Happening Today
Amplify Latinx’s 2021, Education Committee, COVID-19 Committee
— Gov. Charlie Baker is a featured speaker at Amplify Latinx’s 2021 conference, with Boston Acting Mayor Kim Janey, U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York, UMass Boston Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco and others also speaking, 10 a.m.
— Acting Mayor Kim Janey will attend the Black Boston COVID-19 Coalition’s ceremonial unveiling of a billboard encouraging residents to get vaccinated, 10 Washington Street, Dorchester, 10 a.m.
— Education Committee holds virtual hearing on bills related to at-risk students, college and career readiness, extracurriculars, learning time, and other issues, 10 a.m.
— The Legislature’s COVID-19 and Emergency Preparedness and Management Committee holds a virtual hearing about the pandemic, four days before Gov. Baker is set to lift the state of emergency, 11 a.m.
— Massachusetts Climate Action Network joins Breath Clean North Shore, Action Works and Rep. Kearns for a press conference on a petition requesting the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company withdraw a proposal to build a fuel peaker plant in Peabody, 1 p.m.
For the most comprehensive list 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: 7 new deaths, 17,566 total deaths, 85 new cases
MassLive has the latest coronavirus numbers for Massachusetts.
Last stand? As calls mount for GOP chair to go, Lyons lashes out at House Republicans
It’s now open civil war in the state Republican party. From SHNS’s Matt Murphy: “Under fire for his handling of anti-gay remarks made by a member of the state committee, MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons lashed out Thursday out at nearly every elected Republican in the House, accusing them of bowing to ‘poisonous woke cancel culture groupthink.’” And there’s more.
But calls for the conservative Lyons to go, just go, keep mounting, as the Globe’s Emma Platoff and the Herald’s Erin Tiernan report. From MassLive’s Benjamin Kail: “‘Disgusting and unacceptable’: Antigay remarks by Republican state committee member spark rebuke from Gov. Charlie Baker.” Fyi: The governor, a moderate Republican, says Lyons should resign if he fails to adequately address the anti-gay comments of a GOP committee member. Meaning? Eventually: Go.
Meanwhile, redistricting brawl pits Dems vs Dem over ‘power grab’
As Republicans tear their state party apart these days, the Globe’s Matt Stout and Emma Platoff and SHNS’s Chris Lisinski report on the escalating redistricting battle on Beacon Hill that’s pitting House Democrats against Secretary of State Bill Galvin, a Democrat, who says lawmakers are engaging in a “power grab” to protect incumbents’ seats at the expense of local governments.
Meanwhile, CommonWealth’s Shira Schoenberg reports municipal officials are siding with Galvin in the fight.
Baker on Millionaires Tax: We already have enough money
He’s against raising taxes in general. And he’s against raising taxes in particular when the state is awash in money. SHNS’s Chris Van Buskirk reports on Gov. Charlie Baker’s day-after reaction to the Legislature’s vote to put the so-called millionaire’s tax on the 2022 statewide ballot.
Meanwhile, the Globe’s Jon Chesto reports that the Massachusetts High Technology Council is exploring yet another possible legal challenge to the ballot question. But a “bruising ballot battle, pitting big business against big labor, seems more likely,” he writes.
Post-pandemic policy updates: House votes to make mail-in voting permanent, Senate approves Covid rule extensions
We’ll go with Erin Tiernan’s piece at the Herald for this one: “The same day state senators passed a bill that would extend pandemic perks including cocktails to-go and mail-in voting for several months, House lawmakers took it one step further — voting to make universal mail-in voting permanent.” CommonWealth’s Shira Schoenberg has more on the Senate action.
Report: It literally pays to go to community colleges
WBUR’s Carrie Jung and CommonWealth’s Michael Jonas report on a new study that finds students who attend community colleges reap huge career and income benefits compared to peers who only complete high school. We’re talking a 31 percent earnings differential.
Harvard expert quits FDA panel in disgust over approval of Biogen drug
How strongly does Harvard Medical School professor Aaron Kesselheim feel about the FDA’s controversial decision to approve Biogen Inc.’s new Alzheimer’s drug? This strongly: The clearance “was probably the worst drug approval decision in recent U.S. history.” Bloomberg’s Robert Langreth at the Globe has more on the growing furor over the FDA action.
Divesting from fossil fuels: As Maine goes, so goes Massachusetts?
