Happening Today
Warren and AFSCME, Markey on Kavanaugh, MBTA Control Board
— The Massachusetts Senate on Monday plans to respond to the House’s approach to energy and reducing carbon emissions, according to an aide in the Senate president’s office.
— U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren was scheduled to address a New England Council Roundtable, with plans to discuss the U.S. bankruptcy system, Parker House, 60 School St., Boston, 8:30 a.m.
— The Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Finance and Audit Committee will meet to talk about the MBTA’s debt and swap policies, Transportation Board Room, second floor, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, 10 a.m.
— At a closed press event, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren will address the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees’ 43rd International Convention, with plans to discuss the Janus v. AFSCME case and President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, 415 Summer Street, Boston, 10 a.m.
— U.S. Sen. Edward Markey holds a press conference to discuss his opposition to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Planned Parenthood, 1055 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, 11 a.m.
— The MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board and the MassDOT Board of Directors will meet separately and then together to take up a design contract for the South Coast Rail and to discuss the Allston intermodal project, Transportation Board Room, second floor, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, 12 p.m.
— Gov. Charlie Baker, Senate President Harriette Chandler, House Speaker Robert DeLeo and other leaders meet to discuss issues as the legislative session winds to a close, Speaker’s Office, 2 p.m.
For more calendar listings, check out State House News Service’s Daily Advances (pay wall – free trial subscriptions available) and MassterList’s Beacon Hill Town Square below.
Today’s Stories
Weymouth shaken by shooting deaths of cop and local woman
Weymouth is in shock and mourning this morning as residents and officials grapple with the deaths of a police officer and innocent bystander who were shot by a 20-year-old man who allegedly attacked the officer, stole his gun and then used the weapon to shoot both victims, reports the Patriot Ledger’s Mary Whitfil at Wicked Local, the Patriot Ledger’s Fred Hanson and the Boston Globe.
Lawrence mayor threatens libel suit over AG’s remarks
Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera is threating to file a libel suit following U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions’s singling out of Lawrence as a sanctuary city and suggesting it was harboring illegal-immigrant drug traffickers, reports Keith Eddings at the Eagle Tribune. “I and the citizens of this community are tired of this drumbeat,” Rivera said of previous criticism aimed at Lawrence. “They’re pointing the finger and making Lawrence out to be a bogey man when we’re not. … There’s a level of racism in it.”
The Globe’s Yvonne Abraham says Sessions’s remarks are “so absurd, so malicious.” But the Herald’s Michael Graham and Hillary Chabot write that sometimes the truth hurts.
‘Things getting rough in Concord’
Amid spreading alarm over drug trafficking in communities , Universal Hub reports that a woman in Concord walked into the town police station with four yellow pills she found in a local park. Upon closer examination, the pills turned out to have small pictures of Marge Simpson on them and were identified as limited edition Tic-Tacs.
Governor proposes using part of cash windfall for school safety; Walsh not happy
With the state suddenly awash in tax-collection monies it wasn’t expecting, Gov. Charlie Baker late last week proposed using $72 million of the windfall to beef up security at schools in the wake the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., reports the Herald’s Brian Dowling and the Globe’s Joshua Miller. But Mayor Marty Walsh says the governor should have earmarked more of the supplemental-budget bonanza to pay for education in general in Massachusetts. “I am disappointed by the continued underfunding of existing education obligations,” Walsh said.
Still, Geoff Beckwith, head of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, said “there’s a lot to like” in the governor’s proposed plan. Shira Schoenberg at MassLive has a good summary of how Baker wants to spend the windfall, though lawmakers will have a say too, obviously.
Baker: Time to wrap up the budget, folks
Speaking of budget matters, he doesn’t sound terribly impatient. But Republican Gov. Charlie Baker is nevertheless urging the Democratic-controlled legislature to pass a new state budget so it can focus on other issues in the remaining weeks of the session, reports the Herald’s Brian Dowling. Massachusetts is the only state in the union without a new fiscal-year budget, though state government has been operating on an interim budget since the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.
Boston loses out to Austin for Army’s Futures Command center
This is the Army center that Gov. Charlie Baker and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren jointly lobbied for earlier this year. From Mike Cronin at the BBJ: “Austin, Texas will be the new home of the U.S. Army Futures Command, the Army announced on Friday, with the Texas capital beating out a handful of other finalist cities including Boston. Army officials describe the Futures Command as the military branch’s most significant reorganization since 1973. Its job is to modernize the Army to ‘make soldiers and units more lethal to win the nation’s wars, then come home safely.’”
Pro-Trump conservatives focusing energy on GOP U.S. Senate race in Mass.
The Globe’s Matt Stout reports that pro-Trump Republican activists are “funneling their newfound energy” into the three-way GOP primary race for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, with state Rep. Geoff Diehl appearing to be the primary beneficiary of the angry mood on the right.
