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☔Drizzly, cloudy day, with highs in the 50s. Sunset tonight is at 6:57 p.m.

In her third annual State of the City speech last night, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu mixed the local — repaired potholes and community-led projects — with the national, calling back to her recent testimony in Washington, D.C. about how Boston’s police interact with federal immigration agents.

“It might have been my voice speaking into the microphone that day, but it was 700,000 voices that gave Congress their answer: This is our city,” Wu said, calling back to David Ortiz’s rallying cry after the Boston Marathon bombing. “We are the city that leads in the storm, that stands up under pressure … God bless our city, God bless our people, and God save whoever messes with Boston.”

GBH’s politics reporters Adam Reilly and Saraya Wintersmith have five quick takeaways from her speech.

Four Things to Know

Trooper in Karen Read case fired: The head of the Massachusetts State Police has fired Michael Proctor, whose vulgar text messages about Karen Read drew national attention. The reasons given: unsatisfactory performance and a charge related to alcohol. Proctor has been on unpaid leave for months, and his attorney says he plans to appeal. Proctor was investigating the 2022 killing of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe in Canton — an extremely high-profile case — and had read some of his lewd text messages on the stand. Read, O’Keefe’s girlfriend, was charged with murder in his death; her trial last year ended in a hung jury.

Immigrants Day at the State House: Hundreds of people gathered on Beacon Hill yesterday for music, speeches and to advocate for legislation that would prevent local police officers from doing the work of federal immigration agents and provide immigrants at risk of deportation with legal representation. Among attendees: Lucas Dos Santos Amaral and his wife, Suyanne Boechat Amaral. Dos Santos Amaral was the first known person in Massachusetts taken into ICE custody because of an expired visa, despite not having a criminal record. He has since been released and is back home awaiting court hearings. “I’m happy with my girls, with God,” he told GBH News reporter Sarah Betancourt. “I’m still scared. Because I never went to jail [before]. All of this is new to me — this is my second chance.”

Wastewater tracking in the skies: A group of researchers from Northeastern University published a paper saying that searching for emerging pathogens in airplane waste systems — even in as little as 10 or 20 airports worldwide — would help identify newly spreading diseases faster than current methods. Samples would come from the toilet tanks of newly-landed planes and be sent to labs, where scientists would analyze them for viruses or bacteria. Getting samples from the planes themselves, as opposed to airport sewage systems, would allow scientists to more accurately pinpoint the source of pathogens.

Do you have your Real ID yet? Only about 56% of driver’s licenses and ID cards in Massachusetts are in line with federal Real ID guidelines, Registrar of Motor Vehicles Colleen Ogilvie said yesterday. Under current plans, people without a Real ID will need a passport to board planes (even for domestic flights) or to enter federal buildings starting on May 7. Take a look at your license or ID card: if it meets Real ID guidelines, it’ll have a star inscribed into a yellow circle in the top righthand corner. If it doesn’t have one, it may be time to make an appointment at the RMV.

Mass. child care is bouncing back 5 years after COVID, but many families still struggle

Because of an infusion of state and federal tax dollars, Massachusetts now has tens of thousands more spots in childcare programs than it did before the COVID-19 pandemic. And while that’s made life a bit easier for parents, kids and childcare workers, the industry still faces plenty of challenges.

“Frankly, we weren’t in great shape before COVID. It was hard. It was low wages,” said Sharon MacDonald, the executive director of The Guild of St. Agnes, an organization that runs daycare and childcare centers in Worcester.

Massachusetts now gives childcare centers hundreds of millions of dollars each year to help with costs. That means workers can make a bit more now — at the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, entry-level salaries went from $18 to $22 an hour. In Worcester, MacDonald said she’s been able to pay her staff higher wages, offer better benefits and work on maintenance projects and classroom updates.

But there’s still a lack of seats: a report by a state-commissioned task force found that about 52% of children under kindergarten age are in a formal childcare program. And compared to five years ago, MacDonald said, the children who are enrolled often need more one-on-one help and care.

“The children that we’re seeing are very challenging,” MacDonald said. “It’s a trauma response — the pandemic was traumatic for children and families.”

Latoya Gayle, senior director of advocacy at Neighborhood Villages in Boston, said she would like to see people in charge of childcare policies focus on childcare workers.

“How do we shore up our pipeline of workers who want to be in this field?” Gayle said. “I think sometimes we take it for granted, the work and the learning and the expertise that goes into caring and educating our youngest learners.”

Read more of Meghan Smith’s reporting here.