Happening Today
Inspectors General Conference
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh is scheduled to deliver welcoming remarks at the annual Inspectors General annual training conference, hosted by Inspector General Glenn Cunha and Louisiana Inspector General Stephen Street, president of the Association of Inspectors General, One Avenue de Lafayette, Boston, 8:30 a.m.
IBM Security headquarters
Attorney General Maura Healey is scheduled to speak at the opening ceremonies for IBM Security’s new headquarters in Cambridge and will address the impact of cybercrime on Massachusetts, 85 Binney St., Cambridge, 8:30 a.m.
City and town clerks gather
The New England Association of City and Town Clerks starts the first full day of its 49th annual conference, Omni Parker House, 9 a.m.
UMass admissions and enrollment
University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees’ Committee on Academic and Student Affairs meets to discuss the preliminary 2016 admissions and enrollment report and campus security, UMass Club – 32nd floor, One Beacon St., Boston, 10 a.m.
Governor’s Council
The Governor’s Council meets for a possible vote on the nomination of First Assistant Attorney General Christopher Barry-Smith to the Superior Court bench, Council Chambers, Room 360, 12 p.m.
‘Looking Ahead to 2018’
Massachusetts Democratic Party executive director Jay Cincotti and Massachusetts Republican Party chair Kirsten Hughes will take part in a panel discussion looking ahead to the 2018 election, WBUR-FM, 90.9, 3 p.m.
Health commission reviews marijuana legalization
Boston Public Health Commission holds a discussion with Denver, Colo., public health officials on the potential impacts of Massachusetts marijuana legalization, 1010 Massachusetts Ave. – 2nd floor, Boston, 4 p.m.
MassWorks announcement in Revere
Gov. Charlie Baker joins House Speaker Robert DeLeo, Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo, Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Jay Ash and local legislators for an announcement about MassWorks investments in Revere, 205 Revere Beach Pkwy, Revere, 4 p.m.
Helipad hearing
Boston city councilors plan to hear from local and state officials about a possible commercial helipad in the city, Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Room 204, 6 p.m.
Today’s Stories
Attention liberal Democrats: Boston startup will pay you to move to Canada
Desperate to flee the country now that Donald Trump is moving into the White House? From BostInno’s Olivia Vanni: “Navut, a real estate tech startup and Techstars Boston alumnus, is stepping up to help Americans move to Canada. It’s offering financial incentives, as well as immigration guidance, to U.S. citizens who buy homes in Canada within the next 12 months. The venture told us it’s giving 50 percent of its commission to Americans who buy property in Canada through its online service.”
Feds launch probe of law partners’ donations to Dems
The Globe’s Spotlight team strikes again: “Federal prosecutors in Boston have opened a grand jury investigation into potentially illegal campaign contributions from lawyers at the Thornton Law Firm, a leading donor to Democrats around the country, according to two people familiar with the probe. The US attorney’s office is one of three agencies now looking into the Boston-based personal injury firm’s practice of reimbursing its partners for millions of dollars in political donations, according to the two people.”
Mass. revolt against Pelosi
Some members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation aren’t exactly thrilled with electing Nancy Pelosi to yet another term as leader of U.S. House Democrats, reports SHNS’s Matt Murphy at Wicked Local Saugus. Among those leading the charge is U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, who has worked to delay a vote on the next House minority leader. From U.S. Rep. Richard Neal: “There is broad angst in the Democratic caucus. … To stick with the same message over four bad election cycles is a mistake. I think part of it is that the messengers have to change.”
No jobs for you, Charlie Baker et gang
Despite Donald Trump’s drain-the-swamps vow, lobbyists are licking their chops over the prospects of four years of Republican rule, the Globe’s Matt Viser reports. But maybe there should be a sign hung outside Washington: Massachusetts Republicans Need Not Apply. The Trump administration is probably in no mood to hire, let alone listen to, any Republican from the Bay State who shunned his presidential candidacy, from Gov. Charlie Baker on down, reports the Herald’s Jack Encarnacao.
