Today's Top Headlines

Friday, December 20

We're tracking rain and then some snow later Friday that could impact holiday travel, but timing will be everything. The travel rush begins today, and MassDOT officials are reminding travelers to plan ahead, while Massport says it is expecting increased passengers at Boston Logan around the holiday weekend. I'm Kaitlin McKinley Becker and these are today's top headlines.

No forecasts are slam dunks in New England, but this one is particularly tricky.

We’re seeing ocean-effect rain showers turn to snow showers later today, and timing is everything.

If the cold rushes in too quickly, it will shut down the precipitation and we’ll barely see a coating. If it comes too late, we’ll see mostly rain. Our forecast puts us somewhere in the middle, but it doesn’t guarantee everyone sees an accumulation.

It should be a quiet commute Friday morning but expect a flurry of activity on the roads and skies later, and the rain and snow headed our way won’t help make things go any smoother.

Airport officials say Boston Logan has seen a record number of passengers this year, and they expect to see that on full display through the New Year.

AAA is predicting 119.3 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home over the year-end holiday period that starts Saturday and ends Wednesday, Jan. 1. To put that into perspective, less than 80 million Americans traveled over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla let his emotions get the best of him after his team’s 117-108 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night.

The chaos at TD Garden began during the fourth quarter when Mazzulla received a technical foul for stepping on the court after a jump ball call. Jaylen Brown was called for a tech moments later after having words with an official, and fellow C’s star Jayson Tatum was T’d up for bickering with a ref later in the quarter.

After the final buzzer sounded, Mazzulla had to be restrained as he went after official Justin Van Duyne. Asked after the game what message he was trying to send, Mazzulla said he was in the holiday spirit.

Police arrested a man they say broke into a Massachusetts gas station, stole a car and set it ablaze on Duxbury Beach.

The Marshfield Police Department said it was helping the Duxbury Police Department on Thursday to investigate the car fire, which appeared to have been intentionally set. The vehicle was registered in Marshfield, where its owner said it had been parked overnight at an unnamed gas station.

When police were investigating, they received multiple burglary alarms from that gas station. Just before an officer arrived, investigators say cash and several cartons of cigarettes were stolen from the store.

A holiday event serving homeless children in Brockton, Massachusetts, has been canceled due to financial challenges, school committee members say.

Over the years, Brockton’s Dinner for Champions grew so much that it moved from Brockton High School in 2018 to Lombardo’s Event Center in 2022 — and to Gillette Stadium last year.

“It started off with 100 families and it just grown to close to 1,000,” said Brockton School Committee Vice Chair Tony Rodrigues.

Households in the Greater Boston area spent an average of $101,247 per year across 2022 and 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday, a third higher than the nationwide average annual household expenditure of $75,172.

At a time of regular talk on Beacon Hill of the negative consequences of Massachusetts’ high cost of living, the new data from BLS sheds light on some of the drivers of economic unease and the things attracting Bay Staters to move elsewhere. BLS reported average annual household expenditures for 22 regions, ranging from a high of $110,886 in San Francisco to a low of $71,378 in Miami.

Housing, food and transportation expenditures together accounted for 60.9% of the Boston area’s average household budget, BLS said, with housing alone eating up 34.5% of household budgets, compared to the U.S. average of 33.1%.