Happening Today
Holocaust Memorial donation, Midterms analysis, Plymouth 400
— The Investment Committee of the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board meets with Treasurer Deb Goldberg attending, 84 State St., 2nd floor, Boston, 9:30 a.m.
— Painters’ union IUPAT District Council 35 and the Painter and Glazier Contractors’ Association of New England, who helped build the New England Holocaust Memorial, present a $10,000 donation to support further upkeep of the memorial, with Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, Jewish Community Relations Council director Jeremy Burton and others participating, Holocaust Memorial, 98 Union St., Boston, 11:30 a.m.
— David Gergen, director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School and a former presidential adviser, will sit down with Annie Linskey, deputy chief of the Globe’s D.C. bureau, to discuss the midterm elections, University of Massachusetts Club, 1 Beacon St., Boston, 12 p.m.
— The Local Government Advisory Commission meets with an agenda that includes an update on this year’s state budget and revenue collections, discussion of Chapter 90 funding for local roads, updates on state-level climate change programs and Gov. Charlie Baker’s housing bill, Room 157, 1 p.m.
— A delegation of cultural officials from the United Kingdom, visiting Massachusetts as part of the planning for the 400th anniversary in 2020 of the landing of the Mayflower, holds a conversation on cross-cultural collaboration with representatives from Plymouth 400 and state lawmakers, Room 428, 3:30 p.m.
— State Auditor Suzanne Bump discusses her time in public service as a guest speaker in professor Ronald Corbett’s Leadership and Decision Making in Action course at Suffolk University, Suffolk University, 73 Tremont St., Boston, 4:30 p.m.
— Boston City Councilor Kim Janey holds a hearing on gentrification and displacement in Roxbury, Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building, 2300 Washington St., Roxbury, 5:30 p.m.
— The Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus hosts a panel discussion featuring women candidates titled “What’s Next? A conversation with Massachusetts’s newest political leaders,” featuring, among others, Rep.-elect Nika Elugardo and Rep.-elect Tram Nguyen, Rabb Auditorium, Boston Public Library Copley Branch, 700 Boylston St., Boston, 5:30 p.m.
— AJC New England holds its 2018 Co-Existence Awards, recognizing Colette Phillips, the founder of Get Konnected! and CEO of Colette Phillips Communications, with Treasurer Deb Goldberg attending; Boston Mayor Martin Walsh and former Gov. Deval Patrick are the event’s honorary co-chairs, Artists for Humanity EpiCenter, 100 W 2nd St., Boston, 6 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
Charlie Baker for U.S. Senate?
This is the first we’ve heard about this. The Herald’s Jaclyn Cashman writes that the “word is Gov. Charlie Baker is mulling a 2020 run against U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey.” We’ll believe it when we see it. But if he does have the U.S. Senate bug, it would be a case of history repeating itself, if you recall his former boss Gov. Bill Weld’s own hankering to be a player in Washington.
Pope to U.S. bishops: Hold off on those anti-child-molestation reforms until we have time to talk more
There they were, all gathered in Baltimore, ready, or so they said, to finally take action to hold bishops accountable for clergy sexual abuse cases. But then the Vatican called: Hold off until we can talk about things in February. Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley was taken aback by the “unexpected” Vatican order, reports WBUR. The Globe’s Brian MacQuerrie reports the “bombshell left the country’s Roman Catholic bishops stunned and silent.” The Globe, in an editorial, is blasting the pope’s delay. The NYT has more.
Rockland scandals update: Ex-health official accused of lying about restaurant inspections, forging documents
More interesting news coming out Rockland, which is still reeling from its recent steamy town sex scandal. From Mary Whitfill at Rockland Wicked Local: “A former health agent is facing 22 felony charges in Hingham District Court stemming from claims that she lied about conducting health inspections at local restaurants and submitted false reports to the town.”
As for the steamy town sex scandal, Rockland, following last week’s election, now has a full board of selectmen – and technically no more excuses — to act on whether to reinstate its town administrator who was wrongly accused of behaving inappropriately toward a selectwoman who he had sex with in a town-hall office, either before or after she had a fling with another town selectman. Jacqueline Tempera at MassLive has more.
UMass and Amherst police brace for students rushing to new pot shop
From Marie Szaniszlo at the Herald: “With one of the state’s first pot shops due to open soon in Northampton, nearby UMass Amherst has launched an aggressive campaign warning students that weed won’t be tolerated on campus. Northampton police, meanwhile, are concerned the local medical marijuana shop’s foray into recreational pot will turn already-congested Route 9 into a bumper-to-bumper hemp highway.”
