Happening Today:
8:30 a.m. | Federal Reserve Bank of Boston hosts its 66th economic conference, titled "Labor Markets During and After the Pandemic," where speakers will discuss COVID-19's impact on work patterns and what changes are most likely to endure.
9:30 a.m. | Boston Mayor Michelle Wu hosts a press conference in Mattapan to announce new investments to increase access to homeownership opportunities in Boston.
10 a.m. | Congressman Richard Neal holds a press availability at the U.S. Courthouse Atrium in Springfield to discuss the results of the mid-term election and preview the 118th Congress.
10 a.m. | Gov. Charlie Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, Public Safety Secretary Terrence Reidy and State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey participate in the 33rd Annual Firefighter of the Year Awards at Mechanics Hall in Worcester.
11 a.m. | Boston Mayor Michelle Wu appears live on GBH Boston Public Radio for "Ask the Mayor."
After a night of condolences online, Twitter still appears to be working for now. So give us a follow at @SHNSMurphy and @MASSterList while you still can.
A return to politics without Twitter is a fascinating prospect to think about, and one Gov. Charlie Baker might relish. But for now, the political establishment is moving forward with social media still very much a part of the ecosystem. And yesterday its forces were marshalled to reflect on two decades of Democratic Party leadership from Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Just weeks after the brutal assault of her husband in their San Francisco home, Pelosi, 82, announced Thursday that she would remain in Congress, but step down from her formal leadership position as she and her top deputies give way to a new generation.
That generation includes Rep. Katherine Clark, the 59-year-old former state senator from Revere who is poised after just nine years in Congress to ascend to the second highest ranking leadership position in the Democratic caucus.
With Democrats ready to cede control of the House to Republicans, it is widely expected that New York Rep. Hakeem Jefferies will become the Democratic minority leader and Clark will assume the number two role of minority whip. She is currently the fourth ranked Democrat in the House as assistant speaker behind Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Whip James Clyburn. Hoyer also said he would step down and endorse Jeffries for leader, and Clyburn is expected to seek the number four position to help the newbies adjust to their new roles.
“I, like so many in Congress, am lucky to call Speaker Pelosi a friend and mentor. Her legacy will continue to guide us, and her achievements will continue to inspire women and girls around the world. I am profoundly grateful for her unparalleled service to progress and our country,” Clark said in a statement.
Clark waited until this morning to announce her bid for whip, according to the Globe’s Jim Puzzanghera. Her ascension to whip would be a bright spot for the Massachusetts delegation, which is otherwise losing some of the clout it has enjoyed recently as Republicans take control and members like U.S. Rep. Richard Neal and U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern lose their chairmanships.
Leadership elections are scheduled for Nov. 30.
“Speaker Pelosi earned the adage, ‘you never bet against Speaker Pelosi,’ and that’s what makes this announcement so bittersweet. No Speaker of the House has ever achieved more. From her historic rise to the first female Speaker to her long list of accomplishments, she has never wavered from her commitment and service to the American people. Her legacy is unmatched, and she is truly irreplaceable,” Neal said in a statement.
Not everyone in the delegation has always been as big a fan. U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton was one of the Democrats who in 2016 backed a challenge to Pelosi’s leadership, and in 2018 led a small group of Democrats who tried to force her to step down and give a new group of leaders a chance. That led to an agreement from Pelosi that she would serve only four more years as speaker.
Moulton called Pelosi an “historic” figure in the Democratic Party, but also told CNN there are “a lot of Democrats ready for a new chapter.”
“Nancy Pelosi will go down in history as a historic Speaker and legendary Democrat. Breaking one of the toughest glass ceilings in the country, she inspired generations of women and set an example I will use with my two daughters. I am grateful for what she has done for our party, and I am excited to support a new leader who will move us forward. Democrats need to come together focused squarely on the future,” Moulton said in a statement.
THE WHEELS ARE COMING OFF….Republican Rayla Campbell, who built her campaign for secretary of state around the unsubstantiated notion that schools were teaching inappropriate sexual material to young students, went off on her party on social media.
In a Facebook post, Campbell accused the MassGOP of abandoning her after her primary win and offering no help as she went on to lose badly to Secretary of State William Galvin.
“Who the hell is Jim Lyons squashing people’s campaigns and deciding what candidate get’s what?” Cambell wrote.
Well, that prompted a response from MassGOP spokesman Evan Lips who didn’t hold back. Lips said he spent the summer drafting fundraising emails for Campbell only to watch her squander the money on “bounce castles, rental cars and tiki lounge dinners.” He also told her to “see a doctor” and that she couldn’t win an election for dog catcher running a campaign and behaving the way she has. The thread is worth a read, though NSFW.
A new Twitter account has also popped up called @ByeRayla and the MassGOP is one of four followers.
— Warren seeking answers about FTX collapse
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is helping to take the lead in Congress in investigating the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange. The Globe’s Anissa Gardizy reports that Warren and Sen. Dick Durbin sent a letter to FTX and its former leader Sam Bankman-Fried – a Berkshires native and restaurateur – seeking answers to questions about its misuse of billions in clients funds. Warren has long called for tougher regulation of the crypto market. The FTX debacle has also blown back on celebrities like Tom Brady, who were active spokespeople for the exchange.
