Interested in understanding the challenges facing our restaurants right now?

 

If so, make time this morning to read Arpit Patel’s just-published op-ed in CommonWealth.

 

Patel, proprietor of Baramor in Newton Centre doesn’t mince words.

 

He covers everything from rarely-acknowledged factors that have contributed to an unprecedent labor shortage, to misbehaving guests, to the “subtle racism” that may be behind a state law that prohibits tipping kitchen staff. 

 

“There are major changes that need to happen that are less talked about publicly. These matters are historically talked about behind closed doors," Patel writes in a piece that also appeared in the Newton Tab.

 

"And that needs to change immediately.”

 

 

For the first time, commuter rail trains are now running between Needham and Boston on Sundays.

 

The added service can be extremely helpful to employers looking to fill Sunday jobs and anyone looking to get into the city car free.

 

But not everyone is celebrating.

 

That’s because train noise – specifically those piercing train horns -- has long been a source of angst in town.

 

How loud? Listen for yourself.

 

Before the T launched Sunday service (the transit agency also resumed service on Saturdays, which had been suspended since January) they asked town officials for input. 

 

The Needham Select Board held a public hearing and ultimately voted 4-0 to ask that trains terminate Sunday service at the Needham Junction stop. Skipping the Needham Centre and Needham Heights stops, they reasoned, would eliminate five rail crossing and, thus, five sets of horn honkings.

 

But the T ignored the board and decided to serve all stops anyway.

 

“As a public transit system, the T’s goal is to maximize its resources to attract as many riders as possible,” a T spokesman told Bruce Mohl at CommonWealth.

 

“Already incurring the costs of operating the trains on a Sunday, the T feels it is important to offer the public access to the service at all stations along the line.”

 

Since it's there, you might as well take advantage of it: The T is offering a $10 weekend ticket that is valid for unlimited travel across all lines for one weekend, from Saturday morning to Sunday evening.

 

 

Gov. Charlie Baker hasn’t given up on his proposal to spend $2.9 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars to drive housing production, workforce training and tourism.

 

But lawmakers don’t seem to be in any hurry to even consider his plan, according to Steph Solis at MassLive.

 

Baker’s bill would allocate $1 billion to housing production and assistance, including $300 million in aid to first-time homeowners, an idea the Globe endorses today.

 

It also includes $1 billion for infrastructure; $100 million to improve state park facilities; $100 million to increase broadband internet access; and $100 million for marine port development.

 

Wait, there's more: $240 million for job training programs, $250 million to support regional collaborations and investments in downtowns, $175 million for addiction treatment and related behavioral health services, according to Colin A Young at State House News.

 

 

And speaking of ARPA, Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller says she wants to hear from the public on how the city should spend its $63 million allocation.

 

She’s holding a “community listening session” on Zoom tomorrow (Thurs) July 8, from 6 to 8 p.m. Or email your ideas to ARPAinput@newtonma.gov by July 9.

 

Interested in what other states and cities are doing with their ARPA funds? The New York Times has this summary.

 

 

 

While Massachusetts and other states are offering vaccine lotteries raffles like Vaxmillions (with some arguing they don’t work) Rhode Island just rolled out a kinder, gentler idea.

 

The more people in Rhode Island who get vaccinated against COVID-19, the more charities in the state stand to benefit under a program announced Tuesday by Gov. Daniel McKee. 

 

 

 

Remember last winter, when a Globe editorial and many elected leaders implored Gov. Charlie Baker to shut down restaurants and other aspects of the economy?

 

Over and over Baker kept saying there “no evidence” that indoor dining is responsible for the spread of COVID-19.

 

Instead, the governor said, over and over, the biggest problem were private household gatherings and “people who are familiar with each other, being familiar with each other.”

 

New research suggests he was right.

 

Researchers from Harvard, the RAND Corporation and Castlight Health found that when a family member had a birthday, COVID infections increased by nearly a third, compared to weeks when there were no family birthdays in that household

 

Birthdays, of course, weren’t the only types of small family events that took place during the pandemic but offered “an opportunity to empirically quantify the potential role of small social gatherings in COVID-19 spread,” according to the New York Times.

 

“There was definitely this element of your home is a safe place and therefore when you have your friends and family over in your home, it just doesn’t feel risky,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University.

 

While the study considered data from last year, its conclusions are still relevant for Americans who are unvaccinated today — a group that includes all children under 12.

 

 

I don't know about you but I've really missed live music.

 

Newton Community Pride's annual Linda Plaut Newton Festival of the Arts is happening this Saturday and Sunday (July 10 – 11) at three different locations with lots of music in Waban, West Newton and Newton Highlands. 

 

All performances (from blues to baroque and classical guitar to R&B and opera to jazz) are free. Details.

 

 

Congratulations to the Newton Food Pantry, which after a year and a half of rising to the occasion by serving more of our neighbors than any of us could imagine, is relaunching this morning with a new website, new logo and a renewed commitment to “meeting our clients where they are.”

 

 

Finally this morning, my thanks to everyone who voted for me in Boston Magazine’s The Best of Boston Readers’ Poll: Heroes Edition, part of the annual Best of Boston 2021 issue.

 

We've been on quite a journey together, haven't we?

 

I appreciate your thoughtfulness.

 

Be back on Friday.

 

617-244-1688

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