Gov. Baker joins Lt. Gov. Polito, Secretary of Administration and Finance Kristen Lepore, Chief Justice Paula Carey, Chief Justice Ralph Gants, Sen. Eileen Donoghue, Reps. Rady Mom and David Nangle, Lowell Mayor Ed Kennedy and others for a groundbreaking ceremony for the Lowell Justice Center, 370 Jackson Street, Lowell, 2 p.m.
| Today's News |
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| ‘GOP revenge plot’ |
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It just keeps getting worse. From the Herald’s Joe Battenfeld: “Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration is facing a new investigation into explosive claims that GOP operatives at a patronage-laden state agency harassed and retaliated against a staffer after her fiance launched a campaign to unseat a Republican state senator, the Herald has learned.”
And, yes, it involves Baker’s Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, overseer of Baker’s party-hearty Department of Conservation and Recreation, and, yes, it involves Baker’s former campaign driver who landed a plum job as a police chief within the Office Energy and Environmental Affairs, the very same guy whose appointment Baker was defending earlier this week. Besides his apparent police, legal and driving skills, James McGinn isn’t a bad political enforcer either, judging by Joe’s report, which cites documents and lawyers now involved in the case. |
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| It’s Clinton, 13 to 1 |
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With most everyone in the political world eagerly anticipating this Monday’s big presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, let the world note that Hillary is absolutely trouncing Trump in fundraising in Massachusetts by a 13-to-1 ratio, reports the Associated Press at the Telegram. OK, maybe that’s not a big shock in this bluest of blue states. But $13.5 million versus $1 million? That’s a rather large gap. Here’s another small surprise: Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, whose running mate is former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, has only raised about $84,000 in Massachusetts. Here’s a non-surprise: Green Party candidate Jill Stein, a resident of Lexington, has raised just $22,000.
The Telegram |
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| Hmmm. How do you pull over a driverless car? |
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With the city of Boston preparing to launch a new driverless car program, government officials are grappling with how to oversee and regulate the emerging self-driving technology on federal, state and local roadways, the Globe’s Adam Vaccaro reports. The Massachusetts State Police already have a policy in mind: A spokesman says troopers would be inclined to pull over a driverless vehicle “on a case-by-case basis due to public safety,” reports Vaccaro. But that begs the question: Just how do you pull over a driverless car? Once you do pull them over, do you ask for their license and registration? (Yes, we assume they’ll be equipped with handy-dandy speech recognition technology to communicate with us lowly humans, but you get the picture.)
Such questions are among the reasons why Rep. William Strauss, co-chairman of the Transportation Committee, is calling for legislative action on the technology, reports SHNS’s Andy Metzger at WWLP. "I would think state law ought to be clarified before vehicles are actually placed on the roads and the public is exposed to the testing," said Straus. "I'd throw out a caution flag before vehicles were on the road." |
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| ‘Consider yourself warned’ |
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Speaking of driving in the Boston area, here’s some advice: At all costs, avoid Route 128 South on the weekend of November 5-6. From the Globe’s Nicole Dungca: “For the first time in recent memory, a section of Route 128 will close for two weekend days in November while crews demolish the Highland Avenue Bridge in Needham, detouring highway traffic onto local roads.” Actually, it’s three days, since the demolition will technically start the evening of Nov. 4, but who’s counting?
