Thursday October 1, 2015
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By George Donnelly (@geodonnelly) with Keith Regan
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Today: Hillary in the Hub
Former Secretary of State and Democratic candidate for president Hillary Clinton meets with Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Attorney General Maura Healey for a community discussion about substance abuse and the toll it is taking on families in Massachusetts, Carson Place at Boston Teachers Union Local 66 Hall, 180 Mt. Vernon St., Dorchester, 2:30. She will stay for a fundraiser at 5 pm, reportedly at Kings, a Back Bay bowling alley and has a fundraiser earlier in Holyoke.
Speaker Robert DeLeo and Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez visit Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth for a roundtable discussion on behavioral health and substance addiction, 10 am.
Sen. Karen Spilka and Rep. Joseph Wagner host a panel discussion on drug development, featuring Glenn Batchelder of Civitas Therapeutics, Robert Coughlin of MassBio, Ritchard Engelhardt of Biotechnology Industry Organization, Julia Gaebler of Health Advances, and Kenneth Kaitin of Tufts University School of Medicine, Room 222, 10:30.
To access the State House News Service's comprehensive political schedule, SHNS subscribers can go to: http://bit.ly/1LiRLcR
Now the heat's on Teamsters local
There was a time when Hollywood stayed away from Massachusetts because of the state's reputation for hardball union tactics and misdeeds, as chronicled in today's Globe. But when the commonwealth started giving money away with its film tax credit, all was forgiven and the movies magically flocked to Massachusetts. In a back to the future moment, yesterday the US Attorney General's office announced the indictment of several members of Teamsters Local 25 for allegedly threatening a "Top Chef" production crew into hiring some union members. "The defendants yelled profanities and racial and homophobic slurs at the Crew and others. The defendants blocked vehicles to the set and used actual physical violence and threats of physical violence to try and prevent people from entering the set," the indictment reads. The Globe reported today one Teamster screamed to "Top Chef" host Padma Lakshmi: "We're gonna bash that pretty face in, you [expletive] whore."
The Herald has a full splash, zeroing in on the role City Hall plays in granting permits to film crews. In the indictment, an unnamed City Hall employee is accused of calling the Omni Parker House, warning them that the Teamsters Local 25 was going to picket there. The hotel then reneged on its agreement to let "Top Chef" film there, according to the indictment.
Teamsters Local 25 claims the accusations are a fiction. But its ties to the Democratic Party are quite real. It has showered an assortment of candidates with campaign contributions, a fact that was not lost on the state GOP after the indictment was announced. It called for Democrats to return their donations, at best a premature suggestion. But the sums Teamsters Local 25 toss around are not chump change: Attorney General Maura Healey got a hefty check - $15,000 in August 2014 - but she returned it the following month. The union made a bet big on Martha Coakley in 2014, donating $14,499 in 2014. Marty Walsh received $14,499 in from Teamsters Local 25 2013 during his run for mayor. Depending how this case plays out, we may learn more about the intersection of Hollywood and union labor in Massachusetts.
