Laura's Law in action

Also: What we know about workplace deaths in Mass.; Judy Blume on the big screen [Donate ❤️]( [View in Browser](  April 28, 2023 ☀️ Mostly sunny, with a high near 60. Good Morning Boston, The sun is back, it's Friday and the Celtics are headed to the second round of the playoffs for a classic rivalry matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers. That series tips off Monday at the TD Garden. But first, the news: - Hospitals across Massachusetts will soon be required to make their entrances easier to find, thanks to a campaign by journalist Peter DeMarco after his wife, Laura Beth Levis, died from an asthma attack outside a locked hospital door in Somerville. And under new, first-in-the-nation regulations, patients should begin noticing the differences in the coming months. - DeMarco first wrote about his wife's 2016 death in a viral Boston Globe piece titled "[Losing Laura]( "Of all the mistakes that contributed to Laura's death, perhaps most glaring was how the hospital lacked a simple, emergency-room sign above any door," DeMarco [later wrote for WBUR's Cognoscenti section](. With the help of his local legislators, DeMarco went on to push the passing of the new state law in 2021, which is now being implemented. - How it works: Hospitals have until the end of the year to comply with the new guidelines, according to a Department of Public Health memo this month: - All hospital doors must be well-lit. - ER entrances should have brighter lighting than other doors. - Hospitals must have directional signs outside leading to the ER at virtually every turn. - In total, DeMaraco told WBUR's All Things Considered there are a dozen new regulations that "are going to make an incredible difference." Listen to [the full interview here](. - Tunnel troubles: State officials expect normal Sumner Tunnel commuters will be split roughly 50-50 between [the two major detours]( — the Ted Williams Tunnel and the Tobin Bridge — when the 88-year-old tunnel [closes for nearly all of July and August this summer](. But they're hoping to entice drivers to pick a third option: yes, the MBTA. "We want to make sure that drivers get out of their cars," Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said yesterday, as he outlined plans to make the T — [however slow it may be right now]( — more attractive than sitting in traffic. Here's a list of things the state is doing: - Sending free monthly T passes for July and August to East Boston residents enrolled in [the Sumner toll discount program]( as well as certain Revere and Winthrop residents. (The T is also [focusing on lifting most Blue Line slow zones]( before the closure starts.) - Allowing people to take [the East Boston ferry]( for free. - Lowering fares at the Salem and Swampscott commuter rail stations from $8 each way to $2.40, and letting riders board by flashing their CharlieCards. - Offering reduced $2-a-day parking at the Blue Line's Wonderland station, plus additional parking near the Wood Island station. - Reopening [an I-90 ramp in the Seaport]( for Silver Line buses. - For your weekend planning purposes: There's another downtown Red Line diversion on our hands. Train service between Kendall/MIT and JFK/UMass will be closed Saturday and Sunday so crews can work on the tracks. Replacement shuttles will hit most stops in between: - Save the date(s): Today is Boston City Councilor Kenzie Bok's last day at City Hall before she steps down to [run the Boston Housing Authority](. This week, the Council passed a measure to schedule a special election to fill Bok's District 8 seat through the end of the year. (Normal elections for all 13 Council seats will be held this fall.) - The preliminary election: June 27. - The final special election: June 25 - Listen: Bok [recently came on Radio Boston to talk about her plans for the BHA]( — New England's largest public housing agency. - Meanwhile, we have a mayoral race in Medford: Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn announced she is running for a third term yesterday. But she has competition from longtime Medford City Councilor Rick Caraviello, who announced his own mayoral bid earlier this week. P.S.— Do you know what costs could make the MBTA "insolvent" by 2038? Test your knowledge of the local stories we covered this week with our [Boston News Quiz](. Nik DeCosta-Klipa Editor, Newsletters [Follow](  Support the news  The Rundown [51 Mass. workers died on the job in 2022, report finds]( Of those deaths, 39 were from traumatic injuries suffered at work and 12 were from work-related disease, the report said. But the data may not reflect the true number or work-related-deaths because it does not include those who died after contracting COVID at work. [Read more.]( [51 Mass. workers died on the job in 2022, report finds]( Of those deaths, 39 were from traumatic injuries suffered at work and 12 were from work-related disease, the report said. But the data may not reflect the true number or work-related-deaths because it does not include those who died after contracting COVID at work. [Read more.]