From food trucks to food stamps

Also: Mass. court considers penalties for former prosecutors in drug lab scandal; meet the Trump criminal case judge [Donate ❤️]( [View in Browser](  April 3, 2023 🌞 Sunny, with a high near 54. Good Morning Boston, It's April, and that means it's [street sweeping season again in Boston](. So, make sure your car is on the correct side if you park on the street. Do you need to check? Don't worry, we'll wait. All good? OK, to the news: - Downtown office workers, rejoice! Today also marks the beginning of another return in Boston: food trucks on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. This year's lineup features 18 different trucks, including six new vendors. Olivia Horte, the program manager for the Greenway, told WBUR's Dave Faneuf that the cuisines range from Asian fusion to Korean, to Mediterranean to dessert, to bubble tea to a "new Italian truck that does fried chicken sandwiches." (I'll take that one, please.) - According to Hort, this year's schedule will be more robust than what they were able to run during the pandemic. There will be three to five trucks daily on Dewey Square and one to three trucks daily on Rowes Wharf Plaza. [Read the truck-by-truck schedule here.]( - Beginning next month, select food trucks will also hit the Greenway on weekends for the [Greenway Artisan Market](. To kick that off, there's [a food truck festival on May 6](. - And for dessert: Today is Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day. Here's [how to find a local participating scoop shop]( - Massachusetts families who get money for food from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will get an extra payment this week. Thanks to [a $389 million supplemental budget]( signed by Gov. Maura Healey last week, state officials say local SNAP recipients should get [the first of three boosted snap payments from the state this Friday](. - Following [the expiration of a federal program that boosted SNAP payments during the pandemic]( by an average of $150 in Massachusetts, the state is sending [local recipients about 40% of the previous boost for the next three months]( to provide "an offramp to the abrupt end" of the extra payments. (That's in addition to the average $323 monthly SNAP benefit.) - Officials say the state boost averages out to an additional $60 a family each month, with a bare minimum amount of $38. - The [other two payments]( will go out on May 2 and June 2. - The Boston City Council is holding [a hearing this afternoon at 3 p.m.]( the proposal to ban the sale of mini-alcohol bottles in the city. - Council Ricardo Arroyo's office says the hearing will feature officials from Chelsea and Newton, where similar bans have been implemented. Councilors will discuss whether Mayor Michelle Wu's administration is open to the ban and how it would be enforced. (So far, Wu's office has not taken a stance on the issue.) - Today on the T: Shuttle buses [replace train service across the entirety of the Fairmount commuter rail line through tomorrow]( as officials continue to replace two century-old bridges. T officials say the buses will operate near the [usual train schedule]( — but riders should still expect delays up to 15 minutes and longer journey times. - Meanwhile, late-night riders on the Red Line's Braintree branch should prepare to navigate a one-stop diversion that may force them to get on and off a shuttle bus midway through their trip. Starting at 8:45 p.m. each night today through Thursday, [shuttles will replace service between JFK/UMass and North Quincy]( so that crews can complete ongoing track repairs. - The big picture: A new report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation says the T's staffing challenges are "likely beyond the MBTA’s or any other single institution’s abilities." Due to both a tight labor market and an expected slew of retirements, the report concludes that Massachusetts lawmakers must do more. Read more [here]( on the findings from the Boston Herald. P.S.— The Boston Marathon is now just two weeks away, and our Cognoscenti opinion section is still [accepting your submissions reflecting on how far we've come since the 2013 bombing](. Tell us what you’re thinking and how you’re feeling as we near the 10th anniversary — and you could be included in a special project. Nik DeCosta-Klipa Editor, Newsletters [Follow](  Support the news  The Rundown [SJC weighs discipline against former prosecutors in drug lab scandal]( Massachusetts' highest court will consider whether three former assistant attorneys general will be sanctioned for their roles in a decade-old state drug lab scandal that reverberated throughout the state's criminal legal system. [Read more.]( [SJC weighs discipline against former prosecutors in drug lab scandal]( Massachusetts' highest court will consider whether three former assistant attorneys general will be sanctioned for their roles in a decade-old state drug lab scandal that reverberated throughout the state's criminal legal system. [Read more.]( [Scientists attempting to free entangled right whale in Cape Cod Bay]( This week, members of the entanglement response team at the Center for Coastal Studies are closely tracking the location of a young female right whale in the hopes of freeing her from the ropes she's caught in. She is one of only about 350 right whales left in the wild. [Read more.]