Happening Today:
9 a.m. | Department of Transportation Board of Directors meets.
9 a.m. | Doug Howgate, executive vice president at Mass. Taxpayers Foundation and the organization's next president, will preview the legislative session that starts in January.
9:30 a.m. | Governor's Council interviews former Parole Board executive director Michael Callahan, who has been nominated for a seat on the District Court bench.
10 a.m. | New England Council hosts a virtual talk with Enbridge Executive VP Cynthia Hansen as part of its "Inside the Corner Office" series.
10:30 a.m. | Mayor Wu attends the opening of the East Boston Senior Center.
1 p.m. | Massachusetts Department of Transportation, MBTA and Massachusetts Port Authority officials hold a media availability about upcoming Thanksgiving holiday travel.
4 p.m. | U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is the keynote speaker at EconCon Presents in Washington, D.C. where she will offer remarks about the economy.
It’s been well-established that for Massachusetts to meet its carbon reduction goals it has to find a way to dramatically increase the number of drivers behind the wheel of electric vehicles.
Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Beth Card has said that Massachusetts will need to have at least 200,000 passenger electric vehicles on the roads by 2025 and 900,000 by 2030. That’s a 1,536.36 percent increase over the next eight years from the 55,000 EVs on the road today.
But it’s going to take more than just state and federal cash rebates to make the EV revolution winnable.
State House News Service’s Colin A. Young reports that a new study conducted by National Grid estimates that it could require enough electricity to power a small town to keep those electric vehicles rolling during peak travel times, with charging stations needed along highways at rest stops from Boston to New York.
The economic development bill signed last week by Gov. Charlie Baker included $150 million for clean energy initiatives, including transfers to the state’s Electric Vehicle Adoption Incentive Trust, and Charging Infrastructure Deployment Fund.
The White House also detailed this week that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Joe Biden a year ago included $7.5 billion to build the country’s first national network of electric vehicle chargers.
So far, Massachusetts has been awarded $22.9 million for 2022 and 2023 to begin to build out its network of EV charging stations, but the Biden administration says the state can expect to receive more than $63 million in formula funding over five years.
— Healey moved mid-campaign and didn’t tell anyone
This is not the way Gov.-elect Maura Healey wanted to start her transition. A week after her historic victory, the focus, at least for now, is not on who she’ll pick to help her lead the state’s sprawling bureaucracy, but her address and why she purposefully or inadvertently concealed her move over the summer from her South End apartment to Cambridge. The Globe’s Matt Stout reports that Healey traded her Savoy Street pad for a place in Porter Square at some point in July, but failed to update her website or notify campaign finance regulators in an apparent violation of state law. It was well-known that Healey moved from Charlestown to the South End after a split with her longtime partner, but it was believed and reported over and over again that the attorney general had remained a resident of Boston. Her campaign said the move to Cambridge is temporary, but doesn’t know if or when she’ll return to Boston. Does it matter what side of the Charles River she lives on? Probably not. But it could undercut pledges to be transparent.
— Baker in Orlando as GOP crowd cheers for Trump jeers
A day after his CNN interview aired during which he called on the GOP to put Donald Trump in the rearview mirror, Gov. Charlie Baker was in the audience when applause broke out for former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who also blamed Trump for the party’s midterm failings, Axios reports. Christie was speaking to a Republican Governors Association gathering in Orlando of governors, donors and GOP operatives. Axios’s Jonathan Swan reports that Baker was among the governors in the crowd. And while it’s unclear if he joined the cheering, it’s no secret that Baker is tired of the former president’s hold over the party of his father and eager to see Republicans “move on.” The RGA event took place hours before Trump would officially launch his 2024 presidential comeback bid at Mar-a-Lago, where MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons was in attendance.
— Brady and other celebs in legal crosshairs for crypto endorsements
You’ve seen the commercials. Former Pat’s QB Tom Brady convincing his now ex-wife and a contact list of celebrity pals to invest through crypto exchange FTX. But with the implosion of FTX, The Block’s Stephanie Murray and Yogita Khatri report that lawyers are talking with clients about a possible class-action lawsuit against the celebrities who promoted the exchange that could land Brady in more hot water than his offensive line.
