Gov. Charlie Baker will deliver a ceremonial administration of the oath of office to Supreme Judicial Court Judge Kimberly Budd, Faneuil Hall, Boston, 4:15 p.m.
| Today's News |
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| Target Walsh? |
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The Globe’s Mark Arsenault and Andrew Ryan reported over the weekend that federal wiretaps show Marty Walsh, while a labor boss before becoming mayor, discussing how to put pressure on a developer to hire union labor by getting a project “thrown off the docket” of the Boston Zoning Board of Appeal until the developer played ball. Ah, the old Boston Zoning Board of Appeal. Many people tend to think the old BRA (now the Boston Planning and Development Agency) was the powerhouse agency deciding weighty development issues in the city. But under former Mayor Thomas Menino it was actually the Zoning Board of Appeal that cracked the whip on developers to do the city’s bidding – or else. Now Walsh is tied to that agency’s antics.
The Herald’s Jack Encarnacao and Laurel Sweet report the mayor is dismissing the latest revelations in in the City Hall labor-muscling probe, even though it now appears Walsh may be a target of that fed investigation. We’ll soon see who’s right. |
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| Healey’s deepening ExxonMobil embarrassment |
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A federal judge in Dallas has taken the unusual step of ordering Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey to testify about her climate-change investigation of Exxon-Mobil, the Herald’s Laurel Sweet and Antonio Planas report. “It indicates that the judge suspects big-time political motives,” said Harvey Silverglate, a First Amendment and civil liberties attorney in Boston. “There is nothing really to be gained here (from the investigation) except to embarrass the company. There is no legislation in this country thus far making it a crime to oppose global warming.” A Healey spokeswoman said the the AG’s office is “surprised” by the order and vowed to continue its investigation into what Exxon-Mobil has known about climate change.
Meanwhile, as Healey deals with a Texas judge, the Herald’s Hillary Chabot is practically taunting the AG to run against Gov. Charlie Baker in 2018. |
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| Foggy Bottom, here he comes … just maybe |
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Count us among those who were initially skeptical about last week’s news that Mitt Romney, who spent the better part of this past year ripping into Donald Trump, becoming Trump’s next Secretary of State. But judging by the remarks of the two following their weekend meet-up in New Jersey – here’s the Globe version and here the Herald version – you gotta wonder if such an appointment just might happen, similar to how President-elect Obama tapped his own chief party rival, i.e. Hillary, as secretary of state in 2008. We’re still skeptical, just not as much as before.
A MASSster List reader wrote in about Mitt’s Foggy Bottom: “My hypothesis on Romney is: low probability he’s really interested in the State job; high probability that appearing to express interest rehabilitates his image. It also makes Trump look more magnanimous. As you say, a bit weird to have two consecutive former Mass. presidential candidates as Secy State.”
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| Bernie goes capitalist for a night |
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Bernie Sanders hit Boston’s Berklee Performance Center last night, whipping up the crowd like he was still on the presidential campaign trail and ripping into President-elect Donald Trump, reports Alyssa Meyers at BU’s Daily Free Press. But among other things that caught our attention was the fact the event was “sold out.” Turns out, according to Berklee College, the admission fee was $33, with each ticket purchase including a copy of Bernie’s new book “Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In.” So $33 X 500 attendees = 16,500 big ones to believe in. |
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| ‘The Bubble’ |
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Speaking of diversity and denial, SNL had a brutal skit over the weekend about how progressives can deal with a new world order under Trump: Retreat to “The Bubble” and enjoy a “planned community of like-minded free thinkers – and no one else,” where hybrid cars, used book stores and “small farms with the rawest milk you’ve ever tasted” reign, along with one-bedroom apartments starting at $1.9 million. The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza called the skit “brilliant.” |
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| Turning a deeper shade of blue in the suburbs |
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Election data may show western and central Massachusetts turning redder these days, but the same data also shows that Greater Boston’s suburbs have “turned a deeper shade of blue,” with Hillary Clinton winning 130 of 160 Greater Boston communities in the November 8 election, compared with 109 that voted for Barack Obama in 2012, reports the Globe’s Jacob Carozza and Vanessa Nason.
