Keller at Large
Could the coronavirus crisis finally take down Proposition 2 ½?
In his latest Keller at Large on MassterList podcast, Jon Keller says the late Barbara Anderson, a fierce defender of the state’s landmark Proposition 2 ½ property-tax cap, would “surely be turning in her grave” if she heard all the talk lately of rolling back the anti-tax measure in Massachusetts .
Happening Today
Virtual budget meeting, grocery store protest, Markey and Fonda
— Ways and Means Committee chairs Rep. Aaron Michlewitz and Sen. Michael Rodrigues and Administration and Finance Secretary Michael Heffernan hold a ‘virtual roundtable’ with economic experts to try to get a handle on what the coronavirus pandemic will mean for the state budget, Room 428, 10 a.m.
— Grocery workers and customers from Boston plan to hold a protest outside a South End Whole Foods to demand ‘adequate protections’ for grocery workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, 348 Harrison Ave., Boston, 11 a.m.
— U.S. Sen. Ed Markey joins climate activist Jane Fonda to discuss the intersection of COVID-19 and the environment during a Facebook livestream, 12 p.m.
— The governing board of the Mass Cultural Council meets remotely to discuss a COVID-19 relief fund for artists and cultural educators, 1 p.m.
— In lieu of their regular monthly meeting, Gov. Charlie Baker and Treasurer Deb Goldberg plan to discuss by phone state financial matters amid the coronavirus crisis, 3:30 p.m.
For the most comprehensive listing of calendar items, check out State House News Service’s Daily Advances (pay wall – free trial subscriptions available), as well as MassterList’s Beacon Hill Town Square below.
Today’s Stories
Reminder to readers: SHNS Coronavirus Tracker available for free
A reminder to our readers as the coronavirus crisis unfolds: The paywalled State House News Service, which produces MASSterList, is making its full Coronavirus Tracker available to the community for free on a daily basis each morning via ML. SHNS Coronavirus Tracker.
The latest numbers: 29 new deaths, 260 total deaths, 13,837 cases
MassLive has the latest confirmed coronavirus numbers for Massachusetts, with Monday’s reported deaths up slightly from Sunday’s figure.
The surge: It sure looks like it’s already arrived in Boston
A three-reporter team at WBUR reports on an ominous sign that the coronavirus surge has already arrived in Boston, or at least the early stages of a surge, to wit: Boston Medical Center’s ICU unit temporarily reached capacity on Sunday, forcing the hospital to send patients to other facilities. So it looks like Dr. (and state Rep.) Jon Santiago was right: It’s gotten worse out there.
But exactly when a surge arrives — and its level of severity — is anyone’s guess at the point. Dates vary from expert to expert. From Hannah Uebele at WGBH: “Vanessa Kerry: Massachusetts’ Coronavirus Cases To Peak In ‘Next Couple Weeks.’ … It seems peak timing may vary from one region to the next. From MassLive’s Peter Goonan: “Peak in Western Massachusetts cases may come in May, Springfield hospital officials say.” … From CommonWealth’s Bruce Mohl: “Tyer rallies Pittsfield to ‘crush the curve.” … From the Herald’s Joe Dwinell: “Coronavirus guru: Massachusetts not out of ‘danger zone’ yet.”
And, finally, SHNS’s Colin Young (pay wall) reports that Gov. Charlie Baker says the state’s emergency actions of late may have indeed bent the curve a bit, but he’s cautioning against reading too much into the recent somewhat encouraging data.
Public Safety Secretary Turco tests positive for COVID-19
First the public health chief. Now this: SHNS’s Michael Norton reports that state Public Safety Secretary Thomas Turco has tested positive for COVID-19, as he announced Monday night, and is now working from home. They’re both frontline workers, too, and deserve credit for their sacrifices.
SHNS (pay wall — free trial subscription available)
‘No mask! No sale!’
With Mayor Marty Walsh’s recommendation on Sunday that people start wearing protective masks when venturing outside, it seems masks have become all the rage – and a requirement at one 7-Eleven store across the street from City Hall. The sign outside the store reads: “No mask! No sale!” Universal Hub and WCVB have more.
