Happening Today
Pressley at UMass-Boston, Education hearing, and more
— U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley delivers the commencement address at the UMass-Boston 2019 undergraduate commencement, UMass-Boston, 9:30 a.m.
— The Education Committee reviews 25 bills on a number of subjects, including accountability, extra-curricular activities and college and career readiness, as well as Gov. Charlie Baker’s legislation to create new ‘innovation partnership zones,’ Gardner Auditorium, 10 a.m.
— Senate President Karen Spilka is a guest on ‘Boston Public Radio,’ WGBH-FM 89.7, 11 a.m.
— Gov. Charlie Baker and Boston Mayor Martin Walsh are among those attending the annual flag raising ceremony at Boston City Hall to kick off Boston Pride Week, City Hall Plaza, Boston, 12:15 a.m.
— Gov. Charlie Baker joins First Lady Lauren Baker to participate in the Best Buddies Football Challenge, Harvard Stadium, 79 North Harvard Street, 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
The New Bedford charter controversy: The ‘immoral’ versus the ‘craven’
First, the legislative update, via Michael Jonas at CommonWealth magazine: “Sen. Pat Jehlen of Somerville, an outspoken charter school critic, threw a procedural roadblock in front of a New Bedford home rule petition to advance a novel charter school plan developed by state education officials, casting further doubt on prospects for the proposal.”
Next up: Ricardo Rosa of the New Bedford Coalition to Save Our Schools writes at CommonWealth that the compromise is “immoral.” So we guess that makes the Globe’s editorial board immoral, for it’s blasting Beacon Hill opponents of the plan as “craven” stooges of the state’s largest teachers union. Fyi, from South Coast Today: “Parents want answers–now–on Alma del Mar second campus.”
It’s Pilgrim Nuclear Shutdown Day. But where is all the leftover radioactive waste going to go?
It’s an historic day in Plymouth. After 47 years, the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station will officially shut down today. Christine Legere at the Cape Cod Times has the details.
But Barbara Moran at WBUR asks: So where are the plant’s thousands of “radioactive assemblies” going to end up? Mostly, they’re staying on site, for the time being, or maybe for the next thousand years, give or take a few centuries.
Is Lynch repositioning himself on abortion ahead of 2020?
U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, who has long defined himself as a “pro-life” pol, writes at the Boston Globe that he’s appalled at the recent actions in other states to restrict abortions, calling them “shameful” and declaring: “So if these recent developments define the ‘pro-life’’ movement, you can count me out.”
He may well be, and probably is, quite sincere in his shock at what’s happening elsewhere. But let’s be clear: He’s shifting his position on abortion, or at least distancing himself from the “pro-life” movement, at a time when a lot of white male incumbents are vulnerable to challenges from female candidates on the left.
Healey: DEP ‘really bungled’ the Weymouth compressor case
SHNS’s Chris Lisinski (pay wall) reports that a hearing officer has ordered two extra days of public hearings on the proposed natural-gas compressor station in Weymouth, after the state Department of Environmental Protection “upended the proceedings” with its tardy data dump of key information on air-quality tests.
Separately, Attorney General Maura Healey says environmental regulators “really bungled” the testing portion of the case, reports SHNS’s Michael Norton (pay wall).
The ‘colossal commuter disruption’ of all time
Well, maybe it’s not as disruptive as the Big Dig. But Mary Connaughton and James Aloisi, both state-government transportation veterans, are sounding the alarm at the Globe about “colossal commuter” disruptions to come due to planned mega-projects on the Mass Pike – and they’ve compiled a list of common-sense suggestions on how the state can mitigate the coming traffic nightmare for Pike drivers. They’re not asking for that much. And the money’s there – if the state stopped diverting toll money from the Pike to other non-toll-funded roadways in Massachusetts.
Suspended judge wants her $184K pay reinstated
The Herald’s Joe Dwinell and Jonathan Ng report that Judge Shelley Richmond Joseph, who was suspended after the feds charged her with helping an immigrant escape ICE detention, is asking that her $184,000 pay be reinstated: “Her lawyers argue in a new filing that the former Newton District Court judge is already being punished ‘prior to any finding of wrongdoing.’”
They have a point. She’s still innocent until proven guilty, right?
Those future bohemian pot cafes? You’ll just have to wait
From Shira Schoenberg at MassLive: “The Cannabis Control Commission will delay voting for another month on regulations that would set out a framework allowing home delivery and social consumption. The state’s marijuana regulators had planned to vote on draft regulations Thursday.”
SHNS’s Colin Young (pay wall) reports the delay comes as the “agency tries to keep up with a crushing workload amid a shortage of staff.” Btw: The Globe’s Felicia Gans reports that the commission has nevertheless granted a final license to Massachusetts’ first marijuana microbusiness.”