Warren accuses Trump of filling the swamp, not draining the swamp
In an eight-page letter that we’re sure Donald Trump took to heart, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has thrown aside the olive branch and is accusing the Republican president elect of backtracking on his vow to “drain the swamp” in Washington, according to a WBUR report. Demanding that Trump dump the lobbyists and industry insiders on his transition team, Warren writes: “Let me be clear. Should you refuse [to shake up the transition team], I will oppose you, every step of the way, for the next four years.” For some reason, we already had the impression Warren was going to oppose him, every step of the way, for the next four years.
Weld: I am not a spoiler
Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld is dismissing claims that his Libertarian ticket played a spoiler role in handing the White House to Donald Trump. Just the opposite, says Weld, arguing the Libertarian ticket actually pulled disgruntled GOP votes away from Trump, reports the Herald’s Brian Dowling. Big Red described the “spoiler” narrative as a “canard put out there by the mainstream media,” Dowling writes.
Audit in reverse: Bump wants to see who can and should sign up for welfare
From MassLive’s Shira Schoenberg: “Massachusetts auditor Suzanne Bump said Tuesday that she plans to perform an audit within the next year on what the state can do to ensure that people who are eligible for public assistance are signing up for it. ‘We don’t want people who don’t belong in these programs to have access to them,’ Bump said. ‘On the other hand, there is a growing body of research that suggests that not everyone who really could participate in these programs is doing so.’”
Interim CEO named permanent head of Clean Energy Center
Stephen Pike, who has been interim chief executive of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center for more than a year now, has gotten the nod to take over the agency full-time, reports the BBJ’s Kelly O’Brien. “Under your leadership, we’re going to see some of the best days of the CEC,” Matt Beaton, secretary of the Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and chairman of MassCEC’s board, told Pike at a meeting yesterday.
Barney on drafting Kerry: ‘You better have the powers of selective service’
A Chicopee Democrat, Darlene Bryskiewicz, has launched a campaign, via the Twitter handle @KerryforGov, to draft U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the former U.S. senator and state lieutenant governor, to run for governor in 2018. But Democrats say it’s not going to happen, reports the Herald’s Matt Stout. “You better have the powers of selective service,” said former Newton U.S. Rep. Barney Frank. “I’d be shocked if he did this.” The Inside Track’s Gayle Fee reports Kerry, 72, seems to have his mind set on environmental globe-trotting after he leaves the State Department.
Setti hires former former Patrick aide for possible gubernatorial run
Speaking of long-shot gubernatorial runs, Newton Mayor Setti Warren has hired a wired Democratic insider, John Walsh, as an advisor to Warren, who’s eyeing a bid for governor in 2018, Politico’s Lauren Dezenski reports. Walsh previously worked on Gov. Deval Patrick’s campaign.
MIT tapped to re-develop the coveted Volpe Transportation site in Kendall Square
Private developers were practically drooling over the prospect of re-developing the federal government’s sprawling, 14-acre Volpe Transportation Center site in the heart of the red-hot Kendall Square in Cambridge. But it was a non-profit, albeit MIT, that ultimately won the huge re-development prize awarded by the U.S. General Services Administration, reports the BBJ’s Catherine Carlock. What this means for some of the Volpe center’s well-groomed open spaces, which makes the complex look almost like a school campus, is unclear.
Harbinger of things to come? Putnam lays off 8 percent of its workforce
Hurt by an industrywide trend of investors pulling money out of actively managed mutual funds, Boston’s Putnam Investments is laying off 8 percent of its workforce – and among those leaving is Walter Donavan, the firm’s chief investment officer, reports the BBJ’s Greg Ryan. Hopefully, this is not a harbinger of things to come for other firms in Boston, hub of the mutual fund industry.