Meanwhile, the Herald has a slideshow on various protective-mask fashions, for lack of other words. Fyi: Our own protective masks include one winter scarf and three leftover masks from a home-repair project last summer.
Baker and Walsh: Going where no leaders have gone before
Both CommonWealth magazine and the Boston Globe have separate pieces this morning on how two leaders, Gov. Charlie Baker and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, are dealing with the coronavirus emergency. Baker’s view: You just need to play the hand dealt to you, as CommonWealth’s Bruce Mohl reports. Walsh’s view: “There’s no playbook for this,” as the Globe’s Danny McDonal reports.
Still waiting, Part II
The state is still waiting for assistance, guidance and other action from you-know-who. Sampling of some of today’s headlines on the shortage of supplies, delays in small business loans etc. etc. etc. From SHNS’s Chris Lisinski and Michael P. Norton (pay wall): “Delegation: Fed Ventilator Shipment ‘Grossly Insufficient.’ … From Benjamin Kail at MassLive: “Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey urge Small Business Administration, Treasury to speed up $349B loan program.” … From the Globe’s Janelle Nanos and Shirley Leung: “Small businesses are struggling with the coronavirus and the federal loan process/’It’s a damn mess,’ one Mass. co-owner said.”
And, finally, from the BBJ: “Mass. business outlook hits worst-ever drop.”
As homeless coronavirus cases mount, workers put finishing touches on planned BCEC field hospital
WBUR’s Lynn Jolicoeur reports on the ‘significant surge’ in the number of homeless people testing positive for COVID-19 – and, just in time, workers are finishing up the conversion of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center into an emergency care shelter, largely for homeless people and noncritical patients.
Definitely check out the BBJ’s photo slideshow accompanying Greg Ryan’s story on the new BCEC field hospital. Very impressive.
Boston University lays off 1,600 amid coronavirus
From Ron Chimelis at MassLive: “In a painful but unmistakable example of the coronavirus pandemic’s economic toll, Boston University has laid off 1,636 employees, state filings show. The layoffs were listed in the weekly Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act report through MassHire Department of Career Services. The layoffs were effective Friday, April 3.”
Meanwhile, is Pine Manor College the next victim of the coronavirus?
The coronavirus crisis has exacerbated the financial woes facing many small colleges around the region, particularly Chestnut Hill’s Pine Manor College, whose “future beyond this semester has grown increasingly bleaker,” reports the Globe’s Deirdre Fernandes.
DeLeo on budget: We’ll deal with everything one crisis at a time
As state budget writers virtually meet today to try to get a handle on state finances amid the coronavirus crisis (see our Happening Today calendar section above), House Speaker Robert DeLeo is ruling nothing in nor out when it comes to past, present and future budget priorities – and that means education, transportation and other spending items that were on the legislative table before the current public-health emergency. SHNS’s Matt Murphy has the details.
SHNS (pay wall — free trial subscription available)
Baker heaps praise on government workers as he downplays prospect of layoffs
SHNS’s Chris Van Buskirk (pay wall) reports that Gov. Charlie Baker is praising public workers for stepping up to the challenges of dealing with the coronavirus emergency – and he’s largely casting aside the idea of layoffs in the executive branch during the current all-hands-on-deck crisis.
For family of WWII veteran, Holyoke group home has become a ‘nightmare’
WBUR’s Mariam Wasser has a good story about how relatives of 99-year-old John MacKay, a veteran of World War II, are dealing with all the controversies at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home – and how MacKay is doing after being tested positive for COVID-19. The lack of information and communications have become a “nightmare” for relatives.
Meanwhile, the Globe’s Shelley Murphy and Meghan Sorenson report on how both adults and children are faring in groups homes in general around the state.
Fyi – Back to the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home tragedy, the Globe’s Joan Vennochi writes about Gov. Charlie Baker’s “perception vs. reality.” And from the Globe’s editorial board: “The investigator of the coronavirus tragedy at the veterans home should scrutinize the state’s history of oversight at the facility.”
