Choose Your Words Carefully: The HUB

The HUB is a daily newsletter designed for what you want — to be caught up on the most interesting, important news in 5 minutes or less. It's a little bit of this, a little bit of that, but if there's something you want more or less of, email me at mike.carraggi@patch.com.

Today is Friday, June 24. Let's get started.

It's always a gas when Fox News hones in on Massachusetts. In this case, Brandeis had to know it was coming.

The private Waltham university's "oppressive language list" identifies dozens of words and phrases that the school recommends (but doesn't require) one find alternatives to. A lot of outlets appeared to have fun with "trigger warning" being, well, triggering.

Before you get your feathers ruffled about why "everything going on right now" is discouraged, at least check out why.

The school's Prevention, Advocacy & Resource Center said "we can strive to remove language that may hurt those who have experienced violence from our everyday use."

There are still some details to be ironed out, but the Amherst Town Council this week voted to establish a fund for reparations "used for making restitution to Black residents for past harms against them and leading to a process of reconciliation," writes Scott Merzbach at The Daily Hampshire Gazette. Earlier this year Evanston, Ill., became the first U.S. city to make reparations, including housing grants of $25,000 for a small handful of the city's Black families.

Was I the only one who got a little chilly last night? Don't expect a repeat in coming days. Rick Sobey of The Boston Herald is warning of a potentially "dangerous" heatwave stretching from Sunday-Wednesday.

Boo-Boo is one tough bear. Marion fire officials said a medical transport van struck a bear on I-195 Thursday morning, damaging the vehicle but leaving the occupants unharmed, reports Haley Cornell at Patch. It's unclear if the bear was actually Boo-Boo, who is gaining quite a reputation in the area.

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A national look

• An early-morning partial collapse of a Miami-Dade County oceanfront condo was followed by a frantic search for survivors in the two-story-high rubble. (Miami Herald) The Boston Globe's Travis Andersen spoke with a Cambridge woman who was visiting the area Thursday.
• In what many hailed as a significant First Amendment victory, the Supreme Court ruled that a former high school cheerleader's expletive-laden Snapchat about her school was protected under free speech. (NPR)
• Rudy Giuliani's fall from grace continued as the former New York City mayor and personal lawyer to ex-President Trump had his law license suspended for lying about 2020 election results. (New York Times)

A lighter touch

What I'm reading today

I can't get enough of the wild drama surrounding Britney Spears. Ironically, that's probably been our problem her entire public life. Variety has her explosive statement against her conservatorship; Insider has her parents' responses.

Weather

The National Weather Service says: During the day — A chance of showers, mainly between 1pm and 3pm. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 78. Northeast wind around 6 mph becoming east in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. At night — Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. Southwest wind around 7 mph.

Have a swell weekend.

You can email me at mike.carraggi@patch.com and follow me @PatchCarraggi.