🔥🥵 The spiciest ballot question

It’s Monday, Boston.

☕ Dunkin’ is in its unhinged era. If you’ve seen the ad campaign for the chain’s Halloween spider doughnuts, you already know what we’re talking about. If not … don’t say we didn’t warn you. 

👀 What’s on tap today:

• OL shutdown: The sequel

• Yes, allergy season is getting longer

• Moo Deng in Boston

Up first…

BALLOT QUESTIONS

It’s time to talk about tips

We have one last ballot Q for you, and it’s a spicy one: Should Mass. eliminate the tipped minimum wage? 

Here’s the rundown on Question 5: 

❓ What’s Question 5 actually asking? Mass. is one of 43 states that has a tipped minimum wage. That means bartenders, servers, manicurists, and others who rely heavily on tips are only required to make $6.75 an hour, provided that either tips or their employer covers the difference to hit the state minimum wage of $15 an hour. This question is asking if we should raise the tipped minimum wage to $15 an hour.

📝 FWIW: Employers aren’t always actually covering that difference. Wage theft is a problem in Mass., with over 600 formal complaints filed in the state in 2023 alone.

👍 What a “yes” vote means: A “yes” vote would gradually raise the tipped minimum wage year-over-year until 2029, when it would hit $15 an hour. It would also allow restaurants to create a tip pool to split between servers and back-of-house staff (think: cooks and dishwashers). 

👎 What a “no” vote means: The tipped minimum wage would stay at $6.75 an hour, and tips would be given to only customer-facing workers.

💬 What folks are saying … This ballot Q is undoubtedly the most controversial, with “yes” proponents ranging from the question’s authors One Fair Wage to Hillary Clinton, and “no’s” coming from the Mass. Restaurant Association (MRA) and Gov. Maura Healey. Many (though not all) restaurant owners are opposed to the question, arguing it would cause customers to tip less while raising the cost of doing business, which has sparked fears of closures and layoffs, especially for small businesses. 

🔍 The research says … Those fears aren’t unfounded: Washington, D.C., imposed a similar measure in 2022. Since then, the local industry has faced some growing pains, including rising costs and some job cuts, which has led to some places charging “service fees” on tabs. However, impartial research from Tufts and UMass indicates that, while restaurants can expect a “modest” increase in business costs, on the whole, workers would likely see a slight increase in pay under a “yes” vote. UMass research also suggests that restaurants won’t need to cut a significant number of jobs to make it up.

🍽️ What tipped workers are saying … A poll from the MRA, mind you, found that 91% of industry workers disapprove of the question. Of that pool, 56% said they make over $30 an hour. It’s worth noting that based on op-eds from both camps, workers who are making well over $15 an hour seem (perhaps rightfully) more concerned about a potential loss in tips than those who aren’t always earning, much less exceeding, the minimum.

🎙️ Need more info? Here’s Boston.com’s Question 5 explainer, a conversation on the topic from GBH's Boston Public Radio, and some thoughts from industry folks in both the “yes” and “no” camps.

QUICK QUESTION

🗳️ Which way are you thinking of voting on Question 5?

TOGETHER WITH ROW 34 AND DOORDASH

Lobster rolls are always in season

🦪 🦞 Especially when they’re from Row 34. From succulent oysters to creamy clam chowder, this spot is a staple among the New England foodie crowd for a reason. Check out their restaurants in Cambridge, Seaport, and Burlington, or — if you have a private event coming up — impress your guests with their jaw-dropping seafood spreads. Not trying to go out? You can get it delivered right to your door via DoorDash.

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🚇 It’s time for the Orange Line shutdown’s second act. Starting today through Nov. 1, shuttle buses are replacing service between Oak Grove and North Station. The good news? After this, Orange Liners should be off the shutdown hook potentially … forever(!), or at least, for a while. The bad news: For now, you’re going to have to put up with shuttle buses. That said, the Haverhill Commuter Rail line will be fare-free between Oak Grove, Malden Center, and North Station, and you can grab five free Bluebike unlocks with code MBTAORANGE26 during the shutdown. 

