Today's Top Headlines

Sunday, February 1

Good morning Wypierdalaj,

A powerful coastal storm is set to brush by Massachusetts today, with Cape Cod and the Islands feeling the greatest impacts. It's also a big day for the Patriots and their fans, as the team holds a send-off rally at Gillette Stadium this morning before departing for the Super Bowl. We continue to follow the maritime tragedy out of Gloucester, where the Coast Guard suspended the search for the six people from Lily Jean who remain missing. I'm Kaitlin McKinley Becker, and these are your headlines.

The coastal storm we’ve been watching for Sunday continues to trend farther offshore. That said, it will still graze the coast, bringing gusty wind, snow and the risk of coastal flooding for the Cape, and the south and north shores.

The greatest impacts will be focused on Cape Cod and the Islands.

Snowfall amounts have been trimmed back, now generally 1–3 inches, with Nantucket possibly closer to 4 inches, especially where ocean-effect snow bands linger the longest.

Super Bowl LX is only six days away, and the Patriots will be traveling to California today to get ready for the biggest game of the year — but not before at least 30,000 fans attend a send-off rally at Gillette Stadium this morning.

Tickets are required for the rally. We will livestream it in the video player above.

The gates are opening at 9 a.m. Entertainment will include the Dropkick Murphys.

The U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday suspended the search for seven people who were aboard a commercial fishing vessel that sank a day earlier off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts, in rough, frigid waters.

The Coast Guard launched a search and rescue mission early Friday after receiving an alert from the 72-foot Lily Jean about 25 miles off Cape Ann. Searchers found a debris field near where the alert was sent along with a body in the water and an empty life raft, the Coast Guard said.

Crews covered about 1,000 square miles using aircraft, cutters and small boats over a 24-hour period. However, after consultation between search and rescue mission coordinators and on-scene commanders, the Coast Guard announced shortly before noon Saturday that it had determined that all reasonable search efforts for the missing crew members had been exhausted.

Hundreds of protesters braved the bitter cold Saturday in Boston to take part in a rally demanding an end to all state and local cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and calling for stronger protections for immigrant communities.

The 11:30 a.m. “ICE Out Everywhere” rally, organized by Mass 50501, UU Mass Action, Indivisible Mass Coalition, Boston PSL, MEJA, and allied groups, was held on the steps of the Massachusetts State House. It featured speakers, signs, and collective action with a focus on nonviolent resistance, mutual aid, and community protection, according to organizers.

Participants were encouraged to bring signs, friends and their voices as they collectively called on state leaders to take concrete steps to stop collaboration with ICE.

A mother and her son were shot to death Friday night in Fall River, Massachusetts.

The Bristol County District Attorney’s Office confirms it is investigating the fatal shooting, identifying the victims as 25-year-old Nicholas Almeida and 54-year-old Elizabeth Almeida.

Officials say Fall River police received a 911 call just after 8 p.m. for a double shooting at 431 Barnes Street and arrived to find both victims suffering from gunshot wounds. The mother and son were taken to a local hospital where they were pronounced dead.

​​Federal investigators have released their preliminary findings into a crash on Interstate 95 that left two Maine Department of Transportation workers dead and another badly injured in Waterville earlier this month.

The National Transportation Safety Board released the report Thursday, detailing the results of their investigation into the crash that occurred around 9:35 a.m. on Jan. 13 and killed James Brown, 60, and Dwayne Campbell, 51.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills said in the wake of the deadly crash that it was an unimaginably painful time and noted that DOT workers put themselves in harm’s way every day to keep the state’s roads safe and infrastructure strong. Mills also implored Maine residents to slow down and give road crews plenty of room going forward.