MA Faces Overnight Flooding Risk Before Summer Returns: Patch PM

WILMINGTON, MA — It's Wednesday, August 4. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• An Olympic run that captivated her hometown of Peabody came to an end for Heather MacLean early Wednesday morning when she fell short of qualifying for the finals in the women's 1,500 meters.
• A great white shark was spotted off the coast of a Cape Cod beach for the second time since Monday.
• CVS Health will increase its minimum wage to $15 an hour for all its employees.

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

Today's Top Story

Most of eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island will be under a flash flood watch from 8 p.m. tonight until Thursday, the National Weather Service said Wednesday.

Forecasters expect showers and thunderstorms to bring as much four inches of rain in the overnight hours, which could lead to flooded streets and a rapid rise in small stream and streaks. "The axis of heaviest rainfall is somewhat uncertain and may still shift east or west," the weather service said.

Clouds and showers will hang out in the region through Thursday before mostly sunny skies and highs in the mid-eighties return to most of the region on Friday. The summer warmth is expected to stay in southern New England at least through the middle of next week.

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Wednesday's Other Top Stories

Shark closes beach: A great white shark was spotted off the coast of a Cape Cod beach, forcing it to close Wednesday morning. The shark was spotted near Nauset Public Beach in Orleans around 10:05 a.m., town officials said via the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy's Sharktivity app. Officials reopened the beach for swimming at 11:05 a.m.

CVS hikes wages for lowest-paid workers: CVS Health will increase its minimum wage to $15 an hour for all its employees, the company said in a news release Wednesday. A spokesperson for the Woonsocket-based company said the wage increases will be incremental, starting in August 2021 until the pharmacy's minimum wage hits $15 an hour in July 2022. About 65 percent of the company's employees are already paid at least $15 and hour, the company added. "Attracting and retaining top talent across our businesses is critical as we continue to redefine what it means to meet people's health needs," CVS CEO Karen Lynch said.

Strike talks may move to D.C.: With the St. Vincent Hospital nurses strike at the five-month mark, a mediator between the two sides has offered to move talks out of Worcester and to Washington, D.C. The Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) said striking St. Vincent nurses have agreed to move talks to D.C., but hospital owners have not, according to a statement sent after negotiations ended on Tuesday without an agreement.

Eat fresh: Patch's 2021 Massachusetts Farmers Market Guide

Picture This

Olympic dream dashed: An Olympic run that captivated her hometown of Peabody came to an end for Heather MacLean early Wednesday morning when she fell short of qualifying for the finals in the women's 1,500 meters. A bold move to the inside to try to make up ground heading into the final lap of the race did not quite pay off for the Peabody Veterans and UMass-Amherst alumna as she finished 12th in her semifinal heat in 4:05.33. MacLean was 21st overall.

In Case You Missed It

Obama bows to pressure: Former President Barack Obama has scaled back his 60th birthday bash set for this weekend at his Martha's Vineyard home off the Massachusetts coast due to the surge of infections blamed on the delta variant of the coronavirus, his office said Wednesday. Attendance is now limited to family and close friends. Published reports had said hundreds of celebrities, politicos and others were expected at Obama's sprawling house.