Report: Gannett and GateHouse talking merger
It may not lead to anything, but the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Gannett and GateHouse Media have held merger talks that could link the two giant but struggling newspaper companies. The Globe’s Jon Chesto has more on the “Consolidation Games” within the battered newspaper industry.
Fyi: In Massachusetts, GateHouse owns ten dailies and 109 weekly papers, so there’s a lot at stake here locally.
‘Towelgate’: It’s now all-out gender war between Herald writers and ‘Stoolies’
Speaking of the media, Jessica Heslam at the Herald is blasting away at the “Stoolies,” i.e. largely anonymous male fans of the controversial Barstool Sports, who have “ruthlessly targeted” Herald sports writer Marisa Ingemi for daring to ask why the Boston Bruins handed out free rally towels emblazoned with the Barstool logo at a recent playoff game. Ingemi has since been “inundated with a torrent of disgraceful verbal abuse and misogynistic, frat boy drivel” – and Heslam writes she herself has also received “inappropriate and misogynistic messages.”
Former Gov. Jane Swift tapped to lead Boston ed-tech nonprofit
She recently held an education-related post in Florida, so this looks like a good fit. From Gintautas Dumcius at the BBJ: “Jane Swift, the former Massachusetts governor and state senator, starts on July 1 as president and executive director of edtech nonprofit LearnLaunch Inc. The nonprofit’s board signed off on Swift for the role in a vote last week.” Dumcius has more on who’s behind LearnLaunch and Swift’s new job overseeing the nonprofit.
MGM lays off another six employees in Springfield and hundreds of others across nation
The latest evidence that all is not well in the casino-gambling business. From Jim Kinney at MassLive: “MGM Springfield laid off six workers Thursday as part of the 557 company-wide job reductions announced by parent company MGM Resorts International. The layoffs are part of the MGM 2020 reorganization initiative. MGM Springfield spokesman Saverio Mancini said the jobs lost in Springfield were mostly, but not exclusively, in management.”
Even though he’ll probably lose, Moulton has already won
The Globe’s Kevin Cullen writes that U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton may not win the Democratic nomination for president, but he’s already done a great service to the country by coming out that he suffered post-traumatic stress after his four tours of duty as a Marine in Iraq.
‘UMass School of Mismanagement’
The Herald continues to pound away at UMass President Marty Meehan et gang over a recent Pioneer Institute study that accused the university of shoddy financial oversight at UMass-Boston. The Herald’s Joe Dwinell has today’s update. The Herald’s editorial board is firing its own salvo at the university system, with an editorial headlined “UMass – school of mismanagement.”
The Herald’s Howie Carr, meanwhile, dives into the payroll records and identifies 42 high-paying “chancellor jobs” at UMass and announces he wants to be the 43rd chancellor, specifically: “Chancellor, Phony Baloney Job Titles,”
DeLeo hip checks Baker out of the way on bonds
Sorry, Charlie. From Bruce Mohl at CommonWealth magazine: “House Speaker Robert DeLeo is using a novel funding approach for his climate change legislation, authorizing the issuance of $1 billion in state general obligation bonds that would be exempt from controls set by the Baker administration.”
Red tape nightmare: State chases Chelmsford mom over late son’s tax obligation
Here’s a reminder of why some people dislike government so intensely. A Chelmsford woman says she has been getting chased down by a collection agency over taxes owed by her late son, who committed suicide in 2016, even though the Department of Revenue acknowledges she is not responsible for son’s debts. Ben Simmoneau reports at WCVB that DOR says it has now put a note on McDonald’s case file that should stop the harassment.
Merkel’s rebuke of you-know-who
The Globe’s Deirdre Fernandesreports on German Chancellor Angela “not-so-veiled rebuke of President Trump and his brand of nationalism” at Harvard University’s commencement yesterday. And we’re expecting the president’s anti-Merkel tweet at any moment now.
Alexandria Chaidez and Aidan Ryan at the Crimson have more on Merkel’s commencement address.
Forget the lawsuits: Brockton looks to put more properties into developers’ hands
Even with its most recent eminent domain taking tied up in court, the Brockton Redevelopment Authority is making plans to acquire more downtown properties to set the stage for additional redevelopment, Ben Berke reports at the Enterprise. Citing a number of successful projects, the BRA recently added ‘dozens’ of properties to a list of targeted acquisitions, even though its most recent high-profile taking of the Brockton Furniture Building has resulted in a court challenge.
Anybody’s guess: Massport CEO candidates kept out of sight
A watchdog group says Massport is going beyond protecting the privacy of candidates to become its next CEO by keeping the public entirely in the dark about the direction of the search committee’s efforts, Rick Sobey reports at the Herald.
