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First look: Novo Marketplace, opens in Allston

The food hall opens May 1 with cuisine ranging from Indian to Korean to Indonesian.

Business

<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Novo Marketplace" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2026/03/24/allston-food-hall-vendors-seek-alcohol-licenses" data-vars-content-id="d877f31e-9a20-492f-993b-145f5c37e432" data-vars-headline="First look: Novo Marketplace, opens in Allston" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2026/03/24/allston-food-hall-vendors-seek-alcohol-licenses" target="_self">Novo Marketplace</a> opens Friday, bringing a gathering space with a dozen Asian food vendors to Allston. Why it matters: Some U.S. food halls are struggling to turn a profit — the latest example being <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Time Out Market" data-vars-click-url="https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/time-out-market-food-hall-boston-not-closing/" data-vars-content-id="d877f31e-9a20-492f-993b-145f5c37e432" data-vars-headline="First look: Novo Marketplace, opens in Allston" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/time-out-market-food-hall-boston-not-closing/" target="_blank">Time Out Market</a>— but owner Winson Chen is betting on the demand for gathering spaces and Asian cuisine in the Allston-Brighton area.

Jaylen Brown's nonprofit could land $700K in Mass. budget

Brown has become a prominent social justice advocate in Boston.

Politics

Celtics star <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Jaylen Brown" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2026/04/16/what-to-know-about-the-celtics-playoff-series-against-the-76ers" data-vars-content-id="1722c684-8e04-4c44-96ff-bb7712a1da7f" data-vars-headline="Jaylen Brown&#x27;s nonprofit could land $700K in Mass. budget" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2026/04/16/what-to-know-about-the-celtics-playoff-series-against-the-76ers" target="_self">Jaylen Brown</a>&#x27;s nonprofit could score $700,000 in taxpayer funds under earmark spending approved by the House.Why it matters: The budget allocation shows a significant appetite in the Legislature to dedicate public tax dollars to athlete-led charity work.

Substation trading cards highlight Boston history

The trading cards highlight MBTA and substation history.

History

A rescue hook. An Orange Line train. A historic blackout.<ul><li>These are the details of Roslindale&#x27;s history highlighted in the Substation&#x27;s trading card series.</li></ul>

Lawsuit challenges Trump's attacks on diversity visa lottery

A class-action lawsuit includes 65 people within the U.S., including one couple in Massachusetts.

Immigration

A class-action lawsuit challenging the Trump administration&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="freeze" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/19/trump-green-card-lottery-visa-brown-university-mit-shootings" data-vars-content-id="3c949f0f-9e3a-4739-9dd2-76b624cf40b4" data-vars-headline="Lawsuit challenges Trump&#x27;s attacks on diversity visa lottery" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/19/trump-green-card-lottery-visa-brown-university-mit-shootings" target="_self">freeze</a> of the diversity visa lottery program will decide the future of hundreds who sought a shot at building a life in the United States.<ul><li>That includes a couple in Somerville who want to raise their baby here.</li></ul>

Greater Boston's sewage problem may continue through 2050

A state proposal would reduce, but not eliminate, combined sewer overflows in major storms.

Environment

Cambridge and Arlington residents find themselves running and pushing strollers through sewage-tainted waters every time heavy rains flood the Alewife Brook Reservation.<ul><li>A state proposal would reduce, but not eliminate, the amount of sewage overflow from certain pipes into Boston-area waterways by 2050.</li></ul>

How to save a "stunned" sea turtle on the Cape

Mass Audubon is urging coastal residents and visitors to help sea turtles that wash ashore.

<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Mass Audubon" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2025/04/09/mass-audubon-wins-bid-for-chelsea-park" data-vars-content-id="35a37ef5-a4a8-40bc-ba64-8846dd840802" data-vars-headline="How to save a &quot;stunned&quot; sea turtle on the Cape" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2025/04/09/mass-audubon-wins-bid-for-chelsea-park" target="_self">Mass Audubon</a> is urging coastal residents and visitors to help stunned turtles that wash ashore as temperatures dip.Why it matters: Some turtle species get &quot;cold-stunned&quot; in waters below 55 degrees Fahrenheit if they get stuck along the Cape or can&#x27;t swim south to warmer waters fast enough.

Tracy Chang makes the case for eating green crabs

Chang and The Nature Conservancy want locals to try cooking with green crabs.

Tracy Chang packed steaming hot sambus into to-go containers one chilly afternoon outside of South Station.<ul><li>With every purchase, she touted the secret ingredient in the filling: green crab broth.</li></ul>

Mass. Gov. Maura Healey takes on utility bills

Healey wants a line-by-line review. It's up to utility regulators to make that happen this fall.

