Summer is in full swing and so is the heat wave, at least until Saturday. It's been a busy thirty days in the squares from World Cup watch screenings to City Hall dance parties and even some chaos on the Charles (RIP Mr. Duck Boat). July won't be any different with the annual Fourth of July fireworks set for takeoff this weekend, and while the World Cup reaches its last few weeks, there's no better place to watch the games (generational match in t-minus fifteen minutes for the US) from Union to Harvard Square. And if that's not enough, there's still plenty of chances to touch grass, ranging from outdoor movie screenings to yet another porchfest just around the corner. Happy Fourth, everyone.

Friendly note: There will be no newsletter tomorrow night, but we're back to regular programming Sunday.

Friendly reminder that the Red Line will be suspended from Alewife to Park Street for 10 days starting July 21st. Shuttle buses will be available

Cambridge’s seasonal alcohol to-go, public consumption zones and 3AM bar closure extensions continue through the end of July

The city’s 30-minute drink limit proposal stuns local business owners and promptly gets rejected, but discussions will continue into the fall

Boston’s famous Duck Boat tips over on the Cambridge side of the Charles over the weekend, injuring 11 people. Some footage of the wreckage here

In a sudden reversal and feel-good story, Clover finds an investor to keep its doors open just one week after announcing plans to wind down

Dinner and a dash: police say a 23-year-old broke into Dave's Fresh Pasta in Davis Square, filled a bag with pasta and a bottle of wine, then tried to hide from officers under a parked U-Haul

A water pipe let go on Boston Street and shot a geyser several feet into the air, flooding a liquor store's basement and shutting a salon for the day

Somerville broke ground on the Shore Drive Greenway, a 12-foot riverfront path lined with 85 new trees along the Mystic

A fire tore through a three-story building at 162 Broadway, displacing at least six residents and sending one firefighter to the hospital

Bachata by the River @ Magazine Beach Park, Cambridge - Sunset, the Charles, and a free bachata lesson on the lawn. Get an hour of instruction, then flow into a social dance with a scenic view | July 3rd

Adult Night LEGO night @ LEGO Discovery Center @ Assembly Row, Somerville - The LEGO Discovery Center kicks everyone under 18 out for the night and hands the place to adults. Build challenges, win LEGO prizes, and hang at Assembly after | July 10th

Cambridge Crossing Summer Nights Concert @ The Common at CX, Cambridge - Cambridge Crossing's free summer concert series rolls into July. Two local bands take the big stage at The Common while food trucks and local beer keep the lawn fed | July 16th

NICE, Indie Music Fest 2026 @ Davis Square, Somerville - A three-day indie festival spread across Davis Square with 80-plus artists. Not to mention multiple outdoor sets, a vintage market running in between performances and after parties after each show | July 24th-July 26th

11th Annual Cambridge Jazz Festival @ Danehy Park, Cambridge - Danehy Park turns into an open-air jazz venue for a weekend, and it won't cost you anything. Bring a blanket, lawn chair or just walk around while listening to world-class musicians | July 25th + July 26th

