Happening Today
Compressor ruling, Carpenter funeral, immigration vigils
— Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Martin Suuberg’s final decision is expected today on whether to uphold an air-quality permit issued for a proposed Weymouth natural-gas compressor station.
— Sen. Edward Markey holds media availabilities after visiting the Welasco Border Patrol Station in Texas and two other Customs and Border Protection facilities in Texas, 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
— Public funeral services for the late Brockton Mayor Bill Carpenter, who died July 3 at the age of 62, are held, Brockton High School Auditorium, 470 Forest Ave., Brockton, 11 a.m.
— As the Trump administration vows to launch immigration raids this weekend, vigils across the state are planned for tonight, including one at the State House, another one in Framingham that Senate President Karen Spilka plans to attend, and a vigil in Salem that U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton plans to attend, all at 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
Immigration-raid Alert, Defcon 4
Even though Boston is not on the Trump administration’s immigration-raid list, the Herald’s Rick Sobey reports that local activists are nevertheless on full alert for deportation-related matters this weekend. Sobey also notes all the planned vigils around the nation this evening, including one apparently scheduled at the State House. Other vigils are scheduled to be held in Framingham and Salem (see Happening Today section above).
Btw, from Haley Johnson at MassLive: “’Welcoming city’ ordinance on immigration status passes in Easthampton.” And from Universal Hub: “Court stays federal effort to deport Dominican who sought asylum.”
Warren goes full progressive on immigration
As if on immigration-issue cue, from the Washington Post: “Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday called for remaking two of the country’s immigration enforcement agencies ‘from top to bottom’ and establishing independent immigration courts, and she reiterated her support for decriminalizing border crossings in a wide-ranging plan to overhaul the country’s immigration process. The plan puts Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat running for president, firmly on the liberal side of immigration debate.”
The NYT describes Warren’s plan as an “assertive push for liberal immigration priorities.” But Charles Stein, in a Globe opinion piece, thinks Democratic presidential candidates are making a huge political mistake on immigration: “As a group, the presidential hopefuls deserve an ‘A’ for compassion and an ‘F’ for political savvy.” He explains.
The Warren Watch: The latest poll, the Israeli ‘occupation,’ and single-payer pitfalls
There’s a lot of other Elizabeth Warren-related campaign news out there, so we’ll just wrap them all together here. From the AP at the Globe: “Biden keeps his lead as Warren gains ground in new NBC/WSJ poll.” From the Jewish Journal’s Steven Rosenberg: “Warren calls for end of ‘occupation’ of Palestinians.” And from the Globe’s Scot Lehigh: “Harris, Warren, and the single-payer pitfall.”
Fyi: The ‘occupation’ item could come back to really haunt Warren in a general election, if she ever wins the Dem nomination.
Is Booker trying to pull a Bush-to-Boston campaign stunt?
Universal Hub’s Adam Gaffin reports that U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, a Democratic candidate for president, was planning to hold a press conference in Boston (it’s not clear when and where) about the recent 17 shootings in the city. Gaffin’s initial assignment-editor instinct: “If this guy wants to make like it’s 1988 and he’s George Bush using Boston Harbor as a campaign prop, the UHub Action Mobile News Unit has better things to do.”
Moulton to Dems: Voters already know Trump is an ‘asshole’, so cut the moral crusading
U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, who’s trying to get traction in his Democratic bid for president, didn’t hold back during an editorial sit-down about what sees as a faulty party strategy for dislodging Donald Trump from office, Zach Montellaro at Politco reports. Moulton said his party is at risk of running a losing “moral crusade” against the president and are wrong to think that Trump’s supporters will turn on him if they are just told the truth. “Trump voters are not idiots,” Moulton said. “We don’t need to give America a moral education; they know that he’s an asshole. They get it. They’ve just baked that in.”
All Quiet on the Pelosi-Pressley Front (for now)
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley was trying to get back to work yesterday, i.e. focusing on non-Nancy Pelosi-related matters. The Herald’s Hilary Chabot writes that Pressley should also use the down time to reflect on her true priorities.
But the simmering feud between House Speaker Pelosi and the “squad” (i.e. Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez et gang) may boil over again at any point, it appears. The Washington Post reports on growing anger within the Democrat House Caucus at the ‘squad,’ with African-American lawmakers upset in particular with AOC’s outspoken chief of staff. The Herald’s Lisa Kashinsky has more on the intraparty infighting.
Help wanted: Progressive candidate to challenge Bill Keating
Speaking of Democrats devouring their own, Stephen Kinzer writes at the Globe that he’s desperately searching for a progressive candidate to challenge U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, portrayed as an evil moderate-liberal Democrat bent on war and climate doom. Kinzer even has a handy-dandy “urgently needed” ad at the ready.
Take that, Liss-Riordan: Markey campaign raises $1 million since April
And speaking of Dems trying to avoid being devoured, from the Globe’s Aidan Ryan: “US Senator Edward J. Markey has raised about $1 million since April for his 2020 reelection, according to his campaign. Spokeswoman Giselle Barry said this week that the Malden Democrat will report more than $4 million in cash on hand in his second-quarter fund-raising. Markey’s primary challenger, Shannon Liss-Riordan, said ealier this week that she loaned her campaign $1 million and raised just under $145,000 in the second quarter.”
