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Axios Boston
Logan Airport lagged in holiday timeliness
81% of flights out of Logan International Airport departed on time in December 2023, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Kavya Beheraj report from the latest Transportation Department data.The big picture: Logan trailed the average national on-time departure rate for domestic U.S. flights of 83% in December 2023.The national average is a big upswing compared to December 2022, when Southwest Airlines' epic meltdown dragged the industry-wide average down to about 70% for the month.Zoom in: Florida's Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport (89.5% on time), Salt Lake City International Airport (89.2%) and Hawai'i's Lihue Airport (88.8%) had the best on-time departure performance in December...
CIC, Basque Culinary Center team up to explore food science innovation
The Cambridge Innovation Center is teaming up with the Basque Culinary Center in Spain to explore innovation in gastronomy.Why it matters: The partnership supports researchers and entrepreneurs tackling some of the biggest challenges in farming, the plant-based market, restaurants and more.Zoom in: This is CIC's first food collaboration across multiple locations and, CEO Tim Rowe argues, the first food science collaboration of its kind.The partnership opens the door to networking opportunities, startup incubators and other collaborations between entrepreneurs in Boston's tech hub and academic researchers in San Sebastián, a culinary destination.CIC and Basque celebrated the partnership with a gastronomy showcase in Kendall Square.The showcase included a mixologist, a Boston-based vertical farming startup, a Spanish brewery specializing in alcohol made from fermented teas and other projects.Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Boston.
Messi game drives New England Revs ticket prices
Ticket prices are surging for the New England Revolution game against Inter Miami and Lionel Messi on April 27.Why it matters: The hype around Messi, the Argentine soccer star and Inter Miami forward, has drawn record crowds across the globe, bringing attention and driving ticket sales for opposing teams.State of play: Some pairs of tickets are reselling on Ticketmaster for nearly $1,000 as of Thursday. Individual club seats, which typically go for roughly $100, are selling for more than four times as much for the Inter Miami game.The Revs sold out packages with lower-level seats and other perks for the game.Reality check: There's no guarantee Messi will appear at Gillette.He didn't play in Washington, D.C., after suffering a hamstring injury, disappointing fans.Inter Miami CF coach Gerardo Martino said Messi's condition will be evaluated "week by week."Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Boston.
Messi game drives New England Revs ticket prices
Ticket prices are surging for the New England Revolution game against Inter Miami and Lionel Messi on April 27.Why it matters: The hype around Messi, the Argentine soccer star and Inter Miami forward, has drawn record crowds across the globe, bringing attention and driving ticket sales for opposing teams.State of play: Some pairs of tickets are reselling on Ticketmaster for nearly $1,000 as of Thursday. Individual club seats, which typically go for roughly $100, are selling for more than four times as much for the Inter Miami game.The Revs sold out packages with lower-level seats and other perks for the game.Reality check: There's no guarantee Messi will appear at Gillette.He didn't play in Washington, D.C., after suffering a hamstring injury, disappointing fans.Inter Miami CF coach Gerardo Martino said Messi's condition will be evaluated "week by week."Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Boston.
Mass. could finally ban "revenge porn"
Massachusetts is one of the last states in the country to make "revenge porn" illegal, but it likely won't be dead last.Why it matters: It took nearly seven years for lawmakers to near the finish line on a bill to outlaw the malicious sharing of explicit images without the subject's permission."Revenge porn" is the term for when someone threatens to release intimate material — typically nude photos or a sex tape created for private viewing — as a means to embarrass, coerce or extort the subject of the footage.Victims face humiliation and personal and professional consequences if explicit material...
Why converting Boston's empty offices to homes is harder than it looks
It's an uphill battle to transform Boston's vacant downtown office buildings into homes, but the Hub does have one advantage: its sky-high residential rents.Why it matters: Filling empty offices with new downtown dwellers may look like killing two birds with one stone, but it's not nearly that easy.It takes sizable up-front investments to physically transform offices into suitable residences with individual units, plumbing, fire suppression, egress spots, kitchens and power.Spending millions to add hundreds of toilets, showers and new windows to meet residential building codes makes investors nervous when there's little guarantee of a return.The big picture: Residential space is...