— Hardwick horse racing bid still kicking
The prospect of live horse racing in Hardwick is still alive, and it might come down to a vote of the town’s residents to decide whether to move forward with an application. SHNS’s Colin A. Young and The Globe’s Jon Chesto report that the Board of Selectmen in that town reversed their previous rejection of the proposal from The Commonwealth Equine and Agricultural Center, which includes Suffolk Downs partner Richard Fields, to run races at Great Meadowbrook Farm. Opponents are now petitioning for a town-wide referendum, and Young reports the Gaming Commission has suspended its consideration of horse racing applications to see how the process in Hardwick plays out.
State House News Service | The Boston Globe
— With or without Lyons, the fight for MassGOP chair picking up
I told you earlier that MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons was at Mar-a-Lago last night from Trump’s big 2024 announcement. Well, while he was gone the jockeying for his seat was picking up steam with a small handful of people either actively considering a run, or not ruling it out. That includes candidates like Dean Tran and officials like Bristol Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, who lost his reelection bid last week. Lyons is not returning messages, but the Herald’s Gayla Cawley reports that Lyons has told people he has not yet made up his mind.
–– Still too close to call
It’s just places like Arizona, Nevada or even California where final vote counting has been a slow process. State House News Service’s Chris Lisinski reports on two legislative races here in Massachusetts where the outcome is still undecided. One House seat centered in Groton, Dunstable and Pepperell and previously held by former Republican Rep. Sheila Harrington is still too close to call with the Republican in that race leading by less than a dozen votes. Georgetown Republican Rep. Leonard Mirra is clinging to a very narrow lead as he tries to hold onto his seat in a redrawn North Shore district. Both races are likely headed for recounts, and while they won’t change the power dynamics on Beacon Hill they are important to Republicans who don’t want to lose any more ground.
— Justice Department says it will investigate Worcester police
The U.S. Justice Department says it is working with the office of U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins to investigate whether the Worcester Police Department has engaged in a pattern of discriminatory practices based on race or sex. Marco Cartolano of the Telegram reports the investigation will also examine how the department handles complaints and officer discipline. The probe falls under the same 1994 statute used to investigate the Springfield Police Department – an inquiry resolved by consent decree earlier this year.
— Amherst manager issues apology over youth-police incident
Amherst Town Manager Paul Bockelman has issued an apology for a July incident involving a group of local youths and the police department, during which some of the youths were allegedly told they had no rights as minors. After Bockelman apologized and offered to meet with the youths and their families, the Town Council ordered him to dig deeper into what happened and to explore the creation of a police oversight board and a justice compensation fund. MassLive’s Jim Russell and Scott Merzbach of the Daily Hampshire Gazette have the details.
MassLive | Daily Hampshire Gazette
— Trash deal stands out as DePena reflects on first year in Lawrence
As he looked back on his first year in office, Lawrence Mayor Brian DePena touted his efforts to revitalize the city and stabilize its finances, but for many residents, all of that was overshadowed by the news that DePena has signed a deal with a new trash hauler. As the Eagle-Tribune’s Jill Harmacinski reports, the presence of brightly painted garbage trucks at the press event underscored the toll weeks of turmoil in curbside pickup has had on the city.
— No sale: Falmouth will destroy surplus assault weapons
Town meeting voters in Falmouth have approved an article that bans the local police department from selling surplus assault weapons and instead orders them to be destroyed, Asad Jung of the Cape Cod Times reports. The citizen’s petition article was conceived this summer, shortly after word got out that police planned to sell 20 used AR-15 rifles to a local gun shop in exchange for credit toward new weaponry.
MORE HEADLINE:
Metro
Massachusetts
What could the new Cape Cod Canal bridges look like? – Boston.com
City to take public comment on special election changes – The Salem News
Student group demands UMass cut ties with Raytheon – Daily Hampshire Gazette
National
Trump Announces 2024 Run, Repeating Lies and Exaggerating Record – The New York Times
Judge overturns Georgia’s six-week abortion ban – The Washington Post