🤔🚃 The T is getting its own holiday!?

🏒 Tell us you love women’s sports without telling us you love women’s sports. We’ll go first: We got you $22 tickets to see the Women’s Beanpot Championship at TD Garden on Jan. 20! Just use the code WOMENXBPS here (it gets you into two games!). You’re welcome. <3

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

Local officials and politicians — they’re just like us! They, too, start the year with a shiny new list of resolutions (that may or may not make it to February). 

Here’s what they’re hoping to accomplish in 2026:

❤️ Gov. Maura Healey is living by a new mantra: Celebrate the small wins. “Life is hard and the times are challenging,” she said. “So we have to find joy and hope in [the] everyday and look to give that to others.” Awww. 

🚇 MBTA GM Phillip Eng wants to create a new holiday. Specifically, “Take Mass Transit Day” in October. In classic Train Daddy-fashion, he’s hoping for “thousands and thousands of new riders” in 2026 and is “confident that the MBTA will be able to say it has exceeded 2025 ridership levels,” by then. OK, Ted Lasso!

😌 Sen. Ed Markey wants to agonize less and organize more. His words! As for what he’s hoping to organize: Restoring Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, getting the Supreme Court to nix President Trump’s tariffs, and … for the C’s to win a 19th banner. Not sure how he’ll legislate that one, but we’re with ya, Senator!

💸 Lieutenant Gov. Kim Driscoll wants to stop the squeeze. At the top of her resolutions list: “Showing up for Massachusetts families and small businesses who are feeling the squeeze” by focusing on affordability, and “really lean[ing] into” this year’s MA250 celebrations. But when she’s off the clock … her goal is to keep working on her pickleball game. 

👫 Chief of Community Engagement Brianna Millor wants us to look out for our neighbors. That’s how community starts, she said, and it makes us all “stronger, joyful, and healthier.” Her suggestions: Throw a block party, lend a hand during a winter storm, and support local businesses. She’s also hoping to spend more time in Dorchester’s public parks with her pup, Talbot. 

📝 Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune wants our government to work better. Her plans to get us there include: Standing up for residents (especially Black, Brown, and immigrant communities), advancing equity in business development, and prioritizing constituent services, like effective pest control. It’ll be a busy year!

✊🏾 State Sen. Liz Miranda wants to address inequality. Her goals in 2026: Chip away at the state’s racial and gender wealth gaps, and minimize racial inequities within the criminal justice system — she hopes to kick off a project surrounding suicide prevention in the reentry community to honor her late brother. On a personal note, she wants to finish visiting all 50 states (only six to go!).

😷 Mass. is having a flu season explosion. Those are the words of an actual doctor! After weeks of warning signs, flu cases saw an unusually quick surge across the state last month, wreaking havoc on ERs. From Dec. 21-27, flu-like symptoms accounted for 9% of visits, compared with just 2.7% in 2024. Apparently, low vaccination rates + holiday travel + a new, vaccine-resistant strain = the perfect storm. And it’s probably only going to get worse since flu season doesn’t typically peak till late February. So … wash your hands!

🙋🏻‍♀️ Mayor Michelle Wu’s second term agenda is SET. She kicked off her new era on Monday by doubling down on familiar priorities during her inauguration speech. On the list: Tackling the affordability crisis, improving Boston Public Schools, and defending higher education, life sciences, hospitals, and clean energy (despite attacks from the Trump administration). She didn’t make any sweeping new promises, but pledged to continue making “tough choices about what comes next” in the face of uncertainty. You can watch the speech here.

🗳️ 44 ballot questions entered. 11 remain. That’s how many have been officially certified by Secretary of State William Galvin, clearing a major hurdle on their journey to the November ballot. (Remaining Q’s include rent control, same-day voter registration, and rolling back recreational weed). The next step: They’ll be shipped to the Legislature, which has until May 5 to act on each one (or not!). Without action, the measures will need to collect an additional 12,429 signatures to snag a spot on the ballot. Here are all the certified Q’s! 

😋 The Boston foodies have spoken. Beli, the niche social media app for your “the gram eats first” friends, dropped its list of the most-bookmarked restaurants in Boston, a.k.a. the spots people most want to try. (Many of which also appeared on its top new Boston restaurants list). The list includes a solid mix of TikTok-approved spots like Capri, Mai, and Louis Corner, splashy openings like Little Sage, Iru, and Nowon, and even two B-Side Certified baddies: Brookline’s Ssaanjh and Cambridge’s Darling! Check out the whole list here.

A MassDOT Snowplow barreling down 93? That’s Flake Maye to you. Once again, local elementary and middle school students got the chance to name MassDOT’s fleet of snowplows. And may we just say, they did a bang up job. 

Beyond a few names which, let’s face it, no 8-year-old could have come up with in 2026 (see: Sleet Caroline, Jon Bon Snowvi, You're Killing Me Squalls), winners included The Blizzard Boss, Thaw Patrol, Frost Responder, and, our personal favorite: Flake Maye. Shoutout to the 4th graders at Tyngsborough Elementary School for that one.

You can check out all the names here.

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

❄️ Thanks for reading! BTW, if you’re wondering how they clear highways after a snowstorm … it’s kinda hypnotizing.

🥶 The results are in: 57% of readers say that they try to get outside in the winter … but it sucks. One reader said: “I’d go out more if there were chestnut vendors, just saying.” Noted.

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