Happening Today
Election-eve campaigning and rallies, MBTA Control Board and more
— Today is the last full day of campaigning for candidates running for statewide, Congressional, legislative and other offices in tomorrow’s elections in Massachusetts. Please see SHNS’sDaily Advances (free trial subscriptions available) for today’s complete campaign schedules.
— Secretary of State William Galvin, the state’s election overseer, holds a pre-election press availability to discuss turnout estimates and other election-system details, Room 116, State House, 10:30 a.m.
— The MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board meets to discuss the Red/Orange Line Program, a Red Line South Side update, the Green Line transformation and other topics, Transportation Board Room, second floor, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, 12 p.m.
— Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders chairs a meeting of the Section 35 Commission, tasked with studying the ‘efficacy of involuntary inpatient treatment for non-court involved individuals diagnosed with substance use disorder,’ Ashburton Cafe, McCormack Building – Plaza Level, 3 p.m.
— After campaigning through the day, Attorney General Maura Healey and Seventh District Democratic nominee Ayanna Pressley hold an ‘Election Eve Rally’ in Roxbury, Roxbury, 5:30 p.m.
— After campaigning through the day, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jay Gonzalez and Lori Trahan, the Democratic nominee in the Third District, headline a rally in Maynard, Fowler School Gym, 3 Tiger Dr., Maynard, 6 p.m.
— After campaigning in Lowell earlier in the day, Gov. Charlie Baker and First Lady Lauren Baker join campaign supporters for a hometown rally in Swampscott, Hawthorne by the Sea, 153 Humphrey St, Swampscott, 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
Amazon in ‘advanced talks’ to locate HQ2 in Northern Virginia
We’re going to get two major business stories out of the way before jumping into all the election news. Here goes with the first: It’s not official, but this Washington Post story has been picked up by a lot of local media outlets and it doesn’t bode well for Boston’s HQ2 chances: “Amazon.com has held advanced discussions about the possibility of opening its highly sought-after second headquarters in Crystal City, including how quickly it would move employees there, which buildings it would occupy and how an announcement about the move would be made to the public, according to people close to the process.”
Epic collapse? Papa Gino’s closes dozens of locations around New England
The second big business story this morning: Local political reporters will be quite busy today covering campaigns across the state. But local business reporters will be equally busy trying to figure out what the heck just happened to Papa Gino’s, which yesterday abruptly closed as many as 50 eateries across the region, according to reports at MassLive and Wicked Local and WCVB.
The Dedham-based pizzeria chain ranks up there with Dunkin’ Donuts, Legal Seafoods and Brigham’s Ice Cream etc. as one of the more recognizable restaurant/food-product institutions in New England. So this is a big deal. … Now on to all the political, public policy and other news. …
The Governor’s race: The final sprint
There’s so much happening on the election front that we thought we’d just relay to readers the top stories and their headlines, rather than summarizing specific articles. And we’ll start off with a sampling of pieces from the governor’s race with the election now only a day away. … From the Globe’s Matt Stout and Jeremy Fox: ‘Gubernatorial candidates rally for votes as election draws near.’ … From the Herald’s Jonathan Ng: ‘Jay Gonzalez blasts gov’s $88M grant spree.’ … From the Globe’s Matt Stout: ‘Is Massachusetts ‘an island’? Voters debate role of Trump in race for governor.’ … From the Globe’s David Abel: ‘Why is this environmental group staying neutral in governor’s race?’ … From the Globe’s Joshua Miller: ‘Here are the big policy differences between the candidates for Mass. governor, Charlie Baker and Jay Gonzalez.’ … And from Steve Koczela and Richard Parr at CommonWealth magazine: ‘Charlie Baker and the incredible vanishing gender gap.’
Baker won’t even say if he wants Republicans to retain control of Congress?
We had to break this one out separately. It’s too interesting, to wit: We all knew Gov. Charlie Baker was putting distance between himself and President Trump as well as other Republicans on tomorrow’s ballots (i.e. Geoff Diehl etc.). But SHNS’s Matt Murphy at the Taunton Gazette reports that the Republican Baker won’t even say if he supports Republicans retaining control of Congress.
