Today's Top Headlines

Wednesday, April 30

Good Wednesday morning! We're following your top headlines this morning, including another day of testimony in the Karen Read retrial, as well as why her defense won the ARCCA ruling. There's a traffic backup in Charlestown this morning, and we're also tracking rain for the weekend.

Yesterday was spectacular with sunshine and highs in the 70s and 80s. But don’t hold your breath! We’re tracking some changes on the way, with wet weather for the weekend and highs in the 50s next week!

As we move through this Wednesday, expect a few morning clouds, giving way to afternoon sunshine.

High temperatures won’t be quite as warm, with highs reaching the upper 60s and lower 70s this afternoon. Tonight, lows will drop into the mid 40s.

One of Karen Read’s lawyers was in the middle of answering a question from Judge Beverly Cannone on Tuesday when she cut him off.

“You know what? You’re going to win this, so why don’t you just let me make my ruling,” Cannone said.

The jury had been cleared from the room so the judge could hear arguments on heated testimony from the day before, over whether the defense’s crash reconstruction experts, from a firm called ARCCA, would be allowed to testify in the trial. Special prosecutor Hank Brennan hammered one of the experts with questions, seeking to prove his suspicion that the experts and the defense had more communication than they let on.

Key witness Jennifer McCabe will return to the stand in Karen Read‘s retrial Wednesday morning, with the focus expected to be on what happened after John O’Keefe’s body was found in the snow.

McCabe was a close friend of O’Keefe’s who was out at a Canton bar with him and Read the night before he died. She is the one who invited the couple to 34 Fairview Road in Canton for an afterparty — a home owned by her brother-in-law. But McCabe says they never showed up, and the next morning Read reportedly called her frantically.

McCabe says that night she saw what she believes was Read’s black Lexus SUV outside the home. But she says no one ever came out. During Read’s frantic phone call the next morning, McCabe says Read mentioned that she had a broken taillight.

A truck ripped down a utility pole early Wednesday in Boston’s Charlestown neighborhood, creating a traffic backup during the morning commute.

Officials on scene tell NBC10 Boston that the pole with alive wires is down across Rutherford Ave. Both lanes going into and out of Boston were initially shutdown.

No injuries have been reported.

Anyone who has parked in and around Boston knows the feeling of returning to your car to find a ticket and a bright orange envelope.

“I just got one right now,” Jonatahn Joa told NBC10 Boston recently. “I have no problem paying the meter. If it is broken, though, I can’t.”

Now, the city is working to make it easier than ever to pay to park. Boston is launching new smart meters, with the first starting to appear in the South End last month.

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics often lived and died by the 3-point shot throughout the regular season. The Orlando Magic forced the reigning NBA champions to play a different style out of the gate in the playoffs, and they passed their first test with flying colors.

Boston clinched the first-round series 4-1 despite struggling against Orlando’s stingy 3-point defense. After making only nine 3s in Games 3 and 4, the C’s prevailed with a 120-89 Game 5 victory after shooting 0-for-6 from distance in the first half.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla preached throughout the series about the importance of winning on the margins: rebounding, taking care of the basketball, and defending without fouling. Those proved key to Boston’s wins and were evident in the second half of Tuesday’s blowout.