Happening Today
8:30 a.m. | Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association hosts its annual Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference virtually, featuring a keynote address by Attorney General Maura Healey.
10:30 a.m. | Congressman Richard Neal and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai sit down for a discussion about U.S. trade policy at a New England Council and University of Massachusetts event.
12:30 p.m. | U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss tours the town of Dighton.
1 p.m. | Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund Study Commission convenes a virtual meeting to discuss the commission’s report and hear updated presentations on information the panel previously requested regarding the fund used to pay unemployment benefits.
Today’s Stories
Presidential ambitions: Three Boston councilors vie for top spot
At least three members of the Boston City Council have launched bids to be council president for the next two years and the early vote count suggests a close race, Sean Phillip Cotter of the Herald reports. Ricardo Arroyo, Kenzie Bok and Ed Flynn are all jockeying for votes among the rest of the council for the right to hold the high-profile position — and be next in line to become acting mayor if necessary.
Balance check: Watchdog wants more transparency on unemployment fund balance
Show us the money. The Mass. Budget and Policy Center is urging Gov. Baker to open the books of the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund to clear up confusion about whether the fund is facing a multi-billion-dollar deficit or is actually flush with cash. Bruce Mohl of CommonWealth reports the Baker administration refutes lawmakers’ suggestion the fund is now balanced.
Will Boston office building emissions cuts hold?
If only 2020 had been a normal year. Why? Boston office buildings managed to cut emissions by 21 percent year-over-year as people started to work from home. Boston Business Journal’s Greg Ryan and Catherine Carlock report that cuts like that would have made the city the envy of the country any other time. Now, people are wondering if emission rates will start to rise as people return to the office.
Climate change and wildfires led one North Californian resident to move to Boston
Here’s an interesting perspective on the effects of climate change from one Boston resident who left North California as wildfires forced them to move west with their family. Writing for the Boston Globe, Laura Holmes Haddad says the move wasn’t planned as the 2020 Woodward Fire slowly crept closer to her home.
More from Haddad: “When the Woodward Fire broke out 20 miles from our house — it would burn nearly 5,000 acres — I called a real estate agent and we listed the house. After examining public school ratings, tax rates, air quality, and proximity to family, we chose Massachusetts, and felt grateful to have the means to be able to make such a choice.”
Taking stock of the country on Veterans Day
For one ten-year Army veteran, Veterans Day is everyday. GBH News’ Craig LeMoult reports that on the first Veterans Day in two decades where the country is not involved in major country, the day “serves as a reminder of the ways some say the country is letting them down.”
More from LeMoult: “U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, a former Marine who represents a Massachusetts district that stretches from Newton to Fall River, wants to see more legislators who are veterans, and for Congress to reclaim its responsibility for declaring war.”
With holidays approaching, supply chains set to face another test
With the winter holidays fast approaching, supply chain snarls may throw a wrench into consumer and retailers gift plans. GBH News’ Scott Horsley reports that both increased consumer demand and stretched supply chains may make holiday shopping a royal pain.
Housing fix or ‘land grab’? Great Barrington measure targets short-term rentals
Residents are pushing back on a proposed bylaw in Great Barrington that would restrict short-term rentals to owner-occupied homes, with some calling it a “land grab” that will backfire and actually make housing more expensive, Heather Bellow of the Berkshire Eagle reports. The bylaw would impose fines of $1,000 per day and is meant to reduce the amount of housing stock that is set aside for Airbnb and other short-term rental services.
Regionalize it: Rural towns in western Mass. mull shared police forces
Erase those borders. At least four communities in western Massachusetts are mulling proposals to combine their police departments across town lines, a long-mulled idea that is gaining new steam amid calls to reform policing in general. Zack DeLuca and Domenic Poli of the Recorder report Buckland, Shelburne, Leyden and Bernardston are all in active discussions about merging their police forces and budgets.
Lawmakers calls for emergency meeting on closed beds at St. Vincent Hospital
Emergency meeting incoming. State Rep. Mary Keefe called for a public hearing to discuss bed closures at Saint Vincent Hospital as a nurses strike their continues. MassLive’s Melissa Hanson reports that almost 100 beds at the hospital have closed since the strike began.
From WBUR’s Radio Boston
From WBUR’s “Radio Boston:” U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss reflects on his time serving in Afghanistan, state Sen. John Velis, who served in Afghanistan in 2018, and state Rep. Steven Xiarhos, a Gold Star Father, share their thoughts on the holiday, and Virginia Buckingham, the former Massport CEO during 9/11, discusses her new memoir.
Sunday Public Affairs: Sen. Warren, Kim Janey, and more
Keller at Large, WBZ-TV Ch. 4, 8:30 a.m. This week’s guest: State House News Service’s Matt Murphy and Katie Lannan discuss the debate over how to spend federal aid and surplus, the reopeneing of the State House, and Gov. Charlie Baker’s political future.
This Week in Business, NECN, Sunday, 10 a.m. This week’s topic: NFIB MA State Director Christopher Carlozzi on the ongoing challenges faced by small businesses; Lynn Public Schools Supt. Patrick Tutwiler and Ed Lambert of the MA Alliance for Education discuss workforce development in high schools; Boston Globe’s Shirley Leung on what the infrastructure bill might mean for Massachusetts, plus the breaking up of GE.
On The Record, WCVB-TV Ch. 5, Sunday, 11 a.m. Guest: U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren talks with hosts Ed Harding and Janet Wu followed by roundtable discussion with political analysts Mary Anne Marsh and Rob Gray.
CityLine, WCVB-TV, Ch. 5 Sunday 12 p.m., This week’s topic: Boston Acting Mayor Kim Janey reflects on her tenure as the first woman and first African American to serve as in the role.
Today’s Headlines
Metro
UMass Boston narrows finalists for dean of college of management – Boston Business Journal
Massachusetts
Black WWII veterans would get G.I. benefits under Seth Moulton bill – Boston Herald
Braintree board approves converting vacant store to offices at South Shore Plaza – Patriot Ledger
Nation
Jan. 6 committee to Mark Meadows: Testify Friday or risk contempt charges – Politico
Murkowski announces Senate reelection bid – The Hill
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