Today's Top Headlines

Thursday, July 16

Good morning Wypierdalaj,

All the talk was about the hazy skies yesterday! And although things may be clearer this morning, more plumes of smoke pollution will stream in today, and our air quality will remain on the unhealthy side in Massachusetts. Other news we're following includes the final report into the wrong-way crash that killed State Police Trooper Kevin Trainor. Plus, a person has died from their injuries following last week's van crash on a Martha's Vineyard ferry. I'm Kaitlin McKinley Becker, and these are your headlines.

We’re keeping with the smoke, dry air, and warm temps – in no particular order.

Skies may start more clear this morning and appear briefly brighter, but more plumes of smoke pollution will stream in, meaning unfortunately, the air quality will remain on the unhealthy side today. A vast majority of the smoke is expected to hover near the ground.

There are numerous air quality alerts across New England.

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A person has died after a minivan drove onto a ferry on Martha’s Vineyard and crashed last week.

The incident occurred around 9:15 a.m. Wednesday, July 8, at the Steamship Authority’s Vineyard Haven Terminal. The Steamship Authority said at the time that a white minivan drove at a high speed onto the vehicle deck of the M/V Island Home ferry prior to boarding.

The Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday that the driver, who has not been publicly identified, had died.

A man was flown to a Boston hospital after being hit by a vehicle Wednesday evening in Norwood, Massachusetts, and the driver has been arrested.

Norwood police responded shortly after 7:30 p.m. to the intersection of Washington Street and St. John Avenue.

The victim was found seriously injured. Fire crews treated him at the scene before he was taken by ambulance to a landing zone to be airlifted by medical helicopter.

A man who died after getting caught in an escalator at an MBTA station in Somerville, Massachusetts, succumbed to brain injuries caused by being strangled by his clothing, according to a death certificate the NBC10 Boston Investigators obtained.

The medical examiner determined Steven McCluskey, 40, died from “hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy following asphyxia by strangulation.”

Dr. Knarik Arkun, the director of neuropathology and autopsy service at Tufts Medical Center, explained the ruling means McCluskey suffered from a lack of blood and oxygen to his brain.

Massachusetts’ recent smoky skies and hazy sunsets may look unusual, but experts say what we’re seeing is part of a growing pattern fueled by bigger and longer wildfire seasons.

The strange haze has lingered for two days — so far — thanks to a weather pattern bringing smoke straight from parts of Ontario, Canada, straight to New England.

“A lot of the fires farther up north are burning longer and more intensely than they have previously, so that’s been a big change and may be why we’re seeing more of the smoke,” said James Urban, an associate professor in the Fire Protection Engineering Department at Massachusetts’ Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

The Essex County District Attorney’s Office has released its final report on its investigation into the May 6 wrong-way crash on Route 1 that resulted in the deat