Boston Globe |
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| Sweet deal: For $400, Akamai gets $700,000 |
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State officials yesterday OK’d a $700,000 tax break for Akamai Technologies to stay put and expand in Cambridge, reports the Globe’s Tim Logan. Compared to prior tax breaks given by the state to other corporations, Akamai’s take is small. But the Herald’s Jordan Graham reports that least one member of the Economic Assistance Coordinating Council was questioning the move to help Akamai effectively move across the street, noting that the firm last year paid just over $400 in corporate income taxes and yet will now get a hefty tax credit (i.e. cash) from the state. “Kendall Square might be the hottest commercial real estate market in North America, and last year it seems you paid the commonwealth $456 in terms of corporate taxes, but the incentive you’re requesting is necessary to support this expansion?” asked Michael Goodman, the executive director of the Public Policy Center at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Good question about a ridiculous request for financial assistance. |
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| One for you, one for me: Sale of guns eyed in state police probe |
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Three state troopers are being investigated in connection with the sale of used State Police weapons, guns that have since been returned to the agency, Shelley Murphy of the Globe reports. At issue is whether the three were authorized to sell the weapons back to Jurek brothers, which supplies the State Police with new guns and ammo, and whether they violated ethics rules by receiving free guns in compensation.
Boston Globe |
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| ‘Great to see you, governor’ |
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Gov. Charlie Baker made a rare appearance as chair of the Governor’s Council yesterday, replacing Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, who typically chairs the council's weekly meeting, reports SHNS’s Colin Young. "Great to see you, governor," Councilor Christopher Iannella said. "We didn't expect you, at least I didn't. Is the lieutenant governor in the State House?" Baker responded, "She is not in the State House. I think she's... she's definitely in Massachusetts." And she was in Massachusetts, at a local library opening ceremony. And Baker did get take part in the council’s approval of one of his judicial nominees, James Lemire, to the state Appeals Court, and the reappointment of Sheila Dupre to the Parole Board.
SHNS (pay wall) |
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| ‘Being a church-going old lady doesn't mean you get a pass for pushing a Muslim tenant down the stairs, court rules’ |
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Why try to outdo an Adam Gaffin headline? Anyway, here is Adam’s summary of the case decided yesterday: “The Supreme Judicial Court today upheld the six-month jail sentence of a Christian landlord who pushed a Muslim tenant down the stairs of her Somerville triple decker after harassing her and her children for weeks about their faith. Daisy Obi, at the time a pastor of a local church, argued the six-month sentence - actually two years but with 18 months suspended - was cruel and unusual punishment given that she was 71 at the time, had never been in trouble with the law before and besides, the tenant's injuries were ‘relatively minor.’ ... Sorry, but nope, the state's highest court said.”
Universal Hub |
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| Law professor reviews the long history of evidence-room scandals – and why they keep re-occurring |
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Daniel Medwed, a professor of law at Northeastern University and a legal analyst for WGBH News, says the Braintree evidence-room scandal is just the latest debacle coming out of local police departments. And, no, it doesn’t all date back to Annie Dookham. Medwed’s basic explanation for the re-occurring problem: Not making personnel hires and evidence-room operations a top priority. Until law enforcement implements reforms, Medwed concludes that “dismissing all cases potentially affected by an evidence room or crime lab scandal is equitable and efficient.”
WGBH
| Question 4 is settled: Rick Steves has endorsed marijuana legalization |
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PBS travel host Rick Steves, best known for his knowledge of all things Europe, is going to make a four-day swing through Massachusetts next month in support of the ballot question that would legalize recreational marijuana in the state, reports Jessica Bartlett at the Boston Business Journal. It seems Steves, when not in Europe, has also been a driving force behind legalization efforts in Washington, Colorado and Oregon. According to Spencer Buell at Boston magazine, Steves wants to provide a “European perspective on drugs.” |
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| Another reason to hate the drought: Snakes |
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The statewide drought is causing all sorts of woes, but here’s one that really ranks up there, at least for those of us who share Indiana Jones’s ‘I hate snakes’ phobia, as reported by Charlie Peters at the Enterprise: “The discovery of a four-foot-long snake in a Raynham backyard yesterday might not be so unusual if drought conditions continue. A northern water snake slithered into a north Raynham yard on Tuesday, prompting Trisha Kelly Carter to post a photo on Facebook and jokingly ask, “Is my life at risk?” Carter’s isn’t — the snake is harmless, according to local snake expert John Himmel — but the snake population could be on the move as drought conditions in southeastern Massachusetts worsen.”
