Good morning,

It’s a short work week.  But there’s no shortage of things you need to know.

We’re publishing just one Charles River Regional Chamber newsletter this week. But today, we’re catching you up with a grab bag of updates, events and things you’ll want on your radar before then.

See you Friday,

Greg Reibman

President & CEO

Charles River Regional Chamber

Grab bag

• Newton and Brookline were just ranked the best and second-best places to live in Massachusetts by U.S. News & World Report.
  
  
• Read our letter to Brookline Special Town Meeting about Chestnut Hill zoning. The big vote is tomorrow night.
  
  
• The wait is over. Our keynote, breakouts and afternoon panel for our June 12 Women's Conference are now confirmed.
  
  
• Needham’s Select Board has reportedly voted to stick with four lanes on Great Plain Ave.
  
  
• Farewell, rosemary fries. Clover Food Lab in Newtonville and the company’s 11 other Boston-area quick-serve restaurants and kiosks will close for good at the end of the day tomorrow (Thurs.), after more than 17 years in business. (Globe)
  
  
• MassBioEd’s 2026 Life Sciences Workforce Conference on June 4,  8 a.m. at Boston University will bring together representatives from the life sciences industry, academic institutions, training providers, and government and community leaders to explore key issues and strategies in building a strong life science workforce in Massachusetts.
  
  
• A West Newton man has been named NBA Coach of the Year.
  
  
• The state has extended the public comment period on its plans to declare portions of the MassBay Community College property in Wellesley “surplus” until June 26. This means you can still weigh in on the proposed housing development at the site, along with plans to gift 40 acres of woods to the town and direct proceeds from the land sale to MassBay. (Swellesley Report)  
  
  
• New City Microcreamery is up and running in the former White Mountain Creamery space on Commonwealth Ave. by Boston College. (Boston Restaurant Talk)
  
  
• Holliston-based Pure Hockey, which operates more than 100 locations, including eight stores in Massachusetts, will open on the ground floor of the former You-Do-It Electronics building in Needham.  The new property owners, Onyx Partners is transforming the top two floors for its own headquarters. (Banker & Tradesman)
  
  
• Along with last week’s reporting on a milestone achievement at the Pattern District (the new name for Northland Corp’s development on Needham Street in Newton) the Globe’s Catherine Carlock has published an interview with Northland’s chair, Larry Gottesdiener.
  
  
• Thanks to Adam Reilly at GBH for including me in his story looking back at Barney Frank’s relationship with the media.
  
  
• Nominations close Friday (May 29) for our first annual Brookline Business Awards. Honorees in each category will be selected by our awards committee and presented at Brookline Night, June 24 at Hilton Garden Inn.

That’s what you need to know for today, unless you need to know where you can go to a movie all by yourself.

RIP Sonny Rollins