Happening Today
‘Real-life Riverhawks’
The University of Massachusetts Lowell will introduce its newest ‘real-life Riverhawks’ – a pair of peregrine falcons hatched at the university’s Fox Hall two weeks ago, Fox Hall, East Campus, 100 Pawtucket St., Lowell, 10 a.m.
Beaches commission
Metropolitan Beaches Commission meets to discuss their ‘thoughts and concerns’ about the state of the Commonwealth’s public beaches in Lynn, Nahant, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy and Hull, Room 222, 10 a.m.
Eversource rate hearing
Department of Public Utilities holds an evidentiary hearing on the petition of Eversource, for its NSTAR Electric Company and Western Massachusetts Electric Company units, for a base distribution rate increase, DPU, One South Station, Boston – 5th Floor, Hearing Room A, 10 a.m.
Hearing on Baker’s tech changes
The Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight reviews Gov. Charlie Baker’s proposal to restructure the Massachusetts Office of Information and Technology into the Executive Office of Technology Services & Security, Room A-2, 10 a.m.
Leadership meeting
Gov. Baker, Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, House Speaker Robert DeLeo and other Beacon Hill leaders meet behind closed doors for a semi-regular leadership meeting, Governor’s office, 2 p.m.
Short-term rentals hearing
Lawmakers leading the effort to write legislation to tax and regulate short-term rentals through websites like Airbnb hold the second hearing about the potential impact on tourism and the rental market, Barnstable Town Hall, 367 Main St., Hyannis, 3 p.m.
Setti on the air
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Setti Warren is a guest on ‘Radio Boston,’ WBUR-FM 90.9, 3 p.m.
Healey on the air
Attorney General Maura Healey appears on ‘NightSide,’ WBZ NewsRadio 1030, 8 p.m.
Today’s Stories
Clark and Moulton: Easy on the impeachment talk, fellow Dems
Tension is growing between the Democratic establishment and party outsiders over how hard, if at all, Dems should push for impeachment of President Trump, reports the Globe’s Victoria McGrane and Astead Herndon. Count U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark among the go-it-slow faction, as long as Republicans control the House and defend Trump: “Let’s mobilize, get to the streets, register voters, and change the majority in the House,” advises Clark. Ditto for U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton.
Meanwhile, the NYT is reporting other party flare-ups between establishment types and backers of Bernie Sanders – and how the infighting may be harming the party in general.
Sen. Snow to Trump: Turn over any tapes — now
From the Washington Post: “On Sunday, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said President Trump should turn over tapes of conversations he had with former FBI director James B. Comey — if they exist. ‘He should voluntarily turn them over not only to the Senate Intelligence Committee, but to the special counsel,’ Collins told Brianna Keilar on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’ ‘I don’t understand why the president just doesn’t clear this matter up once and for all.’”
‘Black people have met their match’
Mayor Marty Walsh is condemning a video, apparently made by a police officer, that describes a cop partnered with a “dog with a limp … in the fight between good and evil” and ends with: “Black people have met their match.” The mayor is calling the video “foolish,” reports the Herald’s Laurel Sweet. Actually, the word “despicable” comes to mind.
Online retailers file lawsuit against state over sales tax
Two retail groups filed a lawsuit late last week against the Baker administration, seeking to stop a plan to tax out-of-state retailers for online purchases starting July 1, reports Greg Ryan at the Boston Business Journal. NetChoice and the American Catalog Mailers Association filed their suit in Suffolk County Superior Court, arguing the state sales-tax move is unconstitutional and violates both federal and state laws.
Is the Globe’s editorial department aware of this ad?
Granted, it’s an algorithm-driven ad that appeared on, of all places, the Herald’s web site (when we saw it). But it’s a circulation ad that features an unmistakably heroic and truth-telling photo of U.S. Elizabeth Warren with the caption: ‘The Truth can’t be bought. But you can subscribe to it.’ And then you click to a Globe subscription page. Just pointing out the ad’s message, coming at a time when the paper’s circulation has seen a nice bump since the election of Donald Trump. Btw: We should have, but didn’t, do a screen capture of the ad. But it was there, trust us.
