The MBTA Fiscal & Management Control Board will hold a meeting with the MassDOT Board of Directors to review commuter-rail contract issues, 10 Park Plaza, second floor, Boston, 12 p.m.
| Today's News |
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| 'It is possible to support both the police and the protesters’ |
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It was a weekend of mostly peaceful gatherings and reflection in the wake of the recent shooting tragedies in Dallas, Louisiana and Minnesota. In the Boston area, there were prayers, as the Globe reports, as well as protests, as the Herald reports. In Brockton, protesters gathered to denounce the killing of five Dallas police officers, but also to renew calls for action against police shootings of black residents. “It really doesn’t matter at the end of the day your color. What matters is the fact that we are stitched together and united for one common cause, and that’s equality,” said Bishop Tony Branch, reports the Enterprise’s Maria Papadopoulos at Wicked Local. “We’re going to solve the problem through unity. We are not going to solve the problem by responding with violence.”
The Globe had an especially balanced and thoughtful editorial over the weekend, stating what should be obvious to people: “It is possible to support both the police and the protesters.”
Finally, we’ll point out a heartfelt piece by Rod Dreher at the American Conservative, who writes of the inner-city violence faced by residents and police every day in America, but also about the tortured historic relationship between African-Americans and law enforcement officials over the years: “This is a history that white people don’t know. But black people do. I tell you that not to diminish unjustified police shootings, but as part of a post that adds context to this hideous situation we are all facing as a country.” Dreher gets it too: It is possible to support both the police and the protesters. |
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| Community college students will bear the brunt of tuition hikes |
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Last week, University of Massachusetts president Marty Meehan warned of tuition and fee hikes of 5 to 8 percent at the five-campus system. But students attending the state’s 15 community colleges could see prices increase by as much as 10 percent in the coming academic year, reports the Globe’s Laura Krantz. “How do they expect us kids to pay for this?” said Romie Blanc, a student at Bunker Hill Community College, where fees will rise 10 percent.
Boston Globe |
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| Bad timing for Duck Boat and other sightseeing operators |
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As lawmakers mull imposing new safety measures on lumbering sightseeing vehicles driving around Boston and elsewhere, a weekend accident involving a woman struck by a Duck Boat is intensifying calls for more state safety measures to prevent future incidents, the Globe reports. The woman was struck in the Back Bay on Sunday and suffered non-life-threatening injuries. But the accident follows the April death of Allison Warmuth, 28, who was killed by a Duck Boat while driving her moped in Boston. “It’s another red flag that this issue needs to be addressed,” said Ivan Warmuth, father of Allison Warmuth, the Herald reports. |
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| Former aide will run for Bradley’s House seat |
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Stephen Burm, a Hingham Democrat and former top aide to Rep. Garrett Bradley, plans to run as a write-in candidate to fill the House seat to be vacated by Bradley, who unexpectedly announced he’ll be stepping down soon from his post, SHNS’s Michael Norton reports. Burm currently works as state and local government relations manager at the International Council of Shopping Centers and is also the former director of legislative affairs in the executive office of housing and economic development under Gov. Deval Patrick.
SHNS (pay wall)
| Barbers sing praises of reduced regulations |
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Among the legislation tucked into the fiscal 2017 budget signed last week by Gov. Charlie Baker is a rollback of the statewide prohibition on barbers and cosmetologists making house calls, Brad Petrishen of the Telegram reports. Sponsored by Sen. Ryan Fattman of Webster, the legislation also clears the way for mobile hair salon services.
The Telegram |
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| In an ‘unorthodox move,’ Globe owner’s wife to helm Boston.com |
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Linda Pizzuti Henry, wife of Boston Globe and Red Sox owner John Henry, will oversee Boston.com as the leadership of the site gets a makeover, Dan Kennedy reports on his blog. “It’s not clear how hands-on Henry will be,” Kennedy notes, adding that she is regarded as “smart and generally a force for good” inside the Globe organization. “Still,” he writes, “it’s an unorthodox move.”
