Monday, January 4, 2016
By George Donnelly (@geodonnelly) and Sara Brown
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Today: It's inauguration day across the Commonwealth; Trump in Lowell
Gov. Baker and Lt. Gov. Polito crisscross the state attending mayoral inaugurations. Baker will be Gardner for the inauguration of Mayor Mark Hawke, a Republican, at 10:00 am, and will be in Weymouth for the inauguration of Mayor Robert Hedlund, also a Republican. Polito will attend three inaugurals: Mayor Jasiel Correia of Fall River, Fitchburg Mayor Stephen DiNatale, and Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella.
Mayor Marty Walsh will preside over the inauguration of the City Council, 9:30 am, Faneuil Hall.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump hosts a campaign rally at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell, 300 Arcand Drive, Lowell, 7:00 pm.
This week: The squeeze will be on
With the holidays behind us, look for various and sundry fiscal moves:
* The MBTA Fiscal Management and Control Board will meet at 1:00 pm, and the subject of hiking fares likely will take center stage.
* There's the matter of midyear budget actions, strongly hinted at by both Gov. Baker and Administration and Finance Secretary Kristen Lepore. While attention has shifted to the gaping projected hole in the fiscal 2017 budget, there remain 2016's unresolved problems, including deficient non-tax revenue.
* In the world of the private sector, a job-cut announcement of staggering proportions may be coming very soon from Hopkinton, where EMC and Dell seem primed to announce details of a restructuring plan that will cost it $250 million. The Boston Business Journal broke this story about impending cuts on New Year's Eve.
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Each day, the Commonwealth's Emergency Service and Mobile Crisis units intervene in severe cases where children and adults pose a danger to themselves or others. But as the opiate epidemic sweeps the state and suicide rates reach an all-time high, Governor Baker has introduced a plan to slash these vital services by as much as 72%. Baker's drastic cuts stand to disrupt client care, extend wait times and expose our communities to unpredictable risk.
Fortunately, it's not too late for the Governor to put the brakes on this reckless plan. Learn more and take action to stop the attack at http://BakersAttackOnMentalHealth.com .
Explaining the Globe's delivery nightmare
It hasn't been a very happy 2016 so far for many at the Boston Globe who have been struggling to get their print product, still its bread and butter, in the hands of all its subscribers. For many customers, the delivery problems began Monday, Dec. 28. That's when a new outfit, ACI Media Group, took over for Publishers Circulation Fulfillment, which still delivers the Boston Herald, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and other regional dailies.
As the clamor of frustrated subscribers grew, a Dec. 31 Globe story put the percentage of papers either late or not being delivered at 5 percent. On Sunday night, the Globe posted a story that put the percentage of non-deliveries or late deliveries at 10 percent (and also explored tensions between the vendor and Globe management).
To some, it seemed inexplicable. How could the region's most prominent and respected news source not be able to get its primary product into the hands of so many of its readers? But newspaper delivery is a complicated business, as many Globe staffers learned the other night after a memo that the paper was in "crisis mode" went out calling for volunteers to deliver papers. Door-to-door delivery is an art, as any delivery boy or girl learned back in the day. It takes times to find the right people to do the work and also learn the nuances of the route. ACI is short-staffed and it's clear the problem will linger until the delivery service gets fully up to speed.
Storyline lines to look for as this saga continues:
Globe employees, many from the newsroom, rushed into the breach. But will they do so again? It was an impressive display of esprit de corps, captured in yesterday's story and many tweets. And don't miss Kevin Cullen's column about his adventures delivering in Hingham. Globies may have help save the day, but there are many more days to be saved, as the shorthanded new vendor looks for contractors to take delivery routes.
Print may be "dead," but the people who read print are not (even if they pretend they haven't heard of the Internet). People love to hate dominant daily newspapers, so when one screws up and interrupts a morning ritual, the chorus of boos grows loud and perhaps overdone. The perfectly serviceable digital edition is cold comfort for some.
The other daily is not paying attention. Once upon a time, the Boston Herald would have had a field day with this story. Today, perhaps the most aggressive has been Universal Hub.
