Happening Today
Ex-trooper arraignment, Suffolk DA interviews, Warren-Diehl debate
— An arraignment is scheduled for David Wilson, a former State Police lieutenant charged in connection with the ongoing investigation into overtime abuse, Suffolk Superior Court, 9:30 a.m.
— Massachusetts Clean Energy Center CEO Stephen Pike will participate in a panel discussion on ‘Clean and Green: Our Renewable Future’ at the Worcester Chamber of Commerce 2018 GAME Changers – Business Conference and Expo, Mechanics Hall, 321 Main Street, Worcester, 9:30 a.m.
— U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and Congressional candidate Ayanna Pressley hold a press conference to announce their support for Yes on Question 2, Boston City Hall, 10:30 a.m.
— Treasurer Deborah Goldberg attends a Taconic High School ribbon-cutting ceremony, Taconic High School, 96 Valentine Rd., Pittsfield, 11 a.m.
— Mayor Marty Walsh hosts a press conference announcing Parks Accessibility, Christopher Columbus Park, 110 Atlantic Ave., Boston, 11:15 a.m.
— Suffolk County district attorney candidates Rachael Rollins and Michael Maloney participate in back-to-back interviews on ‘Boston Public Radio,’ in a format that was changed from an originally planned one-on-one debate, WGBH-FM 89.7, 12 p.m.
— Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito joins Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders to participate in the first meeting of the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Public Awareness Campaign working group, Room 157, 12:30 p.m.
— Boston Mayor Martin Walsh announces the commissioning ceremony of the USS Thomas Hudner, named after Captain Thomas Hudner, a naval aviator who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service in the Korean War, Eagle Room, City Hall, 1 City Hall Square, Boston, 1:30 p.m.
— The first of three debates between U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and her Republican opponent Geoff Diehl is broadcast live by WBZ, WBZ, 1170 Soldiers Field Rd, Boston, 7 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
Breaking news: Craig Kimbrel apologizes to Red Sox fans for giving them heart attacks
The Red Sox are World Series bound, after their victory over the Astros last night. NESN and the Globe and the Herald have the details. But the real news is that Craig Kimbrel is apologizing to Red Sox fans across New England for giving them heart attacks, as MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reports in a tweet. Your apology is accepted, Craig. … Now on to all things politics and public policy, mostly. …
Do you tip them? Commission mulls home delivery of pot
The Globe’s Dan Adams reports that the Cannabis Control Commission is considering a plan to permit home delivery of pot, but only by small “microbusinesses” located in Massachusetts. Cannabis Control Commission member Britte McBride is pushing the idea hard, saying it will help minority firms in particular. Other members of the commission appear interested.
Meanwhile, as expected, the commission has indeed approved licenses for two new pot-testing labs in Salem and Framingham. But one of the firms has a rather interesting past, as reported by Jessica Bartlett at the BBJ (pay wall).
Warren and Diehl to finally go one-on-one in a debate tonight
Yes, there really is a U.S. Senate race this year in Massachusetts — and tonight Democratic incumbent Elizabeth Warren and Republican challenger Geoff Diehl will finally go at it, in the first of their three planned debates this campaign season, with the second one only days later, reports Wicked Local. Today’s showdown will be broadcast live by WBZ TV, starting at 7 p.m.
Dems pound away at Baker’s Diehl waffling. But do voters really care?
Sensing political blood in the water, Democrats yesterday pressed their attacks on Republican Gov. Charlie Baker’s waffling the other night over whether he would support conservative U.S. Senate candidate Geoff Diehl, reports SHNS’s Matt Murphy (pay wall). But WGBH’s Mike Deehen reports that some political observers believe it’s a non-issue for most voters. Miles Howard at WBUR disagrees, arguing that Baker has confirmed that he’s a “party guy who will fight for what the GOP leadership wants — even if that means voting for Trump acolytes like Diehl.”
And what about Diehl? “The governor ultimately said that he’s supporting the ticket, and I support the ticket as well, so, um, I think [that] question was really answered by the end of the night,” Diehl said in a phone interview with the Globe’s Victoria McGrane.
Baker didn’t blow it Wednesday night. He blew it two years ago
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker’s “Diehl problem” didn’t start on Wednesday during his televised gubernatorial debate against Democratic rival Jay Gonzalez. It actually started two years ago when Baker failed in his effort to remold the Massachusetts Republican Party and Republican Donald Trump (and supporters like Geoff Diehl) filled the void. The Globe’s Matt Stout and Victoria McGrane explain.
Meanwhile, the Herald’s Joe Battenfeld tends to agree: “The reason Baker is so afraid of Diehl is clear — it’s President Trump. Diehl was co-chair of Trump’s 2016 campaign in Massachusetts and is a supporter of the president on most issues.”
This year’s key ticket splitters: Older women
Rich Parr at WBUR notes that Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren continue to hold huge leads over their respective rivals, based on the latest polls. But Parr also analyzes the numbers and finds some curious trends, including how three in ten voters plan to vote for both Baker and Warren. From Parr’s report: “So who are these ticket-splitters? They look a lot like an important part of the Democratic base: older women.” Interesting. WBUR has all the numbers.
