The Massachusetts Gaming Commission meets about the license for a commercial casino in southeastern Massachusetts, Shaw's Conference Center, 1 Feinberg Way, Brockton, 10 a.m.
| Today's News |
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| Marty Walsh’s near Nixon-like moment |
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In a rather startling statement for a sitting mayor of Boston, Marty Walsh yesterday acknowledged that, yes, there may well be some indictments tied to the ongoing federal probe of alleged strong-arm tactics by unions when pressuring contractors to use union laborers. But Walsh, former head of the Boston Building Trades, says he won’t be on the feds’ legal hit list, reports the Globe’s Andrew Ryan and Mark Arsenault. “I will not be getting one of those,” the mayor is quoted as saying.
If he had just added one word to the end of that quote (“indictments”), we would have had our very own Nixon-like “I am not a crook” moment. But it’s still a pretty damning quote and acknowledgement about how serious the situation is becoming for Walsh and other City Hall and union people.
How serious? The thinking here remains that Walsh, as he’s now somewhat famously predicted, probably will escape without an indictment. Others pundits appear to think the same thing, such as the Globe’s Kevin Cullen, who says there’s a difference between union tactics employed by people like Walsh and those used by genuine union thugs like the Teamsters’ infamous JoJo Burhoe. The Herald’s Howie Carr also thinks Walsh will skate, but only because there’s a difference between “honest graft” and “dishonest graft.” The Globe’s Joan Vennochi also has a good column this morning.
One other quick note: Some are all upset that the mayor won’t acknowledge whether he’s appeared before a federal grand jury or not, arguing the mayor needs to be more “transparent.” But you can safely ignore such calls. They’re just chads some are clinging to as the story’s political narrative of the day. The real issue is Walsh’s past connections to actual union negotiations, such as, oh, bringing along a member of the Boston Zoning Board of Appeals to tense talks with contractors about projects and permits.
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| House beats back tax amendments |
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On they came: Proposals to cut the state sales tax, increase the gas tax, eliminate the film tax credit and so forth, from the left and right – and the House beat them all back yesterday, reports MassLive's Shira Schoenberg. The House’s annual “budget week” continues today with yet more proposed amendments to the state budget.
MassLive
| 'Why has Lowell city government remained so white?’ |
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In the public mind, the city of Lowell is viewed as a largely gritty ethnic and working-class enclave, a city that’s seen better days and yet a city seen as up-and-coming, slowly diversifying and evolving. But why isn’t Lowell’s political structure also diversifying and changing? As CommonWealth magazines’s Ted Siefer notes, there’s not one non-white municipal elected official on the nine-member city council or the six-member school committee in a city closely approaching minority-majority status. And one suburban-like neighborhood absolutely dominates politics in Lowell. Why? Think: at-large elections.
CommonWealth |
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| Dershowitz: Run to the center, Hillary, not to the left |
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Alan Dershowitz, professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, doesn’t mention Elizabeth Warren, a former Harvard Law School professor herself, by name in his Globe op-ed this morning. But he might as well have mentioned Warren, the Massachusetts senator who’s being mentioned as Hillary’s possible running mate. Instead, Dershowitz urges Clinton to stay true to her centrist-liberal principles and not kowtow to the far left when campaigning or selecting a running mate: “(Bernie) Sanders’ victories in several state primaries and caucuses may put pressure on Clinton to select as her running mate someone to her left whose views are close to those of Sanders and his base. That would be a serious mistake. In the general election, her Republican opponent will attack her for being too far left, too liberal. If that attack resonates with independents, union members, and undecided voters, she could lose.”
Boston Globe |
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| Tribe buys Middleboro site once eyed for casino |
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The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe has purchased 300 acres of land in Middleboro that it had eyed as a casino location nearly a decade ago, even as it begins construction on its First Light casino in nearby Taunton, George Brennan reports in the Standard-Times. The tribe is not saying what it plans to do with the land and the move has some local officials on edge. “The good faith they once promised and have demonstrated has been less than inspiring,” said Selectman Allin Frawley.
Standard-Times |
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| T eyes ‘ring of steel” to capture lost fares |
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The MBTA is losing as much as $35 million a year due to fare evasion on its commuter rail alone and wants to invest in physical barriers at some of its business stations to cut its losses, Matt Stout of the Herald reports. Keolis, the T’s commuter rail vendor, is offering to invest up to $10 million to create a “ring of steel” at some of the busiest transit stations, though observers say the plan will require careful implementation to avoid creating delays.
Boston Herald |
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| Bay State Banner furious over newspaper’s new name |
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Via Adam Gaffin’s Universal Hub, the Bay State Banner, the long-time voice of the Boston area’s African-American community, is fuming over the resurrection of the Boston Courant newspaper under a new name. The Banner’s complaint: “The paper formerly known as Back Bay Courant has relaunched as a paper called Boston Guardian. Are they clueless about the legacy of that name..it is Boston's first black newspaper founded by William Monroe Trotter. Is our history so unimportant that they would take this name to serve Back Bay residents?? Melvin Miller didn't even use the name when he founded the Banner as the legacy of the Guardian. We have a front page of the Guardian framed on the wall of our office. This is beyond disrespectful.”
Bay State Banner
| Trying to figure out what Millennials want and need |
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Are you baffled by the seemingly detached attitude of Millennials toward the political process? At a MASSterList and State House News Service event sponsored by GateHouse Media, a panel of politically-involved Millennials yesterday agreed that many young people indeed may not be involved in the political process. But maybe that’s because they have an entirely different view of how the world and political process works – or how they should work, reports State House New Service’s Colin A. Young.
SHNS (pay wall) |
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| Congressional Dems benefit from Baker’s hands-off approach |
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Gov. Charlie Baker has steered clear of public efforts to recruit and boost Republicans willing to challenge incumbent U.S. representatives in the state, giving most of the nine Democrats up for re-election a big break, David Bernstein of WGBH reports. As the deadline for filing to run approaches, few incumbents are facing challengers and even fewer will face off against well-funded candidates.
WGBH |
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| Business community to lawmakers: Please, please, please stop loading up health plans with more mandates |
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Politically, it’s pretty easy to propose that health insurance plans must cover a wider range of illnesses -- and it’s pretty hard to say no to such proposals. But it’s literally costing insurance ratepayers a lot of money and driving up premium costs at an alarming rate, say business groups and health insurers. They’re now blitzing the State House in an effort to block amendments that would add new mandates to health plans, reports MassLive’s Shira Schoenberg. File under: The cost of good intentions.
MassLive |
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| Brockton steps back from downtown renewal plan |
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The Brockton City Council has taken a pause on its way to approving a downtown revitalization plan, Marc Larocque of the Enterprise reports. After a preliminary vote in favor last week, several councilors say the 20-year plan to revamp zoning and partner with the state to redevelop properties in the downtown core needs more study.
The Enterprise |
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| Rooting out rats from Quincy rubbish |
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The city of Quincy may move to require residents to put their trash out in barrels after a surge in complaints about rat sightings, Patrick Ronan of the Patriot Ledger reports.
Patriot Ledger
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