Somerville city and school officials told parents today that schools just won't be ready to instruct students safely come September and so the new school year will start entirely with remote instruction. Read more.

City Councilor Kenzie Bok, who represents the normally student-heavy Fenway and Mission Hill, is urging the city's two largest universities to reverse course and not let any students come to Boston for at least the fall semester - saying the greatest potential risk to Boston is "the sheer influx" of people from out of state, many from places with far higher Covid-19 rates. Read more.

Yesterday's state Covid-19 report showed that 2.2% of people taking a Covid-19 test got positive results on Aug. 1 - a rate we haven't seen since June 16, when we were still coming down from the really high numbers of April and May.

Northeastern University has told the BPDA it has increased the number of rooms it wants to rent to house students and the staffers who would oversee them at the Westin Copley Place from roughly 575 to as many as 875 - which would mean up to 19 floors in the hotel being set aside for Northeastern. Read more.

Cambridge Day reports.

Mayor Walsh and School Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said today they are continuing to look at a "hybrid" school re-opening, in which students would split days between in-school and at-home learning, but that parents will have the chance to opt out completely and stick with remote learning over Covid-19 concerns. Read more.

Northeastern today announced specifics of its Covid-19 plan for this fall, and it starts with an immediate Covid-19 test and then a trek to their rooms to await the results. Read more.

Hampshire House Corp., which owns both the original and Faneuil Hall Cheers bars and the 75 on Liberty waterfront bar, this week sued three insurance companies to recoup the losses its incurred since the city and state shut down bars in March due to Covid-19 reasons. Read more.

Tom English learns Thursday whether the four months he's had to go without a license for his eponymous Cottage on Emerson Street is punishment enough for the way two licensing detectives found him, a contractor and a third person inside with beers on March 21, after the city had already told local bars and restaurants to shut. Read more.