Cape Cod Town Named Among Most Charming Places In U.S.: Patch PM

FALMOUTH, MA — It's Wednesday, March 31. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• It's one of the most charming small cities in the United States. That's what TravelMag had to say about Falmouth.
• The man who prosecutors said stabbed his former classmate 20 times in 2018 was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
• A major boost on the vaccination front.
• A horror movie filmed in Massachusetts gets an anticipated release this weekend.

Scroll down for more on those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Today's Top Story

Falmouth's laid-back vibes have landed it a spot as one of the most charming small cities in the United States.

TravelMag, the online travel magazine, named Falmouth one of its 30 "most charming small cities in the U.S."

Here's what TravelMag had to say about Falmouth:

"When you head even further up the North Atlantic coast of the US, the cities aren't just named after British kings, but after British towns. Falmouth, first settled in 1660, is one such place. The city retains a laid-back rural charm, along with all the classic Cape Cod tropes such as the squat, white Nobska Lighthouse, waterfront seafood shacks, quaint wineries, and pleasant sandy beaches.

Read the full story

Other top stories

Not guilty by insanity: Jeffrey Yao was found not guilty by reason of insanity in Middlesex Superior Court Wednesday for stabbing a former classmate of his 20 times — killing her — and slashing a man who tried to intervene three years ago in the Winchester Public Library.

100k Johnson & Johnson doses inbound: Massachusetts will get more than 100,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine next week, something Gov. Charlie Baker said is a sign the federal government is ramping up distribution. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine necessitates just one shot to inoculate people. So far about 85,000 Johnson & Johnson doses have been part of the roughly 3.5 million vaccines administered in Massachusetts, per state data released Tuesday.

The Championship Pride Of Marblehead: Lexie Laing said she and her Boston Pride teammates felt the coronavirus had stolen two National Women's Hockey League championships from them in the past year. Saturday night was the night for the Marblehead native and the Pride to take the crown back together playing for the Isobel Cup on their home ice in Boston. "Honestly, I knew we were going to win right from the start of the day," Laing said.

Sudbury gets creepy: A new horror movie filmed last year around Sudbury's Wayside Inn premiers this week in theaters. "The Unholy" is the film version of the 1983 novel "Shrine" by James Herbert. The movie centers on a young deaf girl who gains the ability to speak, hear and heal the sick after a supposed visit from the Virgin Mary.

Illegal procedure — Former New England Patriots receiver Kenbrell Thompkins is facing identity theft charges after federal prosecutors said he was part of an unemployment insurance fraud scene. Thompkins, 32, of Miami, Florida, was charged with access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. According to prosecutors, Thompkins stole the identities of several Florida residents to get roughly $300,000 in unemployment insurance payouts from the State of California during the coronavirus pandemic, from August through September 2020.