Massachusetts residents have until the end of the day to weigh in on the state's proposed regulations for cannabis cafes and lounges.

Why it matters: Cannabis businesses and users who support cannabis cafes, restaurants and lounges have waited years for them to go live, even after Massachusetts passed laws allowing them.

What they're saying: "As a cannabis user, I don't leave my house," says Sam Kanter, who owns Sam Kanter Events, High Road Canna Yoga and Dinner at Mary's.

• "There has to be the ability to have a safe space to consume these products, especially when they are so much more beneficial [than alcohol]."

State of play: The drafted regulations include three license types for adult-use and medical customers.

• A supplemental license lets cannabis dispensaries, cultivators, delivery operators and other businesses set up an on-site consumption business.
• A hospitality license lets non-cannabis businesses, including movie theaters and gyms, get in on the action.
• The event organizer license lets qualifying cannabis businesses get temporary permits for events.

Each licensee would have to wall off the consumption space from retail sales or other areas.

Previously drafted regulations, drawn up when the state planned a social consumption pilot, capped customer purchases to 20 mg of THC a day, which Kanter and other business owners say would have been too limiting.

• The latest draft regulations eliminate that requirement, per the state cannabis agency.

Zoom in: Kanter says she's looking forward to applying for hospitality and event licenses for her "canna-yoga" events and catering, but she questioned the provision making event planners apply for the license 120 days in advance.

• She says the event license should have a 30-day lead time at most.

The big picture: Cannabis is in high demand in Massachusetts, with gross sales exceeding a record $1.6 billion last year.

Reality check: Cannabis businesses are struggling to make money — in some cases, to stay afloat — because after years of covering startup costs and waiting for licenses they face an over-saturated market.

Keep reading: What's next

The 2025 James Beard award semifinalist list is packed with Boston-area chefs, including previous award winners.

Why it matters: It's the Grammys of the culinary world, and our Boston favorites are racking up nominations.

Driving the news: Douglass Williams, chef at MIDA Boston, was nominated for outstanding restaurateur.

• He won the 2023 James Beard award for best chef in the northeast.
• Now he's competing against 19 other chefs across the country.
• Cassie Piuma, chef at Sarma and a 2022 nominee for best chef in the northeast, is now in the running for outstanding chef alongside 19 other chefs.

Seven of the 20 nominees for best chef in the Northeast hail from Greater Boston:

• John DaSilva from Chickadee in Boston
• Conor Dennehy from Tallula in Cambridge
• Valentine Howell from Black Cat in Jamaica Plain
• Kwasi Kwaa from Comfort Kitchen in Dorchester (Comfort Kitchen was nominated last year)
• Erin Miller from Urban Hearth in Cambridge
• Michael Serpa from Select Oyster in Boston
• Rachel Miller from Nightshade Noodle Bar in Lynn.

Here are the other Massachusetts contenders.

Best new restaurant (30 nominees)

• Somaek in Boston
• LUNE in Dennis Port

Best new bar (20 nominees)

• Merai in Brookline

Outstanding professional in beverage service (20 nominees)

• Alyssa Mikiko DiPasquale from The Koji Club in Brighton

Tell a local foodie

🗞 It's official: Boston Globe Media has bought the beloved Boston Magazine. (Media Nation)

⚖️ Harvard settled two lawsuits by agreeing to strengthen policies addressing antisemitism and adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of the term. (WBUR)

• IHRA considers certain instances of anti-Zionist or anti-Israeli criticism antisemitic.

💸 Gov. Healey unveiled a $62 billion budget plan with more funding for transportation and daycare, along with cuts to families' rental assistance funding and a candy tax. (Globe)

Unionized federal workers in New England plan to fight President Trump's executive order making them work in person. (GBH News)

Welcome to our Boston bingo card, created with contributions from all of you.

• If you hate it, blame your fellow readers.

The intrigue: Boston's transplants and townies have more in common than you might think, whether it's getting stuck on the T on your morning commute or surviving a wild turkey encounter.

Yes, but: Some of you made it clear that being born and/or raised in Boston puts you in a league all your own.

Here are a few submissions that didn't make the cut, but deserve a shoutout:

• "Putting a toilet in the parking spot you just shoveled out so no one else would have the audacity to park there." Points for creativity.
• "Getting punched in a Southie bar."
• "Refusing to let people merge."

Plus: To whoever clicked on the story and took the time to type, "not answering silly polls like this one," you're a real one.

Let us know if you get "BINGO" (five squares in a row) or if you think of something we missed.

Send this to a so-called Bostonian

Americans have viewed medical workers, K-12 teachers and military officers as the most ethical professions — but even their ratings have dropped considerably, new Gallup polling shows.

Why it matters: Americans' opinion of the ethics of various professions has reached its lowest point — reflective of declining confidence in U.S. institutions overall.

• "Americans interact with numerous professionals in their daily lives, while depending on others they've never met to maintain an efficient, fair and secure society," the annual survey states.
• "Whether reflecting personal experience or secondhand reports, Americans' sense of how much they can trust each profession varies widely, likely influencing how they engage with each."

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