Happening Today
Gaming revenue numbers, unclaimed property, DOT-MBTA meeting
— Massachusetts Gaming Commission is expected to release information on casino and slots parlor revenues for the month of September, including the first full month of revenue for the newly opened MGM Springfield.
— Massachusetts lawmakers, including Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Pro Tempore Pat Haddad, continue their seven-day, Portugal-tied trip, visiting the Azores to meet with President Vasco Cordeiro to discuss Azores-U.S. relations. Lawmakers return to Boston tomorrow.
— Treasurer Deborah Goldberg holds a media availability to preview the latest unclaimed property eBay auction items, Treasurer’s Office, Room 227, 10 a.m.
— MASSCreative holds a forum with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Gonzalez, A.R.T. at Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., Cambridge, 10 a.m.
— Joint meeting of Mass. Department of Transportation and MBTA Fiscal Control boards, with an agenda that includes reviewing commuter rail vision update, the Green Line extension, the I-90 Allston multimodal project and the Red-Blue connector, 10 Park Plaza, 2nd floor, Suite 2890, Boston, 12 p.m.
— Sen. Harriette Chandler and Probate and Family Court Judge David Sacks speak at an event held by the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Section to recognize the court-approved conciliation/mediation programs, Worcester County Law Library, 184 Main St., Worcester, 12:45 p.m.
— Treasurer Deborah Goldberg chairs a meeting of the board of the Economic Empowerment Trust, One Ashburton Place, 12th floor, Crane Conference Room, Boston, 1 p.m.
— Third Congressional District candidate Rick Green, a Republican, is a guest on ‘Radio Boston,’ WBUR-FM 90.9, 3 p.m.
— Gov. Charlie Baker attends a fundraiser to support Rep. Keiko Orrall’s campaign for treasurer, with many of the Legislature’s 41 Republican members expected to attend, UMass Club, One Beacon St., Boston, 6:30 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
Warren releases DNA results showing she has Native American ancestry – dating back centuries ago
We don’t know if this is going to help or hurt her: Trying to defuse the controversy over her past claims of having Native American ancestry, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has released to the Globe the results of DNA testing that she says shows “strong evidence’’ she had a Native American in her family tree dating back 6 to 10 generations, making her either 1/32nd American Indian or 1/512th Native American, reports the Globe’s Annie Linsey.
Democratic supporters will be sure to point to the DNA results as evidence Warren has been telling the truth about her ancestry. But as the Globe’s Linskey notes: “The inherent imprecision of the six-page DNA analysis could provide fodder for Warren’s critics.” Take out the word “could” and replace it with “will,” for you know what’s coming.
Elizabeth Warren’s ‘shadow war room’ preparations for 2020
Speaking of Elizabeth Warren, the Washington Post’s Matt Viser, formerly of the Boston Globe, reports that Warren has quietly built a “shadow war room” in order to help Democrats get elected in November – and for the “further positioning of herself for an all-but-certain 2020 presidential bid.”
As for her expected run in two years, there’s some bad polling news for Warren: Former Vice President Joe Biden is way ahead in the most recent survey of voters about potential Democratic candidates, reports CNN. Warren is running only fourth among Democrats in the CNN preference poll. We find that hard to believe, but that’s what the story says.
In other Warren-related campaign news (of the 2018 variety), Shannon Young at MassLive reports how Warren is turning White House Chief of Staff John Kelly’s “impolite arrogant woman” insult to her political advantage. The Herald’s Alexi Cohan reports how Warren the other day in Roxbury was revving up the Democratic base for the midterms.
Poll: Even nurses are split on Question 1
This doesn’t bode well for backers of Question 1, or, at the least, it doesn’t exactly strengthen their argument in favor of mandatory nurse staffing levels at hospitals. From Martha Bebinger at WBUR: “A WBUR poll of 500 registered nurses shows 48 percent plan to vote for the ballot question that would establish nurse-to-patient ratios in state law, and 45 percent say they’ll vote against the measure. Seven percent are undecided. ‘Nurses are split on the question,’ says pollster Steve Koczela, president of the MassINC Polling Group, which conducted the survey for WBUR.”
SHNS’s Michael Norton (pay wall) has more on the poll, while the Globe’s Priyanka Dayal McCluskey had a pre-poll story on the same topic a few days ago. Btw: U.S. Sen. Ed Markey has come out in favor of Question 1, reports WBUR.
