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Axios Boston
Lawmakers aim to crack down on vaping black market
Legislators and tobacco inspectors are pushing to tighten the state's already rigorous tobacco and nicotine laws to curb vaping and crack down on a black market that's flourished since Massachusetts' historic flavor ban took effect.Why it matters: While teen vaping has declined since Massachusetts passed a first-in-the-nation ban of menthol cigarettes and flavored e-cigarettes in 2019, state tobacco inspectors have found an influx in cross-state smuggling of those products.The findings have irked some convenience store owners, who warned the law would create a boon for the black market.Catch up fast: The state's flavor ban and 75% excise tax on e-cigarettes...
St. Patrick's Day survival guide
Whether you plan to embrace the blarney or just want to avoid Southie at all costs, here's what you need to know about Boston's biggest St. Patrick's Day weekend event, the annual South Boston parade.Details: The marching starts at 1pm Sunday by the Broadway MBTA station at Dorchester Ave., Traveler Street and West Broadway.But revelers will certainly be out at the neighborhood's pubs and restaurants long before the official kickoff.And they'll stick around long after the parade finishes up.What's happening: The route will take the parade down East Broadway, then southwest down Dorchester Street to end at Andrew Square.Be smart:...
Boston's not-so-big apartments
Data: RentCafe analysis of Yardi Matrix data; Note: Analysis includes U.S. metro areas (defined by Yardi Matrix market boundaries) with the most apartments located in multi-family buildings of 50 units or more; Map: Kavya Beheraj/AxiosLike most good things in Boston, the square footage in our apartments has been shrinking.Why it matters: It's part of a national trend. Naturally, though, Boston’s average apartment size is smaller than most other cities.By the numbers: The average size of newer apartments built between 2013 and 2022 in Boston was 773 feet, 13% smaller than the national average, per a new report from listing service...
Boston's not-so-big apartments
Data: RentCafe analysis of Yardi Matrix data; Note: Analysis includes U.S. metro areas (defined by Yardi Matrix market boundaries) with the most apartments located in multi-family buildings of 50 units or more; Map: Kavya Beheraj/AxiosLike most good things in Boston, the square footage in our apartments has been shrinking.Why it matters: It's part of a national trend. Naturally, though, Boston’s average apartment size is smaller than most other cities.By the numbers: The average size of newer apartments built between 2013 and 2022 in Boston was 773 feet, 13% smaller than the national average, per a new report from listing service...
Pet Pick: Lafayette, a cat who loves plastic bags
Le chat Lafayette. Photo: MSPCAIt turns out the MSPCA has a secret weapon: Everyone give it up for America's favorite fighting Frenchman — er, domestic short-haired kitty — Lafayette!Details: He's an outgoing 7-year-old with a fondness for ping pong balls and sitting around on the couch.And he needs to be the only pet around along with a selection of litter boxes for proper training.Warning: Keep this kitty away from plastic bags, as they seem to be his favorite snack.Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Boston.
Pet Pick: Lafayette, a cat who loves plastic bags
Le chat Lafayette. Photo: MSPCAIt turns out the MSPCA has a secret weapon: Everyone give it up for America's favorite fighting Frenchman — er, domestic short-haired kitty — Lafayette!Details: He's an outgoing 7-year-old with a fondness for ping pong balls and sitting around on the couch.And he needs to be the only pet around along with a selection of litter boxes for proper training.Warning: Keep this kitty away from plastic bags, as they seem to be his favorite snack.
What music Bostonians Shazam the most
Boston wanted to identify pop music more than any other genre last year, followed by hip-hop and rock, according to a review of what we used the Shazam app for.Axios' Erin Davis identified songs Shazamed in Boston more often than anywhere else in the U.S.“Calm Down,” an Afrobeats song by Nigerian artist Rema, was our most distinctive song search.Boston's top 10 artists were: Drake, Lil Baby, 21 Savage, Bad Bunny, Lil Durk, Future, The Weeknd, Gunna, Taylor Swift and Kanye West.Alternative and R&B/Soul rounded out the top five most Shazamed genres.How it works: The top 100 most-Shazamed songs were identified by data provider Chartmetric for 96 cities around the U.S.Axios compared the song rankings in each city to the average rank of those songs in the 95 other U.S. cities.Between the lines: The study also found each city's top 10 most Shazamed artists and the 5 most Shazamed genres.Steph’s thought bubble: Shoutout to the reggaeton, Afrobeats and guaracha representation. One day, those genres will dominate the charts enough to not be lumped into an “other” category.Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Boston.
