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Monday, December 21, 2015
By George Donnelly (@geodonnelly) and Sara Brown
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Today: Ringing the bell; fare treatment at the T
You can visit Gov. Baker and donate while you're at it while he rings the bell for the Salvation Army, 11:30 am, outside Macy's in Downtown Crossing, Boston. On Tuesday, Speaker Bob DeLeo will ring the bell, and Mayor Marty Walsh will try to defend his Salvation Army fund-raising title on Wednesday. (See below for more suggestions on end-of-year giving.)
When will they raise fares and by how much? MBTA's Fiscal and Management Control Board holds a public meeting and the subject of fares is on the agenda. 10 Park Plaza, second floor conference rooms, Boston, 1 pm
Green Line: Private sector to the rescue?
Officials trying to make the numbers work for the financially strapped Green Line Extension project keep talking about private sector and municipal contributions that will help close the funding gap, estimated at about $1 billion. A Boston Globe articletoday suggests the planners are coming late to the party. "You have to bake this into the planning and the entire process, not decide to do it two-thirds of the way in," said one observer, George McCarthy, president of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Getting the developers to cough up more money will simply passes costs down the line to tenants and would-be buyers of units that may already be financially out of reach for many. Some of the property taxes generated by the transportation project could be shifted to help cover the costs, but that's funding that doesn't go to city services. This shaking of the money tree is classic retroactive planning, but it may be the only way to save the project, which promises to be the subject of political fascination next year.
Charlie Baker and his use of "stuff"
Gov. Baker has a penchant for taking selfies with constituents, a habit whose political advantages were explored with a certain amount of analytical sobriety by the Globe's Joshua Miller in Saturday's Globe. For a less serious take on the governor's linguistic habits, namely, using the word "stuff" a lot, see blogger HesterPrynne's comprehensive accounting of Baker and his embrace of "stuff." The advantage of using "stuff," Ms. Prynne says, is similar to the selfie thing: It makes him seem "likeable and approachable." http://bit.ly/1Yv0rh5
Eviction law gaining steam
City officials are taking a hard look at "just cause" eviction ordinance that would give tenants more rights to remain in their units as displacement becomes a bigger issue in the city's heated real estate market. The ordinance, being pushed by tenant advocates, would compel landlords to provide a cause for eviction, allowing evictions only under certain circumstance, such as nonpayment of rent. Rent increases over 5 percent could bring nonbinding mediation under the proposal, reports the Globe's Tim Logan. http://bit.ly/1S4hVRR
Walsh setting fundraising records
With two years still left until reelection, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is setting fundraising records. So far this year he has raised $1.75 million, topping last year's record. "Gearing up toward the election, I can spend more time in the streets talking to people and less time raising money," Walsh told the Herald. "I had to spend a lot of time (in 2013) making phone calls raising money. I'd rather be out campaigning and talking to people. And in 2017, the trickiest part to the whole thing is I'm going to be the mayor of Boston, and having my duties as mayor and finding time to campaign out there."http://bit.ly/1NGJhYX
Charter schools and children with disabilities: A deeper look
Charter schools are enrolling more students with disabilities, but a deeper look at education data by Shira Schoenberg of MassLive reveals "charter and district schools are not necessarily educating the same types of students with disabilities. Children with the more severe types of disabilities are still more likely to end up in the traditional public school system than in charter schools."http://bit.ly/1TZysVB
Terror attacks mean brisk gun sales
Gun shops and firearms training courses in Central Mass. tell the Telegram they are seeing a spike in business in the wake of recent terror attacks in Paris and California. But dealers say the increase is less pronounced than the one they saw in 2013 after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Connecticut. http://bit.ly/1ZkxhUo
SJC Chief seeks to reassure Bay State Muslims
Ralph Gants, the chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, sought to reassure members of the state's Muslim community, telling the Islamic Society of Boston on Friday that both the Massachusetts and Federal constitutions will protect them from backlash following recent terror attacks, WGBH reports. Gants had asked to address the group earlier in the week to deliver the message of reassurance. http://bit.ly/1RzN0gW
Record-setting venture capital year for Mass.
