Happening Today
Baker in London, Governor’s Council, Democratic debate
— Gov. Charlie Baker and his wife Lauren head to London, where the governor will deliver the keynote address at the 2019 RenewableUK Global Offshore Wind Conference and later attends a Home Base International Thought Leader Summit on the Invisible Wounds reception.
— Domestic violence survivors hold a day of action advocating for the Safe Communities Act, with a press conference followed by meetings with legislators, House Members Lounge, 11 a.m.
— MASSPIRG, Toxics Action Center and Conservation Law Foundation announce a zero-waste campaign they say is ‘aimed at deepening Governor Baker’s commitment to waste reduction,’ Marina at the Wharf, 543 N. Shore Rd., Revere, 11 a.m.
— Governor’s Council holds its weekly assembly with a vote possible on Gov. Charlie Baker’s controversial nomination of Karen McCarthy to the Parole Board, Council Chamber, 12 p.m.
— Attorney General Maura Healey, Sen. Sal DiDomenico and others hold a press conference to release a new report ‘detailing state-level protections of workers’ rights in an era of lax retreating federal enforcement on misclassification,’ Room 222, 1:30 p.m.
— Ten of the Democratic candidates seeking the 2020 presidential nomination, including U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, will take the stage for the first of two nights of Democratic debates, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd, Miami, Florida, 9 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
RMV director resigns over crash that killed 7 motorcyclists
From Jeanette DeForge at MassLive: “The head of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles has resigned over a procedural error that allowed the West Springfield truck driver who allegedly killed seven motorcyclists in a New Hampshire crash to continue driving even after being arrested on a drunken driving charge in Connecticut.”
The Globe’s John Hilliard has more on Erin Deveney’s resignation. And, btw, it wasn’t just a drunk driving charge against the truck driver. From the Herald: “Man accused of killing bikers flipped 18-wheeler in Texas weeks ago.” From the story: “The same Texas department also reported finding a crack pipe in Volodymyr Zhukovskyy’s pocket a few months earlier when he was ‘talking to himself and acting strange’ at Denny’s.” And his employer, Westfield Transport, still allowed him behind the wheel, as the Herald notes.
Baker files $50M emergency T repair bill, but DeLeo says it’s not enough
SHNS’s Matt Murphy reports that Gov. Charlie Baker, thrown on the defensive by recent train derailments at the T, yesterday filed legislation that would make $50 million available to the T to hire additional engineers, inspectors, consultants and bus drivers to, among other things, shuttle passengers during expected night and weekend closures needed to repair the Red Line signal system.
Andy Metzger at CommonWealth magazine reports that House Speaker Robert DeLeo says he’ll work with the governor on the bill, but DeLeo emphasized that $50 million ultimately isn’t enough to fix what’s wrong at the T, which he said is “in crisis.” DeLeo indicated further action could come this fall.
SHNS (pay wall — free trial subscription available)
As governor heads to London, the fate of his parole-board nominee hangs in the balance
Speaking of the governor, he’s off to London today for an offshore wind conference – the same day that the Governor’s Council is expected to vote on Baker’s controversial nomination of Springfield prosecutor Karen McCarthy to the state parole board – and the big question is if Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito will, or can, cast a deciding vote if the council is deadlocked. SHNS’s Matt Murphy (pay wall) has the details.
DPU approves Quebec hydropower contracts over objections by Healey and others
From Bruce Mohl at CommonWealth magazine: “The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities on Tuesday approved massive hydro-electricity contracts between the state’s three utilities and Hydro-Quebec, rejecting arguments from a broad range of skeptics questioning the environmental benefits of the deal.”
The skeptics include Attorney General Maura Healey and officials at the New England Power Generators Association, who are concerned that the contract doesn’t guarantee that electricity delivered to Massachusetts represents net new power, not power diverted from elsewhere, Mohl writes.
Spotlight on Warren: Can she meet tonight’s high expectations?
The Globe’s Jess Bidgood reports on tonight’s first major presidential debate that will include U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. With 10 candidates on stage, the “event will probably feel like speed-dating,” with each Democrat given only 60 seconds to answer questions, Bidgood notes.
