Happening Today
SJC hearings, Buttigieg book, and more
— Supreme Judicial Court hears videoconference oral arguments in four cases before the court, 9 a.m.
— Former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is one of the headliners at the Boston Book Festival, discussing online his new book ‘Trust: America’s Best Chance’ with Globe editorial page editor Bina Venkataraman, 1 p.m.
— Attorney General Maura Healey and members of her Community Engagement Division distribute voter protection flyers in multiple languages as part of the office’s statewide voter protection initiative, in Roxbury at 1:30 p.m. and in Lynn at 4 p.m.
— Thirteen marijuana companies from the Greater Boston area hold a job fair to provide information about available jobs in the cannabis industry and to connect with potential applicants, Starlight Square, 84 Bishop Allen Dr., Cambridge, 2 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: 8 new deaths, 9,350 total deaths, 409 new cases
NBC Boston has the latest coronavirus numbers for Massachusetts.
Boston Teachers Union suing to go all remote learning
Other school districts will be watching this legal showdown closely as the debate over in-person versus all-remote learning escalates between teachers and school administrators. NBC Boston’s Melissa Buja and Marc Fortier and the Herald’s Sean Philip Cotter report that the Boston Teachers Union is suing the city to block in-person classes and to move to all remote learning amid a spike in coronavirus cases in Boston.
These headlines don’t exactly make the case for in-person learning. From MassLive: “Total of 106 students, 57 staffers test positive for COVID in Massachusetts schools over the last week.” From WCVB: “37 Marlborough High School students, staff quarantining after person tests positive for COVID-19.”
Then again, see next post.
Meanwhile, Springfield public schools shut down remote learning amid cyberattack threat
As Boston teachers push for all-remote learning amid a spike in coronavirus cases in the city, there’s this ominous remote-learning development out of Springfield, where public schools yesterday cancelled remote classes due to an unspecified threat of a cyberattack, reports Elizabeth Román at MassLive. Remote classes resume today despite yesterday’s fears over a potential attack on the district’s IT network, reports MassLive’s Tanner Stening.
Take that, Framingham: Natick eyes $1,000 fine for ‘egregious’ violations of Covid-19 rules
Framingham’s public health department recently raised the coronavirus-ante by passing $500 fines for Covid-19 violations, outdoing neighboring Natick’s previous $300 in fines. Now Natick’s public health department has approved fines as high as $1,000 for egregious violations of pandemic-control rules, reports Henry Schwan at Wicked Local.
Spin the Wheel: Roulette is back
In other pandemic-related news, SHNS’s Colin Young and MassLive’s Peter Goonan report that, yes, rouolette is now back at the state’s two casinos – with a three-player maximum and no loitering around the tables.
Housing advocates, landlords and Baker administration hashing out deal on rental assistance
From WBUR’s Beth Healy and Simón Ríos: “Housing groups, tenant advocates and landlords are working to hash out a deal with the Baker administration to deploy more federal money for people struggling to pay rent amid the coronavirus recession. At the same time, the state’s housing courts are planning furiously to add resources to handle an expected flood of eviction filings that could come soon after the commonwealth’s eviction moratorium ends on Oct. 17.”
Confirmed: Haverhill wasn’t the only community to send inaccurate deadline information on mail-in voting
It wasn’t just Haverhill. Secretary of State William Galvin is confirming that officials in Waltham, Falmouth, Boxford, Dennis and Hopkinton also sent out ballot instructions with the wrong deadline information for mail-in voting, according to a report at WCVB. One can only think: If this is happening here, what the hell is going on in the rest of the country?
Amherst professor: ‘Prepare for the presidential election to end in disaster’
Speaking of mail-in voting, Amherst College professor Lawrence Douglas, in his recent book ‘Will He Go?: Trump and the Looming Election Meltdown in 2020,” outlined a potential worst-case scenario of chaos surrounding this year’s general presidential election – and he now tells the Globe’s David Scharfenberg that he’s “very worried” that the worst-case scenario is about to come true.
Healey denounces plot to kidnap Michigan governor as Trump continues to criticize Michigan governor
Speaking of worst-case political scenarios, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey called a reported right-wing militia plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer a threat to democracy and slammed President Trump for escalating tensions across the country, reports Zoe Matthews at GBH.
As if on cue, from a wire report at the Globe: “Trump criticizes Michigan governor, suggests she should thank him after authorities foiled alleged plot to kidnap her.” He’s beyond incorrigible and control.
Report: Hacker electronically steals $552,000 in town funds in Franklin
Universal Hub, citing a Franklin Matters post of an alert from Franklin Town Manager Jamie Hellen, reports that a “town employee provided what should have been secure login information that enabled a hacker to drain $522,000 from town accounts.” The hacker apparently used the “spear phishing” form of social hacking to convince the employee to hand over the information.
Huge honor: Baker makes it to National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum
They were undoubtedly popping the champagne corks yesterday in Swampscott after learning that Gov. Charlie Baker will be honored with his own bobblehead doll and officially accepted into the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum. And it’s all for a good charitable cause, as the Herald’s Erin Tiernan and the AP and the Daily Hampshire Gazette report.
Huge honor, Part II: Cambridge poet Louise Glück wins Nobel Prize in Literature
They were also undoubtedly popping the champagne corks yesterday in Cambridge, where former poet laureate of the United States and Pulitzer Prize winner Louise Glück learned she had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, as the NYT and the Globe’s Malcom Gay report. It’s not a bobblehead honor, but it’s still a big deal.
Lawmakers press ICE officials for details on Black-jogger incident
It’s not going away. WBUR’s Shannon Dooling and the Globe’s Laura Crimaldi report that members of the state’s congressional delegation, effectively led by U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, are now demanding answers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement about why its agents recently stopped a Black jogger in West Roxbury in a case that sure looks like classic racial profiling.
