Happening Today
9/11 remembrances, Hoffman on the air, and more
— Officials gather for the 17th annual 9/11 memorial service at the State House, with Gov. Charlie Baker and Attorney General Maura Healey among those expected to attend, House Chamber, 8:30 a.m., with Baker arriving at 9:15 a.m.
— Gloucester firefighters, police officers, veterans and members of the U.S. Coast Guard hold a remembrance ceremony to mark the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Gloucester Fire Department, 8 School St., Gloucester, 9:30 a.m.
— Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s Access and Opportunity Committee meets, IBEW Local 103, 256 Freeport St., Dorchester, 10 a.m.
— Gov. Charlie Baker, Mayor Martin Walsh, Adjutant General of the Mass. National Guard Major General Gary Keefe, families of members of the military and victims of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2011, and others gather for a service project to support deployed military personnel and veterans in need, Mother’s Walk, Rose Kennedy Greenway, Atlantic Avenue between High and India streets, Boston, 11:45 a.m.
— Cannabis Control Commission Chairman Steve Hoffman is a guest on ‘Boston Public Radio,’ WGBH-FM 89.7, 12 p.m.
— Gov. Charlie Baker, First Lady Lauren Baker and Mayor Marty Walsh attend the Wreath Laying Ceremony at the 9/11 Contemplative Gardens in the Boston Public Garden with Public Garden, 9/11 Contemplative Gardens, Boston, 1 p.m.
— U.S. Reps. William Keating and Joseph Kennedy III join UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Robert Johnson for a press conference that will focus on the development of a Blue Economy Corridor along Interstate 195, Grand Reading Room, Carney Library, 285 Old Westport Rd., Dartmouth, 1:30 p.m.
— The board of directors for MassHousing meets, with Janelle Chan, undersecretary for the Department of Housing and Community Development, expected to attend, One Beacon St., Boston, 2 p.m.
— U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark is a guest on ‘Radio Boston,’ WBUR-FM 90.9, 3 p.m.
— State officials, including Gov. Charlie Baker, Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, Auditor Suzanne Bump and Attorney General Maura Healey, attend the Massachusetts Fallen Firefighters Memorial annual ceremony, Ashburton Park, State House, 5 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
Galvin takes over recounts in Lowell and Lawrence, citing concerns about accuracy
From the Globe’s Matt Stout: “Citing concerns about short-staffing and the mishandling of primary ballots, Secretary of State William F. Galvin said Monday he is taking over the elections departments in the Third Congressional District’s two largest cities, as he formally ordered a recount into its hotly contested Democratic primary.”
Alana Melanson at the Lowell Sun and Gintautas Dumcius at MassLive have more on Galvin’s action in the Third race, where candidates Lori Trahan and Dan Koh are locked neck-and-neck in preliminary vote counts.
Chinese maker of T’s new train cars pressured workers to sign non-compete agreements
State Sens. Eric Lesser, Will Brownsberger and Jason Lewis weren’t, and aren’t, happy at all that the Chinese maker of the T’s new subway cars tried to require some of its Springfield employees to sign noncompete agreements just prior to implementation of a new state law restricting such contracts, writes Jon Chesto at the Globe. The firm ultimately backed down after complaints by workers.
Meanwhile, the BBJ’s Kelly O’Brien (pay wall) reports that a new Supreme Judicial Court ruling will make it harder for firms to enforce non-compete agreements with their out-of-state workers, “creating an important precedent as new state rules around such agreements go into effect next month.”
Exxon takes Healey fight to U.S. Supreme Court
From Brian Dowling at the Herald: “Exxon Mobil is taking its fight against Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey to the U.S. Supreme Court, appealing a decision from the state’s highest court that greenlighted a probe into whether the oil giant hid from the public knowledge of climate change risks.”
Is there anyone home at all these new luxury condos in Boston?
The Institute for Policy Studies, a liberal think tank, is raising questions about who’s actually living, or not living, in all those fancy condos in Boston’s new luxury towers, reports CommonWealth magazine’s Bruce Mohl. From Mohl’s piece: “The institute said 35 percent of the units at the 12 buildings (it reviewed) are owned by shell corporations or trusts that conceal the identity of the true owner. The report also said 64 percent of the owners do not claim a residential exemption on their property taxes, suggesting their units may not be their full-time residence.”
If we’re not mistaken, many of the condos, and their foreign investors, are tied to the federal government’s EB-5 visa program, a phenomenon occurring across the country, as the NYT reported a while back.
After holding off Zakim, Galvin faces Republican challenger with big-name backers
Anthony Amore, the Republican running against Secretary of State Bill Galvin, has landed some big-name backers from the law enforcement community as the sprint to the November election gets underway, Hillary Chabot of the Herald reports. Amore, a security consultant known for his work at Logan Airport after 9/11 and at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, now counts former US Attorney Carmen Ortiz and former federal prosecutor Brian T. Kelly—who sent Whitey Bulger to prison—among his supporters.