( [State's highest court reopens path to prosecute Holyoke Soldiers' Home leaders]( In a 5-2 decision that reversed a lower court’s dismissal of grand jury indictments, the Supreme Judicial Court said prosecutors should have a chance to try their case against Bennett Walsh, the facility’s former superintendent, and David Clinton, its former medical director. [Read more.]( [State's highest court reopens path to prosecute Holyoke Soldiers' Home leaders]( In a 5-2 decision that reversed a lower court’s dismissal of grand jury indictments, the Supreme Judicial Court said prosecutors should have a chance to try their case against Bennett Walsh, the facility’s former superintendent, and David Clinton, its former medical director. [Read more.]( [In N.H., Trump touts record while staying mum on legal troubles]( In his second visit to the state since announcing his reelection campaign, and his first since being indicted on criminal charges in New York, Trump pledged to take aim at what he described as corrupt prosecutors. [Read more.]( [In N.H., Trump touts record while staying mum on legal troubles]( In his second visit to the state since announcing his reelection campaign, and his first since being indicted on criminal charges in New York, Trump pledged to take aim at what he described as corrupt prosecutors. [Read more.]( [EPA says proposed gun range at Joint Base Cape Cod could contaminate drinking water]( A proposed machine gun training range at Joint Base Cape Cod could contaminate the sole source of public drinking water on the Cape, "creating a significant public health hazard," according to the Environmental Protection Agency. [Read more.]( [EPA says proposed gun range at Joint Base Cape Cod could contaminate drinking water]( A proposed machine gun training range at Joint Base Cape Cod could contaminate the sole source of public drinking water on the Cape, "creating a significant public health hazard," according to the Environmental Protection Agency. [Read more.]( [College internships are back in Mass., and the competition is fierce]( U.S. employers say they're planning to offer 9.1% more internships compared to last summer, but in Massachusetts, that doesn't necessarily translate into an abundance of opportunities. [Read more.]( [College internships are back in Mass., and the competition is fierce]( U.S. employers say they're planning to offer 9.1% more internships compared to last summer, but in Massachusetts, that doesn't necessarily translate into an abundance of opportunities. [Read more.]( Anything Else? - This week's episode of Endless Thread [flies into r/AskScience to explore the question of whether or not our feathered friends are, indeed, musical]( in the way we human animals think about the term. - After a half century and years of declining Hollywood's offers, Judy Blume [has arrived on the big screen, with the releases this month of a documentary about her life and a movie adaptation]( of "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." Film critic Sean Burns writes he's been telling people not to worry: "They didn’t screw it up.” - Read: WBUR's Sharon Brody [reflects in this Cognoscenti essay on the impact of Blume and "Margaret" in the 1970s]( "The world was a straight-talk desert and this novel served as the oasis." - Jane Roper [writes in this commentary]( that her kid aren’t embarrassed to talk about periods. So, why is she? "It’s hard to unlearn the messages we’ve been given about our bodies our whole lives."  What We're Reading 📚 - Boston thrives off the dreams of young people. But can they make it here? ([The Boston Globe]( - The voices of NPR: How four women of color see their roles as hosts ([The 19th News]( - Yawu Miller reflects on his Banner career ([The Bay State Banner](  Tell Me Something Good ['If I were a fish': These two Berklee College grads wrote the hit song that's taken over social media (The Boston Globe)]( More than 13 million people have watched a video of Corinne Savage and their partner, Olivia Barton, perform the acoustic track on TikTok. Now people are singing it together in schools and in public. [Read more.]( ['If I were a fish': These two Berklee College grads wrote the hit song that's taken over social media (The Boston Globe)]( More than 13 million people have watched a video of Corinne Savage and their partner, Olivia Barton, perform the acoustic track on TikTok. Now people are singing it together in schools and in public. [Read more.]( Listen: The Common [shares tips on how you can prevent drink spiking in bars and other establishments](. Play: [WBUR's daily mini crossword.]( Can you keep your streak going? Before you go: This Patriots' first-round draft pick has a lot of home-country pride — [right inside his jacket](. 😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up [here](. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📧 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. [Check out all of our newsletter offerings.]( Support the news   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 © 2022 WBUR-FM, All rights reserved.