The Globe’s Emma Platoff and Kate Lusignan report that Maine’s Legislature has passed a first-in-the-nation bill requiring the state to “divest its pension investments and other funds from fossil fuel companies.” And climate activists are now turning their attention towards other states and … we assume the folks at Mass PRIM are paying close attention.
Accused U.S. Capitol rioter thinks he should be allowed to visit the State House
His lawyer thinks the restrictions are ridiculous. But we suspect others, particularly State House security officials, may disagree. Universal Hub’s Adam Gaffin reports on the attempt by “accused Massachusetts putschist” Mark Sahady to get court restrictions lifted so he can go anywhere he wants in the state, including Beacon Hill.
As Warren decries spread of Bitcoin, State Street launches new cryptocurrency division
The timing was merely coincidental. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren yesterday said lawmakers and regulators need to confront Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that she says are now the source of “significant problems” around the country and world, as Cassi McGrath reports at MassLive.
But wait. The BBJ’s Greg Ryan reports that one of the state’s largest and most prestigious companies, State Street Corp., has created a new division to “assist clients with cryptocurrency and other digital assets.”
Blown up: Judge refuses to accept former Correia chief of staff’s plea deal
Not so fast. A federal judge rejected the plea agreement reached between former Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia’s chief of staff, Genoveva Andrade, and prosecutors that would have seen her serve no jail time for her role in the Correia corruption scandal. The judge sent both parties back to the drawing board, Dan Medeiros at the Herald News reports.
Even the doctors? Nantucket hospital searching for physicians, blames housing for shortage
Not even the MDs are immune. Nantucket Cottage Hospital is in the market for more primary care physicians after its third doc departure in two years — and at least one physician says attracting MDs to the island is complicated by the island’s shortage of affordable housing, Dean Geddes at the Nantucket Inquirer & Mirror reports.
Mystery solved: Holyoke schools receiver was asked to resign
Alberto Vazquez Matos was asked to leave his post as receiver/superintendent of the Holyoke public schools and was paid a $102,500 severance after his mysterious, sudden and until-now unexplained departure from the post earlier this year, Dusty Christensen at the Daily Hampshire Gazette reports.
High times: Worcester chamber’s retailer of the year is a pot shop
Of course. The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce has named recreational cannabis outlet Good Chemistry as its Retailer of the Year, marking the first time a pot company has landed the award, Monica Benevides at the Worcester Business Journal reports.
Enmanuel ‘Manny’ Familia, RIP
The Telegram’s Craig Semon reports on the thousands of police officers and others who paid their final respects yesterday to Worcester police officer Enmanuel ‘Manny’ Familia, who died last week trying to save the life of a teen at a city pond. MassLive has photos of yesterday’s massive funeral procession through the streets of Worcester.
MacCormack named Baker’s new press secretary
More changes in the Corner Office. From SHNS’s Matt Murphy: “Following the departure last month of Gov. Charlie Baker’s long-time communications director, Terry MacCormack has been promoted to press secretary, filling the number two role in the Republican’s communications shop as Baker nears the homestretch of his second term in office.”
SHNS (pay wall — free trial subscription available)
‘A salt pile on some of the most expensive real estate in the region?’
Yes, a salt pile. Universal Hub’s Adam Gaffin reports on the Boston Planning and Development Agency’s talks with the operator of the Chelsea salt pile to possibly build a similar facility in the industrial area of the South Boston waterfront. The news is prompting more than a few comments at HB.
Almost as interesting: BPDA is also eyeing a new facility “capable of handling the shipment of giant turbine blades that could one day power New England from offshore towers.” Does New Bedford know about this?
Farewell – and thank you
We’re going to break with MassterList tradition here by identifying the author of a post, i.e. this post, by yours truly Jay Fitzgerald. This is my last day editing and co-writing MassterList. I’m off to explore and try new freelancing opportunities in and around Boston. I want to thank all our MassterList readers, as well as my long-time ML associate and good friend Keith Regan and my incredible colleagues at SHNS, for a wonderful five years. It’s been a blast.
You’ll be in good hands with SHNS’s Chris Van Buskirk taking command starting next week. Take care everyone. And have a great maskless summer! – Jay Fitzgerald
Sunday public affairs TV: Ed Davis, Aaron Michlewitz, Bill Galvin
Keller at Large, WBZ-TV Channel 4, 8:30 a.m. This week’s guest: Ed Davis, former Boston Police commissioner, who talks with host Jon Keller about the Dennis White firing, the state of Boston police/community relations, and the findings of a U.S. Senate report on the January 6 Capitol riot.