🤧 Allergy season is refusing to leave the chat. If it feels like allergy season is never-ending, that’s probably because it kind of is. According to medical specialists, as New England winters are getting shorter due to climate change, allergy season is getting longer. Why? Plants that cause allergies, like No. 1 culprit ragweed, continue producing pollen until the mornings hit below-freezing temps. And lately, that’s getting pushed further and further into November. Pro tip: If you’re not sure if it's allergies or a cold, itchiness is usually the telltale. 

🚲 Another day, another Cambridge bike infrastructure delay. Cambridge City Council just approved a six-month extension to the city’s Cycling Safety Ordinance, which will add 22 miles of separated bike lanes in the city. The new deadline, Nov. 30, 2026, is actually a big improvement on the originally proposed extension of Nov. 1, 2027, and is meant to minimize the loss of parking spaces by the new lanes. Given this news is coming after a slew of bike-related injuries and three deaths in the city, officials are facing significant public scrutiny.

🚃 The Green Line is getting a sexy upgrade. Enter: The all-new Green Line “supercars,” a fleet of modern, accessible, and, yes, expensive trolleys that are slated to hit the rails by fall 2026. And TBH, they look pretty darn nice. This week, you can get a sneak peek of the upgraded cars at City Hall Plaza on Tuesday and Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., where the MBTA will be presenting a full-scale mockup of the new trolleys for riders to check out and offer feedback. 

THINGS TO DO

Weekday checklist

🎃 Put your pumpkin-decorating skills to work. Good with a knife? Hit up Loretta’s Last Call tonight for its annual pumpkin carving party. Prefer a paintbrush? Head to Loco Fenway tomorrow for its first-ever pumpkin painting celly. 

📚 Get sucked into a spooky book. Horror fiction is SO back. So WBUR’s CitySpace is hosting a chilling convo with three horror authors on the genre’s renaissance and audiences’ hunger for more.

🍿 Catch a freaky (and cheap) flick. The Roslindale Film Society is showing “Cabin in the Woods” at The Square Root tonight (and tickets are waaaay cheaper than at your local AMC). 

🧙‍♀️ Start practicing your “trick or treat!” Because we’re going to Brookline for a night of adult trick-or-treating at Brothers & Sisters Coffee Co. (yes, it’s a thing!). Expect tarot readings, themed drinks, broom-making, and more.

💅 Have a night of drag and drafts. Aeronaut Brewing is the place to be on Wednesday for its monthly Drag Night, featuring local icons like Queens Coleslaw and Severity Stone.

👗 Make local shopping a lil’ spooky. Your favorite Brighton Bazaar is turning into the BOOzaar on Wednesday where over 100 small local businesses will pop up at the Speedway to sell art, vinyl, vintage, and more (all with a spooky twist!).

👻 Pretend Halloween never ends. Friday may be Nov. 1, but it's still Oct. 31 for Boston Art Review during its haunted party celebrating its 13th magazine issue. There will be a DJ, costume contest, artist-designed pumpkins, and more. 

🎭 Get in losers. We’re going to the theater. “Sojourners” opens at The Huntington on Thursday, the first of the sweeping nine-play Ufot Family Cycle following three generations of a Nigerian American family. Don’t forget to get this discount if you’re 40 or under.

ONE LAST THING

Moo Deng in Boston

Step aside, Moo Deng, there’s another pygmy hippo in town. Actually, there are three. 

B-Side, meet Ino, Cleo, and Ptolemy, the Franklin Zoo’s trio of pygmy hippos (the same kind as Moo Deng). 

It turns out that while we’ve all been freaking out about the internet’s favorite sassy hippo in Thailand, there have been three pygmy hippos in Boston all along. And while they might not be quite as sassy, tiny, or plump as our girl Moo Deng (who could be?), these guys are definitely just as adorable, especially the youngest, Ptolemy.

They’re available to go see right here in the city 363 days of the year. So truly, what are you waiting for?

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🦛 Thanks for reading! Taking the bus to JP > taking a 20-hour flight to Thailand (which some people definitely have done).

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsors, Row 34 and DoorDash, for supporting local journalism and serving up some of the best seafood in New England. 

📧 The results are in: 40% of B-Siders guessed that the B-Side has 41,000 subscribers. But actually, there are 48,000 of you! And we appreciate every single one <3. One reader said: “In the clerb we all fam?”

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