The Herald’s Joe Battenfeld writes that Warren, whose debating prowess has been touted in pre-debate pieces in the Globe and NYT, is the “clear star of the first Democratic debate and needs to dominate the weak field surrounding her, or her rising campaign could stall.” The Herald’s Lisa Kashinsky reports that U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, who failed to make the debate cut, will still be visible tonight, acting as a commentator on NBC News and running some campaign TV spots during the evening.
Cumberland Farms sues six communities over flavored tobacco bans
Here comes the pushback. Convenience store chain Cumberland Farms is suing a half-dozen Bay State communities over their decisions to ban the sale of flavored tobacco and vaping products, Zachary Comeau reports at the Worcester Business Journal. The Westboro-based company filed lawsuits against Framingham, Barnstable, Sharon, Billerica, Walpole and Somerville, saying their bans are discriminatory because they allow the same products to continue to be sold in specialty smoke shops.
Instant power broker: Partners names Anne Klibanski as its new CEO
Partners HealthCare yesterday announced that Dr. Dr. Anne Klibanski, currently interim CEO of the state’s largest hospital network, as its permanent chief executive, reports the Globe’s Priyanka Dayal McCluskey and the BBJ’s Jessica Bartlett. She becomes the first-ever female chief of Partners – and she also instantly becomes a major power broker in Massachusetts. We’d rank her right up there with Fidelity’s Abigail Johnson as easily one of the most influential business leaders in Massachusetts.
Treason? Cambridge council votes to remove state flag from chamber
Adam Sennott at Wicked Local reports that the Cambridge City Council has voted to remove the state’s flag from its chambers, asserting its motto and imagery are insulting to Native Americans. What? A swinging sword aimed at the head of an Indian is somehow insulting?
Meanwhile, activists urge ban on school mascots portraying Native Americans
Speaking of Native American imagery, North Quincy High School’s Yacoo and other school mascots depicting Native Americans would be outlawed under legislation now pending on Beacon Hill. Mary Whitfill at Wicked Local reports on a legislative hearing yesterday on the bill – and how Native American groups and others urged lawmakers to pass the ban in order to halt what they called insulting portrayals that reinforce stereotypes of Native Americans.
Wayfair employees plan walkout over firm’s sale of beds to border-camp operator
The BBJ’s Lucia Maffel (pay wall) and the Globe’s Janelle Nanos report that workers at Wayfair, the online furniture retailer, plan a walkout today in protest of the company’s sale of beds and other items to contractors furnishing detention centers along the Mexican border.
Btw: The Wayfair action seems to be at odds with the U.S. House’s approval yesterday of a $4.5 billion border-aid package to care for thousands of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. But it’s not at odds with U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who was one of only four Democrats to vote against the measure, reports the Globe’s Peter Bailey-Wells.
Marijuana, 101: Clark University to offer graduate certificate in marijuana regulation
Worcester’s Clark University is planning to launch a “first-in-the-nation” graduate certificate in regulatory affairs for marijuana to provide enough workers to help oversee the fast-growing pot industry in Massachusetts and across the nation, reports Hadley Johnson at MassLive.
Cambridge councilors want minorities and poor to have first dibs on new pot shops
Speaking of marijuana, from the Herald’s Jonathan Ng: “Two Cambridge lawmakers are pushing a social justice pot plan that would bar anyone who isn’t an ‘economic empowerment’ or ‘social equity’ applicant from opening a recreational marijuana shop in their city for the next two years. The proposed amendment to a Cambridge city ordinance is drawing fire from the city’s existing medical pot shops — which say they need the recreational income to subsidize medical patients — as well as from Mayor Marc McGovern.”
Hemp growers sound alarm over state’s new CBD rules
Still on subject of pot (sort of), SHNS’s Colin Young reports on how hemp farmers are alarmed about new Department of Agricultural Resources rules that effectively outlaw the sale of food products containing cannabidiol (CBD) and any products containing CBD that makes therapeutic or dietary claims, etc. Farmers say the rules could kill the local hemp-growing business before it even starts.
SHNS (pay wall — free trial subscription available)
Is Oregon’s new rent-control law the way to go in Massachusetts?
Phillip Martin at WGBH reports on recent calls to bring back rent control in Massachusetts. The usual arguments for and against are ushered out. But what we found interesting is the willingness of Douglas Quattrochi, a Worcester landlord and executive director of the Massachusetts Landlords Association, to at least talk about rent-control in the context of what’s happening in Oregon, where a new statewide rent-control law apparently allows landlords to raise rents by up to 8 percent a year, which represents a “perfectly fair operating return” for property owners, Quattrochi says.