Another beneficiary, we would think, is right-wing GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott Lively, who’s also tapping into the same pro-Trump sentiment in his primary battle against moderate Republican Gov. Charlie Baker. The popular governor will probably wipe out Lively, but we’re not ruling out surprises come Sept. 4.
NYT: Oh, Warren is running for president, all right
As local Republicans candidates jockey to take on U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the general election, the NYT reports that Warren’s recent out-of-state trips and speeches are “among the most assertive steps taken by any Democrat” in preparation for a 2020 presidential bid. “In private events and public speeches, her message about 2020 was as clear as it was rousing,” Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin write of Warren’s recent swing through western states. Deval Patrick does get a nod in the story, with the Times reporting the former Massachusetts governor is “expected to create a political committee this year.”
Patrick limbers up in Texas
Speaking of Deval Patrick, the Globe’s Annie Linskey reports that the former Massachusetts governor was in Texas this past weekend, stumping for Democrats as he mulls a bid for the White House in 2020. Patrick is expected to address the NAACP convention in San Antonio today.
Rose Garden Strategy, Part III: Why campaign when you can sign bills and cut ribbons with Dems?
Christian Wade at the Newburyport Daily News reports how Republican Gov. Charlie Baker is refining the art of campaigning for re-election by not campaigning, i.e. using official bill signing and ribbon-cutting ceremonies, often attended by Democrats, to get attention. Btw: The governor was on Martha’s Vineyard over the weekend for yet another ribbon-cutting ceremony and later attended a cocktail party hosted by Ernie Boch Jr., reports the SP’s Dan Saltzberg at the MV Times.
Report: Grand jury weighing criminal charges against troopers for selling armory guns
Just one of many scandals rocking the State Police. From Dan Glaun at MassLIve: “A statewide grand jury is considering criminal charges in an alleged scheme involving improper gun sales from the Massachusetts State Police armory, nearly two years after the state Attorney General’s Office launched an investigation into the matter. … MassLive has learned that one of the three troopers, Robert Outwater, has been suspended without pay for nearly two years.”
Another much-sought-after State Police assignment …
Speaking of the State Police: Despite a state-commissioned report that envisioned closing the State Police posts on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, there are still troopers assigned to the resort islands, though they don’t seem to be doing all that much, other than racking up $35,000 each in overtime pay, of course. The Globe’s Kay Lazar and Todd Wallack have more.
UMass to raise in-state tuition by about $350, or 2.5 percent
We love how higher education uses inflation calculations that no one else uses. From Jim Kinney at MassLive: “University of Massachusetts trustees voted Friday to increase tuition for in-state undergraduate students by 2.5 percent — an average of $351 per student — saying the hike for the upcoming academic year would be less than the estimated rate of inflation in higher education.” Which is fine. But it’s still higher than the U.S. rate of inflation in general – and has been for decades.
Warren to Trump: ‘Get your butt on a plane back to the United States’
Considering how much damage he’s done to our alliance with fellow democratic nations and how Russia so clearly interfered with our own democratic elections here, it’s not bad advice. From U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren: “@realDonaldTrump, cancel your ridiculous Putin summit and get your butt on a plane back to the United States.” The Herald’s Jordan Graham has more.
Memorial at Faneuil Hall would recognize victims of slave trade
This is a far better idea than erasing the name from the building. From Amanda McGowan at WGBH: “The city of Boston is considering a proposal for a memorial at Faneuil Hall that would recognize the victims of the slave trade and acknowledge that Peter Faneuil, the 18th-century merchant and slaveholder who is the hall’s namesake, derived his family wealth from slavery. The memorial, designed by artist and MassArt professor, Steven Locke, would take the shape of an auction block, with a small rectangle representing the auctioneer and a larger rectangle representing the people sold into slavery.”
Fyi: Locke, who is African American, doesn’t support changing the market’s name.
Energy legislation: Is reconciliation possible?
The Globe’s Jon Chesto reports that, despite opposition from some business groups, Beacon Hill lawmakers are “inching closer” to reconciling their approaches to energy legislation that would boost wind power and make it easier for solar farm operators to be reimbursed for their electricity. But Mary Serreze at MassLive reports that environmentalists are blasting the House bill passed Thursday night, saying it doesn’t go far enough.
Pilgrim’s owner asks for exemption from post-closure emergency plans
While on the subject of energy, the owner of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to waive the requirement that it maintain a 10-mile emergency planning zone around the plant after it stops operating next June, Christine Legere reports in the Cape Cod Times. Entergy Corp. wants the NRC to shrink the area where it must fund emergency readiness, even though some 3,000 spent fuel rods will remain in the facility.
For the record: Boston is not at war with Quincy
It’s more like a cold war than a hot war over Boston’s attempt to rebuild the Long Island Bridge off the shoreline of Quincy, or so reports the Herald’s Mary Markos, who’s in full war-correspondent mode as the mayors of Quincy and Boston continue their faceoff over the controversial project.
