Twitter co-founder and chief executive Jack Dorsey is the special guest at the National Society of Black Engineers' annual convention, Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Room 258AB, 415 Summer St., 11 a.m.
Fresh off his triumphant Adele parody video, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh joins Boston Public Radio co-hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan for his monthly "Ask the Mayor" segment, WGBH-FM 89.7, 12 p.m.
Solar talks hit snag over net-metering
A legislative conference committee is making progress in talks over expanding solar power in Massachusetts, but negotiators are getting bogged down over the thorny issue of "net-metering," reports Commonwealth Magazine's Bruce Mohl. http://bit.ly/1LM55Y7
Whatever lawmakers decide, let's hope they sooner or later give more thought to the points raised by MIT's Richard Schmalensee, who has studied the state's solar programs and believes consumers are paying way too much for solar in Massachusetts. As he writes in a Globe opinion piece: "Residential solar systems are significantly more expensive per unit of capacity than utility-scale systems - about 70 percent more expensive on a levelized-cost basis. In addition, high levels of residential solar penetration often require substantial investments in distribution systems."http://bit.ly/1MpmTIy
He's not calling for junking residential solar programs. He's merely pointing out that there are other, less-expensive tools in the solar toolbox that can also be used to help achieve the state's lofty solar-power goals.
State's jobless rate falls to lowest point since the dot-com era
Impressive indeed: The state's unemployment rate in February fell to 4.5 percent, a figure not seen in these parts since 2001, during the tail-end years of the dot-com era, according to data from the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. Note the reference to "tail end," for the jobless rate hit an incredible low of 2.6 percent in 2000, before it started rising as the dot-com bubble started to hiss. Yet today's numbers are fantastic. There's still a persistent problem of slowly rising incomes, which partially accounts for the state's coffers not being as flush with cash as one might think at this stage of a recovery. But the news is still good overall. http://bit.ly/1RpDHMu
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Solar energy in Massachusetts lowers electricity prices, provides cleaner air, has created over 15,000 local jobs, and gives consumers choice. Our solar industry is one of the most successful in the country. But all this is in danger if the Legislature doesn't act now to eliminate the arbitrary cap on solar net metering. Protect this vital industry. Eliminate the cap. Find us at LetMassShine.com.
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Warren keeps up her barrage against Trump
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren yesterday continued to pound away at GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, saying that he's a "real threat to this country" and that she's "very alarmed" at Trump's chances of winning the November general election, the Patriot Ledger's Patrick Ronan reports. Note: Warren, often criticized for scurrying away from reporters asking her questions, made the remarks during a media availability in Quincy.http://bit.ly/1q5Bq1Z
The mystery is over: GE picks Fort Point as its new home
General Electric's announcement Thursday that it has selected Necco Court in Boston's Fort Point area for its new headquarters answers the question over whether it will build a new headquarters or renovate existing space here. And the answer is both, reports the BBJ's Catherine Carlock. http://bit.ly/1UQaqPz
GE chief executive Jeff Immelt, whose company announced earlier this year it was moving its corporate headquarters from Connecticut to Boston, also said Boston's "astounding" startup scene and deep array of higher-ed institutions were key factors in its decision to move here, the BBJ also reports. http://bit.ly/1MpncD7
MuckRock seeks to crowd-fund FOIA of GE emails
MuckRock.com is asking the public to fund a Freedom of Information Act request for the emails of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh relating to the city's pursuit of General Electric, JPat Brown reports on the investigative news site. In response to a request from the Bay State Examiner's Andrew Quemere, the mayor's office said it found more than 2,500 GE-related emails and asked for $1,746.24 to produce them. As of Friday morning, just over $105 had been raised with a little more than a week to go. http://bit.ly/22vLQJA
Healey may fight Kinder Morgan's planned pipeline through forest
Attorney General Maura Healey is apparently signaling that she'll defend the state against a Kinder Morgan subsidiary that's seeking an easement through the Otis State Forest for a new natural gas pipeline, MassLive's Mary Serreze reports. Kinder Morgan is already suing the state Department of Conservation and Recreation over the easement issue. But in cases like this, always keep in mind: When companies have the backing of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (and KM does in this instance), they're hard to stop. http://bit.ly/1VMQw8S
Rep. Brian Mannal joins crowded race for Cape senate seatState Rep. Brian Mannal, D-Barnstable, is throwing his hat into the ring for the Cape senate seat being vacated by Harwich Democrat Daniel Wolf, Geoff Spillane of the Cape Cod Times reports. Other Democratic candidates for the Senate seat are Julian Cyr, of Truro; Benjamin deRuyter, of Brewster; and Barnstable County Commissioner Sheila Lyons, of Wellfleet. Republican candidates are James Crocker, of Osterville, and former Ashland Town Manager and Air Force veteran Anthony Schiavi, of Harwich. http://bit.ly/1XSfWk0
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Our state's public defenders are denied their right to form a union. Why? Because they were left out of the state collective bargaining law.