Dan Kennedy |
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| ‘Dumbest bill of the year’ |
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The Herald is ripping into a bill that would require a higher percentage of healthy snacks within vending machines located on state property. In an editorial, the paper describes the legislation as “a leader in the clubhouse for dumbest bill of the year — perhaps of the century.” From the editorial: “There are more healthy snacks available in the marketplace today than ever before. Individuals are better educated about healthy choices than ever before. Sometimes when a person visits the vending machine ... well, they just want a bag of M&Ms, damn it, and the last thing they need is for government nutrition nannies telling them to pick sunflower seeds instead.”
Boston Herald
| Sudbury transmission-line fight could upend utility siting laws |
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A battle between Sudbury residents and Eversource over a proposed transmission line through the suburban town could end up challenging the state’s utility siting laws, reports Brad Avery at Wicked Local. Sudbury, where Eversource wants to clear-cut an 82-foot-wide swath of foliage for a new power line connecting Hudson Light and Power to a Sudbury substation, is just one of many communities currently battling unwanted utilities projects. Legislation now winding its way through the State House would require the state’s utilities siting board to weigh the impact any proposed projects would have on residents and the environment in addition to costs, Avery writes.
Wicked Local |
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| Meet write-in presidential candidate Laurence Kotlikoff |
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Because there are simply never enough local angles to the national presidential campaign, Allison Pohle traveled to the Back Bay to meet and interview write-in candidate, BU professor and Social Security expert Laurence Kotlikoff. Kotlikoff staged a campaign in 2012 before he ran out of cash and says this year, he is everybody’s alternative. “If Mitt Romney needs a candidate because he can’t support Trump, I can be his Republican candidate,” he said. “I’m also happy to be any Bernie Sanders’ Democratic candidate.”
Boston.com |
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| Group sues over use of public funds on churches |
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Americans United for Separation of Church and State has filed a lawsuit against the town of Acton on behalf of 13 residents, saying the town violated state law by approving the use of Community Preservation Act funds on two churches, Lisa Redmond of the Lowell Sun reports. The Washington, D.C.-based group says the Anti-Aid Amendment to the state constitution specifically prohibits the use of public funds to preserve houses of worship.
Lowell Sun
| Cigarette, gas taxes have brought in $542 million |
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Massachusetts has raised $285 million from a $1-per-pack cigarette tax put in place in 2013, money that has gone mostly into the state’s general fund, Steve LeBlanc of the Associated Press reports in a story carried by the Eagle-Tribune and other outlets. The newly approved state budget contains just $4 million for anti-smoking efforts. Meanwhile, drivers have ponied up $257 million more to the state over the same period thanks to a 3-cent per gallon gas tax put in place at the same time.
Eagle-Tribune |
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| Brockton won’t name finalists for police position |
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Citing privacy protections, Brockton officials are refusing to release the names of the finalists for a newly created and controversial communications position within the police department, a move one lawyer says flouts the state’s public records law, Marc Larocque of the Enterprise reports. The Enterprise requested the names of the finalists—not the resumes, as the city seemed to think in its response—last month after the position was filled by Mayor Bill Carpenter over the objections of the city council and despite a grievance from the superior officers union.
Enterprise
| Walsh faces big union bargaining test |
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Amid the ongoing fed probe into union activities at City Hall, Mayor Marty Walsh, who formerly served as head of the Boston Building Trades, now faces another union-related challenge: All but two of Boston’s 40 collective bargaining agreements are expiring by fall, including many that ended in June, reports the Globe’s Meghan Irons. The contracts will test Walsh’s ability to negotiate deals with union members, many of whom supported Walsh during his mayoral campaign, while keeping the contracts affordable, Irons writes.
Boston Globe |
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| ‘25 bars and nightclubs we wish we had back’ |
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MassLive has a fun list of the “25 bars and nightclubs we wish we had back.” The list, obviously, focuses on the dearly-departed favorites in the Springfield area. But if they were making a similar RIP list for eastern Massachusetts, high on our mourning list would be The Channel and Inn-Square Men’s Bar and Jonathan Swifts. (And, yes, we fully realize we are seriously dating ourselves with these picks.) If you have your own gone-but-not-forgotten watering holes and nightclubs, let us know at jay@massterlist.com and we’ll see if we can compile our own list.
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