Happening Today
Senate police reforms debate, remembering overdose victims, SJC hears Brady appeal
— U.S. Rep. Jospeh Kennedy continues his ‘Jobs and Justice Tour’ with stops in Gloucester and New Bedford and an event in Quincy with former U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt, starting at 9 a.m.
— The Massachusetts Senate holds another formal session to revisit policing reforms legislations, Senate Chamber, 10 a.m.
— A Massachusetts-based organization made up of parents who have lost a child to an opioid overdose holds a protest outside the State House after Gov. Baker’s office reportedly told the group that the governor is ‘unable to lower the flag’ to half-staff in memory of the thousands who have died of overdoses, outside the State House, 10 a.m.
— The Supreme Judicial Court hears oral arguments in an appeal that Republican congressional candidate Helen Brady has filed against the State Ballot Law Commission over her being tossed off the ballot due to an electronic-signatures gathering dispute, 2 p.m.
— U.S. Sen. Ed Markey joins Rep. Joseph McGonagle, Latinos Unidos en Massachusetts (LUMA) executive director Lucy Pineda, and Everett School Committee Member Marcony Almeida-Barros to distribute meals at the LUMA food pantry, Everett, 2:30 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 coronavirus numbers: 25 new deaths, 8,053 total deaths, 177 new cases
WCVB has the latest coronavirus numbers for Massachusetts.
Survey: Only 57 percent would get COVID-19 vaccine if available
It may not be the most important news of the morning, but we nevertheless find it the most startling news of the morning, i.e. a new Tufts University survey that finds only 57 percent of Americans would seek a COVID-19 vaccination if one were to become available soon. SHNS’s Colin Young has the jaw-dropping Tufts survey results.
SHNS (pay wall — free trial subscription available)
‘Superspreader in Chief’
The Globe’s Zoe Greenberg and Steve Annear and the Herald’s Lisa Kashinsky report on growing nervousness in Portsmouth, N.H. about President Trump’s campaign rally tomorrow at the city’s airport – and growing calls for rally-goers to wear protective pandemic masks.
The Globe’s Kevin Cullen thinks New Hampshire residents should at least be thankful that they have one of three Republican governors in New England who has ignored Trump’s pandemic advice in the past. Meanwhile, the Herald’s Howie Carr, ever the Trump booster, yesterday snagged an interview with the president, touching on all the GOP red-meat issues that Trump plans to emphasize tomorrow.
Harvard doctor: If schools follow Trump’s reopening advice, they’ll be closed by October
As President Trump blasts the CDC guidelines for reopening schools, Mark Gartsbeyn at Boston.com reports that Dr. Ashish Jha, head of the Harvard Global Health Institute, is predicting schools will be closed by Columbus Day if Trump gets his way.
Meanwhile, from the Globe’s Scot Lehigh: “Parents, the president knows what’s best for your kids.” And speaking of school reopenings, the Globe’s Jenna Russell reports Boston Public Schools are still grappling with reopening protocols, but one thing is clear: Six-foot distancing measures will be included, not three feet, as state guidelines suggest.
Hotel Northeastern?
Do they come with room service? From Universal Hub’s Adam Gaffin: “Northeastern University says it hopes to take over the entire Midtown Hotel and to lease floors in the Westin Copley Place to serve as dorms after eliminating on-campus triples and similar spaces and setting aside 500 campus rooms to quarantine any students who contract Covid-19.”
Senate police-reform bill stalls amid objections from GOP and police unions
SHNS’s Matt Murphy and Michael Norton (pay wall) report that the Senate’s sweeping police-reform bill stalled yesterday after a Republican senator objected that lawmakers were rushing to pass the reforms without public hearings. The Herald’s Erin Tiernan, meanwhile, reports that police unions are objecting to the “bill’s bid to end qualified immunity and allow officers to be held personally liable for misconduct on the job.”
The Senate is expected to resume debate on the bill today.