Moulton claims ‘silent majority’ wants Pelosi gone, but Neal sure isn’t one of them
It’s become a post-election ritual, i.e. U.S. Seth Moulton launching a challenge to Nancy Pelosi’s Democratic leadership in the U.S. House. He’s at it again this year, openly saying yesterday that a ‘silent majority’ of Dems want Pelosi gone, reports Sean Philip Cotter at the Herald.
But the Herald’s Kimberly Atkins reports that U.S. Rep. Richard Neal has sent a letter to fellow House Dems, asking them to back the “shrewd, battle-tested” Pelosi. Meanwhile, someone who’s been curiously silent on all of this: U.S. Rep.-elect Ayanna Pressley, as the Washington Post reports in its piece on Pelosi’s all-out effort to line up support for her speakership.
While Moulton and Warren grab the headlines, Katherine Clark quietly expands her power
The Globe’s Victoria McGrane has a good story this morning on how U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, in contrast to the Seth Moulton and Elizabeth Warren “media darlings,” quietly recruited and pushed a number of Democratic candidates in the midterm elections that ultimately saw Dems regain control of the House. Btw: Clark isn’t remaining silent on the Nancy Pelosi leadership squabble. She’s backing Pelosi.
Pragmatism or progressivism, Part II
In an opinion piece in the NYT, Steve Phillips, the founder of Democracy in Color and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, is absolutely convinced that conventional wisdom has it wrong and that last week’s midterm elections prove his theory that people of color and white progressive candidates are the way to go for Democrats in 2020.
Then again, the NYT,in a story on the same day, contradicts Phillips’ assertions about the midterm elections: “For all the talk of the rise of the progressive left — embodied by the rock star of the class, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez — the bulk of the newcomers might better be described as pragmatists.” That tends to confirm Kimberly Strassel’s contention in the WSJ (pay wall) that the “biggest loser” last week was U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Here we go: ‘Get ready for Hillary Clinton 4.0’
Hillary Clinton obviously believes going full progressive is the way to go. Mark Penn, a former pollster and senior adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Andrew Stein write at the WSJ that, yes, the Democratic nominee who lost to Donald Trump two years ago is going to go for it again in 2020, this time as a progressive Democrat, not as pragmatic Democrat. Shannon Young at MassLive has more on their prediction, which, because of Penn’s co-byline, is generating a lot of political chatter this morning.
‘Mr. Middle Ground’
Speaking of pragmatism versus ideology, Peter Lucas at the Lowell Sun writes that Gov. Charlie Baker’s landslide re-election last week was a triumph of moderation over demagoguery and partisanship. “No political extremism for him, either from the right or the left,” Lucas writes of the Republican Baker. “He is Mr. Middle Ground.”
Baker signals he plans to resume push to address housing shortage
Heading into a new legislative session, Gov. Charlie Baker plans to renew his push for zoning law changes aimed at addressing the state’s housing shortage, Christian Wade reports in the Gloucester Times. Legislation Baker filed last year won a favorable committee vote but did not make it out of the legislature.
Boston not engaging in self-flagellation as N.Y. and North Virginia confirmed as HQ2 winners
The New York Times and Washington Post, both via the same apparent source(s), i.e. folks close to the “decision-making process,” are confirming that, yep, Amazon’s HQ2 will be split between Queens, N.Y., and Crystal City, Virginia.
But do you notice anything? Hint: It’s sort of like the Sherlock Holmes case of the dog that didn’t bark. In this case, there’s a noticeable (and welcome) lack of self-flagellation going on in Boston over the HQ2 decision. We still believe the Queens decision, in particular, may yet pose a competitive threat to Boston’s own tech community, up to and including the transfer of some Amazon employees from the Hub to NYC. But the fact is Boston really didn’t need the Amazon HQ2 headache – and the sky isn’t falling this morning.
FCC rule change could slash local cable-access TV shows
Following town-government matters on the tube may be a thing of the past. Local cable access TV could be on the chopping block if a proposed FCC rule change is approved, Phillip Martin reports at WGBH. A public comment period on the change—which would limit communities’ ability to levy the fees that now support locally made programming, including government meeting coverage—ends Wednesday.
Heroux’s road trip with terminally ill dog makes headlines worldwide
What a good boy. Attleboro Mayor Paul Heroux has just returned from an 8,500-mile cross-country road trip he undertook after learning that his dog, Mura, has terminal cancer— a trek that is is making headlines nationally and around the world, Jim Hand reports at the Sun Chronicle.