‘Just about everything you’ve read on the Warren DNA test is wrong’
Tired of hearing about Elizabeth Warren’s DNA test? Too bad. We got more. Glenn Kessler at the Washington Post did some fact checking on all the media reports and political assertions flying around after Warren released her DNA test results earlier this week – and he finds that a lot of people got a lot things wrong, starting with the Boston Globe’s mathematical boo-boo in its original Warren-ancestry story. Carl Zimmer at the NYT has a similar analysis of DNA dunderheads.
Meanwhile, the Globe’s Annie Linskey, in an analysis piece, says it’s too early to tell if Warren’s DNA-testing gambit will pay off. But the Herald’s Michael Graham says it isn’t too early. She blew it, he asserts. The Globe’s Scot Lehigh has some overall impressions about Warren, a few of them good, one of them not so good.
Healey’s office urges high court to reinstate murder conviction against Aaron Hernandez
As the Globe today finishes up its six-part Spotlight series on the life and times of Aaron Hernandez, the Herald’s Laurel Sweet reports that Attorney General Maura Healey’s office is urging the state’s highest court to reinstate the murder conviction of Hernandez, whose verdict was wiped clean after he committed suicide in prison last year. The Supreme Judicial Court will hear the Hernandez conviction case on Nov. 8. … And, yes, we find the timing of this story to be a little curious. We’ll say no more.
Healey: Plain English, please, on health-pricing information
Speaking of the AG, she’s not asking for much. From the BBJ’s Jessica Bartlett: “Attorney General Maura Healey’s office is recommending the state standardize the way that different health care services are priced, saying it’s practically impossible for consumers to shop for the best deal on those services. … ‘The onus is increasingly on consumers to control their own health care costs,’ Healey said. ‘That means they need access to timely info on cost and quality. But getting information on the price of health care services if often impossible, thanks to the complexity of the underlying arrangements.’”
Comic and actress Jenny Slate: Michael Dukakis broke my heart
Milton-born comic and actress Jenny Slate, who will be appearing at the Wilbur Theater later this, recalls the time as a youth when she met Michael Dukakis and “flipped out.” Nervous, she invited him to her birthday party. He did not attend. Repeat: He did not attend. “He was one my first crushes that I ever had,” Slate tells Abby Bielagus at Boston Magazine.
Ron Howard – yes that Ron Howard – tweeted about Fall River Mayor Correai’s legal woes
In a piece headlined ‘Ron Howard – yes that Ron Howard – has caught on to the Jasiel Correia story,” the Herald News reports that, yes, even Ron Howard, that Ron Howard, tweeted not once, not twice, but three times (we think) about Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correai’s legal woes of late. We knew the story had gone international, but we didn’t know it had gone Hollywood too. … Come to think of it: There’s a possible movie script awaiting the outcome of the case. Working title: “SnoOwl.”
Ex-Statehouse aide drops sexual-assault suit against Rosenberg and Hefner
From the AP’s Bera Dunau at the Greenfield Recorder: “A former Statehouse aide has dropped his lawsuit against the former president of the Massachusetts Senate and his husband. Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer for the man known in court papers as John Doe, said Thursday he formally notified Suffolk Superior Court that his client was voluntarily withdrawing the suit against former Sen. Stan Rosenberg and Byron Hefner.” But the big criminal case against Hefner, accused of sexually assaulting people, remains active.
Lynch downplays progressives’ role if Dems retake House
U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, a moderate Democrat, is downplaying the recent progressive victories by Ayanna Pressley and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, saying that moderate Democrats in Ohio and Pennsylvania are the real key to Dems winning back the U.S. House, reports the Herald’s Hillary Chabot. He’s right – sort of. Pressley and Ocasio-Cortez didn’t flip any seats. But progressive candidates elsewhere will probably flip some seats next month, as will moderate Dems. But whether Dems can flip enough seats to retake control of the chamber is another matter.
Confirmed: It did snow this past weekend in western Massachusetts
MassLive has the depressing photographic proof: There were indeed snow flurries this past weekend in western Massachusetts. Just a dusting, mind you. But it was snow. No doubt about it. Also confirmed: First frost last night in central Mass., according to our ML research team.
Feds to auction off more areas along Mass. coastline for wind farms
From Shira Schoenberg at MassLive: “Nearly 400,000 acres of the Massachusetts Wind Energy Area will be up for grabs in December, as the Trump administration holds its next offshore wind auction, officials announced this week. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke revealed Wednesday that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will auction off 388,569 acres located on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore Massachusetts on Dec. 13.”
Question 1 isn’t a complicated issue for one group: Dem politicians
Question 1, the nurse-staffing initiative on the November ballot, may be a complicated and confusing measure for many voters and even public policy wonks. But it’s not complicated for many Democratic politicians who are throwing their support behind Question 1, reports Michael Jonas at CommonWealth magazine. The reason: They’re just following the votes. He explains. The Globe’s Jon Chesto, meanwhile, reports it’s also not a very complicated issue for the Associated Industries of Massachusetts and other business groups. They oppose the measure.