State Police OT scandal update: One trooper fired, five facing termination
Speaking of police, it’s the old evening news-release dump, not to be confused with the late-Friday news-release dump. From MassLive’s Steph Solis: “One Massachusetts State Trooper was fired and five others face termination proceedings as part of the Massachusetts State Police’s enforcement actions against those implicated in the agency’s overtime abuse scandal. In total, 22 members who were in the now-disbanded Troop E received disciplinary orders after fraud charges were sustained, according to a news release from the department Thursday night.”
Say cheese: Springfield to require all officers to wear body cams after harsh report
One more police-related item: Springfield Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood says she will issue body cams to all city officers — including those who work in plainclothes and in the controversial narcotics unit that the Department of Justice slammed on Wednesday for its regular use of excessive force, reports Stephanie Barry at MassLive.
Commissioner put on leave after KKK-robe and Nazi salute disclosures
There’s apparently no statute of limitations for this level of college stupidity. From the Globe’s Matt Stout: “The Baker administration on Thursday placed the state’s chief advocate for the deaf on administrative leave amid allegations he told staff members he wore robes resembling Ku Klux Klan garb and made apparent Nazi salutes while he was a member of a controversial college fraternity three decades ago.”
Legal Rumble, Part II: Rollins and DAs continue to spar over teen-killer sentencing rules
Suffolk DA Rachael Rollins and four district attorneys continued to trade barbs yesterday in their escalating feud over parole-sentencing rules tied to a teen-killer case in Boston. Rollins tells the Globe’s Shelley Murphy and John Ellement that the attempt by the four DAs, all males, to intervene in the case is “nothing more than a misogynistic wolf in sheep’s clothing.” But Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz says the DAs have a “right to be heard” since the case has statewide implications, reports the Herald’s Rick Sobey.
Baker poised to leave his stamp on the SJC. But what stamp?
With Justice Barbara A. Lenk set to retire next month from the Supreme Judicial Court, Gov. Charlie Baker will have the opportunity to further reshape the state’s highest court by making his sixth nomination to the bench since he became governor. But Baker is under pressure to “meet the moment” by appointing someone other than a former prosecutor and someone who might be more sympathetic to calls for criminal-justice reforms, reports the Globe’s Matt Stout.
‘This is not my moment’: Lone white candidate drops out of Boston legislative race
Cam Charbonnier, a longtime aide for Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, has decided to drop out of the race for the 12th Suffolk House, an overwhelmingly Black district, saying “inspiring” current events mean “this is not my moment” as the lone white candidate in the contest. The Herald’s Rick Sobey has more.
Man cited for driving pickup truck through crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters
From the AP at Boston.com: “Police in the Boston suburb of Newton have cited a man for driving his pickup truck through a group of young Black Lives Matter demonstrators. The man, identified only as a 55-year-old Needham resident, was cited for operating a motor vehicle so as to endanger and failure to use care when starting a motor vehicle, police said.”
Not for sale: Globe’s Henry responds to rumors paper is on the block
She’s looking to squelch the rumors. Boston Globe Managing Director Linda Henry tells Dan Kennedy of Media Nation that the newspaper is definitely not for sale. The question apparently arose during a newsroom confab on Thursday and Henry told Kennedy what she told her employees: “The Globe is not for sale.”
Deja vu, yet again: Salem inclusionary bylaw fails by a single vote
It’s still a no. The Salem City Council once again fell a single vote short of the two-thirds supermajority needed to adopt an inclusionary zoning bylaw that would require affordable housing units be built in conjunction with all major building projects, reports Dustin Luca at the Salem News.
By contrast, housing advocates got a win all the way across the state in Greenfield, where Anita Fritz at the Recorder reports accessory dwelling units can now be built “by right” after the City Council amended an earlier, rarely used ordinance that required a special permit.
Regulators fine pot companies for using pesticides – and trying to hide it
The Cannabis Control Commission yesterday cracked down on state pot companies for illegally using pesticides on their weed, issuing six-digit fines on two of the firms, reports CommonWealth’s Shira Schoenberg and MassLive’s Melissa Hanson.
In other CCC news, SHNS’s Colin A. Young (pay wall) reports that regulators have decided against recommending a new way of taxing pot (via weight or potency), concluding it just isn’t worth the hassle, even though it might raise modest additional revenues.
