🤧 It’s the season of the SICK

It’s Monday, Boston.

💡 How would you spend $1 million to make Cambridge better? Friendly reminder that today’s the last chance for residents to submit their ideas for the city’s participatory budget for FY2026. Throw your hat in the ring here!

👀 What’s on tap today:

• The Steward drama won’t quit

• Boston’s cooler cousin

• Gov. Healey’s apple dance flop

Up first…

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Your sick szn primer

Noah Kahan stans know stick season is just around the corner. But SICK season is already knocking at the door. 

It’s that time of year when coughs, sneezes, and sniffles start re-entering the chat. So here’s what to know about this year’s upcoming sick season:

🔮 Doctors ≠ sick season fortune tellers. “It is very difficult to predict” the year-over-year changes of the big three respiratory viruses (COVID, flu, and RSV), according to Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC). That said, we can reasonably suspect that this year, the illnesses will follow their normal patterns, i.e., RSV will peak in October/November, and COVID and flu in December/January. 

🤒 But we can expect COVID hospitalizations to rise. Good news: Our previous exposure to COVID through infection and vaccines has given us some immunity, which means we’ve come to see “much less severe illness” and death from COVID on the whole these days, said Dr. Daniel R. Kuritzkes, the chief of the division of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s. The BPHC is expecting “an increase in hospitalizations” of mostly vulnerable populations like older, very young, or immunocompromised folks, Dr. Ojikutu said.

💉 The best protection? Say it with us now: An up-to-date vaccine. Unless you’re an infant, you should get the latest COVID and flu vaccines for free, with no insurance required, at these clinics in Mass. (bonus: you can get both shots at the same appointment). You can also get the up-to-date jabs at your local Walgreens or CVS. Note: Start thinking about who in your life might need an RSV vaccine, too. 

🤔 And no, your shot from two years ago doesn’t count. Dr. Kuritzkes reminded us that protection from the COVID vaccine “wanes over time” due to declining immunity and continuously changing strains. Therefore, keeping up with the latest dose gives you a better shot (sorry) at not only avoiding COVID, but not getting seriously ill from it, or getting long COVID, Dr. Ojikutu added.

😷 If you do get sick, stick to the COVID-era basics. If you’re experiencing respiratory virus symptoms, the CDC recommends staying home until 24 hours after those symptoms are improving and you’re fever-free. Then opt for a well-fitted mask and social distancing (if possible) for the next five days.

🫵 And don’t forget: You have access to free COVID tests. It’s always a good idea to have an at-home COVID test handy when you’re symptomatic. And luckily, you can get up to four shipped to your door for free this year courtesy of the U.S. government. 

📲 Have more questions? You can find the CDC’s guidelines here, the BPHC’s guidelines here, and check out the Globe’s very handy Mass. respiratory illness tracker here.

TOGETHER WITH THE ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM 

Take your commute from meh to masterpiece

🎨🏛️ Passing through Fenway? Don’t miss your last chance to catch a glimpse of this free public art exhibition on the Anne H. Fitzpatrick Façade of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum before it leaves on Oct. 1. Then, get ready for the next showstopper, Mickalene Thomas: Sandra, She's a Beauty, 2009, debuting the same day and on view through Feb. 17. No museum ticket is needed (but if you decide to pop inside and explore more afterwards, we totally get it). 

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🏥 The Steward Health Care drama will not quit. *Deep breath* Here we go: Mass. has moved to formally seize St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton by eminent domain in a last-ditch effort to keep the hospital open after it failed to sell when Steward went bankrupt. Still with us? The move will likely result in a big, fat legal battle. And the cherry on top: As this is all happening, Steward’s CEO resigned after a slew of (deservedly) horrible press and a missed subpoena, which led to a criminal contempt charge. Whew!

🚇 It’s an(other) bad month to ride the Orange Line. New month, new MBTA service changes. This time, Mattapan trolley and Green Liners can expect a few weekend shutdowns, but Orange liners are on the chopping block. From Oct. 8 to 20 and Oct. 26 to Nov. 1, we’ll be seeing nonstop shutdowns across the line, a few of which are already giving us a headache (see: Oak Grove to Ruggles and Forest Hills to North Station). But at least the Red Line’s Braintree branch is finally back in biz after its own behemoth shutdown. 