Check out the photo. It’s a rather large snake. Didn’t know they got that big in these parts.
Enterprise |
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| Worcester explores homeless options -- again |
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Racing the calendar as winter approaches, pols and officials in Worcester are seeking to cobble together a plan for getting homeless people off the city’s streets, with the idea of a sanctioned homeless encampment still in the mix, despite having been shot down last week by the city manager, reports Nick Kotsopolous of the Telegram. Debate over the topic got heated at a city council meeting, with Councilor Constantine Lukes saying that simply exploring a city-backed encampment “indicates that we want to set up refugee camps or a sanctioned site.”
The Telegram |
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| The mystery of the disappearing North Shore RMV branch |
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The Registry of Motor Vehicles is widening its search for a new North Shore location, but the question of what happened to a partnership that saw the RMV receiving bargain-basement rent in the Liberty Tree Mall remains unanswered, reports Paul Leighton at the Salem News. Many are not buying the official line that the branch was closed because of air conditioning problems. “I don’t know enough to comment,” Danvers state Rep. Ted Speliotis tells the paper. “I do know enough to know it was bigger than just the HVAC.”
Salem News
| It's better than doing nothing: Sheriff proposes expanded gun buybacks |
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Moderating a discussion on gun violence, Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian proposed greater coordination on gun backpack programs to get more weapons off the streets, Mike Deehan of WGBH reports. Although some have questioned the effectiveness of such programs—many of the weapons turned in are old and unusable—Koutoujian said they are far more cost-effective than addressing the impacts of gun violence.
WGBH |
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| Baker taps Eastern Bank lawyer as banking commissioner |
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Gov. Charlie Baker plans to name a former top lawyer at Eastern Bank to fill the role of banking commissioner, a post traditionally held by those with experience on the regulatory side, Greg Ryan of the Boston Business Journal reports. Baker may name Terence McGinnis, who left the Eastern last week, as soon as next week to replace David Cotney—himself a career regulator—who announced this week he would step down.
BBJ |
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| ‘I Read Andrew Sullivan So You Don't Have To’ |
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A certain MASSsterList author and a long-time friend have a deal: So both of us don’t have to read the sometimes brilliant yet often insufferable Andrew Sullivan, the former blogger extraordinaire, one has to summarize for the other if he happens to stumble across an article by Sullivan. It’s the type of sacrifice good friends should make for one another. Anyway, here’s the friend’s abbreviated summary of a Sullivan article he spotted the other day:
Yes, it's another chapter of ‘I Read Andrew Sullivan So You Don't Have To’ - For the second time this year, Andrew has surfaced with a splash, first in May with the account of how Plato and Sinclair Lewis predicted the rise of Trump. This week Andrew has NY Magazine cover story on Internet Addiction. Here's the gist:
- Andrew used to ‘live in the web’ for 15 years as a pioneer of personal blogging, which was quite an accomplishment until Facebook and Twitter made it possible for everyone to do this. - Despite running an industrial strength Blog with a team of four posting no less than every 20 minutes, Andrew started to get sick with bronchial infections in his last year of blogging.
- It was great to have up to 100,000 people a day reading his stuff and make $ with "a new media business" (sideswipe at the New Republic's former owners?) except it was all too much. Andrew forgot how to read books and just blogged, exercised and slept (I presume he ate too but doesn't say anything about that). He was forgetting how to be a "human being." ...
- To reset, Andrew joins a meditation center that takes away his iPhone. He feels like a monk and notices trees on his walks. This gets him reflecting on what we have lost through smartphones, text messages, apps and the Internet.
And the friend goes on to fisk much of the rest of Andrew’s piece. As a public service, we here at MASSterList will occasionally post future ‘I Read Andrew Sullivan So You Don't Have To’ updates. Btw: We have a similar summary agreement regarding Tom Friedman’s NYT columns, called ‘I Read Tom Friedman So You Don't Have To.’
-- Jay Fitzgerald
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