The Massachusetts Department of Transportation will hold its first of seven hearings on the proposed rates for new all-electronic tolling on the Massachusetts Turnpike set to launch Oct. 28, Union Station, Worcester, 6:30 p.m.
| Today's News |
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| Spoiler alert: The Johnson-Weld ticket is polling rather well |
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They’re not going to win the presidential election, but the Libertarian ticket of former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld seem poised to serve as potential spoilers in the race, with the duo polling at 8 percent, according to the most recent Franklin Pierce/Boston Herald survey. They’re obviously gaining traction because of widespread voter discontent with GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who holds only a slim 3 percent edge over Trump, despite his recent bombastic stumbles, according to the same poll, reports the Herald’s Joe Battenfeld. We have our doubts about whether the national race is really so close between Clinton and Trump, particularly after you break down polling results in key swing states. But there’s no doubt about widespread voter discontent this year. |
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| Bill Clinton was paid how much for ‘honorary’ post at for-profit college? |
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U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is absolutely right to demand more information from Donald Trump about a whole host of issues, including his shady business dealings over the decades and his failure to release his tax returns. But just when Trump is thrown on the defensive (again), along comes another revelation about Hillary Clinton, whether it’s about her emails or the Clinton family’s foundation fundraising, etc. etc. This morning, the Washington Post reports that a for-profit college signed Bill Clinton, the former president, to a “lucrative deal as a consultant and ‘honorary chancellor,’ paying him $17.6 million over five years until the contract ended in 2015 as Hillary Clinton launched her campaign for president." And, yes, there is a State Department fundraising angle to the story. Hillary Clinton should be pulling away with this election and yet ...
Washington Post |
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| Warren readies veto list of Clinton appointees |
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Assuming Clinton wins in November, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and her allies are said to be preparing a list of would-be appointees they would seek to block in a would-be Hillary Clinton administration, Patrick Temple-West reports in Politico. Some Warren allies have found their way onto the Clinton transition team but tension remains among various factions within the Democratic party and Warren is signaling she will use her sway in the Senate to fight appointees she sees as too cozy with Wall Street or big banks.
Politico |
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| Walsh: Privatizing T bus drivers is a ‘dangerous way to go’ |
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Marty Walsh, a former union boss before becoming mayor of Boston, is hitting the brakes on preliminary talks of possibly privatizing MBTA bus and maintenance operations as a way for the cash-strapped agency to save money, the Herald’s Matt Stout reports. “It’s a slippery slope. It’s a dangerous way to go,” Walsh said yesterday after speaking at the Greater Boston Labor Council’s annual Labor Day breakfast. “When you talk about privatization, in an initial contract, it always seems like it’s going to save money. Long-term it doesn’t save money, the costs go up. I’ve had some conversations with the governor about this. ... I think it’s a mistake. Privatizing the whole MBTA is not the way to go.”
Walsh’s reaction came after the Herald’s Stout reported over the holiday weekend that the T’s control board is seriously considering plans to privatize bus and maintenance services that now employ more than 1,700 full- and part-time bus drivers and 390 machinists. The Herald reports the idea was contained in a 17-page report sent to lawmakers late last week, usually a good time to dump controversial news heading into a weekend, let alone a long holiday weekend.
| DCR’s party guest list includes a who’s who of Baker staffers and GOP honchos |
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State House News Service’s Colin Young got hold of the official guest list (pay wall) for the Department of Conservation and Recreation bash that ultimately led to the suspension of the department’s top two officials. It’s a veritable who’s who of the local Republican establishment. Following is a sampling of some of those invited, with two caveats: 1.) Not everyone invited attended. 2.) Some of the names are apparently misspelled on the actual list. Anyway, here goes, via Colin’s full SHNS story at Commonwealth magazine: “Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Matthew Beaton, Administration and Finance Secretary Kristen Lepore, Revenue Commissioner Michael Heffernan, state GOP chairwoman Kirsten Hughes, Baker Deputy Chief of Staff Michael Vallarelli, Baker Senior Advisor Tim Buckley, Legislative Affairs Director Ryan Coleman, Deputy Chief of Community Relations and Constituent Affairs Mindy d'Arbeloff, Commissioner of the Department of Energy Resources Judith Judson, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Martin Suuberg and 173 others.” |
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| Timilty takes a hit: Globe endorses his rival in Senate race |
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State Rep. Walter Timilty of Milton took at hit over the holiday weekend in his bid to replace retiring Sen. Brian Joyce. The Globe has endorsed his rival, Nora Harrington, a political newcomer who’s positioning herself to the left of Timilty in the Democratic primary. Timilty was initially seen as the heir apparent to Joyce, but Harrington didn’t see it that way and has run a very spirited campaign. Fyi: The Globe’s Stephanie Ebbert took a separate look at the very crowded Dem primary (nine candidates) to fill Timilty’s House seat, which he’s vacating to run for Senate. “I haven’t seen this much activity in 30 years,” said Milton resident Joe Lally of the House primary race. “There are signs all over town for the candidates.”
