Another zoning revolt?

Also: Doing the delegate math in Mass.; one landlord's $80K eviction effort [Donate ❤️]( [View in Browser](  February 27, 2024 🌤️ Balmy! With a high near 58. Good Morning Boston, We're officially one week away from Massachusetts' presidential primary — one of 16 contests being held on Super Tuesday this year. About one in 15 registered Massachusetts voters have already turned in their ballots through early in-person and mail-in voting, Secretary of State Bill Galvin's office said yesterday afternoon. If you're among the other 14, [check out our new primary guide]( for everything you need to know about casting your ballot — and read below for a quick look at where the Republican race stands. - Massachusetts' delegate math: As WBUR's Anthony Brooks [reported this week]( Super Tuesday comes at a moment of division in the Massachusetts Republican ranks — between die-hard supporters of former President Donald Trump and old-style moderate Republicans lining up behind Nikki Haley. "We don't have coronations here. And so why just say Trump is the presumptive nominee. He's not," former MassGOP chair Jennifer Nassour, who is leading Haley’s campaign in the Bay State, told Anthony. However, Haley's climb got even steeper after [losing to Trump by double-digits in her home state of South Carolina]( over the weekend. And the Mass. GOP's primary delegate rules may make it even harder for her to pick up ground. - Zoom out: Trump currently has a 110-20 delegate lead over Haley (You can keep count, too, with [NPR's tracker](. That's a relatively small lead, considering that 2,429 delegates are up for grabs in the GOP primary and 1,215 are needed to clinch the nomination. Over a third of all delegates — 874 — will be awarded across the country on Super Tuesday. - Zoom in: Massachusetts will award 40 of those delegates — and not necessarily in proportion to each candidate's vote share. Thanks to [a change made by Trump allies in 2020]( any candidate who gets over 50% wins all 40 delegates. (The bad news for Haley is [the last seven GOP primary polls in Massachusetts tracked by FiveThirtyEight]( show Trump with over 50% support.) - Can independents make it close? That's the Haley campaign's hope. Independents make up [around 60% of all registered voters in Massachusetts]( and they can choose to vote in any primary. But through mail-in voting so far, most Massachusetts voters are still requesting and returning Democratic primary ballots. According to data provided by Galvin's office yesterday, Democratic ballots have accounted for nearly 221,000 of the almost 311,000 mail-in ballots returned so far. And they were 515,000 of the over 731,00 mailed out. - PSA: Today is the last day to consider sending mail-in ballots back via good old-fashioned snail mail. That's because ballots must be returned by the time polls close next Tuesday and the Post Office recommends allowing up to seven days for delivery. Galvin's office says "anyone who hasn’t mailed back their ballot by [today] should really use a drop box, if possible." - Find your local dropbox by [searching for your city or town here](. - Et tu? Two weeks after Milton voters put the town in [noncompliance with the MBTA Communities Act]( Wrentham officials are mulling whether to fight the state zoning law, too. WBUR's Fausto Menard reports the town's Select Board plans to vote tonight on sending a letter opposing the law to Gov. Maura Healey and local state legislators. - Wrentham is not directly served by the T, but borders three other towns with commuter rail stops. An "[adjacent community]( Wrentham is therefore required by the law to rezone at least 50 acres by the end of this year to allow up to 750 new units of multi-family housing to be built [as of right]( . (If it doesn't, the town risks losing state housing and infrastructure funding, [like Milton]( - Seaport shelter ASAP: A new family overflow shelter in Boston's Fort Point neighborhood is in its final planning stages. Healey told reporters yesterday that the nonprofit United Way — which has [opened nine other shelters]( across the state — is working to open the shelter within an office building at 24 Farnsworth Street “as soon as possible." - What's next: A United Way spokesperson told WBUR's Amy Sokolow an opening date is not yet set, but the group is getting ready to share details with the neighborhood as soon as this evening. P.S.— Tickets for the Boston Pops [spring concert season]( — which features everything from Harry Connick Jr. to a live-scored screening of "Jurassic Park" — hit the market this morning at 10 a.m. Check out the full schedule and get tickets on [the BSO's website](. Nik DeCosta-Klipa Editor, Newsletters [Follow](  Support the news  The Rundown [A landlord's 2-year, $80,000 effort to evict a non-paying tenant]( “There are people who know how to make the system fail for a property owner,” said Doug Quattrochi, head of the nonprofit MassLandlords. [Read more.]( [A landlord's 2-year, $80,000 effort to evict a non-paying tenant]( “There are people who know how to make the system fail for a property owner,” said Doug Quattrochi, head of the nonprofit MassLandlords. [Read more.]