Good morning and a warm welcome to your show,
Sunny Mornings in Boston. I'm your host, Melissa,
and it's Friday, February 20th. You'll be interested
to know. Today is National Love Your Pet Day.
This holiday invites pet parents and animal fans
to share treats, photos, and extra cuddles while
supporting shelters and adoption efforts across
the country. So now you know. And now, it's time
for the weather report. This morning, it's mostly
cloudy and it feels like 24 degrees with four
mile per hour wind. The sunset will take place
at 522 and it will rise again tomorrow at 628.
It looks like we're in for a wintry mix today
with a chance of snow and rain from mid -morning
till late afternoon, cloudy skies and a high
near 38. along with a light southeast wind. Tonight,
expect sleet and rain before 9, then more sleet
likely with a low around 28 and a northeast wind
of up to 13. For all you beach runners out there,
the first low tide Friday will be at 7 Eastern,
with a high tide at 1 Eastern. The nearshore
buoy at Cape Cod Bay reads 33 degrees for the
water temperature. Looking ahead in the weather.
Saturday will be cloudy with snow likely, a high
near 33 in light northeast winds, with around
1 to 2 inches possible and a chance of snow into
Saturday night. Sunday stays mostly cloudy with
only a slight chance of snow during the day,
but gusty northeast winds up to 24 miles per
hour are possible Sunday night and Monday brings
continued chances of snow. with north winds gusting
as high as 28 miles per hour. Bonjour, food enthusiasts!
This podcast is brought to you by Versailles
Cafe and Pastries in Encinitas. Nestled on El
Camino Real South, just north of Encinitas Boulevard,
this cafe is a haven for culinary delights. Indulge
in their amazing Eggs Benedict or their gluten
-free crepes. You can grab a panini for lunch
or just breeze on through to get your morning
coffee. They are open every day from 8 to 5.
So stop on by and don't forget to tell them.
Sunny mornings send you. In local news, New England
boasts some of the best open -air and maritime
museums in America, according to USA Today readers.
In its 2026 10 Best Readers Choice Awards, the
publication named Plymouth Patuxet Museums, the
number one open -air museum, and Maine Maritime
Museum in Bath, Maine, the number one maritime
museum. At Plymouth Patuxet Museums, visitors
can explore reproductions of the early Plymouth
colony and learn about Wampanoag culture. Old
Sturbridge Village ranked third for open -air
museums, while Mystic Seaport Museum took third
place for maritime museums. Concord Museum was
also recognized as the number two small -town
museum in America. Now on to sports. The National
Basketball Association plans to enact anti -tanking
rules for next season, sources say. Commissioner
Adam Silver informed the league's 30 general
managers that discussions to combat tanking have
intensified. Proposed changes include protecting
first -round draft picks only for Top 4 or Top
14 plus selections. Additionally, lottery odds
may freeze at the trade deadline, and teams won't
be allowed to pick in the Top 4 after consecutive
Bottom 3 finishes. Silver emphasized the importance
of addressing this issue, stating that it has
been worse this year than we have seen in recent
memory. Phoenix Suns owner Matt Ishbia called
tanking much worse than any prop bet scandal.
In local sports, the Celtics kicked off their
West Coast road trip with a solid 121 -110 victory
over the Warriors, leading by as many as 34 points
during the game. Jalen Brown dazzled with 23
points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists, marking his
third triple double of the season. Peyton Pritchard
contributed off the bench with 26 points, while
Sam Hauser added 16 points, including four three
-pointers. Kristaps Porzingis faced his former
team for the first time, scoring 12 points, and
Al Horford finished with five points in the matchup.
In top news, students are losing some interest
in computer science broadly. but gaining interest
in AI -specific majors and courses. For the first
time since the dot -com crash, computer science
enrollment dropped at University of California
campuses. System -wide, it fell 6 % last year,
after declining 3 % in the previous year, according
to the San Francisco Chronicle. Even as overall
college enrollment climbed 2 % nationally, students
are moving away from traditional computer science
degrees. However, the University of California
San Diego added a dedicated AI major this fall.
Enrollment numbers suggest students are opting
for AI programs to secure future employment.
In business news, robust demand from subprime
customers spurred growth in United States unsecured
loans last year. with their combined balances
surging 10 % to a new high of $276 billion, according
to TransUnion's Credit Industry Insights report.
Some 26 .4 million consumers carried those loans
as of end of December, up from 24 .5 million
a year earlier. As interest rates began to fall,
many consumers are consolidating their credit
card balances into unsecured loans. Vice President
and Head of United States Research and Consulting
at TransUnion. Predicard balances rose 4 % last
year to $1 trillion. In crypto movement, Bitcoin
is down 1 .5 % to about $67 ,000. Ethereum is
down half a percent to about $1900. And XRP is
down 3 .5 % to $1 .41. Moving on to a more local
vibe. In our community spotlight on health and
wellness, we are working with a national Pilates
studio to bring you some free classes, so listen
up. Check out Club Pilates with several locations
in the Boston area. Pilates presents a comprehensive
wellness approach, cultivating strength, reducing
tension, and elevating mental well -being. scientific
research affirms its benefits. So now you can
check out Club Pilates for a free class. With
locations in Canton, Wellesley, Hingham, Brookline,
and Framingham, just be sure to tell them Sunny
Morning sent you by. And now, back to the show.
Let's talk science. In a remarkable discovery,
a mountain photographer has stumbled upon one
of the largest collections of Triassic dinosaur
prints ever found. Located in the Italian Alps,
the site features thousands of dinosaur tracks
on vertical rock faces. Photographer Elio della
Ferrara spotted these tracks last September in
the frail valley of Stelvio National Park. Some
prints, measuring up to 40 centimeters across,
date back approximately 210 million years. Paleontologist
Cristiano del Sasso leading the investigation,
expressed astonishment at their preservation.
The footprints reveal herds of large, herbivorous
dinosaurs, likely prosoropods, that roamed ancient
tidal flats and in entertainment news. Stephen
Soderbergh is speaking out about the scrapped
Star Wars movie, The Hunt for Ben Solo, starring
Adam Driver. In a recent interview, Soderbergh
expressed that it was no surprise to learn of
Kathleen Kennedy's frustrations regarding Disney's
decision to cancel the sequel to The Rise of
Skywalker. He said, we were all frustrated, noting
the two and a half years of work he and Driver
invested. Soderbergh added that he believed discussions
would focus on costs, but that never happened,
calling the situation insane. Fans are now rallying
for Disney to reconsider, showing their support
for the hunt for Ben Solo. Well, all righty,
folks. It's time for the quote of the day. And
today, our quote comes from the American writer
and humorist Mark Twain. And he said, And that's
a wrap for this morning. You can check out our
Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok for some captivating
aerial videos with local news and the weather
reports. Have an amazing day, my good friends.
We'll see you tomorrow with another episode of
Sunny Mornings in Boston.