Mass. Transit: The future of transportation -- a MASSterList/State House News Service event:
Join us for a panel discussion featuring Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack, Charlie Chieppo, principal of Chieppo Strategies, and Rick Dimino, CEO of A Better City, on the vision for transportation in Massachusetts. It will be held Oct. 13, 7:30-9:30am at the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education center, 10 Winter Place, Boston. More details and registration here: http://bit.ly/1KADgeC
Republican barred by Republicans
At Charlie Baker's fundraiser yesterday in Springfield, the Springfield Republican was invited in - then it was kicked out by the Massachusetts Republican Party. Even though the Republican routinely takes and publishes shots of fundraisers and was welcomed by the organizers of the event - and had photographed previous Baker and Polito fundraisers - the GOP said no way. http://bit.ly/1hcfaP1
Leading biotech answers to why drug prices are so high
Perhaps one of yesterday's most interesting political discussions occurred at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce forum featuring Vertex CEO Jeffrey Leiden, who was asked why drug prices were so high. Leiden's response, as reported by the Boston Business Journal's Don Seiffert, is a critical counterpoint to the political pounding biotechs and the pharma industry have been taking for $300,000 per year drugs and the like. "As we think about the solutions, we need to be very careful not to break the ecosystem, because then we don't end up with any new therapies," Leiden said. http://bit.ly/1PORU5x
Walsh: 'I'm not a lawsuit type of person'
That statement might cause a guffaw from Steve Wynn, who shot back at the mayor after learning of City Hall's new lawsuit challenging a permit granted for the Everett casino. The suit came after meetings between the Walsh and Wynn executives, which Walsh had called "productive." "If this is what the mayor believes a good working relationship should be, his experience is clearly different than ours," Wynn said in a statement reported by the Globe. Walsh called the lawsuits a "last resort" and that he's trying to serve the interests of Charlestown and the city. http://bit.ly/1jzS7j3
The Globe's Joan Vennochi ponders the latest in the Walsh-Wynn situation: "When it comes to the Everett casino, Walsh's actions are confusing. He either wants more mitigation money for Boston, or is trying to stall casino development forever, if possible." http://bit.ly/1L5sa5f
The T: Old computer system yet another problem
Given that it has rail cars dating back to the 1940s, is it any wonder that the MBTA is hampered with antiquated technology? That was one complaint that emerged from yesterday's hearing at the State House, reports the Globe's Nicole Dungca. The old technology and outdated procedures are making personnel management more difficult, said MBTA Fiscal Control Board member Brian Lang. http://bit.ly/1j2CQY7
Worcester lawyers fined for hiding source of Polito support
Two Worcester attorneys will pay $8,000 in fines and donate $1,000 each to charity to settle a complaint from the Mass. Office of Campaign and Political Finance that they disguised the source of donations to Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito's campaign by funneling funds through employees, MassLive reports. Louis Aloise and Michael Wilcox were accused of reimbursing employees at their law firm for attending a Polito fundraiser. Polito was not aware of the funds' true source, MassLive notes. http://bit.ly/1OIG3c0
Developer looking to place bet on Suffolk Downs slots
The developer leading the ballot-initiative push to expand the state's gaming law to include another slots parlor has also been waving wads of cash in front of property owners near Suffolk Downs, the Globe reports. Eugene McCain has offered $5.5 million to buy a trailer park and more than $1 million for a shuttered bar, Andrea Estes and Stephanie Ebbert report, and is telling residents he has a hotel partner already on board for his proposal. http://bit.ly/1KTg3Vn
Egg industry ready to scramble ballot initiative
The head of the United Egg Producers says the national group is ready to use its resources to beat back a 2016 ballot initiative that would ban the sale of eggs from chickens kept in cages, but will stop short of the all-out cash blitz that failed in California, the Globe reports. The group plans to commission a study to assess the impact of the move on consumers' pocketbooks, then will put its own polling into the field, but has no plans to duplicate the $10 million professionally crafted campaign aimed at stopping a California cage-free measure that still passed handily. http://bit.ly/1RhKsB2
MassPort boss: Expand international terminal at Logan
Massachusetts Port Authority CEO Thomas Glynn said as many as seven additional gates will be needed to keep up with growth at Logan's international terminal, the Herald reports. Glynn met with Herald editors and said the 25-year-old terminal will soon be straining under the surge of new international flights -- Logan now serves 51 global cities, nearly double the number from eight years ago. The authority does not have a price tag on the expansion, the first phase of which is slated to be completed by 2021. http://bit.ly/1P76nvz
Baker says state will target welfare fraud
Gov. Charlie Baker said the state will be "aggressive" in going after fraudulent public benefits claims, after a Worcester woman was charged with running a scheme that defrauded the food stamps program out of $3.6 million, the Herald reports. "From my point of view, we need to be aggressive at making sure because the credibility of the commonwealth is at stake," Baker said.
Today's day of the day: National Homemade Cookies Day. May you be fortunate enough to encounter a celebration. http://bit.ly/1Gi7nWv
How to reach me and MASSterList
Nothing makes me happier than comments, tips, suggestions. Also, opinion articles also will be considered. Please don't hesitate to weigh in on what we're missing and where we should look. Reach me at gdonnelly@massterlist.com or on Twitter @geodonnelly.
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