( [Mass. native airman dies after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy]( Massachusetts native Aaron Bushnell served as a cyber defense operations specialist for the U.S. Air Force., based in San Antonio, Texas. He died in the hospital after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy on Sunday in what he said was an act of protest against Israel's war in Gaza. [Read more.]( [Mass. native airman dies after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy]( Massachusetts native Aaron Bushnell served as a cyber defense operations specialist for the U.S. Air Force., based in San Antonio, Texas. He died in the hospital after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy on Sunday in what he said was an act of protest against Israel's war in Gaza. [Read more.]( [Healey doubles down on calls for Steward Health to leave Mass.]( The company is also facing pressure from federal officials. U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch said last week that Congress could issue subpoenas to compel Steward executives to share financial information. [Read more.]( [Healey doubles down on calls for Steward Health to leave Mass.]( The company is also facing pressure from federal officials. U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch said last week that Congress could issue subpoenas to compel Steward executives to share financial information. [Read more.]( [Odysseus moon lander will cease working after sideways landing]( Intuitive Machines, the company that built and flew the spacecraft, said it will continue to collect data until sunlight no longer shines on the solar panels, expected to happen Tuesday morning. [Read more.]( [Odysseus moon lander will cease working after sideways landing]( Intuitive Machines, the company that built and flew the spacecraft, said it will continue to collect data until sunlight no longer shines on the solar panels, expected to happen Tuesday morning. [Read more.]( [Michigan Democrats and Republicans wrap up their presidential primaries today]( Both President Biden and former President Donald Trump are vying for their party's delegates. Neither contest is expected to be competitive even though the state will be key in the general election. [Read more.]( [Michigan Democrats and Republicans wrap up their presidential primaries today]( Both President Biden and former President Donald Trump are vying for their party's delegates. Neither contest is expected to be competitive even though the state will be key in the general election. [Read more.]( Anything Else? - Springfield-based Merriam-Webster has [created quite a controversy in grammar circles with a new declaration]( It's acceptable to end a sentence with a proposition. Or to put in another way, it's OK for propositions to be what you end a sentence with. - Shakespeare & Company’s production of “Golda’s Balcony” — about the first (and only) female Israeli prime minister, Golda Meir — had a sold-out run in the Berkshires last summer. Now, the one-woman show is at the Emerson Paramount Center through March 10. Theater critic Jacquinn Sinclair has [a review of it here](. - Encore? Jacquinn also [has a new review]( of the Lyric Stage Company's “Thirst." Running through March 17, the play features three fully fleshed out and "terrifically acted" minor characters mentioned in Eugene O’Neill’s autobiographical play “Long Day’s Journey into Night," she writes. - Singer-songwriter Mary Timony, who came to prominence with her Boston art-rock trio Helium in the 1990s, is out with new album called “Untame the Tiger. It's the product of [a four-year period where her parents died and a 12-year relationship ended](. “Not to be dramatic, but that was all I had,” she told WBUR contributor Jim Sullivan. - What gets lost in the immigration debate? How about the possibility that newcomers likely helped the U.S. to avoid a recession, RefugePoint CEO Sasha Chanoff [writes in this Cognoscenti essay.](  What We're Reading 📚 - Google tests removing the News tab from search results ([Nieman Lab]( - ‘This Has to Stop’: Harvard Set to Consider Institutional Neutrality ([The Harvard Crimson]( - A new look at our linguistic roots ([Knowable Magazine](  Life Advice [It's time for taxes. Here's what you need to know]( Radio Boston dug into what you need to know for tax season this year — including the most common mistakes to avoid when filing and what Gov. Maura Healey’s recent tax cuts could mean for you. [Read more.]( [It's time for taxes. Here's what you need to know]( Radio Boston dug into what you need to know for tax season this year — including the most common mistakes to avoid when filing and what Gov. Maura Healey’s recent tax cuts could mean for you. [Read more.]( Listen: The Common [breaks down the calls for a change in leadership in the Massachusetts child welfare system]( and what’s behind them. Play: [WBUR's daily mini crossword.]( Can you keep your streak going? Before you go: OK, it's not [that warm]( out. 😎 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.]( 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 © 2023 WBUR-FM, All rights reserved.