Climate

No matter what&#x27;s happening in the world, Massachusetts can rely on two constants each fall: unpredictable weather and, in recent years, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="sky-high energy bills" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2025/05/13/mass-gov-maura-healeys-energy-power-utility-bills-cost" data-vars-content-id="48d8cfc6-5b1f-44b8-b5da-26e0230a1621" data-vars-headline="Mass. Gov. Maura Healey takes on utility bills" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2025/05/13/mass-gov-maura-healeys-energy-power-utility-bills-cost" target="_self">sky-high energy bills</a>.Why it matters: Gov. Maura Healey can&#x27;t control the weather, but she can direct regulators to rein in utility costs — at least, that&#x27;s what she&#x27;s trying to do.

How Mass. CO2 emissions changed in 18 years

The state still has farther to go to meet its climate goals, which rely on clean energy production.

Massachusetts slashed its energy-related <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="CO₂ emissions per capita" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2025/09/23/co2-emissions-state" data-vars-content-id="3cb46758-dcb1-46c3-88e9-a2c3d3492f51" data-vars-headline="How Mass. CO2 emissions changed in 18 years" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2025/09/23/co2-emissions-state" target="_self">CO₂ emissions per capita</a> by more than one-third over 18 years, but it&#x27;s still far from transitioning to clean energy.Why it matters: The state&#x27;s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint are working, but the Trump administration&#x27;s cuts to wind and solar energy production may keep the state from reaching its <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="climate goals for 2030" data-vars-click-url="https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-clean-energy-and-climate-plan-for-2025-and-2030" data-vars-content-id="3cb46758-dcb1-46c3-88e9-a2c3d3492f51" data-vars-headline="How Mass. CO2 emissions changed in 18 years" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-clean-energy-and-climate-plan-for-2025-and-2030" target="_blank">climate goals for 2030</a> and beyond.

Boston-area residents, ecologists fight black swallow-wort spread

Boston-area ecologists, farmers and residents are fighting its spread.

Armed with a pair of scissors, Amy Collier slashes long pod-bearing vines that encroach on Jamaica Plain sidewalks and parks while out walking.<ul><li>Workers near the Boston Nature Center and the Bell Isle March have embarked on the same mission— to stop the invasion of the black swallow-wort.</li></ul>

Our readers weigh in: Would you swim in the Charles River?

We asked readers Friday if they&#x27;d be willing to take a dive into the not-so-dirty water of the Charles River themselves.<ul><li>51.4% of you said &quot;Hell yes I would!&quot; and 48.6% responded &quot;No way. The ick is real.&quot;</li></ul>

Boston's Charles River open for swimming for 1 day only

Axios Boston's Mike Deehan takes the plunge into once-polluted waters.

News

This Saturday, swimmers will plunge into the not-so-dirty water of the Charles River for the eighth City Splash event.What&#x27;s happening: From noon to 4pm at the Esplanade, Bostonians who have signed up for the event can have some fun in the river, which is normally closed to swimming.

The long, long road to taxing mileage in Mass.

Mass. could soon embark on the long, long road to taxing mileage.

Lawmakers are looking for the state to get closer to its climate-friendly emissions goal by targeting how many miles residents drive.Why it matters: Transportation accounts for 37% of all Massachusetts<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text=" emissions" data-vars-click-url="https://transitmatters.org/blog/from-vmts-to-tmts" data-vars-content-id="be75baa4-e576-422d-adce-b2a5cf935e6c" data-vars-headline="The long, long road to taxing mileage in Mass." data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://transitmatters.org/blog/from-vmts-to-tmts" target="_blank"> emissions</a>, yet the state consistently trails behind its own goals to reduce greenhouse gases.<ul><li>Factoring miles driven into state policy — and possibly taxing them down the road — would be a sea change in the way Bay Staters move around the commonwealth.</li></ul>

What's behind the rise of urban food forests around Boston

Locals are growing Boston's greenspace, one vacant lot at a time.

Boston-area residents are bringing parks with trees, herbs and fruit to some of the most concrete-heavy corners of the metro area.Why it matters: The parks, known as food forests, are one way locals are combating extreme heat that clusters in several Boston neighborhoods.

A cartogram of the U.S. showing the change in energy-related CO2 emissions per capita from 2005 to 2023 by state. Maryland leads at -49%, while Mississippi trails at -1%. The nationwide figure is -30%.