It's A Two-Woman Race — For Now: The HUB

The HUB is a rundown of the stories people in Boston are talking about. Patch publishes the HUB every weekday.

Good morning, Boston! Today is Thursday, April 15. We're talking about why the Boston police didn't stop Patrick Rose, a budget increase following the pandemic and the red hot Red Sox.

But first...

All of the candidates in Boston's mayoral race can find some good news in the first major poll of the contest — it just might take more neck-craning for some.

City Councilor Michelle Wu and Acting Mayor Kim Janey enjoyed a comfortable early lead over the rest of the six-person field in a WBUR poll released Wednesday morning. But the other candidates have a lot of time to win over a lot of available voters.

WBUR, The Dorchester Reporter, MassINC and the Boston Foundation polled 552 registered voters on who they support in the race. Nineteen percent went for Wu and 18 percent for Janey.

Councilor Annissa Essaibi George got 6 percent, Councilor Andrea Campbell got 4 percent and former Boston economic development chief John Barros and state Rep. Jon Santiago each had 3 percent.

The bright side for that foursome is that with the preliminary election more than five months away, a whopping 46 percent of voters polled were undecided. That likely represents a ton of votes to be had between now and Sept. 21.

Still, some observers think this should be a wake-up call for those in the back of the pack, Sean Philip Cotter writes at The Boston Herald.

Check it out

The Boston police department remains in crisis after The Boston Globe revealed it sat for decades on child sex abuse allegations against an officer who would become a union president. Over at GBH, City Councilor Lydia Edwards joined Jim Braude to discuss a simple question: Why wasn't he stopped?

Budget talk isn't the sexiest talk, but it's worth noting Acting Mayor Kim Janey unveiled a budget yesterday that would avoid layoffs and maintain services, Danny McDonald at The Globe reported. The $3.75 billion increase represents a 3.9 percent year-over-year increase.

Eight is great, but nine is fine. The Red Sox swept a doubleheader against the formidable Minnesota Twins yesterday, and that's nine straight victories for that baseball club some jaded Patch reporters left for dead after the season-opening sweep against Baltimore. Silly reporters. Speaking of which, NBC Sports' John Tomase went from declaring the season "a disaster" a week ago is now saying the division is there for the taking.

What I'm reading today: I'll keep my opinions to myself, but here's Margaret Sullivan's opinion at The Washington Post about some hope for journalists despite a survey indicating the public not sharing the values of those in the industry.

Weather

The National Weather Service says: During the day — A chance of rain, mainly after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 51. East wind 6 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. At night — Rain, mainly after 7pm. Low around 39. East wind around 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Have a swell Thursday.

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