🕷️ Freaky neon spiders

Good morning. It's Friday once again.

Today's weather: ☀️ Sunny in the mid-70s.

Situational awareness: Hurricane Helene is battering the Gulf Coast and Southeast U.S., but likely won't make much of an impact on New England this weekend.

🎂 Happy birthday to Axios Boston member Tom Mollerus! And happy early birthday to Phil Holberton!

Today's newsletter is 771 words — a 3 minute read.

Four-inch neon green invaders are popping up around Boston, startling residents and tourists alike.

Why it matters: Massachusetts is the northernmost area where the invasive Joro spider has made landfall.

The plump green bug was spotted near the State House on Beacon Hill, setting off a frenzy in the media and online.

• These suckers are creepy, crawly and sufficiently spooky.
• Plus, younger spiders can appear to float on silk threads that carry them from place to place.
• They have vibrant yellow and green coloring, with red markings.

Driving the news: Beacon Hill resident Joe Schifferdecker saw one of the spiders hanging around outside his Mt. Vernon Street home this week.

• That set off Boston's current Joro-mania.
• "It's surprising that it's in the middle of Boston on kind of a main street and yet this is supposedly the first one in all of Massachusetts that's been sighted," Schifferdecker told WCVB.

Yes, but: Despite alarming headlines, Joro spiders pose little threat to humans or the local ecosystem.

• Joros are mostly docile and aren't likely to bite unless provoked.
• Their venom is less painful than your typical bee sting and won't leave much more than pain and redness around the bite mark.
• Joros weave golden webs to catch the usual spider fare of flies, beetles and mosquitoes.

What they're saying: "It looks like the Joro could probably survive throughout most of the Eastern Seaboard here, which is pretty sobering," Georgia's Odum School of Ecology researcher Andy Davis told Axios.

Zoom out: The arachnids are native to East Asia and started popping up in the southeast U.S. a decade ago.

Fun fact: Joros tend to consume anything that lands in their silky death traps – except monarch butterflies, which a recent study co-authored by Davis suggests they cut out of their webs.

What's next: Spider researchers expect the Joros to continue spreading farther north across the rest of the East Coast.

The bottom line: Joro spiders look freaky, but they're welcome to eat as many mosquitos as they can.

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The state will try to address the loss of health access in Dorchester and Ayer, where Steward Health Care hospitals recently closed.

Why it matters: When Steward folded, most of its medical facilities were sold off, but no buyers were found for Dorchester's Carney Hospital and Ayer's Nashoba Valley Medical Center.

• Residents in those areas lost critical lifelines to health care and remaining nearby medical facilities are trying to fill the void.

Driving the news: Gov. Maura Healey announced a pair of working groups Wednesday to stabilize and revivalist health care centers in the areas most impacted.

U.S. Senate candidate John Deaton's tax returns show $18 million in assets and no reportable income. (Globe)

• That includes over $10 million in Bitcoin.

🐳 The Atlantic Ocean's hottest club is 40 to 70 miles off the Long Island coast where more than 82 North Atlantic right whales have been spotted.

• That's more than a quarter of all the right whales in the North Atlantic. (CCT)

The former CEO of defunct alcohol delivery service Drizly has landed at another local beverage operation, smart water cooler-maker Bevi. (BBJ)

The world's first-ever hearing aid with dual processing just hit the market, and it's a game changer for anyone looking to hear more clearly in conversation. It's called Horizon IX.

See why audiologists are raving about this powerful German technology and start your no-risk trial today.

Your votes are in and clam chowder is Axios Boston readers' pick for the most iconic Boston food.

And the classic seafood stew won by a lot.

• 83% of you wanted chowder over the runner up, North End cannoli.
• Clam chowder was dominant all week, taking out star snacks like Dunkin's cruller, Boston Cream Pie and even lobster rolls to take the top spot.

Thanks to everyone who voted.

Now the good part: Who's got a great clam chowder recipe they'd like to share? Reply and let us know.

It was the best of times and it was the worst of times on the MBTA this week.

• The Red Line's Braintree branch is still closed and life is hell for riders trying to get to Quincy.
• But the Orange Line was running close to perfect, with fast speed and service nearly what it was before the pandemic, while the Blue and Green lines were solid.

Grade: C. But if the Red Line performs as well as it should after the shutdown and repairs, the T might finally be close to back to normal.

Alerts: There's no Braintree-bound Red Line until Sunday.

• On top of that, Ashmont Red Line service from JFK/UMass south will also be suspended tomorrow for one day.

Ready to test your knowledge of the week's news ? Click here to take our quiz and tell us how you did!

Send a screenshot of your perfect score to boston+quiz@axios.com for a chance to win some sweet swag!

Experts say the new IX hearing aids are the ultimate conversation starter because they're designed with clarity in conversation in mind, offering:

• State-of-the-art noise suppression.
• Lightning-fast dual processing technology.
• Effortless conversation.

Test drive Horizon IX today.

Deehan is off today and making every last 75-degree minute count.

Steph is never leaving the house again if Joro spiders descend on Dorchester.

This newsletter was edited by Jeff Weiner.