🥗 Don’t let your leftovers go to waste. If you live in Brookline and composting was a New Year’s resolution, you’re in luck. The town just launched a new food waste pilot program where residents can drop off food scraps in bins at four locations around North Brookline (for free!). While Brookline already has a pretty cheap curbside compost pickup program, it doesn’t work for many North Brookline residents where there are lots of apartments and multi-family homes. Note: The bins are locked, so you’ll have to register here to get the lock combo. 

😎 Fact: Somerville is “Boston’s coolest cousin.” Specifically, Union Square, which just landed on Time Out’s list of the 38 coolest neighborhoods in the world (it came in at No. 38). Time Out defined “cool” as the neighborhood encapsulating “culture, community spirit, nightlife, food and drink,” all in a walkable district, with neighborhoods in other major cities like Tokyo, New York, and Paris also making the list. Time Out shouted out the Green Line Extension as a big piece of the cool puzzle, another excuse to plug our now iconic GLX food crawl again.

QUICK QUESTION

😎 Who’s the coolest?

THINGS TO DO

Weekday plans

😋 Don’t sleep on this Boston date-night deal. Take this as your friendly reminder that Myers + Chang in the South End has a killer date-night deal for two Monday through Wednesday. You can see the menu options here. 

🎭 Theater kids, assemble! Start practicing your favorite Broadway belt in the shower because we’re going to sing our hearts out at show tunes karaoke at Jacques Cabaret on Tuesday. 

🕺 Sweat off your Hump Day shpilkes. TRILLFit is hosting a free cardio dance class on Wednesday that’ll have you twerking and whining to the latest hip-hop hits.

🪴 Add another plant baby to the fam. It’s time to get your hands dirty at Craft Loft on Wednesday where you can build your own succulent terrarium or wine bottle planter and its succulent workshop.

🎃 Enjoy the harvest while you can. Fall is arguably the best season for farmer’s markets, so grab some pumpkins, gourds, and local goodies at one near you. You can see the full market list here.

🕯️ Hear “Hey Jude” by candlelight. The vibey Candlelight Concerts are back in town on Thursday, where you can hear some of The Beatles’ biggest hits while sitting in a sea of candles.

🍹 Become a booze-freeze mixologist. Mixology is the name, mocktails are the game at Dray Drinks this Friday. A local mixologist will walk you through the makings of fall-themed non-alcoholic cocktails.

🎨 Paint and sip on your own schedule. ICYMI: There’s a drop-in paint lounge at Boston Public Market open Friday through Sunday. You can whip up a masterpiece without committing to a time slot. 

GIVEAWAY

Together with Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition

Enter to win two any-day tickets to Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition at The Saunders Castle at Park Plaza. To enter, just refer a friend and have them accept your invite by the end of the day on Oct. 1. If you have already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're eligible! Click here to enter the giveaway and for full details. 

18+. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Limit one entry per person. See Official Rules & an additional entry option here.

ONE LAST THING

These comments are rotten right to the core

Gov. Maura Healey is bringing SWEAT tour vibes to the State House. Translation: Healey and her “Gen Z interns” posted a reel of themselves doing the apple dance. And let’s just say, it ended up on the wrong side of IG. 

The video basically got flamed in the comments, but not for Healey’s dancing skills. Most commenters actually seemed to be mad at the governor for taking the time to film a TikTok instead of legislating, with comments ranging from a simple “embarrassing” to “I can’t afford my rent Maura,” to ones that aren’t fit to print.

Our take: We’re not too worried about the governor’s reels. In fact, our biggest concern here might be how late to this trend she is.

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🍏 Thanks for reading! Welcome to New England, where you can either have a governor who’ll give you the Heimlich or one who dances to Charli XCX.  

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, for supporting local journalism and making art accessible to all in Boston. 

🍺 The results are in: 38% of B-Siders are beer lovers, and we truly appreciated all of your write-ins about your experiences as girlies in Boston’s beer scene. One reader even shared this helpful tidbit: “For the girlies who want to try beer but don’t want to drink bread, sours are a good start! Closest thing to cider in beer form :).”

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