Good morning,

Hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants — including an estimated 45,000 in Massachusetts — are a little less terrified this morning after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration last night from revoking the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that allows them to live and work legally in the U.S.

These are our neighbors, our small business owners, our coworkers, our employees, our essential workers. They care for our kids, our seniors, our communities.

Many have lived here legally since Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake, filling hard-to-staff jobs in nursing, as home health aides, in construction, in hospitality — paying taxes and holding Social Security numbers.

That was set to end today, Feb. 3, with deportations expected to follow swiftly, even as the same government that wants these folks expelled warns us that Haiti faces ongoing violence, civil unrest and food shortages.

“Plaintiffs charge that [Homeland Security] Secretary [Kristie] Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants. This seems substantially likely," wrote U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C.

Reyes also noted the administration’s actions “ignore altogether the billions Haitian TPS holders contribute to the economy.”

Her ruling is only a reprieve, while the court case continues. And the feds have already appealed to the Supreme Court.

Watertown bio surging

Watertown’s life sciences sector surged over the past decade. From 2016 to 2025, the number of companies more than doubled. Employment rose 256%.

Today, the city ranks third statewide—behind only Cambridge and Boston—for venture capital raised and the concentration of life science firms, an impressive showing for a city of its size.

Those findings come from a new report out today by Sam Ghilardi, founder and publisher of Watertown Bio.

Not surprisingly, growth cooled in 2025 amid industry-wide headwinds, Ghilard continues.

Even so, the ecosystem remains active. Watertown led the region in life science absorption in 2025, even as availability stayed elevated.

We will be partnering with Watertown Bio soon on a panel program exploring Watertown’s life sciences sector and the challenges ahead.  Stay tuned for details.

Wellesley condo development gets one step closer

A proposed 19-condo development by local builder Dean Behrend at 592 Washington St. in Wellesley Square has won Select Board support.

While final approvals must come from the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals, the board said it agreed with a traffic consultant’s study projecting a negligible impact on traffic but still expressed concerns about traffic, flagging issues with deliveries and the driveway layout.

Select Board member Kenny Largess also criticized the parking plan, which places 41 spaces underground, arguing the site needs some above-ground parking.

(A more appropriate concern might have been to ask why 41 spaces are needed for 19 units, especially given the proximity to the commuter rail, but I digress.)

Still, the board appreciated Behrend’s plan to preserve the façade of the site where a funeral home, built in 1911, once stood.

“This project is too important and serves as an extraordinary example of maintaining a front facade while increasing housing,” said board vice chair Tom Ulfelder.

Behrend will continue the approval process at the Planning Board on Feb. 9.

Brookline mulls changes in Coolidge Corner

Brookline is exploring a possible redevelopment of two Coolidge Corner parking lots, including a mixed-use project with housing, a public plaza and a larger parking garage, the Brookline News reports.

One concept would add 80–100 housing units and expand parking from under 200 spaces to at least 300.

Tuesday grab bag

• Twenty-year-old Newton figure skater Tenley Albright won the Gold Medal at the Olympic Games on this day in 1956, despite having been injured two weeks earlier and struck with polio at age 11.  (MassMoments)
  
  
• After 27 years in Watertown Square, Not Your Average Joe’s will be serving its last Ahi Tuna Wontons, Peanut Butter Thing and other crowd pleasers when it closes its doors for good on Feb. 11. (Watertown News)
  
  
• A reminder about the Envision Needham Center meeting tomorrow (Weds.) at 7 p.m. at Town Hall and via Zoom to consider road configurations for Great Plain Ave.
  
  
• Taste Buds Kitchen, a chain of shops that offer cooking classes, parties, and corporate events is coming to Wellesley’s Linden Square. (Swellesley Report)
  
  
• M&T Bank has named Jeff Carpenter its new regional president for its Massachusetts. Carpenter was most recently an executive VP. (Banker & Tradesman)
  
  
• Wood Partners proposed a 234-home development on Crafts St. in Newton received significant pushback from neighbors and board members during last week’s ZBA meeting. (BC Heights)
  
  
•  Nice to see Marian Leah Knapp, who for more than a decade wrote a popular column about ageing in the Newton TAB, is now contributing to the Newton Beacon.
  
  
• Charlie Breitrose has published a lengthy interview with the amazing Steve Magoon, looking back at his 17 years as director of the Department of Community Development and Planning. Magoon helped steer the transformation of large sections of Watertown. He retired last week.  (Watertown News)
  
  
• The UK’s Clarendon Fine Art plans to open a gallery in Wellesley Square at 25 Central St., the former location of Laurel Grove.  (Swellesley Report)
  
  
• The West Suburban YMCA is raffling off a trip to Super Bowl LX to support its Annual Fund Only 300 tickets are available at $150 each.  Enter.

Healey: Economic dev bill coming, housing push remains

Gov. Maura Healey tells State House News she plans to file an economic development bill “at some point this year,” while pushing two bills already before the Legislature: One for infrastructure upgrades on higher education campuses. The other supporting higher education, research and biopharma amid federal cuts.

Asked about additional housing legislation, Healey tells Sam Drysdale her focus is on implementing her 2024 Affordable Homes Act.

"If there are more things to do, we will certainly be filing whatever legislation is necessary.

“I've also been very focused on the things that help attract talent and bring people for jobs to Massachusetts and keep them here for jobs. That's why the investments in housing are so important. Building more; building faster."

Joint effort drops the needle on new retail concept

Finally today, back in 2018, when the Newton City Council adopted a zoning ordinance allowing adult-use recreational marijuana shops, it included a long list of restrictions limiting where these businesses could locate (not near schools, not in village centers, not near each other, etc.) and how large they could be (no more than 5,000 SF).

That made finding suitable spots tricky and, in some cases, forced operators to lease spaces far larger than they needed, using only a small portion for the dispensary itself.

That was the case for Victor Chiang, who opened REDI Dispensary in a 4,200-SF corner of an 8,000-square-foot building at Elliott Street and Route 9 in 2021, while paying rent on the otherwise empty building ever since.

But last month, Chiang introduced something different. He invited Brian Coleman, co-owner of a boutique record shop who had developed a devoted following — but was forced to leave Newton in 2024 due to high rents — to set up shop just outside his dispensary’s doors.

The result is a win-win.

• Coleman, former co-owner of Want List Records at Echo Bridge Mall, is back in Newton with his new shop, Root for Us Records. (Want List, is now in Belmont, run by Coleman’s ex-partner.)
  
  
• REDI no longer has an empty lobby.
  
  
• And both Coleman and Chiang gain exposure to new customers at a time when both retail and the cannabis industry face rising competition.

These kinds of creative partnerships just make sense. Here’s hoping we see more of them.

That’s what you need to know for today — the day the music died — unless you need to know why we call it a “pair of pants.”

Make it a good one.

Greg Reibman (he, him)

President & CEO

Charles River Regional Chamber

617.244.1688

I value your feedback

Max Woolf contributed to today’s newsletter.