‘The day Fox News was on the TV in my gym’
Jeff Jacoby has one of the most-read pieces at the Globe this morning – and rightly so. It’s about his recent interaction (we can’t quite call it an altercation) with a fuming health-club member upset at the audacity of running Fox News on one of eight TVs in a Brookline gym. It’s a sign of the times – and Jeff says it’s thus time to “tune out the strident voices on the left and right” and switch to non-news channels in gyms. His recommendation: The Food Network.
Juggling act: Correia gets February trial date as grand jury continues work
His calendar is filling up fast. Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia is now slated to go on trial in February for federal fraud charges, meaning he’ll be running the city, prepping a re-election campaign for November and readying for his moment in court all at the same time, Jo C. Goode reports at the Herald-News. Correia’s attorney says the workload won’t be a problem for his client–whom he dubbed the ‘robo-mayor’– but Goode also reports that the grand jury that indicted him fall appears to be continuing its work, suggesting more charges may be possible.
One day (or more) in the life of Ayanna Pressley
David Bernstein at Boston Magazine interviews U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley about her new life in Washington D.C. as a freshman member of Congress. No breaking news. Just a lot interesting details about her dorm-like housing, 16-hour workdays, homesickness, etc. It’s not an easy life shuttling between Boston and D.C.
Slowdowns expected as Vineyard bus drivers prepare for strike
Good timing. Just days after the official start of summer and with the July Fourth holiday looming, drivers who work for the Martha’s Vineyard Transit Authority have voted to go on strike starting Friday, Lucas Thor reports in the Martha’s Vineyard Times. Union officials say talks have completely broken down, while the transit authority says it will be able to provide service — albeit possibly delayed — with temporary and seasonal drivers who are not union members.
Co-Creating Our Future: Examining Environmental Justice in Boston
Are you interested in learning more about, and contributing to, strategic work around environmental justice being done by Boston’s public, private, and nonprofit leaders? Impact Hub Boston invites you to join us for a look at Environmental Justice in Boston.
Cambridge Crossing Street Unveiling Ceremony
Join DivcoWest, Mayor Marc McGovern and other distinguished guests to celebrate the ceremonial unveiling of Jacobs Street and Morgan Avenue at Cambridge Crossing. The new street names will not only improve wayfinding in the area, they pay homage to Harriet A. Jacobs and Gertrude Wright Morgan, prominent African-American women with ties to the City who were involved in the suffrage movement.
Is anyone listening? How PR Pros Respond to Reporters & Build Relationships
Learn how to become a source for the media and solidify relationships. What are reporters going through in the current media environment and how PR pros can help them succeed.
The Ethics of Public Memory: Professional Development for Educators
In this half-day professional development workshop, explore a unique way to teach about the Civil War, racism, and slavery while considering how perception and public memory evolves over time. Learn from teachers who have used the curriculum and plan a student-centered civic project to reimagine a memorial or monument.
Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate
Queer Academics & Activism – reception
Friday – June 28 at 10 a.m. Brandeis University hosts a free reception at the Mandel Center for Humanities to celebrate the work of teens attending the first in the nation offering of Queer Academics & Activism. The teens will be joined by college staff, course faculty and Brandeis supporters. All welcome.
Greater Mattapan Meeting with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley
Congresswoman Pressley is excited to partner with the Greater Mattapan Neighborhood Council in hosting an event geared towards directly listening to and engaging with Mattapan residents.
Massachusetts Young Republican Biennial Convention
Join the Massachusetts Young Republicans as we host our biennial convention!
Massachusetts Federation of Young Republicans
Today’s Headlines
Metro
BPD, councilors consider solutions to summertime violence amid ‘spike’ – Boston Herald
Officers who shot, killed man were not wearing body cameras – Boston Globe
Massachusetts
Sen. Gobi seeks compromise on lifting Sunday hunting ban – Telegram & Gazette
Commuters say backups at I-90/495 interchange frustrating, eager for upgrades – MetroWest Daily News
House passes $5 million to design new Cape bridges – Cape Cod Times
Nation
Mueller to testify before Congress on probe – Washington Post
Illinois becomes the 11th state to legalize marijuana – Chicago Tribune
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