Fitting farewell: Crowds turn out to pay respects to late Brockton mayor
They waited in the heat for a chance to say goodbye to the man one mourner called the best mayor Brockton has ever had. Marc Larocque of the Enterprise reports a diverse crowd of residents and politicians –including Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito — were among those who turned out for a chance to pay their respects as late Mayor Bill Carpenter lay in state inside City Hall on Thursday. Another big crowd is expected this morning when a public funeral service is held in Brockton.
Are offshore wind prices almost too low?
As Vineyard Wind officials grapple with the feds over release of a key environmental-impact report (CommonWealth), one of the state’s most powerful lobbying groups, the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, is reversing itself and calling on the Baker administration to modify a plan that calls for ever-lower bid prices for future offshore wind farms.
The reason? Current prices are so unexpectedly low that AIM fears other wind operators might hesitate jumping into the local offshore wind market, reports Bruce Mohl at CommonWealth. Bottom line: It’s kind of a nice problem to have, isn’t it?
EMT stabbing suspect questioned about airport bomb threats, including Martha’s Vineyard Airport
From the Herald’s Taylor Pettaway: “An East Boston woman accused of stabbing an EMT seven times was questioned by members of the state’s Joint Terrorism Task Force a day before the attack for a possible link to hoax bomb threats called into airports, including Martha’s Vineyard Airport, authorities said. Julie Tejeda, 31, was ordered held without bail Thursday while undergoing a mental health evaluation. She is due back in court July 31.”
Fyi: EMTs turned out en force yesterday for Tejeda’s arraignment, reports Steve Brown at WBUR.
Confirmed: West Nile virus is back In Massachusetts
From the Associated Press: “State health officials say the mosquito-borne West Nile virus has officially returned to Massachusetts. The Department of Public Health announced Thursday that West Nile was detected in mosquitoes collected in Boston last week, the first positive sample of the year in the state. No human cases have been reported so far.”
Rollins on criticism: ‘It’s very easy to Monday morning quarterback’
Courtney Kennedy at WGBH reports that Suffolk DA Rachael Rollins is brushing off the latest criticism of her ‘do not prosecute’ policies, saying she’s sticking to her reform plans (with some flexibility) and ignoring the “Monday morning quarterbacks.”
To ride or not to ride the Red Line? That is the question
The Globe has a fun pair of columns this morning that try to answer the eternal question: To ride or not to ride the Red Line? From the Globe’s Larry Edelman: “I’m mad as hell, but I won’t ditch the T.” From the Globe’s Shirley Leung: “Confessions of a Red Line defector.” It seems a lot of Red Line commuters, by default, are reluctantly with Edelman on this one, via the Herald: “Red Line commuters say T can’t handle double its current capacity.”
Human flexposts demand non-human flexposts along DCR bike lines
Speaking of transportation-related issues, from Universal Hub: “Some 100 area bicyclists took up positions as flexposts on the Fenway (Thursday) to call for more permanent plastic sticks to better protect people riding in the bike lanes along DCR roads – and to do something about the intersection where a bicyclist after being hit by a cement truck at the intersection with Brookline Avenue.”
Senate urges DEP to rescind state’s Weymouth compressor permit
With a key permit decision expected today (see our Happening Today section above), the timing of this is quite interesting. From SHNS’s Chris Lisinki: “Nearly three-quarters of the Senate penned a letter Thursday urging the Department of Environmental Protection commissioner to rescind approval for a controversial natural gas compressor station in Weymouth, a significant escalation from what had been mostly staunch local opposition.”
SHNS (pay wall — free trial subscription available)
More on Epstein’s pathetic attempt to portray himself as a true ‘Harvard man’
He didn’t go to Harvard, but he sure wanted to be associated with Harvard. The Globe’s Zoe Greenberg has more on accused sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein’s donation of millions of dollars to various Harvard causes and groups, as he tried to bill himself as a true “Harvard man,” “Harvard mogul,” and “renowned science and Harvard investor.”
WBUR’s Max Larkin was digging into Epstein’s Harvard connections the other day.
Full-scale legislative scrum breaks out over Provost’s body-camera bill
State Rep. Denise Provost’s proposal to develop a statewide code for the use of police body cameras — and to exempt their footage from public records laws – is generating all sorts of pro-and-con debate at the State House, involving the Massachusetts Bar Association, Boston and State Police, the Secretary of State’s office, etc. And the battle lines are not as predictable as you might think. SHNS’s Katie Lannan (pay wall) has the details.
Btw, this is an odd one, via Dan Glaun at MassLive: “Couple conducting citizen ‘audit’ of Massachusetts police departments arrested after filming crime victim, calling female sergeant ‘whore.’”
