Mid Day Report: Tuesday, November 11, 2025

A ceremony at the Arlington National Cemetery honors those who serve, we sit down with a veteran who was stationed in Vietnam, and a ballot mistake in Cambridge by the thousands. Stay in "The Loop" with WBZ NewsRadio.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is WBC Boston's news radio, redefining local news.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Lots of clouds in Boston. Very chilly out there as well.
Right now, it's thirty seven degrees. We got a wind
whipping from the southwest at just about twenty miles an hour,
gusting close to forty, so it feels more like the
mid twenties. Good morning, I'm Nicole Davis. It's eleven o'clock
and here's what's happening. Day forty two of the government
shutdown is the end in sight. The Senate has passed

(00:34):
a funding build that could potentially do just that wrap
up this shutdown, but several Senate Democrats are not happy
about this. Eight Democrats in all cross party lines to
vote in support of the legislation, even though it did
not include plans to extend tax credits from the Affordable
Care Act, which has kept Democrats pushing for a shutdown
until that's resolved. The House is set to vote on

(00:56):
the matter at some point today. The fight going back
and forth though over Snap as here's ABC's j O'Brien.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Those tens of millions of Americans who rely on Snap
are still in limbo. Many are only getting partial payments
of their benefits this month as a court battle over
SNAP plays out. The USDA now, in a memo, is
demanding states to quote immediately undo any full payments that
were made for the month of November. A federal judge
is blocking enforcement of that memo this morning, accusing the

(01:24):
Trump administration of quote trying to play vindictive games with
critical food assistants.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yesterday, Governor Morri Heally said full November benefits for SNAP
recipients have gone out. She said people in Massachusetts should
spend that money get food, regardless of what they're hearing
out of DC. Now. With the Senate Democrats fractured over
this deal, there's a lot of talk today about what
comes next for Chuck Schumer. Here's ABC's Rachel Scott.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
There are serious questions about whether Democrats have confidence in
Chuck Schumer remaining their Democratic leader in the Senate, because
a lot of Democrats are looking at this and saying, look,
either Schumer gave him blessing for this deal to go forward,
or he is unable to keep his cock as united
to actually take a stand on an issue that is

(02:08):
so important to Democrats. And that's when we started hearing
questions about whether or not, Chuck Schumer is actually effective
leading the Democratic Party in the Senate.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
Other top Democrats are supporting Schumer, including House Minority Leader
Hakeem Jeffreys of New York, who notes that Schumer did
not vote for that deal in the Senate. Meantime, at
eleven oh two, at Arlington National Cemetery, a ceremony is
about to get underway. President Trump said to lay a
wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Here in Massachusetts,
the state's annual Veterans Day ceremony getting underway at the

(02:39):
State House. Governor Morihily, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, Veterans Secretary
John Santiago, and many other officials are being joined by
gold Star family members and local leaders, all honoring local
service members, their families, and their sacrifice. We've got a
winter chill out there today. We have even some snow
coming down in parts of western Massachusetts. Watching the radar

(03:01):
right now, I'm seeing that snow coming down really west
of the Quabbin. Couple of stray flurries. As you make
your way along the mass Pike in places like Charlton
and Sturbridge, and then as you make your way east
of four ninety five. Just some clouds. We had some
flurries earlier in southeastern mass It looks like that has
all cleared up at this point, so for the rest
of the afternoon you could see some more flurries popping up. Otherwise,

(03:23):
just plenty of clouds, maybe some sun peeking through. Hi
today only about forty and we've got the real fields
because of that gusty wind. Struggling to make it out
of the twenties. One of those days if you've got
some good layers, this is the day to use those
if you have to be outside. For tonight, partly cloudy, windy,
mostly cloudy as you make your way closer to daybreak,

(03:44):
low thirty five or so in Boston, near thirty Inland.
Then for tomorrow, we start the day with some flurries
and showers depending on where you are in the state.
Otherwise mostly cloudy, breezy, and chili. We've got a high
near forty five in Boston right now north of the
he were thirty six in Newburyport west of Boston, thirty
four in Westborough south of Boston, we're thirty five in Kingston,

(04:06):
and in Boston right now at eleven oh five it
is thirty seven degrees, but it feels like twenty five. Well,
today we celebrate our veterans here in the United States
on this Veterans Day, and wbz's Drew mo'holland sat down
with a man who served in Vietnam.

Speaker 4 (04:20):
With eighteen million veterans in this country, you're probably living
in a neighborhood with at least one, and really, any
day is a good day to say thank you to
a veteran. Bob Thompson was a Dorchester boy. He joined
the Navy at age twenty two, served in the Vietnam
War on board and ammunition ship. He says it all
kind of sped up fast at that age, but he
knows he has a forever bond with all those he
served with. I got a lot of memories and my

(04:43):
parents they were freaked out every time they would see
anything on TV. And you don't have text messages to
send back and say I'm good, right, Oh, I got
one funny story, sure. And the ship. I've found some
Greek postcards because my ship did a med cruise and
I sent those postcards family. You just found them on

(05:03):
the ship. Yeah, And my sister says, I didn't think
Greece was over there. Amazing some of the stories these
veterans take with them. Thank you to all the veterans
for your service. Drew Mahall and WBZ Boston's News radio
in Cambridge.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
Election officials say more than two thousand test ballots accidentally
got counted after the election last week. The Globe reports
that had some significant consequences, as Eugenius shra Ha, who
ran for school committee, first appeared to win a seat,
but then once the test ballots were removed and new
writing ballots were included, it turns out she lost.

Speaker 3 (05:38):
Said.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
The officials say the error with the test ballots only
impacted the school committee race, no others. They realized the
error on election night, but reported it to the public
two days later, blaming a vendor. Shra Ha is now
collecting signatures on her campaign website for a recount. And
let's go to the Merrimack River where things are getting electric.

Speaker 5 (05:58):
The first of the thirty three foot e ferries will
have pilot runs next year, after Merrimack Valley Transit signed
a three million dollar contract to make it happen. The
ferries will be designed by Lyman Morse Boat Building of Maine.
Drifting between Haverl and newbury Port, with an in between
an Amesbury and possible stops at Salisbury Beach in Plum Island.
The ferries are one hundred percent electric, zero emission aluminum

(06:20):
water taxis looking something like catamarans, with space to accommodate
twenty two passengers at a time. They're hoping to have
full service up and running in twenty twenty seven. J
Willett WVZ, Boston's News Radio.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
You are now in the league for news updates throughout
the day, and listen to WBZ News Radio on the
iHeartRadio app. I'm Nicole Davis, wb Z and Boston's News Radio.