Harvard goes on trial
WBUR’s Simón Rios reports on the weekend demonstrations in Harvard Square and Copley Square over the controversial lawsuit that accuses Harvard University of discriminating against Asian-American applicants and that many see as a direct assault on race-based affirmation action policies. The big trial starts today.
The Globe’s Deirdre Fernades reports on the unease at Harvard over the lawsuit. The BBJ’s Max Stendahl reports on everything you need to know about the trial, including how former Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust plans to testify. The legal showdown is getting a lot of national coverage, including a pre-trial piece by the Washington Post that notes how the students who allege discrimination are not even named in the suit and won’t be testifying. In an editorial, the Globe criticizes the “breathtakingly aggressive” remedy that the lawsuit is pursuing.
Baker suggests that Fall River mayor ‘step aside’ after his arrest on fraud charges
Gov. Charlie Baker, whose campaign used to tout the endorsement of Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia, now thinks Correia should “step aside” after the 26-year-old politician was arrested and charged with fraud, a spokesman for the governor’s campaign said late last week, as Gintautas Dumcius reports at MassLive. Correia has said he’s not going anywhere, though members of the Fall River city council may have a different view on the matter. The council plans to meet tomorrow to discuss the possible removal of Correia, reports Jo C. Goode at the Herald News.
T to replace North Station drawbridges, hopefully eliminating commuter-rail bottlenecks
This is interesting: At the cost of $100 million, the MBTA is planning to replace the two drawbridges (which look like they’re one) that usher trains in and out of North Station. If all goes well, the new wider bridges will have more tracks that will improve traffic flow and increase the number of platforms available for passenger service, reports the Globe’s Adam Vaccaro.
In related matters, Transit Matters, in an opinion piece at CommonWealth magazine, is blasting a DOT north-south rail link study that the advocacy groups says ignores the infrastructure and service benefits of a tunnel connecting North and South stations.
Next up: DPU slaps construction moratorium on Columbia Gas as well
After imposing a moratorium on non-emergency construction work by National Grid, the state Department of Public Utilities late last week followed up by slapping a similar moratorium on Columbia Gas, the utility now desperately trying to restore natural gas service to thousands of Merrimack Valley residents after last month’s gas-line explosions and fires, reports SHNS’s Katie Lannan at Wicked Local.
In related Merrimack Valley gas-line news, Craig LeMoult at WGBH reports how many families are coping without gas in their homes for heat, hot water and cooking. The Globe’s David Abel reports on the backlash in general against natural gas since the Merrimack Valley disaster.
Rick Lord stepping down as head of powerful AIM business group
It’s one of the most powerful and well-funded lobbying organizations in the state – and now the Associated Industries of Massachusetts will be losing its long-time chief, Rick Lord, who plans to retire next year, the business group announced on Friday. The BBJ’s Greg Ryan (pay wall) has a good piece on how Lord transformed an organization that once represented only one industry, manufacturing, into a group with 4,000 members “hailing from essentially every corner of the Massachusetts economy.”
Cruz jokes about Chappaquiddick as Kennedy campaigns for ‘Kennedyeaque’ candidate in Texas
It’s getting ugly in Texas. Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, facing a tough re-election battle in the Lone Star State, joked about Chappaquiddick and Kennedy drivers after U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III this weekend landed in Texas to campaign for U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Cruz’s Democratic opponent who some see as quite “Kennedyesque,” reports Todd Gillman at the Dallas Morning News. Btw: The NYT reports O’Rourke is slipping in polls and fellow Democrats now want him to share some of his campaign funds with better-positioned Dems.
State standoff over Airbnb regulations leaves locals in regulatory limbo
Because Gov. Charlie Baker and lawmakers haven’t yet come to agreement over how to regulate and tax Airbnb and other short-term rental services, some cities, such as Cambridge and Boston, have been left hanging in terms of their own current or proposed ordinances – and what they can and can’t enforce.
Congestion pricing for Uber and other ride-sharing firms in Boston?
Speaking of newfangled digital-era services, Jascha Franklin-Hodge, the former chief information officer for the city of Boston and now a visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, has an intriguing idea at CommonWealth magazine: Congestion pricing for Uber, Lyft and other ride-sharing firms whose cars are clogging city roadways.
In fact, we’d go a step further: Maybe it’s time to consider congestion pricing in Boston in general, rather than imposing congestion pricing regionally only on the Mass Pike and Tobin, an idea that’s unfair to Pike/Tobin drivers already paying tolls and an idea that doesn’t address the worst traffic congestion on non-toll roadways like I-93 and Route 128.
