Mayor Walsh has called for a vigil at City Hall Plaza today for the victims of the Orlando massacre, 6 p.m.
Today's News |
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Two from western Massachusetts listed as among the dead in Orlando |
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A Springfield native and a well-known former western Massachusetts resident were listed among the dozens of people killed in Sunday’s massacre in Orlando, MassLive reports in two separate articles.
Scott Croteau at MassLive reports: “A Facebook page that appears to belong to Stanley Manolo Almodovar III was flooded with messages of shock, sorrow and memories after the mass shooting inside the Pulse Orlando nightclub. Almodovar's page says he lives in Clermont, Florida, but states Springfield is his hometown. The 23-year-old's page states he attended Lincoln Elementary School in Springfield, Massachusetts.” The Orlando Sentinalhas more on his death.
Meanwhile, Brian Steele at MassLive reports: “Authorities in Orlando have confirmed the death of KJ Morris, 37, in Sunday's mass shooting at a gay nightclub. Morris was a beloved dancer and drag performer with strong ties to the LGBT community in Western Massachusetts. She was working as a bouncer at Pulse Orlando when Omar Mateen, 29, stormed the building and shot more than 100 people, killing 50 in the deadliest such attack in American history.”
Our sympathies to all their relatives and friends.
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Orlando attack exposes political fault lines |
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Were we the only ones not only stunned by the Orlando tragedy yesterday but also by the speed at which the issue dissolved into a political and ideological brawl over Islamic terrorism and gun control? The Herald’s Kimberly Atkins certainly noticed, pointing out the “starkly party-line messages” issued yesterday by Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
At the Guardian, Gary Younge called the reaction even before it had time to fully unfold: “As relatives grieve and a nation mourns, America’s political class will picking through the wreckage of heinous events in Orlando and try to frame the tragedy in a way that suits their agenda. Those who hoped a tragedy of this nature might be extracted from partisan politics will be sorely disappointed. .... All will be judged by their responses; some will seek political advantage. All are in some way vulnerable; none will readily admit that.”
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City Hall vigil and other post-Orlando reactions in Boston |
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Because the suspect in the Orlando massacre reportedly referenced the bombers in the Boston Marathon attacks, Boston was on particular edge yesterday, the Globe reports. After the terrorist shooting at the Orlando gay nightclub, Boston Police stepped up security at Boston Pride events yesterday, NECN reported. Mayor Walsh also called Orlando’s mayor yesterday to offer any support Boston can provide, a move Orlando police appeared to appreciate, as reported at WCVB.
Boston police went ahead with yesterday’s pre-planned terrorism response drill at Fenway Park, while also providing security protection at various gay gathering spots, the Herald reports.
Finally, Mayor Walsh is planning a vigil at 6 p.m. today at Government Center Plaza, Boston.com reports.
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The last thing police need today: Trouble at Trump event |
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The Trump campaign issued a statement saying the GOP presidential candidate was postponing a planned rally in Portsmouth, N.H. today due to the Orlando tragedy. Meanwhile, the Langham Hotel confirms he has also cancelled a planned fundraiser in Boston today. But Trump plans to proceed with a speech at Saint Anselm in N.H. later this afternoon.
Here’s hoping anti-Trump protesters cool it today in N.H., of all days. Unfortunately, some anti-Trump protesters don’t exactly have a reputation for being cool and civil of late, recently drawing rebukes from President Obama and a blistering editorial over the weekend from the LA Times: “Donald Trump’s rhetoric and much of his platform – deporting 11 million immigrants, building a wall on the Mexican border, forbidding all Muslims to enter the country – are ugly and offensive. But they don’t justify violence against his supporters or an attack on their exercise of free speech. There is no ‘Trump exception’ to the 1st Amendment.”
L.A. Times
Bernie supporters protest Liz Warren herself |
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Elizabeth Warren herself, meanwhile, got a chilly reception in Northampton over the weekend from some Bernie Sanders supporters, who protested outside her appearance at the city’s WWII club, Lucas Ropek of MassLive reports. Protestors expressed surprise that Warren, whose policy positions so closely mirror Sanders’, would endorse Clinton.