Massport chief: Traffic congestion is choking Logan
A booming economy, the rise of Uber and Lyft, and declining T ridership are all contributing to now the No. 1 problem at Logan Airport: Ground transportation and traffic congestion to and from Logan, writes outgoing Massport chief Thomas Glynn, who has some recommendations at the Herald about what do about the overall problem, including more Uber-Lyft carpooling.
Staff at Northampton newspapers votes to form union
Driven in part by reports of gender-based pay inequity, staffers at the Daily Hampshire Gazette and the Valley Advocate in Northampton have voted to form a union, Jim Kinney reports at MassLive. Staffers are hoping the papers’ owners, Newspapers of New England, will voluntarily recognize a new chapter of the NewsGuild union, but say they are prepared to pursue a ratification vote under National Labor Relations Board rules if necessary.
Anti-Trump groups decide it’s not safe to continue protests
Two Cape Cod-based organizations say they’ve paused their weekly standouts amid growing concern about the safety of anti-Trump protestors in an increasingly caustic political environment. The organizers of Move to Remove, which has been protesting for 15 months on the Falmouth Village Green, said the nature of responses from passersby has become more troubling in recent weeks, along with the overall political climate, Geoff Spillane reports in the Cape Cod Times.
UMass Boston says dorm upgrades on the way
The interim chancellor at UMass Boston says the school will move quickly to address security concerns and other issues plaguing the first-ever dormitory to open on campus, while laying at least part of the blame at the feet of the private contractor who built and now operates it, Laura Krantz reports in the Globe.
Public schools with the highest SAT scores: Not a surprise among them
Attention school officials in Worcester, Brockton and other communities mulling a school-funding suit against the state: The BBJ has the latest list of public schools with the highest SAT scores. They’re mostly all the usual suspects, i.e. Lincoln-Sudbury, Concord-Carlisle, Brookline, Wellesley, Weston etc.
‘Ignore the charter school think-tank crowd’
Speaking of the performance of public schools, Joshua Amaral, a member of the New Bedford School Committee, and Bruce Rose, president of the New Bedford NAACP, take their battle against expansion of charter schools in New Bedford to the cyber pages of CommonWealth magazine, arguing that expansion will merely siphon away students from already well-performing public schools.
Wynn’s diabolically brilliant suit against Wynn
The Globe’s Joan Vennochi risks coming across as engaging in conspiracy-theory analytics when it comes to Steve Wynn’s recent suit against the state Gaming Commission and his old company, Wynn Resorts. But hear her out, for her theory makes some sense: Blocking release of the commission’s report on Steve Wynn’s sexual shenanigans benefits both him and Wynn Resorts.
Going low: John Kerry tangles with Fox News over Trump’s no-show at WWI event
Former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. John Kerry spent much of this past weekend in an all-out Twitter battle with a conservative Fox News host over President Trump’s refusal to take part in a WWI ceremony, James Taylor (yes, James Taylor), the Vietnam War etc. The Globe’s Steve Annear has the blow-by-blow details.
What’s Next? A Conversation with MA’s Up-and-Coming Political Leaders
Join the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus, State Representative Joan Meschino, Author of POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook Stephanie Murray, and three up-and-coming political leaders to reflect on the fall 2018 midterm elections and discuss the future of Massachusetts politics.
Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus
Moving Forward or Falling Back? Women’s leadership in Massachusetts K-12 and Higher Education
Join us for a discussion on Women Leaders in the Massachusetts Public Education System, hosted by Senate President Spilka, House Speaker Pro Tempore Haddad, and the Eos Foundation.
Power 50
Join the Boston Business Journal to celebrate 2018’s Power50. These are the men and women who’ve made the biggest impact on Greater Boston’s business community and/or the region’s overall economy this past year.
Post Election Listening Cycle
Join Indivisible Mystic Valley for a special Listening Circle intended for anyone who has been working on the 2018 election!
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
Late mayor Menino’s letter to Chick-Fil-A makes the rounds again – Boston Patch
Plans for two towers above the Mass Pike move forward – Boston Globe
Massachusetts
Springfield again set to consider ban on single-use plastic bags – MassLive
Former Rockland health agent charged with forging reports – Patriot Ledger
Lowell School Committee to vote on terminating embattled superintendent – Lowell Sun
Amherst College seeks liquor license for campus pub – Daily Hampshire Gazette
Nation
How Democrats won over older voters—and flipped the House – Politico
Inside the Republican strategy to discredit the Florida recount – New York Times
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