Good morning. I’m Kara Baskin, a Globe correspondent who is guest writing Starting Point today to recommend a few kid-friendly Memorial Day weekend activities if you’d like to avoid the crowds and chaos. (Starting Point is taking the holiday off, so Ian Prasad Philbrick will be back on Tuesday.)
But first, here’s what else is going on:
- The Trump administration revoked Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign students and said that current enrollees could lose their legal status, escalating its attack on the school and leaving international students there reeling.
- The authorities charged the suspect in the DC shooting of two Israeli embassy staff members with murder. He allegedly told police “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza.”
- After a police officer murdered George Floyd, Boston-area organizations pledged about $1 billion to advance equity. Five years later, it’s hard to see what that money bought.
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TODAY’S STARTING POINT
Ah, Memorial Day weekend: Three whole days without school, work, or (hopefully) extracurricular activities. What do you plan to do with your family? Here are seven quirky ideas in and around Boston, far from Boston Calling and the beach.
1. If your child is an adventurous eater, consider a ramen-making class at Pagu in Central Square, led by chef (and mom) Tracy Chang. Her classes are super-laid-back and involve a lot of sampling and hands-on excitement; you’ll get to eat everything you create. No experience is necessary, something that I found reassuring when taking one of Chang’s pizza-making classes with my eight-year-old earlier this year. Bonus: drinks and snacks as you cook! Class happens Saturday at 11 a.m. It’s supposed to drizzle, so why not cozily slurp ramen?
2. Though it might be strange to contemplate wool in May, wool days at Old Sturbridge Village are one of their most beloved events. Throughout the long weekend, farmers and costumed historians will shear the Village’s sheep and display the proper dyeing and styling techniques (those with teens whose hairstyles resemble sheep, like my own, might be particularly interested). There will also be a Hurdy Gurdy concert.
3. If you long to pry your children from screens in favor of some real, live culture, bear in mind that both the Institute of Contemporary Art and the Museum of Fine Arts offer free admission on Memorial Day.
4. Elsewhere in the artistic orbit, the kid-friendly “Let’s Not Die: A Live D&D Comedy Performance” runs at Harvard Square’s Comedy Studio on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. A humorous take on the treacherous world of Dungeons & Dragons, the show is just $7 for gamers under 18. Audience participation is a possibility.
5. To take the sting out of any potential boredom, consider attending an operatic pollinator party at the Somerville Community Growing Center Saturday at 2 p.m. This kid-friendly STEM event combines opera with apiary activities: Learn about harvesting nectar and make bee-themed crafts, all while listening to Opera on Tap Boston croon tunes about the beauty of the natural world.
6. If screens are more your speed, fear not: Just weave some nostalgia into the mix with a 50th-anniversary screening of “Jaws” to kick off summer. The Cabot in Beverly hosts an annual showing of the 1975 summertime classic Saturday at 7 p.m.
7. Last but definitely not least: It’s finally patio season. Family-friendly patios abound. In Newton, Baramor has a kid-friendly (and pup-friendly!) patio; in Cambridge, Italian standout Gufo even has a bocce court; in Roslindale, Midnight Morning pairs al fresco chill with a kids’ menu; and the Fenway’s Shy Bird has an expansive patio complete with fried chicken and laid-back vibes.
🧩 3 Down: Cuddly bear | ☔ Light showers
POINTS OF INTEREST
Boston
- Track record: There have been several crashes involving city school buses in the 12 years Transdev has operated them, including the one that killed a five-year-old boy last month.
- Crowded field: Nine candidates vying to replace indicted City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson participated in a forum in Roxbury. Fernandes Anderson, who has pleaded guilty and said she will resign next month, attended.
- Nor’easter: Heavy rains and high winds caused delays and cancellations at Logan Airport and disruptions to the MBTA.
- Online threats: After a loss, Red Sox relief pitcher Liam Hendriks said he received social media “threats against my wife” and comments telling him to commit suicide.