Seaport pharma firm launches world's most expensive medicine
A new gene therapy drug from a Boston-based company to treat a rare genetic disorder comes with a whopping price tag: $4.25 million.Why it matters: The drug, known as Lenmeldy, is now the most expensive medicine in the world.The Seaport's Orchard Therapeutics won approval for Lenmeldy Monday.Around 40 children are born with the genetic disorder treated by Lenmeldy — metachromatic leukodystrophy — in the U.S. each year, according to CNN.Makers of the new drug claim it can slow or even stop the progression of MLD with a single dose.The bottom line: Instead of charging patients over $4 million, the price is what insurers, including public payers like Medicaid, will have to pay for the treatment.Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Boston.
How Massachusetts can watch the 2024 solar eclipse
Bostonians can catch a glimpse of the April 8 solar eclipse within city limits, but they'll have to hit the road to experience the full effect.Why it matters: This is the only total solar eclipse that can be seen from the continental U.S. until August 2044.The big picture: The total eclipse will be visible in Mexico and 13 U.S. states, including Texas and parts of upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.Massachusetts isn't in the path of totality, but residents can still see a partial eclipse.State of play: The moon will block out up to 92% of the sun...
Boston city councilor suggests St. Patrick's Day parade move out of Southie
Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn suggested moving the annual St. Patrick's Day parade out of South Boston indefinitely after a series of arrests and complaints about public drinking.Why it matters: The popular Irish celebration has drawn hundreds of thousands of people to the Boston neighborhood, but some locals raised concerns about violence, fighting and other incidents at the celebration.Catch up fast: Police arrested at least 10 people on Sunday in South Boston on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to assault, per Boston.com.Officers responded to multiple other calls for fights in the area that afternoon.MBTA Transit Police also arrested a man they said was "highly intoxicated" and had a gun.What they're saying: Flynn wrote on Facebook calling for a "zero tolerance" approach to public drinking, fighting, property damage and other quality of life issues or else the parade should be moved."This is a neighborhood, and many of the spectators that come to the parade do not treat residents of South Boston with respect," he wrote.Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Boston.
Massachusetts libraries saw dozens of book ban attempts in 2023
Massachusetts libraries faced dozens of book ban attempts in 2023, according to new data from the American Library Association.Why it matters: Even liberal Massachusetts isn't immune to attempts to ban books that opponents argue are inappropriate for children — often books that center LGBTQ+ people or people of color.Zoom in: Massachusetts schools and public libraries reported 37 book ban attempts involving 63 titles last year.Book ban attempts are down from 2022, but the number of titles challenged is up, per the ALA.The most targeted title in Massachusetts was, "Gender Queer: A Memoir"A plainclothes officer searched an eighth grade classroom in...
Cambridge startup is tracking heart health in a bra
A Cambridge-based startup is about to launch a clinical trial for bras that could help detect heart irregularities and other conditions that can lead to heart disease.Why it matters: Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women, yet they're under-diagnosed and under-treated.Researchers say that's because women are underrepresented in clinical trials and because many mistakenly believe heart disease is limited to men.State of play: Bloomer Tech received a $1.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health last year to start a clinical trial on its medical device, a bra outfitted with flexible, washable sensors.The company is enlisting...
Boston-area concerts this week
Some all-time legends are in town this week, including:Frankie Valli, Patti Labelle and Emmylou HarrisAs well as some legends to a certain set of people, like Joey Fatone & AJ McLeanCheck out some of the best concerts around town:TuesdayEnglish pop singer and visual artist Hannah Diamond will be at The Sinclair.WednesdaySka punk will never die and Less Than Jake will never stop touring. They're at Big Night Live.Flutist and composer Nathalie Joachim comes to the Crystal Ballroom.Mahalia is at the Paradise Rock Club.Lola Young plays at The Sinclair.ThursdayThrowback country rock act Blackberry Smoke plays at the House of Blues.Balladier Nolan...