12 Shea Rd, Cambridge | 3 bed, 3 bath | 1,606 sq ft | $1,150,000 | single family

391 Concord Ave #1, Cambridge | 2 bed, 1 bath | 1,058 sq ft | $899,999 | condo

29 Cushing St #3, Cambridge | 3 bed, 2 bath | 1,320 sq ft | $1,124,000 | condo

85 Clifton St #2, Cambridge | 2 bed, 1 bath | 1,094 sq ft | $849,000 | condo

10 Mountain Ave, Spring Hill, Somerville | 3 bed, 1.5 bath | 1,110 sq ft | $1,049,000 | single family

8 Melvin St #2, Somerville | 3 bed, 2 bath | 1,495 sq ft | $939,000 | condo

21 Kent Ct #R, Somerville | 3 bed, 2.5 bath | 1,722 sq ft | $1,589,000 | newly built

309 Beacon St, Somerville | 7 bed, 3.5 bath | 3,200 sq ft | $1,675,000 | single family

Cambridge

Cambridge spent June sending mixed signals about booze. On one hand, the city green-lit to-go drink sales in Harvard Square and five other public-consumption zones for the World Cup and the nation's 250th, even letting approved bars serve as late as 3 a.m. through July 31. On the other, the License Commission circulated a draft overhaul of the city's alcohol rules, its first in about a decade, that would make customers wait 30 minutes between each drink, halt wine-bottle and shot sales an hour before closing, require drink-spiking detection kits, and mandate service training for every front-of-house employee. The draft went out May 1 but didn't blow up until mid-June, when Dear Annie wine bar owner Lauren Friel posted that the 30-minute rule would mean putting egg timers on every table. On Monday the City Council voted to formally oppose the proposal and told the city manager to build a more transparent public process, with Councillor Marc McGovern summing up the mood: "I think this is nuts. I don't even understand how you'd make this work." The commission expects feedback sessions in August and a final vote by year's end.

Somerville

The City Council adopted Somerville's Fiscal Year 2027 budget, a $394 million plan that took effect July 1. The headline is schools: at $122.5 million, it's the largest dollar increase in Somerville Public Schools history, adding five special-education teachers, more academic intervention and coaching staff, $600,000 for substitutes, and continued year-round MBTA passes for students in grades 7 through 12. The budget also keeps funding the unglamorous stuff residents actually notice: road and sidewalk repair, tree care, 311, rodent control, Safe Streets projects, and a co-response pilot pairing clinicians with first responders on mental-health calls. None of it came easy. The city opened the process staring down a projected $5.4 million shortfall from slowing revenue and rising fixed costs, and closed the gap by trimming non-personnel spending about 5%, tapping reserves, and cutting staff, a net reduction of roughly 23 full-time positions. Finance Committee chair Ben Wheeler didn't sugarcoat it: "This was one of the hardest budgets Somerville has faced in years, and the layoffs and reductions will have real impacts," though he noted the schools were spared the knife.

Theo | Male | 2yrs - A card-carrying member of the famously friendly orange-tabby-boy club, and he does the reputation proud: affectionate, gentle, and sweet enough that everyone who meets him says so without prompting. He's playful, he melts for a good brushing, and he'll claim whatever lap is closest and hold it. The catch: he’s not a fan of dogs but integrates with other cat families with a slow introduction.

Theo is with Broken Tail Rescue and meets his people at the Cambridge PetSmart during open hours, Saturdays 12-2 and weeknights 6-8, with a same-day pre-screen to fill out first if you'd like to bring him home the day you meet.

Fallow Kin just took Boston Magazine's Best New Restaurant of 2026, less than a year after moving into the old Craigie on Main. Chef Marcos Sanchez runs a zero-waste, farm-driven New England kitchen where vegetables lead and almost nothing hits the trash; splurge on the seven-course chef's-counter tasting, or graze the bar menu built from the day's repurposed odds and ends.

A goodbye to Beyond Full, the Harvard Square counter for breakfast, burgers, and shakes, has closed less than a year after opening, with a "for lease" sign now in the window on the eastern edge of the Square.

Tampopo, the beloved Japanese noodle-and-donburi bodega in Porter Square's Porter Exchange, served its final katsudon on June 30 after 34 years. Chef-owner Yasumasa Ito opened it in 1992 and helped make the building a "Little Tokyo" of Japanese stalls; he's hanging it up to travel and see his grandkids. A quiet end for a spot generations of Lesley students fueled up at over curry and shrimp tempura udon.

S&S Restaurant, the Inman Square deli that fed Cambridge for 107 years, served its last sandwich in June, though it may not be a full goodbye: co-owner Gary Mitchell says an S&S food truck is in the works, famous wing sauce included.