MassLive |
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The progressive argument for Warren NOT being on Hillary’s ticket |
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Here’s an interesting argument over at Blue Mass Group: Why progressive shouldn’t be pushing for Elizabeth Warren to be Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential running mate. “In my view, the much-reviled Wall Street power players are the primary beneficiaries of this terrible idea. Wall Street knows that Ms. Clinton is likely to be elected (even if the media breathlessly suggest something different). As Vice President, Elizabeth Warren will have virtually NO role in taking apart the too-big-to-fail banks, shadow-banks, and similar institutions. As Vice President, Elizabeth Warren will be similarly impotent in and irrelevant to federal regulation, investigation, and prosecution of these players.”
Blue Mass Group |
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But some still cling to the idea of Warren as VP candidate |
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Steve Almond argues in a WBUR piece that Elizabeth Warren makes an ideal running mate pick for Hillary Clinton, in part because the selection makes little sense in traditional terms. “That’s exactly why she should choose Warren. Because it’s a bold move from a candidate who is too often safe and calculated,” Almond writes.
WBUR |
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Why Democrats will unite behind Hillary |
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Jim Newell at Slate outlines why Hillary Clinton doesn’t have to worry too much about all those disgruntled Bernie groupies and those who want Liz Warren on the ticket: “What’s going to ultimately unite the party is what was always going to unite the party: Donald Trump. It’s not just a fear of Trump, either. It can also be a sense of glee—a glee that’s fully bloomed this week—over the prospect of thrashing him for the next few months.”
Slate
Energy economist goes after Herald columnist |
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Liz Stanton, a principal economist at Synapse Energy Economics in Cambridge, takes apart a recent column by Holly Robichaud that criticized opponents of new natural gas pipelines while citing a Synapse study in her piece. Writing at CommonWealth magazine, Stanton simply says Robichaud got most of it, if no all of it, wrong.
CommonWealth |
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‘No horsing around’ with this lawsuit |
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Universal Hub’s Adam Gaffin caught an interesting item late last week: “A federal lawsuit filed this week could determine whether attendees at the Brockton Fair get to see horse racing this summer. The New England Horseman’s Benevolent and Protective Association, based in East Boston, filed suit in US District Court in Boston against the Massachusetts Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association over who gets to represent horse owners and trainers - and against a contract the latter group signed with Brockton Fairgrounds owner George Carney for races in July.”
Universal Hub |
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Horse helmet has riders bucking mad |
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In other horse-related news, a bill that would require horseback riders to wear helmets has the Massachusetts Farm Bureau crying foul and many horseback riders lamenting the potential loss of their personal liberties, Christian Wade reports in the Salem News. The Massachusetts Farm Bureau notes that there is no law requiring adult bike riders or riders of ATVs to wear helmets while riders say the requirement that local police enforce the law and the $50 fine it would carry is a waste of resources.
Salem News
Away from Congress for nine years, Meehan still putting campaign cash to work |
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Nine years after he left the U.S. House of Representatives, UMass President Marty Meehan retains a campaign war chest stocked with $4.4 million—the most of any former member of Congress, Todd Feathers of the Lowell Sun reports. Meehan has spent about $1 million since leaving office in 2007, much of it donated to fellow Democrats, and says some of the cash could be put to use in this year’s presidential election.
Lowell Sun |
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New Bedford-Martha’s Vineyard freight line seen as inevitable |
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Fifteen years after it was discontinued because it was losing money, the Steamship Authority says plans to relaunch a freight line between New Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard is on track and will happen eventually, Sean Driscoll of the Cape Cod Times reports. The move would help relieve traffic pressure on Wood’s Hole ferries, but could require substantial investment on the New Bedford waterfront.
Cape Cod Times |
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Keolis continues to lose money on rail service |
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Despite some improvements in performance since the brutal winter of 2014-2015, Keolis continues to bleed red ink on the MBTA commuter rail lines it operates, Nicole Dungca of the Globe reports. Kelois said it lost more than $30 million last year and is on track to post a loss again this year. On-time performance has also slipped again recently in the wake of a new schedule rollout.
Boston Globe
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