breashears, the mountaineer and filmmaker who co-directed a 1998 IMAX documentary about climbing Mount Everest, [died at his home in Marblehead last week](. He was 68. - When the news is bleak, it can feel difficult to do even basic tasks like going to work, filing your taxes and folding laundry. But Holly Robinson has found a simple antidote, [as she writes in this Cognoscenti commentary](. It's the meditative act of picking up sticks.  What We're Reading 📚 - Exclusive: African cocoa plants run out of beans as global chocolate crisis deepens ([Reuters]( - Harvard offers a lot to star guard Malik Mack. Except big NIL money. ([Washington Post]( - The New York Times’ New Game Is Genius ([The Atlantic](  Tell Me Something Good [Portraits of historic Black Americans now grace a Worcester landmark]( Mechanics Hall has unveiled three newly commissioned portraits of activists Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and couple William and Martha Brown — the first in the concert hall’s 167-year history to feature Black Americans. [Read more.]( [Portraits of historic Black Americans now grace a Worcester landmark]( Mechanics Hall has unveiled three newly commissioned portraits of activists Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and couple William and Martha Brown — the first in the concert hall’s 167-year history to feature Black Americans. [Read more.]( Listen: The Common [takes us to Quincy]( to meet Joyce Chan, a former teacher who opened up a Chinese bakery in the city. Play: [WBUR's daily mini crossword.]( Can you keep your streak going? Before you go: [Introducing the DunQueens!]( 😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up [here](. 🔎 Explore [WBUR's Field Guide]( stories, events and more. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📧 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. [Check out all of our newsletter offerings.](   Want to change how you receive these emails? Stop getting this newsletter by [updating your preferences.](  I don't want to hear from WBUR anymore. Unsubscribe from all WBUR editorial newsletters [here](.  Interested in learning more about corporate sponsorship? [Click here.]( Copyright © 2023 WBUR-FM, All rights reserved.