— Baker says he’s not alone in his Trump fatigue
Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday it’s “a little too early” to start parsing the prospects of presidential candidates in 2024. After all, the midterms were held just a week ago and in some places votes are still being counted. But the Globe’s Matt Stout caught up with the governor in Worcester after his trip to Florida for the Republican Governors Association meetings and Baker said he found himself not alone in thinking it’s time for the GOP to move on from former President Donald Trump. Baker in a CNN interview that aired while he was in Florida, said midterm voters rejected extremism, and he blamed Trump’s influence on Republican candidates for the party’s disappointing win-loss record. “There are a lot of people in the Republican Party who are anxious to move on. . . . There’s a lot of folks out there in our party who are looking at a different 2024,” Baker told Stout.
— Green Line to Medford opening Dec. 12
The final spoke of the Green Line Extension project, which will bring T service to parts of Medford and Somerville not currently served by trains, will officially open on Dec. 12, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak announced Thursday. State House News Service’s Chris Lisinski has all the details on the opening and the winding road to get there.
— MBTA sued over death of professor in staircase incident
The family of the Boston University professor who died last year when he fell through a broken-down staircase at an MBTA station in Dorchester is suing the state, the Herald’s Rick Sobey reports. David Jones’s widow alleged in the suit filed in Suffolk Superior Court that his death was the result of the “carelessness, recklessness and negligence of the defendant, MBTA.”
— Clock is winding down for those seeking sports betting licenses
The build up to sports betting in Massachusetts will take a big step forward next week with applications from prospective operators due to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission by Monday, along with a $200,000 non-refundable fee. The deadline will separate those truly serious about competing for one of the available licenses from the thirty businesses that submitted initial documents signaling their intent to apply while the process and regulations were still being developed. MassLive’s Chris Van Buskirk reports that the state’s three casinos are all expected to apply.
— The liquor license reform question failed. What’s next?
Voters rejected Question 3, which would have expanded the number of beer and wine licenses that any single retailer in Massachusetts could hold. But it’s far from the end of the debate. The Globe’s Jon Chesto explains why both sides of the ballot initiative – including the package stores that lost – see positives in the vote from last Tuesday, and looks ahead to the debate that now moves back before lawmakers on Beacon Hill.
— In Pittsfield, pandemic relief funds will fund pickleball courts
Meg Britton-Mehlisch of The Berkshire Eagle reports Pittsfield is poised to use $500,000 of ARPA pandemic relief funds to do what the city hasn’t been able to pull off for the last three years: build eight pickleball courts in a city park. The project will eat up about 1 percent of the $40.6 million Pittsfield will get from the American Rescue Plan Act.
— Lynn diner labels local option tax ‘irresponsibility tariff’
Elected officials in Lynn say they’re not laughing at the joke one local diner owner has included on customers’ receipts. The receipts describe the city’s recently enacted local option meals tax as the “Lynn fiscal irresponsibility tariff.” The Item’s Thomas Grillo reports city councilors who approved the levy of .75 percent say they resent the implication that they’ve been profligate with taxpayer funds, while Four Winds Pub & Grill owner Patrick DeBoever says he’ll probably reword the bills before too long.
— Cheshire clerk fined for funneling work to family members
Cheshire Town Clerk Christine Emerson has agreed to pay a $5,000 fine to settle claims she repeatedly hired her own daughter and granddaughter to perform election and census-related work, Chris Van Buskirk of MassLive reports. The state Ethics Commission said Emerson violated conflict of interest laws by being directly involved in the hiring and paying of her immediate family members.
— Worcester City Council seeks report on rooming houses
The Worcester City Council is indicating a willingness to revisit local regulation of rooming houses and transitional shelters, with some members saying it appears the facilities are becoming concentrated in a small number of city neighborhoods. The Telegram’s Cyrus Moulton has the details.
The Talk Shows
FRIDAY
Talking Politics, GBH 2, 7 p.m.: GBH political reporter Adam Reilly talks with GBH Political Editor Peter Kadzis and GBH reporter Saraya Wintersmith about Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s first year in office, from her historic victory as the first woman of color to be elected mayor to the controversies over the cleanup of Mass. and Cass and the struggling Boston Public Schools to her pick for police commissioner.
SUNDAY
Keller at Large, WBZ-TV Ch. 4, 8:30 a.m.: MASSterList columnist and WBZ political analyst Jon Keller talks with UMass President Marty Meehan about the system’s finances, how much he expects the university to benefit from millionaire’s tax proceeds, and the free-speech climate on campus.
On The Record, WCVB-TV Ch. 5, Sunday, 11 a.m.: Gov. Charlie Baker is the guest with hosts Ed Harding and Janet Wu. Baker’s interview will be followed by a political roundtable discussion with Democratic political analyst Mary Anne Marsh and Republican political analyst Virginia Buckingham.
MORE HEADLINES:
Metro
Family of BU professor who fell to his death in Dorchester sues MBTA, MassDOT – The Boston Globe
Massachusetts
Eversource asks state for a 21% electricity rate increase – MassLive
Mirra, Kassner ready for possible recount in 2nd Essex race – The Salem News
Charges likely in Haverhill High hazing case – The Eagle-Tribune
Mass. primary care, behavioral workers can soon apply for loan repayments up to $300,000 – MassLive
National
Resignations Roil Twitter as Elon Musk Tries Persuading Some Workers to Stay – The New York Times