It was as if nothing had changed in six months: On Thursday the Board of Zoning Appeal declined to approve a comprehensive permit for a 2072 Massachusetts Ave. affordable development five blocks north of Porter Square, citing its height.

At a contentious four-hour hearing, the Board of Zoning Appeal refused to approve the height of 2072 Massachusetts Ave., a North Cambridge affordable housing project, arguing that its nine stories on the avenue was too tall and trying to get the developers to bring the building down to six.

Federal district Judge Allison D. Burroughs announced an agreement between the federal government and Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that would remove the need for an emergency court order over international students’ visas.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement responded Monday to a lawsuit brought by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology seeking an emergency court order to let international students stay in the country while taking online-only classes.

The federal government has refused to delay barring international students from the United States if all their classes are online, and a judge has declined to enter a temporary hold on the policy requested by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are seeking an emergency court order requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to allow international students to remain in the United States.

Effective the week of June 15, Cambridge plans to close three streets to regular traffic at all hours, making them “shared streets” with reduced vehicular traffic intended for walking as well as use by cyclists.

Anthony Ivan Wilson was selected to be Cambridge’s new City Clerk on Monday by the City Council, in a whirlwind public phase of a months-long process to replace Donna Lopez, who retired as city clerk last month (she has stuck around for the transition).

The ACLU has filed a federal lawsuit citing the federal immigration agency’s “shifting explanations, instructions and procedures” over the court of a year or more, “none of which has proved effective in actually getting immigration detainees to court.”

The Cambridge Historical Commission gave positive feedback on the 10 Church St. redevelopment of the Harvard Square Theatre on Thursday, but did not grant the project a certificate of historical appropriateness, asking the proponents to return with additional details – and a scale mockup that will show its controversial multistory LED panels in action.