Boston Globe
| But the new Dem party chairman isn’t conceding central Massachusetts to GOP |
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Meanwhile, newly elected Massachusetts Democratic Party chairman Gus Bickford says he wants to make reclaiming ground lost to Republicans in central Massachusetts a priority, Brad Petrishen of the Telegram reports. Earlier this month, seven GOP incumbents ran unopposed in the region. “We’re going to try to challenge every office,” he said. “That helps us deliver our message.”
The Telegram |
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| Coming very soon to Southie: Driverless cars |
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Driverless-car startup Nutonomy says it has reached an agreement with the city to begin testing its vehicles in the newly renamed Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park in South Boston in a matter of weeks, Jon Russell of TechCrunch reports. The MIT spinoff, which has been testing its electric-powered Renault vehicles in Singapore since last summer, will operate vehicles with engineers on board to take the wheel, just in case.
TechCrunch |
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| Well, at least driverless cars don’t smoke pot |
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Police chiefs across the state are raising the alarm about a potential spike in impaired driving in the wake on Question 4’s legalization of recreational marijuana in the Bay State, Laura Crimaldi of the Globe reports. Impaired driving seems to top the list of law enforcement officials about marijuana legalization.
Boston Globe |
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| Deval’s ‘lone walk’ festivities cost $300K |
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Former Gov. Deval Patrick’s farewell festivities while he was leaving the Corner Office cost more than $300,000, all covered by donations from private citizens and corporations, and included expenditures on his ‘lone walk’ ceremony and an awards reception for his staff and a portrait of Patrick that now hangs in the State House, reports the Herald’s Matt Stout, who rummaged through filings by Patrick’s Governor’s Leadership Fund.
Boston Herald |
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| Oh where, oh where will the combined DraftKings-FanDuel HQ be? |
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As expected, Boston’s DraftKings and New York’s FanDuel agreed to merge late last week, ending weeks of merger speculation but launching perhaps years of speculation about where its eventual headquarters – and the bulk of its corporate jobs – will be located. Right now, the two fantasy sports teams plan to have co-headquarters in the Hub and Big Apple, reports the BBJ’s Kelly O’Brien. But co-headquarters rarely last. Sooner or later, it will drift toward one or the other city. Don’t look for hints in the planned management structure. The new chief executive of the combined company will be DraftKings’ current CEO Jason Robins, but the chairman of the firm will be FanDuel’s current chief executive Nigel Eccles. So who knows?
BBJ |
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| Hate crimes on the rise in Massachusetts |
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The number of hate crimes—those spurred by racial or religious bias—reported in Massachusetts rose in 2015 for the second straight year, Isaiah Thompson of WGBH reports. Hate crimes attributed to racial or ethnic bias rose 20 percent while those connected to religious bias were up 40 percent, Thompson reports, citing data the state sent to the FBI. Hate crime reports had been steadily falling since a spike after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Last week, Attorney General Maura Healey set up a hotline to field reports of such offenses in the wake of the election results.
WGBH
| Rep. Dooley hits Bob Kraft’s commuter ‘pet project’ |
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State Rep. Shawn Dooley, a Norfolk Republican, is none too happy to hear about a proposed pilot program that would run daily commuter rail trains between Boston and Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, reviving a similar idea that was shot down two years ago, reports the Herald’s Matt Stout. “I just don’t like the taxpayer taking it on the chin in order to increase (New England Patriots owner) Bob Kraft’s wealth,” said Dooley, calling the plan Kraft’s “pet project.”
Boston Herald |
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| In case you missed it, Scott Brown really wants VA post |
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Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown made it pretty clear late last week: He'd take the post as head of the Veterans Administration if it's offered to him by President-elect Donald Trump. “Well, it is a little premature,” said Brown, a long-time Army National Guard Reservist and a big Trump backer during the election. “He (Trump) said he was going to give me the strongest recommendation to his team. Then, obviously, you know, they’re going to get in touch with me. So, I’m not quite sure what that means exactly. But I know I’m now in the running to be the head of the V.A.”
CBS Boston |
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| Baker to urge tech firms to hire high schoolers |
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Gov. Charlie Baker today plans to call on the state’s technology and life-science companies to hire more paid high school interns, Max Stendhal of the Boston Business Journal reports. The administration hopes to build on the success of a partnership between biotech company Vertex and the Boston Public Schools and is expected to announce that General Electric will be among the companies committing to the program.
BBJ
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