Police seize 100 pounds of road-kill moose meat
You come across the strangest stories in this job. From George Graham at MassLive: “Environmental police say they seized approximately 100 pounds of moose meat earlier this week after it was unlawfully taken from a road kill somewhere in Western Massachusetts.” Quick: Can you name the two other meats you can’t salvage from road kills in Massachusetts? Graham has the intriguing trivia-question answer.
Neighbors in Seekonk say movie-theater-to-fish-farm push doesn’t smell right
More on the local food industry: As communities across the country come up with novel ways to repurpose traditional commercial real estate—see also empty malls and Sears’ bankruptcy filing—neighbors in Seekonk are gearing up to fight a plan to use part of a former movie megaplex as a fish and shrimp farm, Joseph Siegel reports in the Sun Chronicle.
‘Ice pigging’: Scituate’s latest attempt to solve its ‘brown water’ problem
Don’t know what ‘ice pigging’ is? Neither did we until we read Mary Whitfill’s piece at Wicked Local on the latest proposed solution to Scituate’s disgusting (see accompanying photo) “brown water” problem. It involves “pushing a solution of ice, water and a freezing-point depressant into pipes to remove accumulated material.”
Home of Salem witch-hunt victim John Proctor up for sale
The nearly 400-year-old home where John Proctor, a victim of the Salem witch trials in the 1690s, once lived is now on the market for $600,000, according to the Salem News and the AP at WBUR. The Peabody Historical Society is reportedly looking into whether it’s feasible to purchase the home and make it a public resource. Note: The property includes an in-ground pool, built since 1638, we presume.
Not dead yet: N.H. Supreme Court to hear appeal of Northern Pass rejection
It hasn’t flatlined quite yet. Mary Serreze at MassLive reports that the New Hampshire Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by Eversource of a Granite State commission’s decision earlier this year to reject the $1.6 billion, 192-mile Northern Pass transmission line that would bring hydro power to Massachusetts from Canada.
Baker’s election-promises record: 6-2-3
The Globe’s Joshua Miller and Matt Stoutdoubled back to Gov. Charlie Baker’s campaign promises in 2014 to see how many he’s since kept and how many he’s broken. The record: Six kept, two broken, three still up in the air. The biggie broken promise: He raised taxes. Here’s an information graphic accompanying the story.
In related election news, state Republicans now say that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Gonzalez’s campaign proposals add up to upwards of $60 billion in promises, reports Mary Markos at the Herald. John Walsh, former Democratic state party chairman, is hitting back at Republicans.
He’s even less well known than Jay Gonzalez: Quentin Palfrey, Gonzalez’s running mate
Polls show that Jay Gonzales remains unknown to many voters (and just in case you’re one of them: he’s the Democratic nominee for governor). So it comes as no surprise that many people, including former Lt, Gov. Thomas P. O’Neill III, a Democrat, have never heard of Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Quentin Palfrey. Michael Levenson at the Globe has more on The Quentin Palfrey Candidacy.
Worcester principal accuses candidate of making up endorsement
A principal of a Worcester high school says he never endorsed Paul Fullen, a Republican running for the 17th Worcester District state representative seat, as prominently claimed/suggested in a political mailer, Walter Bird Jr. reports at Worcester Magazine.
Tedeschi calls for terms limits in debate with Keating
From Mary Ann Bragg at Wicked Local: “Republican challenger Peter Tedeschi of Norwell called for term limits and pointed to Cong. Rep. William Keating as a ‘career politician’ at Saturday’s League of Women Voters of the Cape Cod Area debate.”
In a letter, Beacon Hill lawmakers urge Trump to keep marine monument protections
From SHNS’s Katie Lannan at the Newburyport Daily News: “More than a quarter of state lawmakers wrote to President Donald Trump on Wednesday, urging him not to roll back protections for the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, an area about 130 miles off the coast of Cape Cod that they say is home to a rich variety of ocean life including endangered species.”
Remember: Wednesday is the deadline to register to vote
Benjamin Swasey at WBUR has a good reminder: “If you want to vote in Massachusetts on Election Day — Nov. 6 — and you’re not registered to vote, the deadline to register is this Wednesday, Oct. 17. That’s also the deadline if you want to change your party enrollment or change your address ahead of the election.”
Editorial: State Police are in desperate need of a new business model
In an editorial, the Herald pronounces it’s had it with the State Police. The straw that broke the back? Reports that State Police personnel repeatedly requested to have payroll records destroyed, citing bureaucratic protocols on when documents are to be shredded, even though the files are at the center of federal and state overtime-abuse investigations. The agency simply needs a new organizational model, including being able to hire an outside civilian CEO, among other things, the Herald argues.