The Herald’s Joe Battenfeld says Baker is effectively biting the hand that feeds him, i.e. his GOP distancing tactic while national Republicans pour millions into his campaign coffers. The Globe’s Matt Stout and Victoria McGrane report that Baker is indeed keeping his distance from local GOP candidates – but he’s also funneling big bucks to Republicans in local races.
And as for the U.S. Senate race …
A lot is happening on the U.S. Senate front in Massachusetts too. Here’s a sampling from the local media. … From Victoria McGrane, Jeremy C. Fox and Matt Stout at the Globe: ‘Just off the road, Warren returns to Mass. for final campaign swing in race with Diehl.’ … From Kathleen McKiernan at the Herald: ‘U.S. Senate rivals put on full voter press.’ … From the Herald’s Jordan Graham: ‘Elizabeth Warren: We’re going to do just fine.’ … From Jeanette DeForge at MassLive: ‘Democrats Elizabeth Warren, Maura Healey, Jay Gonzalez rally in Springfield to get out the vote.’ …
Elsewhere across the state and nation …
It’s not all about the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races in Massachusetts. There’s a lot of campaigning going on for statewide, Congressional and local offices, not to mention for ballot issues and other issues before voters tomorrow. Here’s a sampling:
Local Congressional, legislative and ballot measures: From the Herald’s Alexi Cohan: ‘Candidates join forces: Pressley, Trahan rally voters.’ … From WCVB: ‘Know before you vote: Chronicle explains Massachusetts’ statewide 2018 ballot questions.’ … From Christian Wade at the Gloucester Times: ‘Most candidates pass on Vote Smart survey.’ … From MassLive: ‘Gov. Charlie Baker stumps for state representative hopeful Allison Werder in Longmeadow.’ … From Marcia Dick at the Globe: ‘Towns will vote on property tax increases.’ … From Dick Lindsay at the Berkshire Eagle: ‘Clerks say write-in campaign for Berkshire DA means long night of counting Tuesday.’ … From Marc Larocque of the Enterprise: ‘After OUI charge, Brockton senator looking forward to another term.’ … From Bruce Mohlat CommonWealth magazine: ‘Democrats seek to increase dominance in Legislature.’ … From Zeninjor Enwemeka of WBUR: ‘How Boston Tech Companies Are Trying To Improve Our Elections’
National: From Shannon Young at MassLive: ‘Massachusetts lawmakers stump for Democrats across US.’ … From the Globe’s James Pindell: ‘Your ultimate cheat sheet of (U.S.) House and Senate races to watch on election night.’ … From the Globe’s Annie Linskey: ‘Democrats look to rebuild Blue Wall in the midterms.’ … From the AP at the Herald: ‘Romney hits Utah campaign trail, differs from Trump on media.’ … From Lucas Phillips at the Globe: ‘It’s a bird, it’s a plane. No, it’s baby Trump.’
Question 1: What Mariano and the experts are saying with the big vote only a day away
OK, here’s another election item we’re breaking out separately because, well, it’s pretty interesting: State Rep. Ronald Mariano, the House majority leader from Quincy, writes at CommonWealth magazine that the mandatory nurse-staffing Question 1 is an overly “blunt instrument for a complex problem.” Mariano is one of the few Democrats who’s not jumping on the Question 1 bandwagon, fyi.
Meanwhile, Linda Enderson at CommonWealth writes that experts are divided on the merits of Question 1, though not necessarily on the merits of having more nurses. The Globe’s Priyanka Dayal McCluskey takes a look at a “more lenient version” of Question 1 that’s now the law of the land in California –and it’s “neither a panacea for improving patient care nor a fatal blow to hospitals’ finances.”
Baystate Health’s last-minute anti-Question 1 mailer irks some patients
And speaking of Question 1, Jim Kinney at MassLive reports that more than a few people are upset with a recent BayState Health mailing that some thought might be a health alert – and turned out to be an anti-Question 1 alert instead. And some are wondering just how Baystate got their addresses.