The tie-Baker-to-Trump strategy: Can it work for Democrats?
The Herald’s Joe Battenfeld doesn’t think Democrats’ attempt to link Republican Gov. Charlie Baker to Donald Trump will work, calling it a desperate political strategy to topple a popular governor. But the Globe’s Joan Vennochi thinks it’s a legitimate issue, considering Baker’s effective endorsement of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Geoff Diehl, an ardent Trump supporter. The Herald’s Kimberly Atkins writes that polls indeed show that Trump has become a net political negative for Republicans across the country.
Meanwhile, Lively mulls ‘campaigning actively’ against Baker
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker is getting pounded by Democrats for his indirect ties to Donald Trump. Now he’s getting pounded by far-right pastor Scott Lively for not being close enough to Donald Trump. Lively, who lost to Baker last week in the GOP gubernatorial primary, says he’ll decide by tomorrow whether he’ll be “campaigning actively” against Baker this fall, report SHNS’s Katie Lannan and Colin Young.
Lively’s ultimate goal? Defeating Baker and thus clearing the way for a “conservative pro-Trump revolution to re-take the Mass GOP and the legislature in 2020, and the governorship in 2022.” You gotta hand it to him: He’s delusional, but he dreams big. Btw: The Herald’s Michael Graham is wondering who’s in charge of the state Republican party these days.
SHNS (pay wall — free trial subscription available)
Gonzalez goes after Baker over poor condition of T properties
Now this is a legitimate issue. Whether it has traction is another matter. From Adam Vaccaro at the Globe: “The poor condition of MBTA stations, garages, and other facilities across Greater Boston suddenly emerged as a campaign issue in the race for governor Monday, as Republican incumbent Charlie Baker and his Democratic challenger, Jay Gonzalez, traded blame over the state of the system.”
Fyi: Separately, MBTA board member Brian Lang is demanding that the agency explain how it’s going to address the chronic delays on the Chelsea-Boston bus line, reports Bruce Mohl at CommonWealth magazine.
The Warren-Diehl fight: ‘This race is going to get ugly’
Back to Geoff Diehl and his race against U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Christian Wade at the Eagle-Tribune has the latest on what’s expected to be a truly “ugly” U.S. Senate contest this fall.
Boston’s Chad Gifford stepping down at CBS amid Moonves scandal
What a mess. From Greg Ryan at the BBJ (pay wall): “Longtime Boston banking executive Chad Gifford is stepping down from CBS Corp.’s board of directors as part of a larger settlement agreement between the media company and its controlling shareholder, Norwood-based National Amusements, which is owned by the Redstone family. The settlement, revealed Sunday, seemingly ends months of intense and well-publicized boardroom drama” The boardroom drama includes, obviously, the downfall this past weekend of CBS titan Les Moonves, who has been accused of serial sexual abuse and misconduct.
The Herald’s Jessica Heslam writes that CBS’s “seismic shake-up” could possibly even impact local TV stations, particularly WBZ.
Cities push back over local pot agreements
From Sean Phillip Cotter at the Herald: “The head of the Massachusetts Municipal Association says the state should butt out of pot agreements between vendors and cities and towns. ‘Every community has different issues, different considerations,’ MMA President Geoff Beckwith told the Herald as advocates call for more oversight of the deals between the municipalities and pot shops.”
Separately, officials in the towns of Northboro and Bellingham are still trying to sort out the legal implications of Attorney General Maura Healey’s recent reversal of a policy concerning community bans on medical marijuana centers, Elaine Thompson reports in the Telegram.
Meanwhile, Cannabis board hones in on Worcester lease
The state’s Cannabis Control Commission has asked to meet with the Worcester Redevelopment Authority to discuss details of a potential lease of office space inside Union Station, the latest sign the central Mass. city is poised to reel in the agency, Zachary Comeau reports in the Worcester Business Journal.
Work on marijuana helps move lobbying firm up the rankings
One last pot-related pot item: Rapid growth has pushed the Smith, Costello and Crawford into the second-largest lobbying firm in the state, a surge tied to the firm’s work in a number of heavily regulated industries including the nascent marijuana field. Jon Chesto of the Globe reports the firm moved from the 6th largest to second largest by bringing in $1.6 million in lobbying fees in the first six months of 2018.
Nurse ballot-question backers and foes have already spent $11.7
We can only imagine what the final cost will be when it’s all over in November. From Shira Schoenberg: ”A coalition to defeat a ballot question that would mandate specific nurse staffing ratios in hospitals has raised and spent more than $7 million, with two months still to go before the election. The Massachusetts Nurses Association has spent $4.7 million so far advocating on behalf of the November 2018 ballot question.”