Massachusetts and New England
- Karen Read: A judge dismissed some charges against Aidan Kearney, a pro-Read blogger known as Turtleboy, who is accused of intimidating witnesses in the case. And Globe reporters answered your questions about Read’s retrial.
- Home rule: Local officials, not state lawmakers, would get to determine the number of liquor licenses in their communities under a landmark measure the Massachusetts Senate passed yesterday. House leaders are resisting the change.
- ‘It is over’: Everett’s mayor has refused to return $180,000 in city funds he gave to himself as inflated bonuses. The city council plans to ask the state attorney general to intervene.
- Wicked problem: Massachusetts utility bills are rising. Here’s why there isn’t a simple fix.
- Regional representation: Three of the four teams competing in this weekend’s Division 3 women’s lacrosse championship — Tufts, Middlebury, and Colby — are from New England.
Trump administration
- Trump’s agenda: The massive tax bill the House passed yesterday would shift billions in spending away from safety-net programs to pay for tax cuts that mostly benefit the rich.
- Mixed review: The Supreme Court’s conservative majority said Trump likely has the power to fire Democratic appointees to independent federal agencies but suggested he couldn’t remove the Federal Reserve chair. (SCOTUSblog)
- RFK Jr.: 100 days into his tenure, Trump’s health secretary’s promises to disrupt the drug and food industries have also alienated career staff and triggered backlash.
- Legal fights: A judge temporarily blocked the administration from arresting, moving, or terminating the legal statuses of international students nationwide. (AP)
The Nation
- Religious schools case: The Supreme Court deadlocked over whether Oklahoma can give public money to a religious public charter school, blocking the effort for now. (Politico)
- Diddy trial: The rapper Kid Cudi, who dated Diddy’s former girlfriend Cassie Ventura, accused Diddy of breaking into his home and testified that someone threw a Molotov cocktail into his car after Diddy allegedly threatened to blow it up. (NBC)
- Plane crash: A private plane crashed into a San Diego neighborhood, killing at least 3 people and injuring 8 others. (FOX 5/KUSI)
VIEWPOINTS
Is a City Hall lovers’ spat a political problem for Mayor Michelle Wu?
Yes. The firing of two city employees who got into a domestic dispute and now face assault charges raises genuine questions about culture and oversight that Wu must address as she seeks reelection, Globe Opinion columnist Joan Vennochi argues.
No. Even an ugly quarrel doesn’t make for a mayoral management crisis, and attempts by Wu’s rivals to drag one of her top aides into it smack of “a political hit job,” the Globe’s Shirley Leung writes.
BESIDE THE POINT
By Teresa Hanafin
🦈 You’re going to need a bigger island: The 50th anniversary of the release of the blockbuster movie “Jaws” is next month, and Martha’s Vineyard, where it was filmed, has lots of ways to celebrate.
📺 Streaming this weekend: New movies and TV shows include a sci-fi tale starring Robert Pattinson and the American Music Awards hosted by Jennifer Lopez.
🥋 Wax on: The second major “Karate Kid” spinoff of the year arrives May 30, and Ralph Maccio talks about passing the torch to a new kid in “Legends.”
¢ A nickel for your thoughts: The Treasury is finally phasing out production of the penny, as Trump ordered. (CNN)
⏰ Welcome to “Maycember”: It’s the dreaded month, Kara Baskin writes, in which parents relinquish all earthly responsibilities to spend countless hours bringing their kids to countless events.
👄 Look into my teeth: Eyes may be the window to your soul, but your mouth gives dental hygienists a peek into your health, such as how you sleep, if you smoke, and even what you eat. (HuffPost)
🦎 Fin to limb: The discovery in Australia of the oldest known fossil footprints of a reptile-like creature suggests that the first animals to slither out of the ocean were able to walk and live on land a lot sooner than anyone thought. (AP)
Thanks for reading Starting Point.
This newsletter was edited by Teresa Hanafin and produced by Diamond Naga Siu.
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