Baker announces new COVID-19 relief fund for residents
From the BBJ’s Greg Ryan: “The Baker administration on Monday launched a new corporate- and foundation-backed fund that will support health care workers, the homeless and others in Massachusetts that have been especially affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The fund, called the Massachusetts COVID-19 Relief Fund, is already stocked with more than $13 million, drawing contributions from the likes of the One8 Foundation and Boston Foundation. It is open to donations from the general public.”
MassLive’s Steph Solis has more on the new fund announced yesterday by the governor and First Lady Lauren Baker.
Health care updates: Community health centers under strain, foreign-trained medical personnel stand ready, MGH tests ‘miracle’ treatment
Let’s go straight to the headlines. From CommonWealth magazine’s Sarah Betancourt: “Foreign-trained medical professionals waiting to help/Baker urged to grant provisional licenses to them.” … From WGBH’s Saraya Wintersmith: “Community Health Centers In Mass. Face Financial Strain.” … From the BBJ’s Jessica Bartlett: “How one Mass. hospital is solving a national shortage of coronavirus testing swabs.” … From MassLive: “Baker says COVID-19 testing sites to launch in Lowell, West Springfield.”
And, finally, from the Herald’s Alexi Cohan: “Massachusetts General Hospital among first to test nitric oxide on pandemic patients/Nitric oxide has been considered a miracle drug for helping oxygen-starved newborns.”
Union: Thousands of carpenters refused to work yesterday
From WBUR’s Callum Borhcers: “One of the state’s largest construction unions says almost all of its roughly 10,000 members are refusing to work, as of Monday. Massachusetts members of the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters are concerned about health and safety, as the coronavirus continues to spread, said Executive Secretary-Treasurer Tom Flynn.”
Meanwhile, from the Herald News: “Union carpenters suspend work on new Durfee High School over coronavirus concerns.”
Virtual consensus on Beacon Hill: How long can it last?
Things are virtually proceeding well among lawmakers on Beacon Hill, in more ways than one, as legislators pass relatively non-controversial measures to deal with the coronavirus emergency. But what happens when non-controversial bills, such as those calling for housing protections amid the crisis, arise? CommonWealth’s Shira Schoenberg explores the thorny issues of remote bill writing, remote lobbying, remote voting and remote consensus and non-consensus during these tense times.
Hodgson challenges Warren et gang to visit Bristol County jail, blasts ‘unsubstantiated’ allegations about facility’s conditions
Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson is unloading on members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegations for criticizing conditions at his Bristol County jail and the “insulting and outrageous suggestion” that officials aren’t testing immigrant detainees for COVID-19, reports the Herald’s Joe Dwinell and MassLive’s Steph Solis. The feisty sheriff is inviting lawmakers to see for themselves conditions at the facility
And the Masshole Company of the Week is … Boston Sports Clubs?
The majority of businesses have acted responsibly and honorably amid the coronavirus emergency. Then there’s the minority of companies who apparently feel they’re entitled not to suffer like others, such as, allegedly, Boston Sports Club, which is now being sued by members for continuing to collect monthly fees even though its fitness centers are closed, as the Globe’s Andrea Estes reports.
Lee Fierro, actress in ‘Jaws’ and long-time Martha’s Vineyard resident, dies of COVID-19 complications
From George Brennan at the Martha’s Vineyard Times: “Lee Fierro, famous for lifting her black veil and slapping Chief Brody across the face in ‘Jaws,’ has died, according to her friends on Martha’s Vineyard who remember her as the dedicated, vibrant matriarch of the Island’s robust theater scene. Fierro, 91, was living off-Island in Ohio at an assisted living facility where she died from complications of COVID-19.”
Thinking long-term: Will the coronavirus crisis permanently change – and expand – the social safety net?
CommonWealth magazine’s Michael Jonas has an intriguing piece this morning that explores whether the coronavirus crisis has forever changed (and expanded) the scope of the nation’s social safety-net programs – particularly the nation’s unemployment-insurance program and the more generous benefits recently approved by Congress.