The only remotely close race in western Mass. may hinge on pyrrhotite in concrete foundations, not ideology
Matt Szafranski at Western Mass Politics & Insight notes that state Rep. Brian Ashe, a Democrat, faces a feisty challenge from Republican Alison Werder, former president of MassLive. But the race may not hinge on ideology or partisan affiliation. Instead, it may come down to more tangible things, like pyrrhotite, an iron sulfide mineral that’s been linked to crumbling concrete foundations of homes and commercial buildings. It’s a major concern in some communities. He explains.
WPI study: Pesticides may be killing off endangered bumblebees in Massachusetts
From Dan Glaun at MassLIve: “Massachusetts’ wild bumblebees could be at risk even from low environmental levels of neonicotinoid pesticides, according to a new study. Researchers from Worcester Polytechnic Institute have found that queen and male bumblebees, who are essential to the formation of bee colonies, are particularly vulnerable to neonicotinoids.”
Ex-Trump campaign manager Lewandowski settles testy land dispute with neighbors in Granite State
There is peace in our time, at least in Windham, N.H. From the Associated Press at the Lowell Sun: “Lawyers for President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and his neighbors on Wednesday said they have resolved most of the issues related to a testy property dispute. Glenn and Irene Schwartz countersued Lewandowski after he filed a $5 million lawsuit over access to a pond-front property in Windham, New Hampshire.”
BPS students to Northeastern: Pay up, you tax-dodging non-profit
Christopher Butler at the Huntington News reports that a group of Boston Public School students (and some faculty members) showed up at Northeastern University the other day. But they weren’t there for a pre-admissions campus tour. They were there to put pressure on the university to increase its voluntary payments in lieu of taxes. Huntington piece via UH.
Sheriff’s opioid-addiction program for inmates gets national recognition
From SHNS’s Colin Young at the Lowell Sun: “A drug addiction treatment program run out of the Middlesex Sheriff’s office earned national accolades this week as one of a handful of programs across the country leading the way on providing medication-assisted treatment in jails. Sheriff Peter Koutoujian said the success his three-year-old program shows that medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is a useful tool in combatting opioid addiction.”
To get hydro power to Bay State, utility would run line under Kennebec Gorge
Bruce Mohl at CommonWealth magazine reports how a utility under contract with Massachusetts is now planning to import Canadian hydro-electricity into the region via running a transmission lines under, rather than over, the Kennebec Gorge in Maine. Environmentalists are not appeased.
MassMutual sells Oppenheimer funds for $5.7B
This is interesting business news, via the BBJ’s Greg Ryan: “Ahead of a major expansion in Boston, a city known for its asset management giants, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. is significantly cutting down on its presence in the asset management field. MassMutual said Thursday that it was selling its New York-based asset management affiliate OppenheimerFunds Inc. to Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ) in a deal valued at $5.7 billion. The announcement confirmed September media reports of the sale.”
Sunday public affairs TV
Keller at Large, WBZ-TV Chanel 4, 8:30 a.m. This week’s guest: Steve Hoffman, chairman of the state Cannabis Control Commission, who talks with host Jon Keller on the pot-law rollout and reaction to legalization of marijuana in Canada.
This Week in Business, NECN 10 a.m. Carolyn Ryan, a senior vice president at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, discusses Mayor Walsh’s climate plan, the ballot questions and the Marriott workers strike; Witricity CEO Alex Gruzen talks about electric car industry; and Doug Banks of the Boston Business reviews the top local business stories of the week.
CEO Corner, NECN, 10: 30 p.m. Brad McNamara, Freight Farms CEO, talks about the Leafy Green Machine, a shipping container outfitted to grow fresh lettuce and other greens; and Shawn Cooney of Corner Stalk Farm is one of the original Freight Farms customers.
On The Record, WCVB-TV Channel 5, 11 a.m. This week: A debate between Democrat Lori Trahan and Republican Rick Green, candidates for the open Third Congressional District seat.
This is New England, NBC Boston Channel 10, 11:30 a.m. With host Latoyia Edwards, this week’s main topics: Greater Boston, Project Giving Kids, Youth Enrichment Services Inc. and Hands Across the Sea.
CityLine, WCVB-TV Channel 5, 12 p.m. With host Karen Holmes Ward, this week’s topic: Fashion, with a look at the late Madame CJ Walker and local fashion designer Nubia Williams.
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
Boston police officer sues online market where guns used on him was sold – Boston Herald
Wait, did Marty Walsh just tease a Don Chiofaro harbor tower? – Boston Globe
Massachusetts
Feds see big energy potential off Massachusetts coast – MassLive
3 In 10 Likely Mass. Voters Plan To Vote For Both Warren And Baker – WBUR
Nation
Justice Department investigates abuse by Catholic clergy in Pennsylvania – Washington Post
Voter Turnout Could Hit 50-Year Record For Midterm Elections – WBUR
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