Happy Jordan’s Furniture Enchanted Village Day to all who celebrate. We’ve made it to the final weekday of Red Line shuttles (at least, for 2024). Read below for the latest on the Stop & Shop cyberattack and highlights from the Celtics’ trip to the White House.
But first, an update on Steward hospitals, the T’s newest feature and some news from Beacon Hill:
Losing their religion: Get ready to see more changes inside and outside several ex-Steward Health Care hospitals. The Boston Archdiocese is demanding St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton, Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton and Holy Family Hospital in Haverhill and Methuen change their names and return certain items, as the former Steward hospitals transition to new owners this fall — and break from their old Catholic practices.
- Catch up: The three hospitals were controlled by the Archdiocese until they were acquired by Steward in 2010. As part of that deal, Steward agreed to maintain the hospitals’ Catholic identity and follow the church’s rules on abortion and other care. However, the bankruptcy sale in September let the new hospital operators decide whether they wanted to keep doing so.
- What’s changing for patients: As The Boston Globe reported this week, the new owners of St. Elizabeth’s, Good Samaritan and Holy Family decided against keeping their Catholic identities. That means the hospitals are free to provide elective abortions, certain types of birth control and in vitro fertilization. (Meanwhile, the new owner of Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River will continue following Catholic doctrine.)
- What it means for the hospitals: If they won’t follow Catholic principles, the church is demanding the hospitals give up the names and “return all religious artifacts,” according to Terry Donilon, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese. That includes things like crosses and statues that have long been in the hospitals.
- What’s next: The timeline for these changes remains unclear. A spokesperson for Lawrence General Hospital — which is taking over Holy Family — told WBUR’s Amy Sokolow the Archdiocese is letting them keep the name and items during a “transition period” as they focus on bigger challenges, like integrating staff and cleaning the buildings.
MBTA Go to the App Store: After several months of testing, the T has launched its first official mobile app: “MBTA Go.” It features a map of the entire system — train lines, bus stops, even ferry routes — along with live arrival times and bus/train location tracking. (It’s pretty basic, but the map is a good visual — and apparently pretty accurate.)
- What’s next: Right now, MBTA Go is only available on iPhone, but the T plans to release an Android version in February. They’re also planning to update the app with live crowding information and a trip planner to recommend routes based on your location.
- In other news: Though the remaining MBTA slow zones should be gone by Christmas, there will be more subway closures in 2025 to keep the tracks in good shape, and do other signal and station work. “While there will be some outages needed to continue the work, it won’t be to the level that we had this year,” Eng said.
On Beacon Hill: Gov. Maura Healey has now officially signed into law a sweeping climate and clean energy bill. The new law overhauls how solar and wind projects get built so the process is faster and includes more community input, plus a few other odds and ends. WBUR’s Miriam Wasser explains it all in layman’s terms here.
- Meanwhile: A Republican state representative blocked a potential vote yesterday on Mayor Michelle Wu’s compromise property tax shift plan — which Wu says needs State House approval this month to avoid steep residential tax hikes in January.
On the North Shore: The teacher strikes continue on. Schools are again closed in Beverly, Gloucester and Marblehead. It marks 10 straight canceled school days in Beverly and Gloucester, and nine straight days in Marblehead. All three districts have used up the “snow days” built into their calendar, raising the likely possibility of make-up days during April or February vacations, or on Saturdays.
- An Essex County Superior Court Judge says fines against the three teachers unions for the illegal strikes will be waived today if a contract deal is reached over the weekend. However, they will resume if class is canceled again Monday.