Startups in Massachusetts attracted $7.42 billion worth of venture capital funding in 2015, a high-water mark for at least the past 15 years, the Boston Business Journal reports, citing data from PitchBook. Funding was up 28 percent over last year's levels, though fewer companies received funding overall, with 531 separate deals announced this year. http://bit.ly/1NGSsbL
State investigated, cleared Brady business partnership
The state's Division of Professional Licensure launched an investigation into Tom Brady business partner and controversial personal trainer Alex Guerrero, but the agency decided to take no action, according to Boston Magazine. The year-long review was launched in 2013, the magazine reports as it continued to delve into the relationship between the star athlete and the controversial business person. http://bit.ly/1OFVMDS
More end of year charitable giving ideas:
Here's our next round of charitable giving ideas submitted by MASSterList readers. We'll have more tomorrow and will continue to run them as they come in. Send no more than two sentences describing the nonprofit, along with a link to donate, to gdonnelly@massterlist.com.
Heading Home: Families with children remain the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. There are an estimated 4,300 homeless families Massachusetts alone, including 1,300 families who are living in motels. Heading Home is dedicated to solving this crisis and providing solutions.
In Generation Citizen's action civics program, middle and high school students collaborate with policymakers to lead change on real local issues, and gain the knowledge and skills to be engaged and effective in the political process for the long-term. It only takes $100 to sponsor a student through the Generation Citizen program at www.generationcitizen.org/donate.
The League of Women Voters of Massachusetts Citizen Education Fund and its new initiative, MoVE 2016 (Massachusetts Voter Engagement 2016), is a voter education and engagement program designed to provide eligible voters throughout the Commonwealth with nonpartisan digital and print resources that will encourage participation and informed choice in the 2016 election. Our goal is to "MoVE the needle" by substantially increasing voter registration and turnout rates in the Commonwealth in 2016. You can donate online here.
United Way of Greater Attleboro and Taunton http://www.uwgat.org/
Salvation Army of Attleboro http://massachusetts.salvationarmy.org/MA/Attleboro
The Massachusetts Sierra Club works tirelessly to promote clean energy, fight methane gas leaks that threaten our safety and pollute our air, oppose pipelines so our state will not become a highway through our wetlands, conservation and agricultural lands to export fracked liquid natural gas, and clean up plastic pollution. Join and contribute to the Sierra Club.
The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty Animals - Angell Animal Medical Center is a leader in animal protection and veterinary medicine and provide direct hands-on care for thousands of animals each year (like Nelson). The MSPCA-Angell is comprised of Animal Care and Adoption Centers, our Advocacy Department, and our Law Enforcement Department and Angell Animal Medical Center, our veterinary hospital. To donate, please visit: https://www.mspca.org/donate-now/
Community Servings provides free, nutritious, home-delivered meals to individuals and families suffering from HIV/AIDS, cancer, diabetes, renal disease, and other critical illnesses. The medically tailored meals are made from scratch and send the message to those in greatest need that someone cares. This winter, help Community Servings feed our sick neighbors and give a gift today.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Boston helps the poor and working poor of our community to self-sufficiency. Give a gift that matters this Christmas for it is in the giving that we receive. GIVE TODAY.
Our Space Our Place provides an afterschool and career exploration program to middle and high school youth who are blind. OSOP is housed at the Tobin Community Center in Roxbury MA. OSOP uses the arts, sports, career workshops and work experiences to develop self-esteem and self-confidence of our students. Every donation expands the life options for our students. To learn more about Our Space Our Place, Inc. and to make a donation visit:
Correction: Bad math in an item about the Boston Public Library retail lease generated an extra zero. The differential between what the WGBH will pay and the offer by the owner of the Curious George shop is about $140,000 per year.
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