Coronavirus … EEE … now West Nile virus
WCVB reports that West Nile virus has been found in two mosquito samples in the town of Belmont, the first positive tests of the virus this summer. SHNS’s Colin Young (pay wall) reports the Belmont news comes as lawmakers move to pass legislation giving the executive branch new powers to run a statewide mosquito control response.
Kennedy seeks clarification on whether state can use fed funds for vote-by-mail law
From SHNS’s Chris Van Buskirk: “U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III is calling on federal elections commission officials to provide an urgent clarification as the state’s top election official butts head with voting rights advocacy groups over the permissible use of federal funds to send out vote-by-mail applications.
SHNS (pay wall — free trial subscription available)
Sunday public affairs TV: Charlie Baker, Segun Idowu, Stephen Lynch
Keller at Large, WBZ-TV Channel 4, 8:30 a.m. This week’s guest: Gov. Charlie Baker, who talks with host Jon Keller about his handling of the reopening, police reforms and presidential politics.
This Week in Business, NECN, 10 a.m. Segun Idowu, executive director of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, talks about creating economic equity in Massachusetts; Able Services New England division manager Stephanie Barnes on the challenges janitorial service companies are facing during the pandemic; and Shirley Leung of the Globe reviews the top local business stories of the week.
On The Record, WCVB-TV Channel 5. 11 a.m. This week’s guest: U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, who talks with hosts Ed Harding and Janet Wu, followed by a political roundtable discussion with Boston Globe columnist Adrian Walker and political analyst Virginia Buckingham.
CityLine, WCVB-TV Channel 5, 12 p.m. With host Karen Holmes Ward, this week’s topic: Making Changes, with guests including Cheryl Clyburn Crawford, executive director of MassVOTE, and Ivan Espinoza, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights.
Team Sharing Overdose Awareness Protest
A Massachusetts-based organization made up of parents who have lost a child to an opioid overdose plans to protest outside the State House after Gov. Baker’s office reportedly told the group that the governor is “unable to lower the flag” to half-staff in memory of the thousands who have died of drug overdoses.
How creative thinking can help you re-imagine your small business
Yancey Strickler, co-founder of Kickstarter and author of “This Could Be Our Future”, joins us in this webinar to share how the power of creativity can transform your business.
Verizon Small Business Webinar Series
The Role of Higher Education in an Equitable Recovery
Even as coronavirus continues to disrupt our communities, many students are still making one of the most important decisions of their lives this summer: whether or not to pursue higher education in the fall. To better understand their intentions, MassINC and The MassINC Polling Group present the results from a timely survey of 10th, 11th and 12th grade parents.
CX Summer Nights
This month we’re welcoming Oompa and Cliff Notez to the big screen. More details to come! This event is free, virtual, and all are welcome.
Virtual Amplify Conference – Nuestro Impacto: Be Counted, Be Heard (Day 1)
Join us for our Virtual Amplify Conference – Nuestro Impacto: Be Counted, Be Heard hosted by Amplify Latinx, the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy and the Gastón Institute, in collaboration with our partner organizations.
Virtual 2020 Race Ahead: Moving Forward Together
Join the Boston Business Journal for a virtual discussion on how we can affect real change in our community and move forward together.
For Real Estate: Why Constant Contact is the Smarter Choice for Online Marketing
In this free, one-hour webinar, you’ll get an overview of the tools that Constant Contact offers.
Virtual Amplify Conference – Nuestro Impacto: Be Counted, Be Heard (Day 2)
Join us for our Virtual Amplify Conference – Nuestro Impacto: Be Counted, Be Heard hosted by Amplify Latinx, the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy and the Gastón Institute, in collaboration with our partner organizations.
Today’s Headlines
Metro
Boston schools map reopening, with 6 feet of social distancing built in – Boston Globe
SBA says Covid-19 loans saved 8,500 jobs in Brockton – Brockton Enterprise
Massachusetts
Salem getting tough on fireworks – Salem News
Worcester police to start processing license to carry requests again – Telegram & Gazette
Nation
Justices clear way for prosecutors to get Trump’s tax returns – New York Times
Trump advisers fracture over pardon for Roger Stone – Politico
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