Before new digs, Globe makes shift to new beats
Speaking of digital activity, the Boston Globe has begun the reinvention process promised in a series of memos from editor Brian McGrory, Dan Kennedy reports, and the first week under the approach was apparently a good one for digital subscription sales. McGrory is enthusiastic about the early returns, saying the newsroom is filling faster each morning and more stories are being posted faster to the paper’s website.
State mulls limits on pot advertising
And speaking of advertising: As they wait at the starting gate, the state’s would-be recreational marijuana businesses say lawmakers are threatening to snuff out their chances for success by contemplating strict limits on how legal weed can be advertised, Christian Wade of the Salem News reports. Proposals lawmakers are passing around include prohibitions against give-aways and pot-themed merchandise and requirements that tobacco-like warning labels be included on packaging.
Baker’s credibility
Gov. Baker’s credibility as a “Mr. Fix It” took a hit late last week when S&P Global downgraded the state’s credit rating. The Baker administration is downplaying the move. But Democratic gubernatorial candidate Setti Warren and others are already pouncing on the development, reports SHNS’s Matt Murphy at CommonWealth.
Is the millionaire’s tax actually a regressive tax that screws the poor in other states?
Josh McCabe, associate director of the Freedom Project at Wellesley College, writes at CommonWealth magazine that the proposed ‘millionaire’s tax’ in Massachusetts would actually harm federal programs for the poor, thanks to a tax provision that allows rich people to deduct state and local taxes on their U.S. income taxes. “I call this blue state chauvinism,” writes McCabe, noting that lawmakers from high-tax blue states are the most ardent defenders of the tax-loophole giveaway.
Meanwhile, Steve Koczela and Richard Parr, also writing at CommonWealth, dissect Gov. Baker’s comments related to the millionaire’s tax and say they amount to a pretty flimsy argument.
Baker administration supports relocating Georges Island’s Confederate marker
WGBH’s Adam Reilly reports that the Baker administration is open to the idea of relocating a Daughters of the Confederacy marker – which includes the Confederate seal and its Latin motto – that commemorates Southern prisoners of war who died during the Civil War on Georges Island in Boston Harbor. “Gov. Baker believes we should refrain from the display of symbols, especially in our public parks, that do not support liberty and equality for the people,” Reilly quotes a spokesman as saying.
One word is removed and all is well again with pregnant-workers bill
House Speaker Robert DeLeo’s office — a day after the Globe reported about the controversial word change in a pregnant-workers’ rights bill – has backed down and now says it will remove the legally loaded word “knowingly” from the legislation. The Globe’s Frank Phillips has the details on how the bill is now back on track.
And now Neal is getting hammered by a progressive group in western Mass
U.S. Richard Neal has been feeling heat, most recently last week from the Berkshire Eagle, for not being visible enough in rural areas of his western Massachusetts district. Now Shannon Young at MassLive is reporting that a Williamsburg chapter of a progressive political advocacy organization has launched an ad campaign criticizing Neal’s lack of accessibility and urging the Springfield Democrat to meet with voters in Hampshire County. With money raised via GoFundMe, the group published a quarter-page “Missing” ad in the Daily Hampshire Gazette over the weekend and is runnng other ads online.
Draining the state’s horse-racing ‘slush fund’
The Globe’s actual editorial isn’t quite as harsh as a headline blurb in its print edition that described the state’s set-aside horse-racing fund as a “slush fund.” But the editorial does make clear that it’s about time lawmakers are taking steps to drain the fund for other budget purposes, saying it’s a “welcome sign that the Legislature might be ready to rethink the state’s priorities.”
What’s up with Biden encouraging Romney to run for Senate?
We thought the Mitt For Senate story was dead when U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, recently said he’ll run for re-election, killing any chances Mitt Romney might run for the seat. But then along comes former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat making nicey-nice with the Republican Mitt over the weekend in Utah, encouraging Mitt to run, reports CNN. The Republican, in an editorial, strives, and fails, to make sense of Biden’s remark. For us, we attribute it to a goofy Biden acting goofy again. But what do we know?
