Today's Top Headlines

Saturday, September 19

Good morning Wypierdalaj,

We'll see mostly sunny skies today, but widespread rain arrives tomorrow -- it's a First Alert day with localized flooding possible. Other news we're following includes a double fatal car crash on Cape Cod, and a dispute over a mini horse in Newton. I'm Kaitlin McKinley Becker, and these are your headlines.

We’re off to a great start to your weekend! Today, we’re expecting mostly sunny skies across much of Greater Boston, but say goodbye to the summer-like temperatures for a while. In fact, an onshore flow will keep temperatures in the low to mid 60s in Boston this afternoon.

Low temperatures will drop into the lower 50s overnight. Also, be careful at the beach today. There is a high risk of rip currents from North Shore to South Shore and for the Cape and Nantucket.

By the time we roll into Sunday, big changes arrive. An area of low pressure to our west will bring widespread rain to much of our area, especially after Sunday afternoon and evening. Some pockets of heavy rain are possible over southern New England, which could lead to localized flash flooding. That’s why Sunday is a First Alert.

A Plymouth police officer and her husband have been indicted on child rape charges, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office said Friday.

Samantha Pelrine, 31, and Daniel Forand, 37, were indicted Friday as part of an ongoing child sex crimes investigation. They were first arrested earlier this year.

Forand was indicted on seven counts of indecent assault and battery, nine counts of aggravated rape of a child, two counts of rape and one count of assault and battery. Pelrine was indicted on three counts of aggravated rape of a child, and two counts of rape of a child.

Two people were killed in an apparent head-on collision that closed Route 6A in Brewster, Massachusetts, for several hours on Thursday night.

The crash happened around 9:30 p.m. and involved two cars in the area of Crosby Lane, according to Brewster police, who said one driver from each vehicle died. There were no passengers.

When police and fire crews arrived on scene, right by the parking lot of the Cape Cod Rail Trail, they found a 24-year-old Brewster woman dead. The other driver, a 38-year-old Truro man, was taken to Cape Cod Hospital where he died from his injuries.

The former police chief in Methuen, Massachusetts, was taken into custody Friday after pleading guilty to 17 criminal charges, bringing a yearslong case involving allegations of fraud, forgery and perjury within the city’s police department closer to an end.

Retired Methuen Police Chief Joseph Solomon, 65, entered the guilty pleas during a hearing at Essex Superior Court in Salem. It took roughly 13 minutes for the court to read each of the charges against him.

The plea was the result of months of negotiations with prosecutors.

A Massachusetts woman says a miniature horse she brought home to serve as a therapy animal is now at the center of a dispute with some of her neighbors in Newton.

Judy Hinchey says she got Clover as an emotional support animal to bring to schools and hospitals.

“Most of the neighborhood loves seeing her,” Hinchey said. “The kids come over, I get emails, and I bring kids over to see Clover.”

Gov. Maura Healey announced Friday that the Federal Transit Administration has formally closed its years-long review of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities’ safety oversight of the MBTA, returning direct supervision of the T’s safety equipment and management to the agency. 

On Sept. 11, the FTA sent a letter to the Department of Public Utilities, formally ending their oversight and returning responsibility of the remaining safety actions to the state agency. Federal authorities said the state had satisfied all requirements and demonstrated significant improvements in its ability to independently oversee the safety of MBTA rail operations. 

“When I took office, the T was in a dire state. After years of underinvestment, workers and passengers alike didn’t feel safe on the rails. Today, the T is safer, more reliable, and more affordable for the riders who use it every day,” Healey said in a statement. “That’s in large part thanks to the investments we have made in the T and the DPU, as well as strong leadership of Phil Eng, DPU’s Robert Hanson and their teams. Riders can now have confidence that there are dedicated leaders at both the MBTA and DPU working every day to keep them safe.”