It Was All A Misunderstanding!: 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 Monday, May 10. We're talking about the Hub (of words,) an inspiration out of Everett and the surprisingly fun first-place Red Sox.

But first...

I like to start the week with something quirky. So how about "Local News: Pet Detective."

A Cambridge man is facing charges after police said he stole a dog from a car Saturday. And he might have gotten away with it, too — if it wasn't for those pesky 7NEWS reporters.

A WHDH crew was reporting from Memorial Drive, where police said a 29-year-old man broke into a car and took a 13-month-old German Short Haired Pointer named Titus. The crew later saw the man walking Titus, who said it was all a misunderstanding.

"He was just barking in the car and I walked past the car and I thought it was supposed to be a dog I was dog walking," Gariepy told the station. "It wasn't a kidnapping it was just a simple mistake."

That's never a sentence you want to be saying.

Check it out

As if we need another reason to think we're a cut above, how about being the birthplace of just about every offbeat word in American lexicon? Ralph Keyes at The Boston Globe has the skinny on how words like "gerrymander" and "goop," as well as staples like "O.K" and others, can trace their origin back to Boston.

Now here's a reason to be proud of my hometown. Anne Laurie Pierre plays three sports and is senior class president at Everett High School. She also has to work and help with her younger siblings after COVID-19 took her father and as cancer grips her mother. GBH's Meredith Nierman tells Pierre's inspiring story in a beautiful photo essay.

In light of the disheartening survey conducted by the Greater Boston Food Bank I asked you to send some local efforts to address community hunger. Here are some of what you sent in:

• A Place To Turn — Natick
• Attleboro Area Interfaith Collaborative
• Mi-Amore — Winthrop
• Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church — Acton
• Village Table — Wellesley
• Winthrop Community Food Pantry
• Winthrop Veterans Food Bank

Thank you for your heart!

The Red Sox are cooking. It's almost playoff time for the surging Bruins and wilting Celtics, but we're first and foremost a baseball city. The Red Sox have the best record in MLB and lead the American League East by 3.5 games over the Yankees and Rays. It looks like we'll have a summer of meaningful baseball — you can't ask for anything more than that.

What I'm reading today: Does Massachusetts have a blind spot when it comes to assault weapons? Jim Jordan at CommonWealth thinks so, laying out why some lawmakers are right to support a ban on the manufacturing on assault weapons in Massachusetts. The state does not allow them to be sold here, but major manufacturers like Smith & Wesson in Springfield make a boatload off making them here and selling them elsewhere.

Weather

The National Weather Service says: During the day — Rain likely, mainly before 8am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 58. Northeast wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. At night — Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming west after midnight.

Have a swell Monday.

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