🫢🔥 This City Council race is SPICY

🚌😫 Back-to-school season can be a LOT. But thankfully, The Boston Globe’s education team, The Great Divide, has got parents covered with a free guide packed with practical tips and trusted resources from across Mass. Check it out! 

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

Our favorite season is FINALLY here: Tuesday is Boston’s municipal primary election, where voters will narrow down the mayoral and City Council candidate fields to the two candidates who will appear on the November ballot (or eight, for the at-large seat). 

So before you head to the polls, here’s what to know about each race:

🖐️ But first, some quick housekeeping. There won’t be preliminary elections for Council seats in Districts 3, 6, 8, and 9 because there aren’t enough candidates to warrant one. Good news for those candidates, but worse news for democracy. You can find your district here.

Now, onto the contested races:

🗳️ The race for mayor: Mayor Michelle Wu and Josh Kraft may be the frontrunners, but Domingos DaRosa and Robert Cappucci are also on the ballot. Though FWIW, neither are polling above 2%. Meanwhile, Wu, coming hot off a Mike’s Pastry endorsement(?), is polling 50 points ahead of Kraft, who not-so-coincidentally just parted ways with two of his top advisors. Yikes. 

🔥 At-large councilors: A whopping *10* candidates are vying for the top two spots, including all four incumbents Ruthzee Louijeune, Julia Mejia, Erin Murphy, and Henry Santana … and let’s just say, there’s potential for drama. One familiar face? Former District 3 councilor Frank Baker. You can hear from the candidates here.

🗳️ District 1: Though Andretti McDuffie-Stanziani and Ricardo Rodriguez will join incumbent Gabriela “Gigi” Coletta Zapata on the ballot to rep Charlestown, Eastie, and the North End, only Coletta Zapata appears to be actively campaigning. 

🗳️ District 2: Incumbent Ed Flynn is taking on outspoken President Trump supporter Brian Foley and Charles Delaney, who has no public campaign info, for the seat repping Chinatown, Downtown, South Boston, and the South End.

🗳️ District 4: Local activist Juwan Skeens, Helen Cameron (who also has no public campaign info) and incumbent Brian Worrell are facing off to rep Mattapan, Dorchester, JP, and Rozzie.

🗳️ District 5: Incumbent Enrique Pepén will join social justice advocate Sharon Hinton and city planner Winston Pierre on the ballot to rep Hyde Park, Mattapan, and Rozzie.

🔥 District 7: This is the only race without an incumbent following Tania Fernandes Anderson’s … untimely exit from her post. 11 (yes, 11!) candidates are vying for two spots on the ballot in this spicy race to represent most of Roxbury, the South End, and Dorchester. You can read more about them all here.

🙋 Need more info? You can read about every single candidate here, and find all the election info here.

💉 When it comes to COVID, Mass. is calling its own shots. Literally. On Thursday, Mass. became the first state in the country to require insurers to cover the cost of COVID vaccines (plus any others approved by the state’s Department of Public Health). This move + Gov. Healey’s booster authorization order last week *should* effectively = no more vaccine confusion this season for Mass. residents, despite the CDC’s new restrictive guidelines. Ready for the jab? Pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS should have local appointments available. 

🧑‍⚖️ Boston, you’ve been SERVED … by the feds. The Department of Justice has sued the city, Mayor Wu, and Police Commissioner Michael Cox over Boston’s Trust Act, a local law that prevents city officials from enforcing federal immigration laws. This move is the latest chapter in a loooong battle between the Trump admin and Wu over Boston’s “sanctuary city” policies, in which Wu has staunchly stood her ground. As for the suit, at least one local expert doesn’t see it working out for Trump — a similar one in Chicago was recently dismissed.

👻 This Halloween, the city will pay you to party. No kidding! This season, Boston is offering $300 “Spooky Streets” grants to help residents throw epic block parties (Halloween-themed or not!). Here’s the deal: To get the cash, your par-tay has to be free and open to the public, on a residential street, and between Oct. 17 and Nov. 2. And once you have it, you can’t just spend it on anything: Candy and decor are a go, alcohol and gift cards are a NO. The deadline to apply is Sept. 22 at 5 p.m.

🛍️ Get in, losers, we’re going shopping! ‘Cause this week is absolutely brimming with new openings and special deals. On Sept. 10, you can nab 20% off and enjoy sips, bites and music at Beyond Yoga’s free VIP opening, or head to Primark’s 10th anniversary party Sept. 12 for giveaways, treats, and free Half Cookie ice cream sammies galore. And once you’ve maxed out on freebies, use all the money you’ve saved at the new (gorgeous!) J. Crew on Newbury Street. Girl math!

🍝 Skip cooking at home tonight. ‘Cause Scampo just launched a $50 three-course, all-you-can-eat Monday pasta meal deal that looks like it could keep you full ’til Friday.

😋 Eat your way through Somerville. Wish you could try some of the city’s best bites in one go? East Somerville’s annual foodie crawl on Sept. 9 sounds like it was made for you (and supports a good cause <3). 

🍩 Run for FREE doughnuts! Friendly reminder that the free “The Boston Donut Mile” race is Sept. 10. The rules: Eat a doughnut hole every quarter-mile. Bonus: There will be plenty of other treats. 

🧶 Get crafty after work. Knitting. Junk journaling. Coloring. Cross stitching. Whatever your craft of choice, bring it to this BYO craft night at Diesel Cafe Sept. 10.

⛵ Hit up a *nauti* watercolor class. We’re talking about painting boats, ofc! The Fenway Community Center is holding a watercolor painting class on Sept. 10. You’ll walk away with a stunning nautical painting. 

🥟 See how many dumplings you can eat. Because for $32.66, you can quite literally have as many as you want at Mei Mei Dumplings’ bottomless dumpling night on Sept. 11. 

🍸 Cheers to your fave Boston neighborhood. Calling all West End girlies! This cocktail-making class and trivia night Sept. 12 is an ode to the neighborhood. Think: Themed drinks and historical trivia.

⛸️ See world-class ice skating in Allston. Former Olympians and world champion skaters alike are coming to our backyard and skating for a good cause Sept. 12 and 13 at The Jimmy Fund’s annual An Evening With Champions showcase.

We’re in for six more weeks of summer, Boston! At least, according to Passy Pete, we are.

Oh, you don’t know him? Just think of Passy as the crustacean equivalent to Punxsutawney Phil or Ms. G. He’s a Maine lobster who emerges from Penobscot Bay every Labor Day to tell us if we’ll have six more weeks of summer. 

But instead of checking for a shadow, Passy Pete (naturally) selects a scroll to make his prediction. And this year, after three years of predicting early winters, Passy has predicted a longer summer. Man, we love New England.

— Written by Gia Orsino

🦞 Thanks for reading! We stan … but nobody does it like Ms. G. 

🏈 The results are in: Most B-Siders say they think the Pats will be better this year than last year, but still not amazing. One reader said: “Hopefully we don't have a bad first game like our bestie Bill.” The shade!

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