Energy company proposes $100M LNG plant in Charlton
We have a hunch there will indeed be a number of questions from Charlton residents about this proposal. From Matthew Tota at the Telegram: “Energy Trust has proposed construction of a more than $100-million LNG plant — operating under the name Northeast Energy Center LLC — on roughly 25 acres of a 220-acre wooded site at 249 Sturbridge Road (Route 20 in Charlton). The company will work with engineers from the Methuen-based firm Northstar Industries, in which it owns a major stake.”
Ignore those armed troops in the streets: State’s largest-ever homeland security drill starts today
Call it mood music for a tense election: The Massachusetts National Guard and other agencies will launch what is being billed as the largest-ever homeland security training exercise in the state, starting today and lasting five days, and officials are warning residents they’ll likely notice an increased military presence, helicopter patrols and sirens during the week-long exercise, the Patriot Ledger reports.
DraftKings launches ad campaign as it prepares to go all out on Beacon Hill
Daily fantasy sports company DraftKings is preparing an all-out push to get lawmakers to legalize sports betting in the Bay State, Jordan Graham reports in the Herald. An ad campaign designed to boost grassroots support has already launched and the company says it will ramp up direct lobbying efforts in the hopes of prodding the legislature to move on the issue early in 2019.
From beyond the grave, Kevin White on Whitey: ‘I was never as scared in my life’
We’ve heard over the years how Kevin White, as mayor in 1979, once told Channel 2’s Chris Lydon that he feared for his life when Whitey Bulger was at the peak of his gangster power in Boston. But we never knew there was an actual recording of Kevin White’s remarks. Howie Carr has them at the Herald – and you can listen to them yourself. “I was never as scared in my life,” White says of Bulger. “I almost slept in the club, ’cause I figured if they pump me out, which, why not, Whitey would be — they were crazy enough to do it then.”
Speaking of Whitey, the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe, in editorials, disagree on whether justice was served by Bulger’s brutal murder last week at a federal prison. And the AP’s Durkin Richer and Denise Lavoie at WBUR reports that a union boss believes that transferring Bulger to the prison where he was ultimately killed was like giving him the “death sentence.”
State GOP official calls Jewish protesters ‘a disgrace’ and an ‘embarrassment’
So much for solidarity after last month’s synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh. From Andres Picon at the Globe: “Fourteen Jewish protesters were arrested outside the state headquarters of the Massachusetts Republican Party in downtown Boston Friday after a Republican official denounced them as an ‘embarrassment to the country.’”
Hackers are indeed ramping up efforts to disrupt tomorrow’s elections
The hack-attack accusations lodged against Democrats by the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Georgia are almost surly bogus – or at the least suspect – coming so late in the election cycle, reports the NYT. But hack attacks are nevertheless happening in general – and the Globe’s Jana Winter has a disturbing piece about how hackers have ramped up their efforts across the country to disrupt tomorrow’s elections. All we can say is: Thank goodness for our old-fashioned paper ballots in Massachusetts.
Too bad you can’t turn ‘em into diners: MBTA selling off old train locomotives
They wouldn’t make good diners for aspiring greasy-spoon restaurateurs. But they would make a hell of an addition to a little boy’s train set (or a not-so-little dad’s train set). Scott Croteau at MassLive has more on the T’s plans to sell off old commuter-train locomotives, probably for scrap metal.
Harvard warns of the ‘wolf of racial bias’ challenging its admissions policies
The Harvard admissions-discrimination trial ended last week with the university’s lead attorney warning that the “wolf of racial bias is indeed at our door” and urging the federal trial judge to “turn the wolf out,” reports Max Larkin at WBUR and Deirdre Fernandes at the Globe. Separately, the Globe’s Laura Krantz writes that the legacy of William Fitzsimmons, the “legendary admissions dean” at Harvard, was also on trial over the past few weeks in Boston.
After Tuesday, look for Healey to emerge as Dem leader in Massachusetts
This sounds about right: The Lowell Sun’s Peter Lucas is predicting that Attorney General Maura Healey, assuming she wins re-election tomorrow, should emerge Tuesday as the de facto leader of state Democrats — and the early favorite to win her party’s nomination for governor in 2022.