End of an era: North Attleboro bids adieu to town meeting
North Attleboro will become the latest Bay State community to say farewell to its form of government, after it holds the final gathering of its representative town meeting on Monday, Jim Hand reports at the Sun Chronicle. A charter change overwhelmingly approved by voters will replace the meeting with a town council starting with an election in June.
Sunday public affairs TV: Jim McGovern, Jeanne Shaheen and more
Keller at Large, WBZ-TV Channel 4, 8:30 a.m. This week’s guest: U.S. Rep Jim McGovern, who talks with Jon Keller about special counsel Robert Mueller’s comments this past week, impeachment talk, and the Democratic presidential race.
This Week in Business, NECN, 10 a.m. Andy Ellis, Akamai CSO on cybersecurity, Siobhan Dullea, MassChallenge CEO, and Caitlin Brumme, managing director of MassChallenge Boston, provide an update on the startup incubator; Janelle Nanos of the Boston Globe discusses Amazon’s recent moves in Boston and North Andover, the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station’s plan to shut down, and the future of sports betting in Massachusetts.
CEO Corner, NECN, 10: 30 a.m. This week: A look at what’s behind Boston’s booming legal profession, with Jon Albano, president of the Boston Bar Association, Meredith Ainbinder, past president of the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts, and Mark Young, Vox Actio counsel.
On The Record, WCVB-TV Channel 5, 11 a.m. This week’s guest: New Hampshire’s U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who talks with anchor Ed Harding and co-anchor Janet Wu, followed by a discussion with Democratic political analyst Mary Anne Marsh and Republican political analyst Rob Gray.
CityLine, WCVB-TV Channel 5, 12 p.m. With host Karen Holmes Ward, this week’s focus: Women of color in comedy.
NAIOP Bus Tour – The Science of Success: Today’s Development DNA
Jump on board the NAIOP Bus Tour to observe, identify and analyze some of the most exciting office, multifamily, lab and mixed-use developments in Waltham, Watertown, Newton and Needham!
Let’s have Breakfast with Mayor Marty Walsh
Join Mayor Marty Walsh in supporting Operation ABLE, which provides training and employment services for job seekers.
Pipeline Partnerships: Early Entry into Talent Development
Pipeline Partnerships: Early Entry into Talent Development. This event is an opportunity to learn about innovative ways businesses, schools and nonprofit partners are working together to educate and prepare a skilled future workforce. Featured Speaker is Rosalin Acosta, Massachusetts Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development.
MSDC Advocacy Day
Please join the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress (MDSC) in celebrating the lives of individuals with Down syndrome and learn about critical policies and funding that will help them to lead meaningful, fulfilling lives at the 6th annual MDSC Advocacy Day on Thursday, June 6 from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in front of the Grand Staircase in the Massachusetts State House.
Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress (MDSC)
Farming While Black
Join award-winning author, activist, farmer, and co-founder of @soulfirefarm Leah Penniman for a discussion of her new book “Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Guide to Liberation on the Land”. Penniman will share highlights from her book, followed by a Q&A and book signing. Food from @freshfoodgeneration is included courtesy of Boston Medical Center. All proceeds benefit @ufiboston.
Agrus Enterprise Training
This one day course is designed for new-to-intermediate users of ARGUS Enterprise or anyone who will be responsible for entering leases, budgets, market assumptions or valuation and yield parameters on a repetitive basis.
31st Annual Charitable Golf Tournament Benefiting Heading Home
Join us for NAIOP’s 31st Anniversary Golf Tournament at The International! If you haven’t played there yet, it is a golfer’s paradise that features two award-winning 18-hole golf courses, including The Pines, designed by Robert Trent Jones.
Launching Young Leaders: An Intensive Workshop
For CRE professionals with less than five years business experience.
Suffrage Centennial Kick-Off Celebration
Kicking off a year of commemorations celebrating 100 years since the 19th Amendment was adopted in 1920, enabling women to vote.
The Women’s Suffrage Celebration Coalition of Massachusetts and The Greater Boston Women’s Vote
Today’s Headlines
Metro
Uphams Corner library plan envisions upper-floor housing – Dorchester Reporter
Library fund requires close oversight, watchdog says – Boston Herald
Massachusetts
East Brookfield man indicted on charges of illegally flying helicopter from his backyard – MassLive
Newburyport school officials investigating Nazi salute complaint – Salem News
Northampton native Elaine Nicpon Marieb leaves $1 million to HCC – Daily Hampshire Gazette
Nation
Census citizenship question tied to GOP gerrymandering efforts, files reveal – New York Times
U.S. will slap 5 percent tariff on Mexico imports over migrant problem, Trump says – Washington Post
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