Silicon Valley Bank’s rise and fall in Greater Boston
How did a bank many Bostonians had never heard of become a staple of the region’s startup economy and the center of the nation’s second-largest bank failure?Background: Silicon Valley Bank’s strength — and ultimately one of its weaknesses — was its stronghold in the tech and life sciences industries that meant it didn’t have to market to ordinary people, experts tell Axios.Now, the California-based bank’s collapse has shaken tech hubs across the country and prompted Sen. Elizabeth Warren to introduce a bill to restore banking regulations that had been rolled back during the Trump administration.Flashback: Silicon Valley Bank expanded into...
What music Bostonians Shazam the most
Boston wanted to identify pop music more than any other genre last year, followed by hip-hop and rock, according to a review of what we used the Shazam app for.Axios' Erin Davis identified songs Shazamed in Boston more often than anywhere else in the U.S.“Calm Down,” an Afrobeats song by Nigerian artist Rema, was our most distinctive song search.Boston's top 10 artists were: Drake, Lil Baby, 21 Savage, Bad Bunny, Lil Durk, Future, The Weeknd, Gunna, Taylor Swift and Kanye West.Alternative and R&B/Soul rounded out the top five most Shazamed genres.How it works: The top 100 most-Shazamed songs were identified by data provider Chartmetric for 96 cities around the U.S.Axios compared the song rankings in each city to the average rank of those songs in the 95 other U.S. cities.Between the lines: The study also found each city's top 10 most Shazamed artists and the 5 most Shazamed genres.Steph’s thought bubble: Shoutout to the reggaeton, Afrobeats and guaracha representation. One day, those genres will dominate the charts enough to not be lumped into an “other” category.
Silicon Valley Bank’s rise and fall in Greater Boston
How did a bank many Bostonians had never heard of become a staple of the region’s startup economy and the center of the nation’s second-largest bank failure?Background: Silicon Valley Bank’s strength — and ultimately one of its weaknesses — was its stronghold in the tech and life sciences industries that meant it didn’t have to market to ordinary people, experts tell Axios.Now, the California-based bank’s collapse has shaken tech hubs across the country and prompted Sen. Elizabeth Warren to introduce a bill to restore banking regulations that had been rolled back during the Trump administration.Flashback: Silicon Valley Bank expanded into...
It's maple month in Massachusetts
March is maple month in Massachusetts, so take a moment at the breakfast table this morning to appreciate one of the area's finer exports.Of course, our neighbors to the north in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine compete with Canada for bragging rights over the best maple syrups and candies, but the Bay State's western reaches also produce some fine sap.How it works: Farmers collect the sap from maple trees in buckets, then boil away excess water, leaving a naturally sugary syrup.At Steve's Sugar Shack in Westhampton, you can get an up close and personal view of what it takes to...
How the Silicon Valley Banking fallout impacts Massachusetts
Massachusetts banks may have gotten some new customers out of Silicon Valley Bank's collapse, but their investors are also feeling the brunt of the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history.Why it matters: SVB was an institution in Massachusetts, especially after acquiring Boston Private Financial Holdings in 2021. The bank held $5.5 billion in deposits in the state last year, becoming the 10th largest deposit-holder.The bank’s failure was bound to have a ripple effect across the stock market, even with the federal government’s bailout. Now all eyes are on First Republic Bank, the sixth-largest bank by deposits in Massachusetts, as shares...
Nasty storm blows into the Boston region
A mid-March storm is hitting the region with rain that may shift to snow this afternoon, leaving around 6 inches of snow by tomorrow morning.Threat level: Last night's rain may get heavy and wet throughout today.The temperature is set to drop to around freezing by 5pm Tuesday, leaving us with a mess of a storm by the evening commute and overnight.Forecasts predict the nor'easter will bring winds of 50 mph and 10 to 14-foot waves along the coast.Colder air temperatures mean snow will likely pile up quickly, even on roads.Zoom out: MetroWest and much of the North Shore could see...