Where's John Henry on all this? When the publisher of a newspaper has many newspapers being published that aren't being delivered, with serious customer service issues building, he should say something to reassure his subscribers and advertisers.
Suit: State hasn't done enough to reduce emissions
Lawyers for the Conservation Law Foundation will argue before the state's top court this week that the administrations of Gov. Charlie Baker and his predecessor have violated the law by not enacting policies that would enable the state to meet goals for reducing carbon emissions, the Globe reports. http://bit.ly/1R6SBLJ
NU's adjuncts keep the pressure on
Northeastern University adjuncts filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board heading into the weekend, the Globe reported, saying NU altered eligibility for health care insurance. The adjuncts remain without a contract and have threatened to strike later this month. http://bit.ly/1TzskU8
Health care premiums' unstoppable rise
Massachusetts health care insurers report 2016 will be another year of significant premium increases, with particular pain being felt by individuals and small businesses. Various factors are contributing to the increases, including taxes and fees insurers have to pay under the Affordable Care Act. The Globe's Priyanka Dal McCluskey has more here: http://bit.ly/1R72HMy
Special elections aren't so special
As Massachusetts faces several special elections for legislative seats this year, a Globe editorial crunches some numbers to reveal that more than half of the city's legislative delegation was voted in through a special election. "...the rules around the timing of resignations must be improved to avoid the political maneuvering that has become a regular practice." http://bit.ly/1O5Tle3
Green Line workers tops in OT haul
The Herald's Matt Stout dug through numbers to produce a very interesting analysis of overtime spending at the T. Green Line maintenance workers averaged about $32,000 in OT through Dec. 15 of 2015, topping other lines by as much as double. The T management is looking into OT practices, which generated a $75 million tab last year. http://bit.ly/1O5VaaW
The rise of Sean T. O'Donovan at City Hall
How does an obscure former Somerville alderman rise to become a player in Boston City Hall? That's the question Globe reporters Andrew Ryan and Mark Arsenault address in their story about Sean T. O'Donovan, who has represented companies and developers looking to do business with the city. Emails obtained by the Globe "offer a breathtaking how-to guide for leveraging political relationships," the Globe reports.
DeLeo: No new taxes this year
Despite a looming budget shortfall of as much as $1 billion, House Speaker Bob DeLeo tells the Globe that new taxes and fees will not be on the table as budget writers return to work this month. DeLeo said the state's middle class continues to be squeezed despite relatively strong economic performance. He also tells the Globe he'll push to get the long-stalled transgender rights bill passed, possibly over a veto from Gov. Baker. http://bit.ly/1ILzJPF
Pipeline foes frustrated with FERC
Residents of western Mass. say the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is thwarting their efforts to intervene in its review of a proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline, MassLive reports. The agency's Web portal to receive public input has been down for several days, with the deadline for input looming on Wednesday. http://bit.ly/1mZE3kC
Theft from public tills tally $1 million
The tally from a recent rash of public embezzlement cases in central Mass. has reached nearly $1 million following the indictment of a former Hubbardston tax collector on charges of stealing $500,000, the Telegram reports. http://bit.ly/1Unup5A
NY AG wants fantasy refunds
The New Year brings a fresh legal challenge for DraftKings and its fellow daily fantasy sports sites. WBUR reports that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has amended his lawsuits against the sites to seek it to refund all the entry fees it received from the state's residents, and will also seek civil fines of up to $5,000 per case. http://wbur.fm/1RlgfTl
Wu ready to ascend to City Council presidency
City councilor Michelle Wu is expected to be elected president of that body today, and said her goal would be to allow residents to track the actions of the council. "My focus would be on transparency and accessibility," Wu told the Herald, "really making sure the information available about what issues are before the council and what the status and progress is on all of those issues." If elected, she will be the first person of Asian descent as President and the third woman. http://bit.ly/1Z0mfBx
Correction: Among our predictions from readers last week, we spelled Matt Barron's name incorrectly.
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