Keller on the year ahead

Keller at Large

“What’s past is prologue,” wrote Shakespeare in “The Tempest,” and who are we to argue with him?

So with the events of 2025 in mind, here is an educated guess at what’s in store for Massachusetts in the year to come, not to be used as a guide for wagering:

JANUARY: Gov. Maura Healey delivers her State of the Commonwealth Address. In a tribute to her friend and Celtic legend Bob Cousy’s jersey number, it contains fourteen basketball analogies, each more tortured than the last, including a reference to her troika of GOP challengers as “three-second violations.”

FEBRUARY: Pool camera cutaways during President Trump’s State of the Union speech show members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation expressing their contempt in creative ways. Rep. Katherine Clark is seen cradling an abacus and moving a bead each time the president lies. Sen. Elizabeth Warren wears a crocheted beer bucket hat ringed with cans of Michelob Light, from which she chugs every time Clark moves a bead. Warren is helped from the chamber by aides halfway through and receives treatment for alcohol poisoning.

MARCH: The stage at Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s State of the City speech is adorned with blown-up photos of State Senators Karen Spilka and Nick Collins with blood-red circle-and-slash overlay, and a mammoth skyscraper of paper next to the podium representing the 78,384 votes she received. During the event, cars belonging to City Councillors Ed Flynn and Erin Murphy, critics of the mayor, are booted, towed and set on fire.

CONTINUE READING…

HAPPENING TODAY

10:00 | Fair housing advocates from the Urban League, Boston Tenants Coalition and other groups, joined by city councilors in Boston, hold a press conference defending the city’s housing practices from Trump administration targeting. | Piemonte Room, City Hall, Boston

11:00 | Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus announce $15 million in new Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP) awards. | 4586 Acushnet Avenue, New Bedford

4:00 | Congressman Jim McGovern speaks with members of the Afghan community. | 18 Chestnut St., Worcester

FROM BEACON HILL

STATE PANEL PROBED: The state’s Board of Registration in Medicine, appointed by the governor and previously aggressive, is now “increasingly protective of doctors,” a Spotlight investigation discovered. The board also takes years to rule on cases involving doctors accused of serious violations, and offers up minor punishments. – Boston Globe

DARK MONEY BILL: People or groups spending big money on town meeting votes would be required to publicly disclose it, according to a bill approved by House lawmakers last week. The bill grew out of hidden spending on recent short-term rental debates on the Cape and Islands. – State House News Service

NEWS NEXT DOOR

MBTA AFTER DARK: MassLive goes behind the shutdown of the Green Line, which ends today. The service suspension was due to the replacement of wooden beams along the ceilings of Green Line tunnels, dating back to when the line was built in the late 1890s. – MassLive

HOLYOKE HIRE: Mayor Joshua Garcia has hired Eric Nakajima, an Amherst-based consultant who worked for the Deval Patrick administration, as the head of Holyoke’s office of planning and economic development. Nakajima replaces Aaron Vega, a former state rep who recently joined the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council as CEO. – MassLive

SPONSORSHIP PLAY: Payment platform ActBlue, which is based in Somerville, has started to sponsor left-leaning online media and content creators. The move comes after it was targeted by President Trump earlier this year. – Semafor

HOSPITAL FINANCES: Mass General Brigham, the state’s largest hospital system, reported an operating profit in fiscal 2025 in a state disclosure on Friday. – Boston Business Journal

DRUG DELIVERIES: State officials, through a multi-agency task force, are seeing success in cutting down on the delivery of drugs and other contraband to state correctional facilities, according to a new report. – Eagle-Tribune

BUS STOP AND GO: The concept of fare-free buses are proving to be a challenge in New York and Boston, with state officials having more control than mayors over the implementation. – WBUR

MISSING IN ACTION: The superintendent for the Whitman-Hanson district has not been at school committee meetings for roughly a month. Parents were recently surprised by a $1.4 million deficit and the teachers union has voted no confidence in the superintendent. – Patriot Ledger