In clergy sexual-abuse scandal, it all starts at the top
In an unusual move (journalistically speaking), reporters at the Boston Globe and Philadelphia Inquirer combined together to examine how Catholic bishops forgot a number of people to include when they vowed to crack down on clergy sexual misconduct: Themselves, as both enablers and perpetrators. The Globe-Inquirer team has identified 130 bishops who have been accused of failing to adequately respond to sexual misconduct charges against clergy – with 15 of them having been accused themselves of misconduct.
A progressive schism in the race to unseat state Rep. O’Connor
Michael Jonas at CommonWealth magazine has an interesting story this morning on a schism within the Democratic party tied to the campaign of Republican state Rep. Patrick O’Connor, an opponent of charter schools who has received backing from traditionally Democratic-leaning teacher unions. A new super PAC believes the unions are committing a form of progressive heresy.
Question 3: ‘I’m with the 28 percent who plan to vote no’
Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby is definitely going against the political grain on this one, outlining the three reasons why he’s voting no on Question 3, the ballot initiative over whether to keep the state’s new transgender rights law. It’s one of the most viewed stories at the Globe – and, needless to say, it’s generating a lot of comments.
Appeals court says firearm restrictions don’t violate Second Amendment
The First Circuit of the US Court of Appeals has ruled that restrictions on certain gun permits in Brookline and Boston do not violate the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a ruling the plaintiffs in the case they’ll appeal yet again, Gintautas Dumcius reports at MassLive.
‘Deep down in the recesses there was a sense of guilt’
The Globe’s Gary Washburn has a terrific piece on how Bob Cousy, so many years after hanging up the sneakers, recently wrote a letter to fellow Celtics star Bill Russell to apologize for not publicly standing up against racism in Boston and elsewhere when the two played together — and for not understanding until recently the racism that Russell and other black Americans have endured. Definitely check it out.
Author Talk and Book Signing with Melinda Ponder
Author talk and book signing with Dr. Melinda Ponder, author of the book: Katharine Lee Bates: From Sea to Shining Sea. Tenor soloist Teddy Crecelius will sing “America the Beautiful.”
State Library of Massachusetts
A Nation of Immigrants Dinner & Reception
Join the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation for A Nation of Immigrants – Celebrating the Immigrant Experience in American Culture as we celebrate immigrants and their contributions to America’s culture and success.
2018 Distinguished Real Estate Awards Gala
Join NAIOP Massachusetts for the 2018 Distinguished Real Estate Awards Gala as we honor Related Beal for their achievements in real estate, charitable activities and community betterment. David Begelfer will be honored with this year’s Edward H. Linde Public Service Award in recognition of his 27 years of service to NAIOP.
TEDxBeaconStreet
On November 17, TEDxBeaconStreet will return to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum for a second year! Some of the most inspiring minds and speakers in the world will come to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum for the final day of TEDxBeaconStreet.
2018 Newman Civic Fellows National Conference
The Newman Civic Fellows National Conference is an annual conference exclusively for current Newman Civic Fellows that provides opportunities for networking, collaboration, and shared learning among Fellows. Only members of the 2018 Newman Civic Fellowship cohort may attend the 2018 Newman Civic Fellows National Conference.
Today’s Headlines
Metro
Two injured in partial roof collapse in Allston – Boston Herald
Massachusetts
Worcester on the road to driverless cars – Telegram & Gazette
Windsor official’s lawsuit against town, neighbors set for spring trial – Berkshire Eagle
Half of Attleboro voters expected at the polls on Tuesday – Sun Chronicle
Pilgrim powers down day after favorable report – Cape Cod Times
Nation
Young and new voters surge in early voting – The Hill
“Trump has hijacked the election”: House Republicans in panic mode – Politico
How to Contact MASSterList
Send tips to Matt Murphy: Editor@MASSterList.com. For advertising inquiries and job board postings, please contact Dylan Rossiter: Publisher@MASSterList.com or (857) 370-1156. Follow @MASSterList on Twitter.