Report: Troopers left day jobs for overtime pay
A new report has flagged practices that allow state troopers to rack up overtime while leaving their day jobs.Several troopers in 2019 left their regular shifts to take optional overtime shifts, claiming personal or vacation time for the hours not worked at their regular posts, per the report.Why it matters: The state police department continues to face scrutiny five years after an overtime scandal in which dozens of troopers in the now-disbanded Troop E were pocketing taxpayer money for overtime they never worked.Driving the news: Troopers took optional overtime shifts during their regular shifts hundreds of times in 2019, according...
Boston just had one of its hottest winters
Data: Climate Central; Chart: Kavya Beheraj/AxioThe winter of 2022–23 has been Boston's fifth warmest on record, with average temperatures from December through February of 36.8°F — 7.3 degrees warmer than those of winter 1970.That's according to a new analysis of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration numbers from Climate Central, a nonpartisan research and communications group.Boston's average winter temperature was 29.5°F in 1970.Why it matters: Warm winters can exacerbate drought (because there's less snowmelt in the spring), wreak havoc on crops and gardens, and spell disaster for towns built around skiing, snowboarding and similar pursuits.The big picture: Winter is the fastest-warming...
Authorities prep for South Boston St. Patrick's Day Parade a year after far-right disruption
Federal law enforcement officials and U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins' office will meet with the state, city and MBTA Transit police departments today to talk about ways to prevent white nationalists from causing disruptions during this year's South Boston St. Patrick's Day Parade.Threat level: It comes after a group wearing neo-Nazi insignia displayed a banner reading "keep Boston Irish" over a sidewalk guardrail at last year's event, angering parade attendees, organizers and local officials.Driving the news: Sen. Nick Collins and other South Boston leaders have asked for more security on commuter rail trains headed into the city and at the South...
Westborough's Daniel Kwan favored for Oscar glory
With no Damons, Afflecks, Poehlers, Carrells or Wahlbergs in sight, New England's hope for a hometown Academy Award winner this year falls to Westborough's own Daniel Kwan, who's nominated for best director for his film “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”State of play: Kwan, 35, met his directing partner and co-nominee Daniel Scheinert (they're collectively known as The Daniels) at Emerson College.The pair's debut feature Swiss Army Man starred Daniel Radcliffe, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Paul Dano.But true fans know that The Daniels' best work is the ridiculous music video for Lil Jon's “Turn Down for What.”Of note: The Daniels may have had some award show luck rub off on them when they directed a recent W magazine photoshoot with Emmy-winning Norwell native and fellow Emerson grad Jennifer Coolidge.Click here to see Coolidge from the Japanese monster movie-inspired shoot.
Testing ChatGPT’s Boston IQ
ChatGPT is only becoming more ingrained in our society.Why it matters: The chatbot is the most advanced AI writing tool to hit the market, Axios' Erica Pandey, Dan Primack and Ina Fried report.The free (for now) service offers seemingly endless possibilities, from answering simple questions to writing essay-length responses to any prompt you can think of.Teachers are using ChatGPT for lesson planning, and Slack is rolling out a ChatGPT bot.We decided to test ChatGPT’s Boston knowledge, starting with the MBTA.Asked to explain the city’s public transit system, ChatGPT called the MBTA the oldest public transit system in the nation (true)...
Boston could be first city to make vendors donate leftovers
A new proposal would make Boston the first city in the country to require vendors to donate leftover food.Why it matters: Environmental officials estimate the state is letting more than a million tons of food go to waste a year, even as food insecurity has doubled during the pandemic, according to a memo by Harvard’s Food Law and Policy Clinic.The proposal also comes as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s expanded benefits end, affecting more than 630,000 Massachusetts households.City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo proposed the ordinance with Councilor Gabriela Coletta last week. He says the nonprofits that already help vendors divert leftovers...
MBTA hits pause on modernizing fares
The MBTA was supposed to have a modern fare collection system up and running by 2021, but the Healey administration is once again tapping the brakes to reevaluate the project that's already years behind schedule.Driving the news: The 2-month-old Healey-Driscoll administration has already done a preliminary review of the project to assess its status and timeline, according to an MBTA spokesperson.But based on the contractor's most recent schedule, the project is unlikely to hit its 2024 target, T spokesperson Joe Pesaturo said in a statement.Why it matters: Updating and standardizing how the T collects fares would make the system more...
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