Meanwhile, transgender rights group crushes foes in ballot-question fundraising
It’s not even close. Freedom for All Massachusetts, which supports the state’s new transgender-rights law that opponents want to repeal this November, has raised $1.8 million in 2018, far more than the $106,300 raised by Keep Massachusetts Safe, the group behind the repeal effort, reports Shira Schoenberg at MassLive.
Pressley just says no to corporate donations
Ayanna Pressley said during the Seventh Congressional campaign she wouldn’t take donations from political action committees affiliated with corporations – and her campaign says that vow will still apply when she enters Congress early next year, reports Callum Borchers at WBUR.
State alcohol agency probing death of man on party cruise
From Matt Rocheleau at the Globe: “State officials are launching an investigation into whether any alcohol laws were violated after a 21-year-old man fell overboard and died during a party cruise Saturday night. Meanwhile, the company that owns the ship said it is looking to make physical changes to part of the boat to make it harder for anyone to fall or climb overboard.”
Man tries to ‘buy’ and then drag girl away at Faneuil Hall
Scary stuff. From Adam Gaffin at Universal Hub: “Boston Police report arresting a man they say first offered to buy a couple’s 13-year-old daughter and then, when they refused, grabbed her by the arm and tried to drag her away. Police say Alfred Patterson, 20, of Raymond, NH, fled when the girl’s father ‘intervened’ in the incident at Congress and North streets around 4:40 p.m.”
National Grid’s locked-out workers aren’t fading away
The Globe’s Katie Johnston takes a look at the “old-school” tactics being used by union members protesting the continued lockout of 1,250 National Grid workers.
2018 State of the Region Address – North Shore Chamber
Join us September 12th at our Annual State of the Region Breakfast. The State of the Region Breakfast connects chamber members and business professionals with information about important regional issues, while providing direct access to elected officials.
North Shore Chamber of Commerce, Inc.
Harvard Alum Stuart Eizenstat will discuss “President Carter: The White House Years”
The definitive history of the Carter Administration from the man who participated in its surprising number of accomplishments―drawing on his extensive and never-before-seen notes.Stuart Eizenstat was at Jimmy Carter’s side from his political rise in Georgia through four years in the White House, where he served as Chief Domestic Policy Adviser.
The Coop Event Series…Authors, Coop Kids & More!
Development Unicorns: Neighborhood Game Changers
The most transformative multi-phase developments in recent Boston history started with a vision, taking decades to design, entitle, plan and execute. Join NAIOP to hear from the original visionaries behind three of these game-changing projects (Assembly Row, The Fenway and Seaport Square) to hear how they started and what has changed along the way.
Ales and Tales at the Stone Zoo
Don’t miss Stone Zoo’s fourth annual beer-tasting event, Ales & Tails! Sample offerings from breweries and learn about the amazing animals at the Zoo – including black bears, Caribbean flamingos, North American river otters, white-cheeked gibbons, sloths, and more.
Anatomy of a Commercial Building
The session will be divided into three parts: architectural design issues (the skin and personality of a building); mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection and building control systems (the organs and brain of a building); and structural systems (the skeleton of a building).
America is Watching: Response to the Opioid Crisis in New England
William James College will convene a public forum focused on novel treatments and early intervention programs aimed at curbing the opioid epidemic that continues to devastate communities across the region. Attendees will include policymakers, academics, business and community leaders, clinicians, families and first responders.
Slums: New Visions for an Enduring Global Phenomenon
Slums: New Visions for an Enduring Global Phenomenon is a symposium that challenges its participants to discuss the range of perceptions and systemic changes needed to re-imagine integrative urban and social landscapes, as well as the labor and land markets that most often underpin the formation of slums.
Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University
Navigating the Permitting Maze: A Crash Course On Permitting in Massachusetts
What does it take to successfully navigate a development project through the permitting process? Find out at this in-depth two-day (September 21 + 28) educational workshop where some of the real estate industry’s foremost experts will provide a close look at the ins and outs of environmental review and permitting in Massachusetts.
2018 Better Government Competition Awards Gala
Join Us on Sept. 24th at the 2018 Better Government Competition Awards Gala! Remarks by Governor Charlie Baker Keynote Speaker: John Sexton 2018 Topic: Making higher education & career training options affordable & effective.
Starr Forum: The Assault on Intelligence
Starr Forum: The Assault on Intelligence: American National Security in an Age of Lies. A book talk with Michael Hayden, former director of the NSA.
MIT Center for International Studies (CIS)
Today’s Headlines
Metro
Think tank sees peril in Boston’s luxury towers – CommonWealth Magazine
Trustees survey calls for more parks on waterfront – Boston Globe
Massachusetts
Methuen School Committee to hire superintendent search firm – Eagle-Tribune
Assault at MGM Springfield lands victim in hospital with serious injuries – MassLive
Judge rejects Falmouth’s bid to block housing auction – Cape Cod Times
Nation
Trump’s assault on Woodward riddled with contradictions – Politico
Stormy Daniels’ lawyer fires back at attempts to dismiss her case against Trump – Washington Post
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