In other legislative endorsements over the holiday weekend, the Globe gave its blessing to Julian Cyr over Sheila Lyons in the Democratic primary to replace retiring state Sen. Dan Wolf. In the same editorial, the paper also endorsed Anthony Schiavi, an Air Force brigadier general, over Jim Crocker in the GOP primary for the same Cape and Islands Senate seat. And in the Dem primary race to replace retiring state Rep. Gloria Fox of Roxbury, the paper has endorsed Monica Cannon over rivals Chyna Tyler and Marydith Tuitt. In western Massachusetts, the Republican is endorsing Ben Swan Jr. in the Dem primary to replace none other than his own father, the retiring Rep. Ben Swan Sr. |
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| Campaign staffers play doctor |
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Both Democratic candidates in the race to fill Dan Wolf’s Cape and Islands state senate seat are admitting that they used campaign staffers to pose as medical professionals in mailers sent to voters, Geoff Spillane of the Cape Cod Times reports. Both Julian Cyr and Sheila Lyons sent mailers focusing on their plans to attack the sate’s opioid crisis and both included staged photos that posed staffers in medical settings, though only Cyr’s campaign mailer shows them dressed in scrubs.
Cape Cod Times |
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| Explaining the crowded Suffolk County recorder of deeds race: 124,000 |
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So why are seven Democratic candidates vying for the obscure Suffolk County register of deeds? The Globe’s Astead Herndon cites 124,000 reasons, as in the dollars paid in salary to the eventual winner.
Boston Globe |
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| Paltry turnout seen for rare Thursday primary |
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Fewer than 20 percent of Massachusetts registered voters are expected to turn out and cast ballots on Thursday in the state’s primary elections, Jessica Trufant of the Patriot Ledger reports. Although there are numerous contested races across the state—including some bizarre ballot lineups on the South Shore and heavily contested sheriff’s races in Hampden and Essex county—the fact that the election is being held on a Thursday is expected to help depress turnout. “People are used to Tuesday traditionally being an election day, so having it on a Thursday will add confusion,” UMass Boston political science professor Paul Watanabe tells the Patriot Ledger.
Patriot Ledger |
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| In Colorado, a cautionary tale of voters’ remorse |
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Backers of the ballot question to legalize marijuana in Massachusetts often point to Colorado as a state that has already legalized pot with few problems. But the Globe’s Joshua Miller reports there are pockets of Colorado with deep voters’ remorse over legalization and they’re now pushing for repealing local pot laws.
Boston Globe |
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| Framingham settles SWAT death lawsuit |
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The (still) town of Framingham has settled a lawsuit filed by the family of a retired T worker and grandfather who was shot as he lay on the floor during a drug raid of his apartment in 2011, Jim Haddadin of the MetroWest Daily News reports. The lawsuit was dismissed Friday after the settlement was reached. Town officials say they will release the terms of the deal once it is finalized.
Metrowest Daily News |
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| GateHouse Media’s new title for reporter: ‘Multimedia journalist’ |
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This is a disappointment. Dan Kennedy, who reported last week that GateHouse Media planned to unveil a new title for reporters at its local newspapers, now says the official title will be ... “multimedia journalist.” Dan calls it a “perfectly respectable title,” so he’s withdrawn his planned snark. We had already committed to snark, expressing the cynical hope it might be something like “Customer Information Advocate, ” i.e. a big snark target. But Dan’s right. They came up with an acceptable title.
Dan Kennedy
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