On the upside, the number of people who voted in yesterday’s preliminaries in Boston and other cities was higher than the usual poll sampling. On the other hand, that ain’t saying much, given that the final results don’t carry a margin of error.

With only two district preliminary races to entice Boston voters, just 7 percent of them went to the polls, a record-low number that relegated three-decade incumbent Charles Yancey to second place and put him behind newcomer Andrea Campbell as well as the eight-ball heading for the general election.

Out in Worcester, there was an increase in voting compared to the preliminary election in 2011, when just under 9 percent of voters went to the polls. On Tuesday, nearly 12 percent cast ballots.

The message from the races in Worcester and Boston was that there is no message. Political wisdom, which is often an oxymoron, holds low turnout favors those with a cause, usually the challenger, which is how some of Yancey’s supporters are spinning it. But in Worcester, the incumbent mayor and city councilor Joseph Petty topped the results and four of the five top finishers in the field of 16 were incumbents as well.

Then there’s the argument that weather plays a role in tamping down turnout. But sunny and in the 90s? Some bemoaned the timing of Tuesday’s vote, coming the day after Labor Day and, for some, the first day of school. Most of the elections were moved to Sept. 8 to avoid conflicts with next week’s observance of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah.

Some have argued that moving elections from Tuesdays to Saturdays, like suburban towns do, would free people up to vote because they wouldn’t be bogged down by work and school. But taking a look at turnouts in those towns that vote on Saturday suggests it doesn’t make much of a difference.  Mashpee, for instance, is looking to shift its annual town elections back to Tuesdays because of declining turnout.

Perhaps it’s the lack of contested races. Yet, again, the crowded field in Worcester and the dearth of candidates in Boston yielded similar apathy. And maybe apathy is the key word. Voters aren’t motivated to vote unless there’s something to motivate them.

Yancey, who has had a number of opponents over the years but never failed to top the preliminary ballot, was facing a formidable challenge from a lawyer who was barely a 1 year old when Yancey first took office nearly 32 years ago. Yancey has commanded allegiance in the district dominated by Dorchester and Mattapan with slices of Roslindale and Jamaica Plain, yet Campbell had an appealing story and a fresh face.

One snippet from the field illustrates the district’s changing dynamic. The Globe reports on a Yancey post-election party with supporters dancing to Michael Jackson, whose best days were 20 years ago, while Campbell’s Twitter “listening tour” was cited as one of her biggest assets. It may be a harbinger of a generational split, if Campbell can muster a get-out-the-vote push. And if she can do that, she’ll be turning the tide on a downward trend.

—JACK SULLIVAN

BEACON HILL

Former governors Michael Dukakis and Bill Weld are heading up to Beacon Hill today in a bid to convince Gov. Charlie Baker to pursue a north-south commuter rail link. Here’s a primer on the issue. (CommonWealth)

The MetroWest Daily News blasts the Department of Children and Families for failing to recognize a pattern of abuse in the case of a Hardwick boy. Meanwhile, a Fitchburg teenager threatened to “shoot up” a local DCF office. (Sentinel and Enterprise)

Gov. Charlie Baker minimizes the impact of the net metering cap, telling local officials that solar developers can make almost as much money without the rate subsidy. (State House News)

A Herald editorial rips continued protests by the MBTA Carmen’s Union against limited privatization efforts enabled by recent legislation.

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

The town of Lee is seeking legislative approval to assess a local gas tax to support infrastructure spending. (Associated Press)

Haverhill City Council President John Michitson says the city needs better Internet service to attract new businesses. (Eagle-Tribune)

Facebook shut down West Bridgewater’s page on the social media website because the town is not a “real person.” (The Enterprise)

The state Civil Service Commission rules a former Weymouth fire lieutenant cannot appeal her resignation from the Fire Department because she left voluntarily even though she claimed she was forced to quit or face termination. (Patriot Ledger)

Three developers want to knock down the old district courthouse on Washington Street in Salem and replace it with a mix of housing and retail. (Salem News)

The Quincy City Council has asked for an outside legal opinion on whether Mayor Thomas Koch overstepped his authority when he reassigned the city’s planning director. (Patriot Ledger)

Mayor Marty Walsh says Boston would be open to welcoming refugees from war-torn Syria and North Africa. (Boston Herald)

ELECTIONS

After weeks of hemming and hawing, Hillary Clinton apologizes for using a private email server as secretary of state. (Time)

Best presidential candidate for business? Donald Trump, according to a nationwide survey of CFOs. (Boston Business Journal)

Democratic presidential hopeful Martin O’Malley discusses Trump, the minimum wage, and the need for more debates. (Greater Boston)

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Gloucester Engineering, which employs 50 people, is purchased by a Connecticut company. (Gloucester Times)

Irish retailer Primark is set to open on Thursday in the Burnham Building in Boston, the longtime home to Filene’s. (Boston Globe)

United Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek has resigned amid a probe of corruption allegations about illegal perks to the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. (New York Times)

RELIGION

Pope Francis has revamped the church’s annulment process, speeding up and simplifying the route to dissolving a marriage. (Associated Press)

EDUCATION

With the temperature in the city topping out at 96 degrees, Boston teachers and students sweltered their way through the first day of school in the district, where just 30 of 126 school buildings have air conditioning. Framingham and Lawrence plan to release students early today because of the heat. (Boston Globe)

Teachers go on strike in Seattle for the first time in 30 years. (Governing)

Harvard‘s Hasty Pudding Theatricals may add women to its formerly all-male burlesque drag shows. (Harvard Crimson)

U.S. News & World Report is out with its annual rankings of the best colleges and Princeton University held onto the Number 1 overall ranking followed by Harvard and then Yale. MIT was the only other New England school in the national Top Ten rankings.

HEALTH CARE

Fallon Health CEO Patrick Hughes is retiring. (Telegram & Gazette)

TRANSPORTATION

Cambridge wants to assess fees to Kendall Square developers to help pay for the costs of transit improvements there. Somerville is considering the same idea in Union Square, which the Green Line extension is slated to pass through. (Boston Globe)

Cab companies sue the state of Florida over regulation of Uber and Lyft. (Governing)

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt cries foul, urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to hold another local meeting on the proposed Kinder Morgan natural gas pipeline. (Salem News)

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Peter Gelzinis wonders what was behind the senseless violence that claimed 15-year-old Wilson Martinez of East Boston, who was found stabbed to death on Monday on Constitution Beach. (Boston Herald)

US Senior District Judge Mark Wolf says he can preside impartially over the death-penalty trial of convicted killer Gary Lee Sampson, despite objections from prosecutors because he moderated a panel discussion last year that included a potential defense witness. (Boston Globe)

William Bennett and John Walters, top drug policy officials under the first and second Bush presidents, call for a renewed war on the drug supply chain to combat the heroin epidemic. (Boston Globe)

MEDIA

Tribune Publishing is firing Austin Beutner, the publisher of the Los Angeles Times, one year after he was hired. (Politico)

Greenpeace is hiring investigative journalists to dig for environmental news. (The Guardian)

Jeb Bush is a guest on the debut episode of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, but it’s not a particularly memorable moment, writes the Herald“s Ted Johnson.

Carolyn Ryan, who made her political bones through the traditional ladder climb at the Patriot Ledger, Herald, and Globe, has been named the New York Times senior editor for politics, overseeing the national campaigns coverage