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Where you read it first | Tuesday, October 13, 2026
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Tisch Council for Philanthropic Leadership hosts Somerville mayoral candidates Katjana Ballantyne and Will Mbah

By Maggie Monahan | November 1

On Nov. 2, Somerville residents will come together to elect a new mayor. This election is particularly notable for Somerville because it will be the first time in nearly 18 years that Joe Curtatone, Somerville’s current and longest-sitting mayor, will not be on the ballot. Instead, the election will come down to candidates Will Mbah and Katjana Ballantyne, both of whom joined the Tisch Council for Philanthropic Leadership for a forum over Zoom on Oct. 21.

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Somerville to receive nearly $78 million in ARPA funds

By Claire Ferris | October 28

The City of Somerville is set to receive nearly $78 million in funds designed to help with the COVID-19 recovery as a part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). President Joe Biden signed ARPA into law in March 2021. The law financially assists municipalities in recovering from the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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Dental school research influences new PPE standard

By Carl Svahn | October 28

Peter Arsenault, professor and division head of operational dentistry at the Tufts School of Dental Medicine, helped influence a new national standard for healthcare workers that seeks to fix a decades-old flaw in personal protection equipment, or PPE, along with a team of experts. Passed in July, this national regulation creates new protections against the infamous “bottom gap.”

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This Week in Science: Children allowed COVID-19 vaccine, singing lemurs, pig kidneys, flamingo makeup

By Yanqing Huang, Sophie Wax and Rachel Liu | October 28

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panelvoted on Tuesday to recommend the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11 years old. The FDA is not bound by the panel’s decision, but it is expected to act accordingly and grant emergency-use authorization for the vaccine within a few days. If approved, vaccination eligibility will expand to some28 million children in that age bracket.

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Medford hosts annual Harvest Your Energy Festival

By Tess Harmon | October 27

The City of Medford hosted its annual Harvest Your Energy Festival, an event that promotes sustainability around the city and features the work of green businesses and organizations, on Oct. 16. The festival is part of Medford’s Go Green initiative, a program that works to raise awareness of local environmental and energy initiatives, such asclean energy, household composting and solar power.

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Government shutdown would affect long-term research goals, experts say

By Evelyn Altschuler | October 25

Congress avoided a federal government shutdown in late September with the passage of a bill that would keep the government funded through Dec. 3. With this date looming, many in higher education are concerned about the effect a prolonged government shutdown might have on colleges and universities, which depend on federal funding for research, grants and financial aid.

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Tufts updates procedures for missing a midterm or final due to illness

By Marianna Schantz | October 22

Tufts announced changes to its policy on missing midterm or final exams due to illness in an email to undergraduate students on Oct. 1. Going forward, students will no longer be able to obtain notes excusing them from midterm or final exams via walk-in appointment with Health Service or Counseling and Mental Health Services. Instead, acutely ill students will now send an online form to their professors informing them of their illness, though the form does not automatically excuse students from exams or coursework. The university cited a need to allocate limited resources and waiting room space to those in need of medical attention as the reason for this change. 

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This Week in Science: Moderna boosters approved, koala chlamydia vaccine trial starts, NASA launches spaceship, leading primate center to be shut down

By Rachel Liu, Alex Viveros, Cindy Zhang and Maiah Islam | October 21

An FDA advisory panelunanimously voted last week to approve the use of a booster shot for the Moderna vaccine and again voted unanimously yesterday to approve a booster for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Moderna’s booster only applies to certain groups of people, such as those over the age of 65, high-risk individuals between the ages of 18 and 64 or people whose jobs put them at risk of contracting COVID-19. The individuals in all three categories should wait at least six months after their second dose to receive their Moderna booster shot. Although the FDA panel unanimously decided to approve the booster for those categories, the panel did not make any decisions on whether to recommend booster shots for low-risk adults over 18. Some members believe it is too early to make the call; they argue that as more people become eligible for the booster, it will be crucial to determine if it is effective at providing better protection against COVID-19. Additionally, some scientists say that there is not enough evidence to suggest that vaccine efficacy is decreasing, which, if true, could make a booster shot pointless.

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Tisch event on Puerto Rican politics is first speaker series event conducted entirely in Spanish

By Daniel Vos | October 19

The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life virtually hosted its first-ever speaker series event conducted entirely in Spanish on Oct. 13 during Hispanic Heritage Month. The event, titled "The Oldest Colony in the World: Perspectives on Puerto Rico's Political Future," featured international human rights lawyer Annette Martínez-Orabona (F’08) and Ed Morales, journalist and lecturer at Columbia University. The discussion offered live translation in English. 

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