‘Being American’: Deval Patrick to launch new podcast
Former Gov. Deval Patrick, who briefly ran for president earlier this year, has started up a new podcast called “Being American,” which will try to “uncover what it means, or ought to mean, to be American” during these turbulent times. The podcast is being launched in partnership with MuddHouse Media, reports Patrick Donnelly at NBC Boston.
Morgan Stanley to buy Boston’s Eaton Vance for $7 billion
This is a big deal in Boston’s financial circles: Morgan Stanley plans to buy Boston’s Eaton Vance, whose roots go back to the early days of the mutual-fund industry, for $7 billion, reports the Globe’s Larry Edelman.
And the takeover should be of interest to more than just those in the financial community. From the BBJ’s Greg Ryan: “Eaton Vance acquisition raises questions about headcount, HQ search and the Pops.”
Looking for a bargain? Gordon College says it will cut tuition by third
They’re passing on the savings. Gordon College in Wenham says it will slash its tuition costs by 33 percent for students entering next fall, citing a fundraising windfall and budget cuts that have put the school in a strong financial position even amid the global pandemic. Paul Leighton at the Gloucester Times reports the cuts could save a student nearly $60,000 over four years.
House seat held by GOP for decades now up for grabs
Tom Reilly at the Sun Chronicle sets the table for the race to succeed state Rep. Elizabeth Poirier in the 14th Bristol district, a seat held by Republicans for nearly 40 years. Democrat Adam Scanlon will face off against Republican John Simmons, who himself is a last-minute replacement for the winner of the GOP primary, who dropped out for health reasons.
Not-so-green: Charlton terminates contract with would-be pot farm
Their hopes were sky high. More than two years after welcoming a proposal to turn an apple orchard into one of the country’s largest cannabis cultivation operations, Charlton selectmen have voted to terminate the deals they made with Valley Green Grow, Debbie LaPlaca at the Telegram reports. The move comes as an appeals court prepares to take up several cases tied to the proposal, which officials said could have pumped $35 million into town coffers.
Not ready: Brockton councilor wants cannabis delivery delayed
In other marijuana news, Brockton City Councilor Winthrop Farwell wants the city to press the Cannabis Control Commission to push back the launch of recreational marijuana home delivery by at least six months to give Brockton and other cities time to prepare for the impacts on public safety and existing pot businesses, Marc Larocque at the Enterprise reports. The CCC could finalize home-delivery rules later this month.
State launches ad campaign encouraging people to be aware of mental health issues
This is especially important during the pandemic. SHNS’s Katie Lannan reports that a new state public awareness campaign has been launched to “encourage people to check in with their friends and loved ones and remember that there may be ‘more to the story’ when it comes to someone’s mental health.” The launch coincides with National Mental Illness Awareness Week, which runs this year from Oct. 4 through 10.”
SHNS (pay wall — free trial subscription available)
‘Takeout Takeaways’: Murray reflects on the last state budget crisis
In SHNS’s latest “Takeout Takeaways” podcast, Katie Lannan talks to former Senate President Therese Murray about what it was like grappling with the state’s last budget crisis during the Great Recession. Lannan reviews the talk here (pay wall).
Sunday public affairs TV: Andrea Campbell, Margaret Marshall, and more
Keller at Large, WBZ-TV Channel 4, 8:30 a.m. This week’s guest: Boston city councilor and mayoral candidate Andrea Campbell, who talks with host Jon Keller about her run for mayor, school reopenings, and city police reform.
This Week in Business, NECN, 10 a.m. Mike Meyran, port director at Massport, on the port of Boston during the COVID crisis; Ultimate Kronos Group CEO Aron Ain on making a mega merger in the middle of a pandemic; and the Globe’s Shirley Leung on the governor’s new COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Group, Morgan Stanley’s purchase of Eaton Vance, MBTA cuts and more.
On The Record, WCVB-TV Channel 5, 11 a.m. This week’s guest: Margaret Marshall, the former chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, who talks with hosts Ed Harding and Janet Wu, followed by a roundtable political discussion with analysts Mary Anne Marsh and Rob Gray.
CityLine, WCVB-TV Channel 5, 12 p.m. With host Karen Holmes Ward, this week’s main topic: Sickle Cell Breakthroughs, with guests including Dima Hendricks, a brand ambassador for the Greater Boston Sickle Cell Disease Association, and Dr. Maureen Achabe.
Virtual Author Talk with David Michaelis
Virtual author talk with David Michaelis, author of the new biography Eleanor
American Ancestors/NEHGS together with the State Library of Massachusetts and Porter Square Books
Fighting for Survival – Small Businesses, Restaurants & Retail
While tactics to safely reopen stores and restaurants continue to evolve, discussions are turning to how to adapt to phased reopening orders while building consumer confidence and coming up with new ways to secure financial viability. With uncertainty abound, how are restaurants, small businesses and retail charting the future?
North Shore Chamber of Commerce
100th Anniversary Virtual Awards Gala
We will stand together, virtually, to celebrate our 2020 Health Care Stars who, while deserving the utmost praise and recognition pre-COVID-19, have maintained their commitment to improving and protecting the lives of MA residents since the outbreak began. We are planning a showcase of celebration and resilience and ask for your sponsorship support of our 2020 honorees and of MHC’s work.
Today’s Headlines
Metro
Boston exam schools may drop entrance test for one year – Boston Globe
Massachusetts
Worcester cancels fall sports due to coronavirus pandemic – Telegram & Gazette
Nation
Amid campaign sparring, plan for debates left in disarray – Washington Post
Unions bank on influence in Biden administration – Politico
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