Worcester councilors quash ‘immigrant impact’ requests
A week after Donald Trump’s election based partly on an anti-immigration platform, the Worcester City Council emphatically put the kibosh on petitions from citizens seeking to force the city to reveal the impact undocumented immigrants are having on the city’s finances and police department, Nick Kotsopoulos of the Telegram reports. William Breault of the Main South Alliance for Public Safety had submitted requests asking the city to break out the costs but the council voted overwhelmingly to place them on file and take no further action.
Baker’s office blitzed by calls for ‘safe haven’ from hate
Meanwhile, amid post-election tensions over Trump’s election, some groups on the left are pushing their own agenda, as reported by Mike Deehan at WGBH: “Gov. Charlie Baker’s offices have been inundated with calls from Massachusetts citizens asking the governor to openly declare the state a safe haven from hate. A growing movement on social media is urging Bay Staters to call into the governor’s constituent services offices in Boston and Springfield to ask Baker to line up with the governors of California and New York in specifically stating that Massachusetts will do everything it can to prevent discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity or other factors.”
Walkouts will demand ‘sanctuary campus’ status
More on the post-election sanctuary front: Hundreds of students from UMass Amherst, Amherst College and other institutions are expected to walk out of class Wednesday as part of a nationwide protect seeking to designate campuses as sanctuaries that will protect immigrants from deportation under a Trump administration, Chris Lindahl of the Hampshire Gazette reports. Amherst has already adopted policies that make it a sanctuary city.
Lawyers group wants Fairmount line investigation
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice is asking the U.S. Attorney office to investigate the MBTA’s handling of frequent cancellations on the Fairmount Commuter Line, which serves mainly low-income and minority riders, Olivia Quintana of the Globe reports. “This explicit diversion of resources away from minority and low-income communities for the benefit of more affluent and less diverse riders, is highly troubling,” the group wrote in requesting the review.
Back to the Future: Group resurrects ‘Don’t Blame Me’ bumper sticker
Though Massachusetts wasn’t the only state to vote against Donald Trump, the Environmental League is re-releasing the famous “Don’t blame me, I’m from Massachusetts” bumper stickers that were first printed after the 1972 presidential election in which the Bay State was the only state to vote for George McGovern against Richard Nixon. “Thought this might be a fun footnote to an unfun election,” ELM President George Bachrach told the State House News Service. “With Washington moving in the wrong direction, we’re committed to making Massachusetts a national role model.”
Of course, what some people forget, or ignore, is that eight years after the ’72 election the state went for … Ronald Reagan. But that’s a bumper sticker for another day.
Today’s Headlines
Metro
Chelsea officials try to ease fears of deportation – Boston Herald
Court upholds historical society’s lease on landmark Quincy building – Patriot Ledger
Massachusetts’ 9th medical marijuana dispensary opens in Newton – WGBH
Massachusetts
Auditor Suzanne Bump hopes to identify barriers to accessing welfare benefits – MassLive
Baker’s office blitzed by calls for Mass. to declare itself a safe haven – WGBH
Milford residents find white supremacist magazines in driveway – Fox25
Kerry for governor? A Chicopee activist wants to draft him – Boston Globe
High lead levels found in water at 160 Mass. schools – Boston Globe
Federal prosecutors launch probe of law firm over donations – Boston Globe
Weld calling ‘spoiler’ vote storyline bogus – Boston Herald
AG is eyeing complaints against Care.com website – Boston Herald
Worcester City Council banishes petitions on impact of immigrants – Telegram & Gazette
Court upholds historical society’s lease on landmark Quincy building – Patriot Ledger
IDG reportedly in talks to sell to Chinese investors for more than $1B – Boston Business Journal
Report: Easton town clerk lied about bylaw submission – Brockton Enterprise
Nation
After talk of revolt, House Republicans pick Ryan to lead – New York Times
4 possible reasons the polls got it so wrong this year – NPR
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