Technically, it’s a mystery: New Bedford city computers down a week amid ransomware fears
It might be time to start worrying. A yet-unexplained outage of some city computers in New Bedford is now a week old and Jenette Barnes at the Standard-Times reports it now includes computers at the fire department. Officials emphasized the department’s 911 and dispatch systems are still working but some city councilors are calling on Mayor Jon Mitchell’s office to release more public information about the outages, including whether the city was the target of a ransomware attack.
Rising rents: They hurt everyone, but some more than others
WGBH’s Isaiah Thompson takes a deep dive into local real-estate data to find some fascinating housing market trends in Massachusetts, particularly how it’s so much harder for lower-income renters to make ends meet even in supposedly less expensive cities such as Springfield, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn and Brockton.
Get out: Settlement with AG forces for-profit college to leave Massachusetts
From Jeanette DeForge at MassLive: “A for-profit two-year career training school has agreed to waive $1.6 million in student debt and stop enrolling all Massachusetts students by the end of the year. The Premier Education Group, of Pennsylvania, entered into a settlement agreement with Attorney General Maura Healey after being accused of failing to provide students with information on job placement, loan repayment and graduation rates, as required by state law.”
Boston Market to close its last remaining Boston locations
We didn’t know there were any stores left to close. Anyway, from Kristin LaFratta at MassLive: “Boston Market, the chain restaurant known for its ‘home-style’ offerings of rotisserie chicken, roasted turkey and meatloaf, has closed 45 locations across the country — including its last two restaurants in the city for which it is named.”
Digging in: Worcester officially breaks ground on Polar Park
Worcester, you’re on the clock. The city and the Pawtucket Red Sox officially broke ground on Polar Park, which will host the Triple-A affiliate’s games starting in 2021, kicking off a race against the calendar for the transformative project. PawSox President Larry Lucchino seemed to be tamping down expectations a bit, Melissa Hanson of MassLive reports, promising not “another eighth wonder of the world” but a “nice little ballpark.” But Cyrus Moulton at the Telegram reports City Manager Ed Augustus considers the event a major turning point for the community.
Sunday public affairs TV: Glen Johnson, Deb Goldberg and more
Keller at Large, WBZ-TV Channel 4, 8:30 a.m. This week’s guest: Glen Johnson, former staffer for Secretary of State John Kerry and former Globe reporter, who talks with Jon Keller about his new book, “Window Seat on the World: My Travels With the Secretary of State.”
This Week in Business, NECN, 10 a.m. Boston Business Journal real estate editor Catherine Carlock and Boston Globe business reporter Jon Chesto talk about some of the top business stories of the week, including calls for equal pay for the US women’s national soccer team, the latest on the MBTA, and the groundbreaking for Polar Park in Worcester.
CEO Corner, NECN, 10:30 a.m. The business of diamond jewelry with Caryl Capeci of Hearts on Fire.
On The Record, WCVB-TV Channel 5, 11 a.m. This week’s guest: State Treasurer Deb Goldberg, who talks with hosts Ed Harding and Janet Wu, followed by a discussion with Boston Globe columnist Adrian Walker and Republican political analyst Patrick Griffin.
This is New England, NBC Boston, Channel 10, 11:30 a.m. With host Latoyia Edwards, this week the show looks at how NBC10 Boston, Telemundo Boston & NECN are collecting much needed school supplies for underprivileged students and schools across New England.
CityLine, WCVB-TV Channel 5, 12 p.m. With host Karen Holmes Ward, this week’s topic: Summer Cooking Show.
Boston Unity Cup
Join us to honor and celebrate the immigrant communities of Boston. Boston Unity Cup is citywide World Cup style adult soccer tournament designed to bring together Boston’s diverse and immigrant communities around the shared passion for sport. There are 21 nations represented across the men’s and women’s tournaments. This event is powered by the City of Boston and Mayor Walsh.
CMO Breakfast with Massachusetts General Hospital
Register for a CMO Breakfast with Misty Hathaway, the Chief Marketing Officer of MGH.
RCV Lobby Day
Join us July 16 as we gather with other electoral reform advocates and meet at the State House with legislators and representatives from across the state, urging them to support RCV! Hear from our expert speakers, then meet with your own representatives and tell them that you want RCV in MA!
Evaluating Creative: How to Get the Best from Your Creative Team- Professional Development
This full day workshop will focus on best practices for evaluating creative; why, when and how to evaluate creative work (and how not to!), comparing work against your brief, asking the right questions, giving productive feedback, and understanding and valuing team members roles.
Today’s Headlines
Metro
Tishman Speyer makes another big Southie buy – Boston Business Journal
Wynn offers investors a glimpse of Everett’s development potential – Boston Globe
Massachusetts
Springfield seeks proposals for police body cameras – MassLive
Berkshire Mall sells for $1 million after new player clears tax debt – Berkshire Eagle
Death notice served to movie night at Worcester cemetery – Telegram & Gazette
Nation
A Midsummer Overview Of The Democratic Field – Five Thirty Eight
Amazon’s latest experiment? Retraining 100,000 employees – New York Times
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