Thursday, February 18, 2016
By George Donnelly (@geodonnelly) and Keith Regan
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Today: Guv chats; Healey keynotes LGBT event
Attorney General Maura Healey delivers the keynote address at the annual North Shore Pride LGBT Professional Networking event. Healey is expected to focus her remarks on LGBT owned businesses, according to the state Democratic party. Davensport Yacht Club Ballroom, 161 Elliot St., Danvers, 5:45 pm.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission meets 101 Federal St. - 12th floor, Boston, 10:00 am.
Gov. Baker does his monthly chat with Boston Public Radio's Jim Braude and Margery Eagan, noon on 89.7 FM.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh travels to Miami Beach, Florida to participate in the U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Leadership Meeting.
Joyce: Guilty as (not) charged?
The instantaneous news cycle leaves little room for due process. Sen. Brian Joyce's Canton law office was raided yesterday by the FBI and the IRS, which led to immediate calls for his resignation from the state GOP. It may not look good, but Joyce shouldn't be convicted in the media or by the opposition party. "It'll take its course and go wherever it goes," was the prudent perspective of Gov. Baker, who wouldn't back the state GOP's call for Joyce's resignation.
Joyce's odd arrangement to receive free dry cleaning from a Randolph business over a 10-year period appears to be the catalyst for the raid. Joyce and the dry cleaning shop owner, who sold the business in 2008, have different accounts of the arrangement, as originally reported in the Globe. Joyce has maintained the dry cleaning was strictly in exchange for legal services. But Joyce's rationale for the deal may still not matter with tax officials. When Andrea Estes's original story on the dry cleaning situation broke last month, one of the more interesting observations was from former US Attorney Michael Sullivan. Estes reported: "If, as Joyce asserts, he traded dry cleaning for legal services, Sullivan added, he would have had to report the value of the services on his taxes."
Governor's Councilor Michael Albano, former Mayor of Springfield recalled once being under federal scrutiny. "I'm sure your readers are going to think that there's some guilt associated with Brian Joyce. I would urge them caution. Let the facts play out, because everyone is assumed innocent until proven guilty," he told the State House News Service. If only it were true. The Globe's Joyce story, with a co-byline by Estes, is here.http://bit.ly/1Qn898k
Polls on target, so far
Presidential polling hasn't been precise, but have been close enough, writes James Pindell of the Globe -- with the margin of error. "All of this is troubling for Hillary Clinton and Republicans not backing Trump. In Nevada, a new poll from CNN/ORC shows the race is now tied between Clinton and Bernie Sanders ahead of Saturday's caucuses."http://bit.ly/1Q35xkm
And the most interesting poll numbers of the day
If Bernie Sanders can take New Hampshire by a wide margin, why couldn't he at least have a fighting chance in Massachusetts? The answer to that question came yesterday with an assortment of state poll numbers for Super Tuesday states from Public Policy Polling that has Sanders ahead in Massachusetts by 7 percentage points. While Sanders has momentum, Clinton leads by large margins in 10 of the 12 states.
Baker in DC this weekend to convene with nation's governors
Washington will be full of governors this weekend, and Charlie Baker also will be there as the National Governors Association, along with the Republican Governors Association and the Democratic Governors Association, convene. The State House News Service's Matt Murphy has more here: http://bit.ly/1OhHnNl (paywall)
Immigrants protest at the regional ICE office
Rallying to coincide with Pope Francis' visit to Cuidad Juarez, about 120 protesters gathered outside the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's New England field office yesterday, putting a face to the ongoing politic targets of many Republican candidates for president. The group "gathered to demand a nationwide stop to the deportation of immigrants who have children and are in the country illegally," Eric Moskowitz of the Globe reports. http://bit.ly/1oM9FLb
Massachusetts has big box solar potential
There is 4.5 billion square feet of untapped rooftop space in the nation's big box stores, enough energy to reduce carbon emissions by 12 million vehicles, according to a report by the Environment Massachusetts Research and Policy Center. The "report says Target -- which has more than 30 locations in Massachusetts -- has 240 million square feet of roof space suitable for solar energy in North America, enough to power 660,000 homes" and could follow the lead of Wal-Mart, Costco, Kohl's, and IKEA to use rooftops to generate significant energy to power their stores. http://bit.ly/1KY37Df (paywall)
Springfield crafts new casino conditions
The Springfield City Council approved a number of new conditions for MGM's downtown resort casino project, many of which were hammered out in negotiations between the casino company and its future neighbors, Peter Goonan of MassLive reports. One request not granted to abutters: A law firm that wanted 10 free parking spaces in an MGM lot because was losing on-street parking was instead given access to some spaces for two hours at a time.http://bit.ly/1ot3L1O
Bump to audit DCF
State Auditor Suzanne Bump will launch an audit aimed at determining the "greatest risks" inside the Department of Children and Families, the Herald's Matt Stout reports. Bump said she is working with the Baker administration to determine the scope of the audit and to identify ways to carry it out without interfering with ongoing changes at the agency. http://bit.ly/1XzvBF8
Cheap gas leads to more roadway deaths
A rise in the number of traffic fatalities is being traced back to the plunge in gas prices, which is encouraging more driving, the Patriot Ledger's Chris Burrell reports. The National Safety Council said 354 people died on Massachusetts roadways in 2015, a 2 percent increase over the year before. http://bit.ly/1KY2V6X
Meehan: UMass is fixing, building
UMass President Marty Meehan says the university is effectively reducing its backlog of deferred maintenance in recent years while adding new buildings to help burnish the system's profile among students and donors alike, the Globe's Rachel Riley reports. In a letter to lawmakers and Gov. Baker, Meehan pointed to a study showing a nearly $1 billion in reduction in deferred maintenance."The building that has taken place across the UMass system has been critical to our ability to step forward and emerge as a great public university," Meehan said. http://bit.ly/1XzwA8w
Boston may vote on CPA again
The Boston City Council may ask city voters to adopt the Community Preservation Act, a self-imposed property tax surcharge that would enable the city to access state matching funds, according to Jennifer Smith of the Dorchester Reporter. Proponents say the move could create as much as $20 million annually for affordable housing, recreation and historical preservation uses. More than 150 communities have adopted the Act, but Boston voters have already said no to the CPA once before in 2001. http://bit.ly/1Q37XQ1
Mashpee superintendent not guilty of trespass
Mashpee Superintendent Brian Hyde was found not guilty of trespass and breaking-and-entering charges in connection with a controversial visit he made to a home to determine if a student was indeed a resident of the town, Haven Orecchio-Egresitz of the Cape Cod Times reports. Hyde has been on leave from his job and the School Committee is expected to address his long-term status at a meeting next week. http://bit.ly/1Q38ph6
Quote of the day
"A budget is a value statement. A budget speaks to where we stand. And so if we are half of inflation, that to me does not put the value that we should have on our education." -Tito Jackson, speaking with reporters at yesterday's school budget funding protest. More here on the rally from WGBH's Mike Deehan. http://bit.ly/1osXRxQ
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