Massachusetts is getting its steps in
Been sitting a while? It could be time for a walk break.Why it matters: Many adults don't get the recommended minimum of 150 minutes of exercise a week, but they could hit that number with five 30-minute brisk walks a week.Driving the news: New data from Apple and Brigham and Women's Hospital indicates many Americans aren't hitting that minimum.And the CDC also recommends two additional days of muscle-strengthening activity.Reality check: 67.2% of Bay Staters who track their fitness data with an Apple Watch — presumably a particularly health-conscious bunch — get the recommended 150 minutes of aerobic exercise.That's the best percentage in the country.By the numbers: Over 60% of Apple Watch users in all of the Northeast U.S. — except in Maine — get their steps in each day.Only 54.9% of Mainiac Apple Watch users meet the recommendation.That's still a bit better than the national average: 54%.Beyond the physical health benefits, here's another reason to go for a stroll today: to boost your mental health and longevity.Go deeper: Low-impact exercise is taking off.Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Boston.
Things to do this week
MondayAugust Wilson's play "King Hedley II" is playing at Hibernian Hall in Roxbury now through March 31.It tells the story of a man returning to his community in 1985 after a prison term and finding that things have changed in Reagan's America.Harvard Book Store hosts author Tricia Rose, a professor of Africana Studies at Brown University, for a discussion of her new book "Metaracism: How Systemic Racism Devastates Black Lives—And How We Break Free."Rose will be joined in conversation by Harvard's Henry Louis Gates Jr.TuesdayCraft your own ceramic bongs for Mother's Day at the Puff Puff Pottery class at Diaspora...
Boston's favorite coffee, according to Axios Boston readers
Giant chains, neighborhood cafes and everything in between: We asked who our readers think has the best coffee around Boston.And after four rounds of voting, readers chose Thinking Cup, the small local chain with locations in the Back Bay, North End and by the Common was your pick for the best cup of joe in the city.Thinking Cup beat out a much larger chain for the top spot: second-place finalist Tatte.Bracket: Axios Visuals A bigger surprise came in round 2, when Pavement Coffeehouse took out the 800lbs. elephant in the tournament: Dunkin' itself. Congratulations to the staff and regulars at Thinking Cup and thanks to everyone who voted in our weeklong survey.Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Boston.
Patriots make moves in NFL free agency
As the Patriots embark on a new era following Bill Belichick's departure, the team began reshaping its roster this week with the start of free agency.Why it matters: Free agency is the moment when teams plug holes on their rosters with veterans ahead of April's rookie draft.State of play: The Pats and new head coach Jerod Mayo hold the No. 3 pick in the draft and many expect they'll pick up a quarterback to be the new face of the franchise.Landing a top pick made their 2021 1st-round pick, QB Mac Jones, expendable. He's heading to the Jaguars in a...
Mass. guv's pot pardons could help thousands
Gov. Maura Healey plans to pardon everyone in Massachusetts convicted of simple marijuana possession, a huge gesture that would clear the records of hundreds of thousands of people.Why it matters: If the massive pardon scheme gets approved, it could remove a big obstacle for people with otherwise clean records when it comes to employment or housing opportunities.Healey also sees pardons as a way to start making up for how old drug laws were disproportionately enforced in communities of color versus white communities.How it works: The pardons would be automatic, according to Healey."You will be pardoned and it will be cleared...
Beacon Hill still not ready to revamp sex ed in schools
Advocates for teaching lessons on sexual health in schools that cover topics like LGBTQ inclusivity, bullying and consent will likely have to wait at least another year or two before updated frameworks become required in Massachusetts.Why it matters: The Massachusetts sex education curriculum hadn't been updated in 24 years before Gov. Maura Healey last year gave districts the option to teach what experts say are medically accurate, age-appropriate and inclusive lessons.A bill that would standardize those lessons won Senate approval for a fifth time in nine years, but House Speaker Ron Mariano ruled out his chamber passing it.The bill would...
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