😅 We have good and bad news

It’s Monday, Boston.

🏓 Freebie alert! Harpoon Brewery’s pickleball courts are officially open for the season, and from now through March 29, you can reserve an hour of free play time. Just remember, it’s BYOP (bring your own paddle), or rent one there. Book a spot here.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• BU’s grad student strike

• Healey walks it back

• R.I.P Friendly’s 

Up first…

GOOD NEWS

This good news does double duty

Good news roundup 🤝 Women’s History Month. The Women’s History Month goddesses clearly knew about the B-Side’s monthly good news roundup, because nearly every story we found featured some seriously impressive ladies. 

Here’s what you may have missed:

⛵ A 29-year-old Mainer made sailing history. Cole Brauer became the first American woman to race a sailboat solo around the world without any stopping or assistance this month when she completed the Global Solo Challenge. The journey is no small feat on its own, but her victory is all the sweeter considering her years of fighting and enduring against blatant sexism and ageism in the sailing world. You can see more of Brauer’s journey as she chronicled it on her Instagram.

🏒 Boston’s pro women’s hockey team broke attendance records. The Professional Women’s Hockey League game between Boston and Ottawa drew an audience of 13,736 people at the arena in Detroit — the biggest crowd in the history of women’s hockey (and, bonus! Boston won). And while we’re talking about women's sports, although they didn’t win, the Holy Cross women’s basketball team kept things impressively close with No. 1 seed Iowa in the first quarter of their NCAA tourney game.

⭐ Boston Marathon legend Joan Benoit Samuelson just got her sixth star. The Maine native, who was the first woman to win Olympic Marathon Gold and two-time Boston Marathon winner, just completed her sixth and final world major marathon at age 66 with her recent finish at the Tokyo Marathon. And yes, she did it faster than we could ever dream of (3:38:37, to be exact). Speaking of marathons, the Boston Marathon is just three weeks from today. So if you’re in the mood for a good ugly cry, check out Boston.com’s “Why I’m Running” series which chronicles the inspiration behind Boston marathoners’ journeys.

💰 Mass. nonprofits got millions from Jeff Bezos’ divorce settlement cash. Yes, for real. 18 Mass. nonprofits were among the total 361 nationwide who were given millions of dollars in grants thanks to an open call from the Yield Giving, a philanthropic company by MacKenzie Scott (ex wife of Jeff Bezos). The kicker? The foundation itself is an effort by Scott to do some good with the nearly $36 billion that she got in her divorce settlement. 

♻️ A local woman-owned business is back where it belongs. Uvida Shop, Boston’s first-ever zero-waste shop and a local women-owned business, is reopening in the North End after being priced out of their original space during COVID-19. Their North End reopening is thanks, in part, to a S.P.A.C.E grant from the city, which is aimed to provide relief to small businesses that were impacted by the pandemic. Their grand reopening party will be April 27.

B-SIDE MADNESS

Boston’s best nightlife

🕺 Welcome to round two of Nightlife Madness! We crowdsourced some of Boston’s best nightlife venues to create our own March Madness bracket, where B-Siders can vote which spot is the city’s best. Round one’s winners were Scholars and Club Café (by just four votes!). Make sure to keep voting!

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🪧 BU grad students are taking to the picket line. After voting to authorize a strike last week, the roughly 3,000 unionized Boston University grad students are expected to begin striking today for, what else: Fair pay, better healthcare, and stronger benefits. Unsurprisingly, the two sides are at odds over whether BU has bargained in good faith and whether the union is asking for too much. And notably, BU has said that if the strike begins, they’re planning on withholding pay from the striking workers.

📝 The Mass. Senate ticked off some major to-do list items. On Thursday, they passed a supplemental budget that will allow Gov. Maura Healey to dip into state savings to keep the state’s pricey emergency shelters afloat and cap stays in the shelters at nine months (with extensions for those facing extenuating circumstances). Plus, they unanimously passed a long fought-for bill that would make Mass. the 49th state to ban revenge porn. Now, it’s up to the two chambers to quickly hammer out agreements and get both on Healey’s desk. Shelter funds are draining …

🚶 “Nothing to see here … JK.” – probably Gov. Maura Healey. After much back and forth on her stance on travel transparency, Gov. Healey has decided that her personal travel calendar will be available to the public upon request. This announcement comes after her out-of-the norm decision to withhold personal travel details from the public, which prompted a flurry of reporting on the subject, specifically a four-day trip she made in February to an undisclosed location. Spoiler: She went to Puerto Rico for her b-day with her partner. 

✈️ Getting to one of the world’s best food cities from Boston just got easier. As of Friday, there are now direct flights between Logan and Mexico City, thanks to the alliance between Aeromexico and Delta. Mexico City is best known for its sensational street food, thriving art scene, and vibrant nightlife. If you’re thinking of going, there will be plenty of opportunities, with flights offered every day. And, apparently, the best time to visit is literally right now. So what are you waiting for?

THINGS TO DO

Weekday checklist

​​💍 Watch Joey make the biggest decision of his life. “The Bachelor” finale airs tonight and Game On! is hosting a watch party with themed cocktails and a rose for all ticket holders.

 🚲 Hit the club for a spin class. Rev’d Indoor Cycling is hosting a spin class at The Grand this Tuesday with their top instructors, and there are still some spots left!

🍲 Check out Boston’s most unique supper club. Silk Road Uyghur Cuisine in Cambridge is hosting a family-style supper club dinner Wednesday where you can try some of the area’s best Uyghur food with other foodies. 

🍕 Do the cooking without the cleaning. Making your own pizza is all fun and games until you have to vacuum cheese off the floor. Skip that step at Bardo’s pizza-making class Wednesday. 

🌌 Flex all your nerdy knowledge. You’re summoned to BPL for Thursday’s free NOVA science trivia night — plus, get a pair of free NOVA eclipse viewing glasses.  

— Written by Claire Nicholas

🎉 Want more things to do recommendations? Refer five friends to unlock two bonus items. For those who already have, enjoy below.

ONE LAST THING

R.I.P. Boston’s Friendly’s

New England natives, prepare to say goodbye to a piece of your childhood. Boston’s last remaining Friendly’s location (in Logan airport) is officially closed for business. And the Globe’s travel writer, Christopher Muther, wrote a truly touching tribute. 

Although it’s never clear if it’s the maturing of your taste buds or the decline in quality that makes these iconic spots get worse as we get older (TBH, probably both), we reserve the right to be sad about the fact that our days of their crinkle fries and peppermint stick ice cream are over. In Boston, anyway. 

There are Friendly’s locations near Boston that are still open. But, honestly, if you want to leave your nostalgia intact, we’d recommend revisiting Friendly’s only in your memories. Check out the full piece here.

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🍨 Thanks for reading! Real ones will always remember the Monster Mash Sundae.

🍷 The results are in: Most B-Siders (45%) are willing to pay somewhere between $15 and $19 for a solid cocktail. One reader said: “I’m afraid to pick the $15-$19 bracket because I don’t want to send out $19 cocktail energy into the universe.” 

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].