Warren aide gets Schumer nod for coronavirus oversight board
Full circle. U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has tapped a former aide to Sen. Elizabeth Warren as his pick for the five-person board that will oversee the distribution of the $2 trillion economic rescue package, Jordan Carney reports via The Hill. Bharat Ramamurti, who most recently served as a senior adviser to Warren’s presidential campaign, will essentially be reprising the role Warren herself played in helping to oversee the economic bailout passed after the 2008 financial crisis.
Body of RFK’s granddaughter found
NBC News reports that the body of Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, the granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy who perished while canoeing with her son off the Chesapeake Bay, has been found. Authorities are still searching for her 8-year-old son, Gideon, who is presumed dead.
Tainted jury? Judge scrutinizes Correia docu-series
Another plot twist in Fall River. The federal judge overseeing the upcoming trial of former Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia says he wants to watch the ‘Run this City,’ docu-series released Monday to see if it could bias potential jurors, Jo C. Goode reports at the Herald-News. Judge Douglas Woodcock is also reviewing a Boston Magazine article on the same grounds. Correia’s trial itself, meanwhile, has been postponed until at least September.
Attention readers: Hosting your events online?
In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, large gatherings have been banned in Massachusetts. Because of this, more and more organizations are hosting events online. If you have one that you want to publicize, you can submit it to our Beacon Hill Town Square events page or email dart@massterlist.com.
ROAR Web Series with Josefina Bonilla and Special Guest Juan Carlos Morales
The ROAR Webinar Series with Josefina Bonilla and special guest Juan Carlos Morales, Managing Partner, Surfside Capital Advisors LLC, Tuesday, April 7, 2020 at 1:00 P.M. Join us as we discuss the emergence of new leadership styles in trying times.
Do Morals Matter?
Political scientist Joseph Nye, leader scholar of international relations considers the foreign policies of presidents from FDR to Trump to see which come up short in the morality polls.
Book Talk, Slavery and the Making of Early American Libraries
Join former Athenaeum New England Regional Fellowship recipient Sean D. Moore (2014-2015) as he shares the culmination of his studies of early American libraries and how these institutions stood at the nexus of two translatlantic branches of commerce–the book trade and the slave trade.
ROAR Web Series with Josefina Bonilla and Amelia Ceja
The ROAR Webinar Series with Josefina Bonilla and special guest Amelia Ceja, Founder, President & Executive Chef, Ceja Vineyards Winery, Wednesday, April 8, 2020 at 1:00 P.M. Join us as we discuss the emergence of new leadership styles in trying times.
ROAR Web Series with Josefina Bonilla and Special Guest Lisa Coleman, Ph.D.
The ROAR Webinar Series with Josefina Bonilla and special guest Lisa Coleman, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Global Inclusion and Strategic Innovation, New York University, Thursday, April 9, 2020 at 1:00 P.M. Join us as we discuss the emergence of new leadership styles in trying times.
ROAR Web Series with Josefina Bonilla and Special Guest Darla Pires DeGrace
The ROAR Webinar Series with Josefina Bonilla and special guest Darla Pires DeGrace, Diversity Equity Inclusion Strategist, Friday, April 10, 2020 at 1:00 P.M. Join us as we discuss the emergence of new leadership styles in trying times.
2020 Robert C. Wood Visiting Professor of Public and Urban Affairs Lecture featuring Christiana Figueres
Each year, the Robert C. Wood Professorship brings a distinguished public leader to campus for a lecture and conversation to engage students, faculty, and community members in discussions of public policy and public service. The McCormack Graduate School is pleased to announce Christiana Figueres as the 2020 Robert C. Wood Visiting Professor of Public and Urban Affairs.
Today’s Headlines
Metro
Historic Kenmore Square hotel closes–and won’t reopen – Universal Hub
Superintendent: Lynn schools might not reopen – Lynn Item
Massachusetts
Woman sought in Lysol assault on cashier at Walmart in Leicester – Telegram & Gazette
Lenox board weighs local virus aid options – Berkshire Eagle
Foxboro selectmen approve licenses for new esports facility in Patriot Place – Sun Chronicle
Nation
Auto insurance companies return $800 million in premiums because no one is driving – CNN
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