This Week in Business, NECN, 10 a.m. Bright Horizons CEO Stephen Kramer on child care during the pandemic and efforts to get people vaccinated; ezCater CEO Stefania Mallett on feeding people at work during the pandemic and beyond; and the BBJ’s Doug Banks reviews the top local business stories of the week, including the millionaire’s tax, vaccine plans at home and abroad, ransomware attacks and more.
On The Record, WCVB-TV Channel 5, 11 a.m. This week’s guest: state Rep. Aaron Michlewitz. chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, who talks with host Janet Wu, followed by a 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 topic: Celebrating Juneteenth, featuring Secretary of State Bill Galvin, also chairperson of the Massachusetts Historical Commission, and artists and activists Ekua Holmes and Elizabeth James-Perry.
PDIA in Action: Radicalization in France
As part of MLD103M, students at HKS spent 7 weeks working on exploring radicalization in France, and to help identify ideas and entry points. In this presentation, the student team and their authorizer will share some of their key takeaways and recommendations from this experience. Please register in advance to attend this event.
The Black Liberation Front Q&A
The Black Liberation Front (BLF) was formed in 1971 and to date was one of the most active and impactful Black Power organizations in Britain. In 2017 the Young Historians Project interviewed 9 former members of the BLF to capture their stories and created a 38 minute documentary and a multi-panel exhibition for people to learn and be inspired by this history.
Jefferson’s West: Lewis, Clark, and Native Americans
This presentation will discuss Thomas Jefferson’s reasons for proposing this expedition and the goals of reaching the Pacific and establishing trade and diplomacy with an array of Native peoples on the way to the West Coast. It will describe the challenges that the expedition faced and the role of Native peoples in helping or hindering its progress.
AAPI Community and Allies Series: Acknowledging “We”
This series of 4 workshops is for the members of the AAPI community and anybody else wanting to take a deep dive into understanding their personal cultural identity in America and exploring how they can become a better ally at this important time in history. Share the obstacles that we face individually and collectively as a result of our cultural identities and the harm we have sustained.
National Conflict Resolution Center
Virtual Summit: Continuing Threats to Free and Fair Elections
Elections are more than ballots, polling places, and voting machines. The human component of administering elections was exposed to unthinkable stress and attack during the 2020 cycle. It nearly reached the breaking point. The Brennan Center, the Ash Center, and the Bipartisan Policy Center invite you to explore the challenges to voting in America and necessary solutions.
Legal Pride 2021: The Past, Present, and Future of LGBT+ Rights
Please join us for a very special part of our Legal Pride 2021 celebration where we explore the past, the present, and the future of LGBT+ rights and activism in the United Kingdom and across the globe.
Best Places to Work – Virtual Event
For 2021 we will be celebrating Boston Business Journal’s Best Places To Work with a fun filled virtual celebration – stay tuned for details! Best Places To Work is all about celebrating and creating memorable experiences for your employees. We hope you can join us as we honor the 2021 BPTW!
Juneteenth: A Story of Freedom
Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) marks the day in 1865 (June 19th) when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people were freed—a full two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed and more than two months after America’s Civil War “officially” ended.
North Carolina Museum of History
A Conversation with Angela Davis
Join a live conversation with activist and scholar Angela Davis, who has been deeply involved in our nation’s quest for social justice for decades. The Distinguished Professor Emerita of History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies at UC Santa Cruz has also taught at UC Berkeley, UCLA, the Claremont Colleges, Stanford, and other universities.
Whither the GOP? 2 Republican Stalwarts Discuss Its Future
Michael Steele, an American conservative political commentator, attorney and former chairperson of the Republican National Committee, and William “Bill” Kristol, neoconservative political commentator and editor at large at Bulwark, discuss the future of the Republican party.
Jews United for Democracy and Justice and Community Advocates
Today’s Headlines
Metro
Liquor License Approval Sets The Stage For A Revived Cantab Lounge – WBUR
Massachusetts
Pittsfield rally kicks off local campaign for millionaire tax ballot question – Berkshire Eagle
The $238 million pandemic question facing Plymouth and Norfolk counties – Patriot Ledger
Barnstable teacher placed on leave after viral video – Cape Cod Times
Nation
Texas Says It Will Build Border Wall With Mexico – New York Times
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