Berkshire lawmakers share their wish list for the state’s $1 billion surplus
Lawmakers from the westernmost part of the state have plenty of ideas for spending the $1 billion surplus the state has coming out of fiscal year 2018, including additional education funding, paying workers who have had raises delayed and providing direct relief to communities impacted by flooding and other disasters, Yukon Zhang reports at the Berkshire Eagle.
Moulton announces he’s a proud papa
A big congrats to U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton and his wife Liz. The congressman on Friday announced on Twitter he’s now a proud papa: “Pretty hard to describe how proud I am of this little girl I only just met, and of my amazing wife, @liznmoulton. The nurses keep saying Emmy is ‘strong’—so now I’m living with two strong women.”
Book Release: “The Fight for the Best Charter Public Schools in the Nation”
Join us for a lively discussion of Pioneer Institute’s new book, “The Fight for the Best Charter Public Schools in the Nation.”
Immigrants in an Anxious Time: Changing Laws and Personal Dilemmas
Dr. Westy Egmont of Boston College School of Social Work will moderate a discussion on immigration with panelists Eva Millona, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), and Patricia Sobalvarro, co-founder and Executive Director of Agencia ALPHA.
Author Talk and Book Signing with Barbara Berenson
Author talk and book signing with Barbara Berenson, Senior Attorney at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and author of the new book, Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage Movement: Revolutionary Reformers.
State Library of Massachusetts
11th Annual Public Performance Conference
Please join us for the 11th Annual Public Performance Conference. The goal of the conference is to examine and discuss performance management research and models for the adoption and implementation of compelling practices in the public sector.
Divest to Invest: Divesting from the Prison Industry to Invest in Our Communities
Please join New Leaders Council Boston and community organizers, including the Corrections Accountability Project and College Bound Dorchester, on Thursday, October 18th to discuss a Boston-wide campaign to divest public and private funds from the prison industrial complex.
Negotiating Skills: Art, Science or Luck?
Learn how to identify the appropriate tactics and counter tactics employed for any type of negotiators to reach a more leveraged position (even when you think you’re at a disadvantage).
Fight Night Boston: Demetrius Andrade vs Billy-Joe Saunders
Matchroom Boxing USA and Murphys Boxing Promotions announce a major world championship boxing event to be held at Boston’s TD Garden on October 20, 2018.
Matchroom Boxing USA and Murphys Boxing Promotions
Financial Experience Design Conference
The 2018 FXD Conference, a one-and-a-half-day conference, is a select gathering of more than 150 executives, experts, visionaries, and progressive thinkers from across the insurance, banking, wealth management, and fintech industries.
Boston Trade Compliance and Policy Seminar
International trade regulations change constantly—old rules are updated and new regulations are added every day. Attend one of the full-day seminars in a location close to you to stay up to date on the latest information. Learn about changing international trade regulations with industry experts—C.H. Robinson’s Kevin Doucette —who is passionate about this subject.
We The People’s For Creators, By Creators
We The People, the world’s only multi-channel crowdfunding retail chain and community, is hosting a kick-off crowdfunding event where local entrepreneurs from companies such as Rocketbook, Think Board and allocacoc will provide tips on how to leverage crowdfunding to launch products. They will also discuss how to create crowdfunding campaigns and some lessons learned.
Real Estate Finance Fundamentals Onsite Course
This is a two part course that will be held on October 26, 2018 and November 2, 2018. This 2-day course will focus on debt and equity financing of income-producing real property. The course will look at both the private debt and equity markets for real estate finance, and the commercial mortgage-backed securities market for debt financing.
Back from the Brink: A Call to Prevent Nuclear War (Gonson Lecture)
Experts say we are closer to accidental or intentional nuclear war than at any time since the 1950s – and yet, at the same time, also closer than ever to an international ban to dismantle all of these immoral weapons. Come hear about the race for human survival, and what citizens can do to help.
Cambridge Center for Adult Education
Today’s Headlines
Metro
Massachusetts
What’s next for Falmouth turbines? – Cape Cod Times
Moloney touts UMass Lowell progress on enrollment, affordability – Lowell Sun
Republicans put $60B tab on promises by Jay Gonzalez – Boston Herald
Worcester Redevelopment Authority backs Skanska as ballpark project manager – Telegram & Gazette
Nation
Donald Trump says he doesn’t care if Kavanaugh’s accuser was telling the truth – Vox
Sears files for bankruptcy after years of turmoil – Washington Post
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