"Schedule Pressure" For Green Line Extension Project

Also: How the feds got Colonial Pipeline's ransom back; Janey fires BPD Commissioner White ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  [Donate [WBUR]]( [View in Browser](  [WBUR]( June 8, 2021 Good Morning Boston, 🥵 Partly sunny, with a high near 92. [Chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m.]( We're in the fourth day of this heat wave, and I'm very grateful AC was installed in my home "office" (dining room) over the weekend. With both the heat and humidity, it will feel like 95 today. Stay literally, and figuratively, cool, my friends: - Because of the extreme heat, many school districts including Worcester, Lowell and Wellesley will release kids early today. - Changes are coming to some leadership positions around Boston: Acting Mayor of Boston Kim Janey is launching a national search for a police commissioner after firing Dennis White from the position yesterday (more on that below). And Boston school committee member Lorna Rivera has resigned after her text messages being critical of white parents were made public. - It looks like we may be waiting a little longer for the long-awaited [Green Line extension]( into Somerville and Medford. It was supposed to begin running at the end of the year, but the chair of the T's Fiscal Management And Control board said he's "not hung up on the original dates." - A ruling yesterday from the U.S. Supreme Court means that thousands of people with temporary protection to live in the U.S. for humanitarian reasons cannot remain here permanently if they didn't enter the country legally. This affects more than 400,000 immigrants, 17,000 of which live in Massachusetts. - It's strange how looking at the recent COVID numbers brings me hope instead of dread in recent weeks. For the first time in nearly a year, the single-day cases reported were in the double digits (89 cases). It's also the lowest single-day total since June 2020. And the seven-day positive test rate is now a little more than 0.5%. - Climate change is coming for Maine's blueberries. Researchers say over the last 40 years, fields have warmed at a faster rate than the rest of the state, and it's resulting in a smaller and less hardy blueberry crop. [This]( was my dramatic – but justifiable! – reaction to the news. P.S.– The oldest Salem witch trial victim, Rebecca Nurse, would have turned 400 this year. Her Danvers home is now a museum. When museum curators invited the public to send birthday cards in celebration of the big anniversary, they were stunned at how many came in, mostly from her descendants! If you're interested in the Salem witch trials, you're a history nerd or love talking about ancestry, [this Here & Now segment]( from yesterday is for you. — Meagan McGinnes [@meaganmcginnes]( newsletters@wbur.org The Rundown [1.](url)[Janey Fires Boston Police Commissioner White After Legal Battle]( Acting Mayor Kim Janey fired Boston police Commissioner Dennis White Monday after White lost a legal battle to block his removal last month. [Read more.](   #%23%23[Twitter](  #%23%23[Facebook](    2. [How A New Team Of Feds Hacked The Hackers And Got Colonial Pipeline's Bitcoin Back]( "Ransomware is very seldom recovered," said April Falcon Doss, executive director of the Institute for Technology Law and Policy at Georgetown Law, who described it as "a really big win" for the government. "What we don't know is whether or not this is going to pave the way for future similar successes." [Read more.]( 3. [Kim Janey Leads Boston Mayoral Fundraising For 2nd Straight Month]( Janey, who has seen her fundraising increase since becoming acting mayor in late March, brought in nearly $163,000 in May. The only other candidate who raised close to that total was Boston City Councilor Annissa Essaibi-George, who netted $151,000. [Read more.]( 4. [Transportation Emissions Plan Down To 3 Members After Conn. Walks Away From Pact]( Connecticut Democrats and Gov. Ned Lamont, working under the pressure of a mid-week deadline to pass legislation this year and to finalize a new biennial state budget, scrapped the Nutmeg State's implementation of the Transportation and Climate Initiative Program (TCI) as part of a compromise. [Read more.]( 5. [India's Worst COVID Outbreak Yet Forces Journalists to Criticize Modi Leadership]( The government continues to underreport the death count, which is currently said to be over 300,000, but believed to be significantly higher. As a result, Pande says, news organizations have started taking matters into their own hands and documented their own death counts. [Read more.]( Support the news Anything Else? - ICYMI: The FDA has approved a [new, controversial Alzheimer's drug](. - Apparently crows love luxurious ant baths. Intrigued? Me too. [Here's what that looks like.]( - In the American Repertory Theater’s virtual performance of ["Alice in Rainbowland,"]( LGBTQIA+ artists send a message with dance and movement. - The Biden administration has taken contradictory positions on drilling for oil in Alaska, writes Frederick Hewett [in this commentary](. It's indicative of a decades-long seesaw battle over the development of ANWR's petroleum. [WBUR] Your Daily Must Listen [On Point | The Prime Effect: How The Amazon Marketplace Shapes How We Shop]( [Listen]( BOSTON MAYORAL RACE [Here's Who's Running For Mayor Of Boston]( What Do You Want To Know About The Race For Mayor In Boston? [Let us know.]( What The Mayoral Candidates Have To Say About Housing In Boston. [Read more.]( Mayoral Candidates Talk 'Mass And Cass' Solutions. [Read more.]( Get WBUR's complete coverage of the 2021 Boston mayoral race [here](. What We're Reading - The Gods Were Right ([The Atlantic]( - It’s Hard Work to Make Ordering Groceries Online So Easy ([The New York Times]( - “Inside,” Reviewed: Bo Burnham’s Virtuosic Portrait of a Mediated Mind ([The New Yorker]( Tell Me Something Good [Heat Hacks: 12 Tips And Tricks To Keeping Your House Cool (The Boston Globe)]( One tip from The Globe? "Put your sheets and pillowcases in a sealable plastic bag and stash them in the freezer so they’ll be nice and cold when you hit the hay." Before you go: This [Reddit list of favorite coffee shops]( around Boston isn't just people recommending Dunkin', and that makes me both happy and sad. 😎 Forward to a friend. 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