👋 Mike Deehan here, back with Spill of the Hill, my column unraveling Massachusetts politics.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is set to deliver her annual State of the City address tonight.

• It's her first big opportunity this election year to outline her coming campaign in front of voters and to respond to building criticism of the way she runs City Hall.

Why it matters: Any big speech from an incumbent on the ballot will be scrutinized as a campaign moment, so expect clear goals to be outlined tonight in addition to the normal victory laps of a first-term mayor.

Between the lines: Wu has a couple fires burning that voters may want her to address, but don't expect the mayor to spend too much time on the trickier issues:

• The pressure from community groups to stop the renovation of White Stadium into a home for a new professional women's soccer team.
• Her recent 180 on some city bike-lane protections and admission that her administration was hasty about them.
• Her opponent, nonprofit leader and billionaire's son Josh Kraft, and who's campaigning against what he's characterized as Wu's regnant leadership style.

Then there are the real big problems in Boston: schools, housing affordability, and a recovering economy facing uncertain support from Washington.

• Wu has made affordability a cornerstone of her tenure, but national economic trends have mostly overwhelmed anything a mayor could hope to accomplish in one term.

What we're watching: Wu has some political wins that have flown under the radar.

• She was endorsed for reelection by health care, public service and property service workers this month, partially solidifying her support on the left as she prepares to take on more moderate interests in the campaign.

The big picture: Wu's speech probably won't vary much from previous addresses: a progress report and a vision for the future.

• But it'll be a telling look at what she wants the coming campaign to be about and how she wants voters to judge her term.

What's next: The speech starts at 7pm and will be streamed online.

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🏢 Rockpoint Group is putting the 75-101 Federal St. office towers in downtown Boston up for sale as their mortgage comes due.

• The 853,000-square-foot complex is 71% occupied
• Recent Boston office properties have sold at 40-60% discounts from pre-pandemic values.

🧪 Boston's planning board approved City Realty's $210-million, 280,000-square-foot lab project in the Newmarket industrial area near "Mass. and Cass."

🏘️ The Lyndia, New England's largest development for housing with support services, opened in Jamaica Plain with 202 units. (Boston Real Estate Times)

🏠 The former Brockton Fairgrounds received approval for a major mixed-use redevelopment including 1,705 housing units, commercial space and a three-acre park.

🏗️ A land deal was signed for the next phase of development at the Boston State Hospital site in Mattapan, with acquisition expected by June 2025.

• The Olmsted Village project will include 269 units across six buildings

🚌 The state's top court ruled the MBTA can be sued over an assault by a bus driver with known anger management issues who attacked a passenger in 2015. (CommonWealth Beacon)

⚖️ Crash experts will be allowed to testify for Karen Read's defense at her April retrial. In a new ruling, the judge criticized attorneys for concealing financial arrangements with the analysts. (Boston Globe)

🎸 English star musician Ed Sheeran gave a surprise performance at The Dubliner Pub in Boston on St. Patrick's Day, teasing the appearance on Instagram shortly before hitting the stage. (WCVB)

• He played "Galway Girl."

We asked Monday morning if our readers have received any of those spam text messages about outstanding parking tickets or tolls.

• 81.3% of you said they had.

Most readers who responded could see the scam from a mile away:

• "They gotta do better than that. I'm not gonna believe "RachelSmith0427!q@gmail" has anything to do with EZ Pass," one reader told us.
• "This must be the DUMBEST string of scams in recent memory. I've gotten them from 3 agencies representing 3 different states and with varying degrees of proficiency with the English language. With that said, I was immediately worried my parents were probably falling for one of them at that exact same moment," one reader fretted.

Another reader had a foolproof way to tell the texts were a scam: "I don't drive. I have never been issued a driver's license in ANY state. I do not own a car. I have not ever owned a car. There is absolutely no logical reason that I should be receiving these parking invoice spam texts," they wrote.

Look for our next reader survey Monday

Warm weather, affordability and politics have prompted a teenage migration from the Northeast to the South.

Why it matters: Large southern state schools, many in already expanding metro areas, are attracting a geographically diverse student body as Americans are increasingly disillusioned with the value of higher education.

• "They're seen not only as more fun, but also more accessible," Jeff Selingo, author of college admissions books, told Axios.

The big picture: Many public southern schools have lower tuition rates than their private counterparts, and they prioritize merit scholarships, Selingo said.

Go deeper: America's college chaos