Is the film tax credit debate incomplete?
As budget-writers contemplate slashing the much-debated film tax credit, WGBH’s Callie Crossley makes the case for keeping it in place, or at least for allowing the debate to take account for all of the economic activity generated by movie productions, something she says current data overlooks. “Let’s not make a decision based on only part of the information,” she writes.
Majority of state’s Congressional delegation now supports North-South tunnel
Gov. Baker is becoming increasingly isolated in his reservations (to put it mildly) about a new rail tunnel connecting North and South stations, as the state Democratic party, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate and now a slim majority of the state’s Congressional delegation on record of supporting the $2 billion project, reports the BBJ’s Don Seiffert, who adds the plan could become a campaign issue next year.
Eastie residents enduring ear-shattering, low-flying Logan flights
East Boston residents, including state Rep. Adrian Madaro, will have to put up with a few more weeks of ear-shattering, window-rattling airline flights to and from Logan, as Massport resurfaces a key runway at the airport, reports Meghan Ottolini at the Herald. Check out the photos accompanying the story. Those are pretty low-flying airline jets.
Warren on ObamaCare repeal: ‘I’m not crying wolf here. I’m really worried’
In a letter to supporters obtained by CommonWealth magazine, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is warning that Senate Republicans could vote to repeal ObamaCare later this month – and they may have the votes to pass the legislation.
From track to nowhere to track to somewhere …
The MBTA’s plans to partially restore a long abandoned railroad track in the Seaport, in order to test new Red Line cars, is reviving hopes that Track 61 will eventually be used to address the Seaport’s increasing traffic congestion, reports the Globe’s Jon Chesto.
High school question vexes Lowell
If you’ve been wondering why Lowell seems to be struggling so much with the seemingly simple question of where to site a new high school—albeit the most expensive in state history—Ted Sifer lays out the debate in CommonWealth Magazine. One city councilor says he can’t remember a more divisive issue coming up in the city. Meanwhile, the Lowell Sun has weighed in, backing the controversial plan to put the high school downtown near Cawley Stadium.
Cottonwood Management Parcel M1&M2 Groundbreaking and Celebration
Join Cottonwood Management as they break ground on their premiere Boston development located in the heart of Seaport Square on Parcels M1&M2. Cottonwood’s ceremony will include remarks from Governor Charles D. Baker and Mayor Martin J. Walsh, and will be attended by various members of the Boston City and State delegation.
BBJ & Constant Contact Smart Reader Seminar
Join us for a 1-hour power breakfast to learn how to find more leads and minimize cold calling using the Boston Business Journal. And then, put lead generation and prospecting to good use with marketing techniques from Constant Contact.
Gearing Up Conference
This one day intensive conference for emerging women leaders is presented by the Center for Women and Business at Bentley University.
Center for Women and Business at Bentley University
Today’s Headlines
Metro
Eastie rattled by low-flying planes – Boston Herald
Uber, Lyft changing traffic patterns at Logan – CommonWealth Magazine
Boston police investigate racially insensitive video depicting officer – Boston Globe
With Wynn casino rising, city has plans for Sullivan Square – Boston Globe
Massachusetts
Worcester kicks off program to protect its lakes and ponds – Telegram & Gazette
Court finds OUI law ambiguous – Berkshire Eagle
UMass Dartmouth department in turmoil over longstanding complaints – Standard-Times
SJC Justice to hear bid to reinstate Townsend recall – Lowell Sun
Provincetown endures as last volunteer fire department on Cape – Cape Cod Times
State mulls limits on pot advertising – Salem News
The case for keeping the Mass. film tax credit – WGBH
Nation
Trump gives Priebus until July 4 to clean up White House – Politico
DC, Maryland to sue Trump over foreign payments to his businesses – Washington Post
Trump may scrap UK visit amid sinking popularity – New York Times
The billionaire GOP patron behind Trump’s social media bot army – New York Daily News
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