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Drunken driving defendants seek SJC review of breathalyzers
Lawyers for a group of more than 500 drunken driving defendants wants the Supreme Judicial Court to intervene in their challenge to the accuracy of a widely used breath analysis machine, Jim Halladin of the MetroWest Daily News reports. The lawyers are asking a single judge of the SJC to hear parts of its case, including a lower court order regarding expert testimony on the machines they say has proven all but impossible to follow. http://bit.ly/1VMDJDl
Westfield river parks off-limits after $80M upgrade
Four years after an $80 million project to upgrade the Great River Bridge in Westfield, parts of a riverside overlook park it created have been deemed unsafe and are off-limits to pedestrians, Dan Glaun of MassLive reports. The city has hired a structural engineer to investigate what caused barriers along the river to become unsafe and to recommend fixes. http://bit.ly/1T91h4H
Healey's next target may be big consumer data
With her office poised to release daily fantasy sports guidelines, Attorney General Maura Healey said Thursday at a privacy conference that she wants to prevent the abuse of consumer data collected by corporations, Zeninjor Enwemeka of WBUR reports. "We just need to make sure that big data isn't being used to give certain consumers an unfair deal based on who they are, where they are or what they do online," Healey said. http://wbur.fm/1pBlhAW
Developer: Denial of Brockton casino would "put a stake in the heart" of city
The high-stakes back-and-forth over casino licenses in the southeastern part of the state continued Thursday, as Rush Street Gaming Chairman Neil Bluhm made a final plea to the Mass. Gaming Commission to issue a license for the proposed Brockton casino he is backing, George Brennan of the Cape Cod Times reports. Bluhm tried to cast doubt on a report released the previous day saying that the state would lose $28 million annually if both the Brockton casino and a tribal casino in Taunton were allowed to open and said denying the license would "put a stake in the heart" of Brockton. http://bit.ly/1MpkE81
Cape officials blasted for suggesting homeless be moved
Officials in Taunton and New Bedford blasted a suggestion by members of the Barnstable Town Council that a short-term solution to Cape Cod's homeless problem is to ship people to those cities, where more social services are in place, Kathleen McKiernan of SouthCoast Today reports. "State-funded facilities do take people from all over, but to click your heels together three times and push the problem away to another community is shortsighted," said Taunton Mayor Thomas Hoye Jr. http://bit.ly/1Ug32Ou
Sunday public affairs TV
On The Record, WCVB-TV, 11 a.m. political roundtable and featuring guest Congressman Seth Moulton.
BC Chief Executives Club, NECN, 10 a.m., featuring General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt
This Week in Business, NECN, 12:30 p.m., includes a look at the spring housing market with Annie Blatz, president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, plus Shirley Leung of the Boston Globe and Snapchef chief executive Todd Snopkowski.
Inside the Brand, NECN, 1 p.m., Roger Berkowitz, chief executive of Legal Sea Foods, and brand strategist Larry Gulko talk with Mark Baynes, the CMO of Keurig, and Lizanne Kindler, CEO of Talbot's.
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