Galvin: Election officials ‘picking up the pace’ of security following Russian indictments
After last week’s indictment of Russian officials for meddling in the 2016 president election, Secretary of State Bill Galvin says the state’s paper-ballot system is its best line of defense against possible foreign election interference this fall in Massachusetts, though he said state election officials are nevertheless “picking up the pace” in terms of security, reports J.D. Capelouto at the Globe.
Meanwhile, Galvin says Trump trying to ‘sabotage the census’
Here’s more free media attention for Secretary of State Bill Galvin, who’s facing a tough primary fight this fall against Boston City Councilor Josh Zakim. In an opinion piece at CommonWealth magazine, Gavlin writes: “(P)resident Trump’s anti-immigrant sentiment, rhetoric, and policies now include a proposal to include a question about citizenship status on the 2020 census. This is wrong. It’s not only unconstitutional, it would make it harder for us to govern. Trump’s motive is plain and painfully clear: he is trying to sabotage the census.”
National Grid explains its ‘difficult and unusual’ decision to lock out workers
Marcy Reed, Massachusetts president and executive vice president for US policy and social impact at National Grid, explains her utility’s “difficult and unusual” decision to lock out more than 1,200 of its employees, ultimately denying them pay and benefits during a standoff over benefit givebacks demanded by the company. “We’ve never made a harder decision,” she writes at CommonWealth magazine. We suspect union members find it even harder.
Worcester task force lays out $6 million plan to end chronic homelessness
A task force says it would take a capital investment of $4 million to $6 million for Worcester to achieve its goal of essentially eliminating chronic homelessness in the city, Nick Kotsopolous reports in the Telegram. The 28-member task force recommends construction of more than 100 units of housing backed with rental assistance for low-income tenants and suggests a combination of public, philanthropic and private funds be marshaled to support the effort.
Brockton to feds: Decide on tribe’s land ownership, already
Brockton Mayor Bill Carpenter has added his voice to the chorus calling on the U.S. Department of the Interior to resolve the open questions around the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe’s claims to land in Taunton, where it wants to open a casino. Marc Larocque of the Enterprise notes that Brockton has at least a potential dog in this fight: A bid to revive a casino proposal in the City of Champions is on hold and its future very much dependent on what happens in Taunton.
Will lawmakers raise the curtain on theater subsidies?
The economic development bill making the rounds on Beacon Hill now contains a provision to offer state tax credits to producers who bring Broadway-bound live theater productions to the state, Jon Chesto reports in the Globe. The idea has been dangled before, though the current proposal would allow even smaller venues to get a piece of the $5 million annual set aside being proposed.
Gloucester fishermen ‘desperate’ for bill that would ease limits on catches
Jordan Graham at the Herald reports on how Gloucester fishermen are “desperate” for passage of federal legislation that would ease catch restrictions within the industry. Graham reports that U.S. Rep. Rep. Stephen F. Lynch was the only member of the state’s Congressional delegation who voted in favor of a bill last week that would allow more flexibility for fish populations to be rebuilt, a measure opposed by conservationists.
5th Annual Strategic Internal Communications–East Coast
For the past 4 years this highly anticipated conference has continued to bring over 100 internal communication professionals together to benchmark best practices. Together, over 3 days, attendees have brainstormed solutions for their biggest challenges, shared cost-effective resources, and gained an inside look at internal communication strategies from leading organizations.
South End By Foot: A NAIOP Summer Walking Tour
Visit some of the South End’s most exciting commercial & residential projects, including completed developments & those to come. Following a presentation by Jonathan Greeley of Boston Planning & Development Agency, attendees will be guided on a walking tour to hear from developers of the Flower Exchange, Harrison /Albany Block Developments & AC Hotel / 7INK by Ollie at Ink Block.
Suffolk County Candidate’s Forum: District Attorney & Registry of Deeds
Please join Boston’s Ward 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 19 Democratic Committees for a joint forum with the candidates running for Suffolk County District Attorney and Suffolk County Registry of Deeds.
Boston’s Ward Committees (Wards 8,9,10,11,12, and 19)
CFO of the Year Awards 2018
Don’t miss your chance to meet & learn from Boston’s top CFOs at the 10th annual CFO of the Year Awards!
Today’s Headlines
Metro
Laura Perille walked unusual path to interim superintendent – Boston Globe
Walsh: City not at war with Quincy over Long Island bridge – Boston Herald
Massachusetts
Housing crisis buckles lower Cape – Cape Cod Times
Worcester may seek private funds to sustain middle school sports – Telegram & Gazette
Raytheon looks to hire 500 in Andover – Boston Business Journal
Nation
Is this the year Arizona finally turns blue? – Politico
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