( [Scientists attempting to free entangled right whale in Cape Cod Bay]( This week, members of the entanglement response team at the Center for Coastal Studies are closely tracking the location of a young female right whale in the hopes of freeing her from the ropes she's caught in. She is one of only about 350 right whales left in the wild. [Read more.]( [What to know about Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing Trump's criminal case]( A veteran of the New York trial court system, Merchan is no stranger to high-profile prosecutions — particularly those involving Trump and his associates. [Read more.]( [What to know about Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing Trump's criminal case]( A veteran of the New York trial court system, Merchan is no stranger to high-profile prosecutions — particularly those involving Trump and his associates. [Read more.]( [Pilgrim Nuclear owner agrees to wastewater study, but says it won't pay for it]( The company in charge of decommissioning the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station committed to an independent environmental review of the risks involved with discharging 1.1 million gallons of radioactive wastewater into Cape Cod Bay. [Read more.]( [Pilgrim Nuclear owner agrees to wastewater study, but says it won't pay for it]( The company in charge of decommissioning the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station committed to an independent environmental review of the risks involved with discharging 1.1 million gallons of radioactive wastewater into Cape Cod Bay. [Read more.]( [Prescription-free Narcan could make medication too expensive, some warn]( Naloxone has been used to reverse thousands of opioid overdoses in Massachusetts every year. Now, some local advocates worry that a federal decision to make one brand, Narcan, available without a prescription could make the overdose reversal medication too expensive for some users. [Read more.]( [Prescription-free Narcan could make medication too expensive, some warn]( Naloxone has been used to reverse thousands of opioid overdoses in Massachusetts every year. Now, some local advocates worry that a federal decision to make one brand, Narcan, available without a prescription could make the overdose reversal medication too expensive for some users. [Read more.]( Anything Else? - This week at CitySpace: Olympic runner Kara Goucher's talk Tuesday night about her new book on the biggest scandal in running history is already sold out, but you can still [get tickets to watch online](. - You can however still join us in person for drink later in the week! Radio Boston host Tiziana Dearing will moderate [a panel discussion Thursday night on the state of the beer industry in Massachusetts]( — and in-person guests will sample several local beers and specially-paired bites during the post-show reception. - This summer, hikers will honor the life of Emily M. Sotelo, a young Massachusetts woman who died last summer hiking New Hampshire's Mount Lafayette, after summiting multiple peaks across the state. "Emily's Hike to Save a Life" will raise funds for hiking safety initiatives and search and rescue teams. Hear Emily's mother [share how the hiking community helped her after the loss of her daughter](. - Nasturtiums have returned to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The cascading foliage, often dotted with flowers, can be found hanging from the stone windows looking onto the museum's central garden. They're part of an annual tradition that began in 1904 in celebration of Gardner's birthday. [Check out photos of the display.]( - Louise C. Ivers and Amir Mohareb write in this commentary that the decision by Moderna and Pfizer to quadruple the price of their COVID vaccines is [just the latest example of a global medical apartheid](.  What We're Reading 📚 - Did Climate Change Make Gwyneth Paltrow's Ski Crash Worse? ([Gizmodo]( - Harvard Tells Grad Students to Get Food Stamps to Supplement The Unlivable Wages It Pays Them ([Vice]( - Press Herald owner considers selling his Maine newspaper empire ([Maine Public](  Tell Me Something Good [Watertown Purchasing Dog to Chase Geese From Parks and Fields (Watertown News)]( Watertown’s newest employee will get plenty of exercise and time outdoors — and her reward for doing a good job will be treats. Vee, Watertown’s goose control dog, will soon be patrolling the parks and fields around the City to make sure the flocks of birds don’t get too comfortable or leave their marks. [Read more.]( [Watertown Purchasing Dog to Chase Geese From Parks and Fields (Watertown News)]( Watertown’s newest employee will get plenty of exercise and time outdoors — and her reward for doing a good job will be treats. Vee, Watertown’s goose control dog, will soon be patrolling the parks and fields around the City to make sure the flocks of birds don’t get too comfortable or leave their marks. [Read more.]( Listen: The Common chats with WBUR's Barbara Moran about the shuttered Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station's decommissioning process — and [recent attempts to find out what's really in that dirty water](. Play: [WBUR's daily mini crossword.]( Can you keep your streak going? Before you go: Our local wild turkeys are now [British tabloid fodder](. 😎 Forward to a friend. 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