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By George Donnelly (@geodonnelly) with Keith Regan
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Here's what's up today
The group "Boston for Bernie Sanders" plans to rally in support of the Vermont US senator's candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president. Members of Boston's trade union community and community activists are scheduled to speak, according to organizer Edmund Schluessel. It's at Dewey Square Park, between Congress Street and Summer Street and Atlantic Avenue, Boston, 7 pm... The Committee on Public Health takes up bills on tobacco, marijuana and substance abuse, Room B-2, 1 pm... The Judiciary Committee hearing docket is packed with 135 bills covering "crime." Topics range from criminal strangulation (S 291) to the definition of coin-operated amusement machines (S 934), Room A-2, 1 pm.
Trade missions are worth it, part 2
In my defense of government trade missions yesterday, I suggested that a study be done to assess whether the return on the investment of taxpayer dollars was reasonable. I predicted researchers would find at least a 20 to 1 return. A reader wrote in yesterday attaching an interesting document suggesting that I was quite wrong. The return may be closer to 1000 to 1. A report done for Massport on the economic impact of the nine new direct flights to Logan, Beijing, Dubai, Tel Aviv, and Mexico City, puts the benefit at $1.4 billion annually. Deval Patrick spent an estimated $1.35 million on trade missions. Of course, there's not a direct correlation between the missions and the new routes, but the numbers give a sense of the impact from even a modest amount of success in luring more international investment here.
Today's Globe Olympics story; and yesterday's Olympics reference
I innocently noted yesterday that the Globe's July 13 print edition was without an Olympics story, but readers wrote in to point out that the story about the transformation at Columbia Point had some Olympics references, given the plans for the athlete's village in the vicinity. A technicality, I say.
After its brief Olympic hiatus, today's Globe explores the possibility that there may be more federal dollars available for a Boston games beyond funds for security. Mark Arsenault reports on amounts the feds ponied up here and there for the Atlanta and Salt Lake City games. http://bit.ly/1O3oK1B
Why should Olympic construction be for union-only shops?
The head of the Merit Construction Alliance, Ron Cogliano, asks this question: Given that 80 percent of the Massachusetts construction industry is non-union, why limit bidding to only union construction companies? Boston 2024's 2.0 bid stipulates Project Labor Agreements, which require union workers, and Cogliano outlines why that's not a good idea.http://bit.ly/1Hr7IbI
The MBTA reform bill will wait until the summer break...
Speaker Robert DeLeo revealed after the weekly meeting of the Big Three that the MBTA reform bill will wait until after the summer recess. The State House News Service explains why: http://statehousenews.com/news/20151378
The new Greek deal, which may turn tragic, explained
People are saying the new agreement with the EU is a worse deal than the Greeks people rejected earlier this month. The Globe's Steve Syre explains why nothing has fundamentally changed that would create reason for optimism, i.e., that the Greeks can pay back their mountain of debt. http://bit.ly/1Rw5FLw
All about the Marine Industrial Park
In its ongoing coverage of previously obscure Boston locales, today's Globe explains the many nuances of the Boston Marine Industrial Park, the 190-acre site tucked into a corner of South Boston along the harbor. The area is being eyed as a possible new home for the businesses that would have to vacate Widett Circle were the Olympics to take place here, but as the Globe's Jon Chesto explains, transformation is coming to the Marine Industrial Park in any case as the BRA plans to unveil a new master plan for the area. Complete with a very cool picture of the park's drydock.
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