The Autonomous Vehicles Working Group will hold a meeting to receive a presentation by Boston Consulting Group on different perspectives on the new technology, 10 Park Plaza - 2nd Floor Conference Room, Boston, 1 p.m.
| Today's News |
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| Harvard retains its grip over U.S. Supreme Court |
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Acting like a television host introducing a new game-show contestant, President Trump announced last night that he was nominating conservative federal judge Neil Gorsuch of Colorado to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Globe’s James Pindell quickly notes that, yes, Gorsuch is a Harvard Law School grad: “For those keeping track, this means that if Gorsuch is confirmed, Harvard Law School graduates will retain their majority on the court with five justices having attending the school.” And Gorsuch was also classmate of former President Obama at Harvard Law School, as the Herald’s Chris Cassidy notes. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a former Harvard Law School professor, is vowing to fight Gorsuch’s nomination. , as the Globe reports.
So much for non-Ivy League diversity on and around the high bench.
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| Ratepayers’ solar subsidies slashed under Baker plan |
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From Bruce Mohl at CommonWealth magazine: “The Baker Administration unveiled a next-generation solar incentive plan on Tuesday that is expected to cut in half the subsidies paid by the state’s electric ratepayers while giving developers more certainty about how much money they will receive under the program.” We’ll see how this plays out on Beacon Hill, where the solar industry is known for making its views (and complaints) quite clear.
CommonWealth |
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| Healey takes lead in immigration fight, as Baker brings up the rear |
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As expected, Attorney General Maura Healey yesterday sued President Trump over what she called his “startling and chaotic” immigration executive order, reports Jack Sullivan at CommonWealth magazine. Sullivan notes that Gov. Charlie Baker is giving Healey’s lawsuit “his unequivocal backing,” though that may not be enough for the Globe’s Shirley Leung. Meanwhile, faith leaders in Boston yesterday were bashing Trump’s executive order, as the Herald reports, while officials at UMass and Boston University were also lending their support for Healey’s legal action, as r eported at MassLive. |
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| State’s Congressional delegation sounds off on immigration move |
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It’s not just the ubiquitous U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Attorney General Maura Healey sounding off against President Trump’s immigration policies. Other members of the state’s Congressional delegation – including U.S. Reps. Richard Neal and Jim McGovern and U.S. Sen. Edward Markey -- are also hopping mad, reports Shannon Young at MassLive. And so is U.S. Rep. William Keating, as reported by SHNS’s Andy Metzger at the Herald News. |
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| Civilized debate: ‘We are better off if we collectively stick our fingers into a bowl of ebola and lick them’ |
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They must have been plants by anti-Trump folks out to discredit sanctuary-city foes at a recent Newton meeting. How else to explain the remarks cited by Gabrielle Emanual at WGBH? Excerpt from Emanuel’s piece:
“Those against sanctuary city status voice anxiety about undocumented immigrants causing machete attacks and a spike in tuberculosis. ‘You want to take a chance that our water supply might be poisoned? Our bridges blown up?’ asked one resident. Another man took the podium, stating, ‘One wonders if there was a fire in an apartment building, if any of the sanctuary city folks would have a moral dilemma deciding about saving their own family before strangers.’ ‘We are better off if we collectively stick our fingers into a bowl of ebola and lick them. Our deaths will be quicker and less painful,’ said another.”
WGBH |
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| Dana Farber pressed to scrap lavish Mar-a-Lago Club fundraiser |
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Hundreds of medical students, doctors, and other medical personnel aren’t happy with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s planned fundraiser at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida, not when he’s busy cracking down on immigrants, reports the Globe’s Liz Kowalczyk.
Boston Globe |
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| Fed up with Facebook vitriol, Rep. Hunt bids farewell to ‘gutter’ platform |
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State Rep. Randy Hunt, R-Sandwich, just can’t take it anymore, so he’s abandoning his Facebook platform, leaving the angry trolls and other digital misfits to rant and rage elsewhere, reports Geoff Spillane at the Cape Cod Times. "Unfortunately, my FB page is a microcosm of what has happened nationally; that is ad hominem attacks replacing debate,” wrote Hunt. Since the November election, the obnoxiousness has been on "steroids" and talk has "gone into the gutter,” he said.
Cape Cod Times |
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| DCR director who resigned over porn still on school board |
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The Department of Recreation and Conservation official who resigned last week, reportedly after pornography was found on his state-issued computer, remains on the board of the Central Berkshire Regional School District, Larry Parnass reports in the Berkshire Eagle. The committee’s chairman said unless he resigns voluntarily, it would require a recall vote in all seven towns in the district to move Michael F. Case from the board.
Berkshire Eagle
| Lawsuit threatened over Native American nicknames bill |
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A Virginia law firm is warning that a bill filed by state Sen. Barbara L'Italien that would ban the use of Native American monikers for school nicknames could bring a federal lawsuit, Kori Tuitt of the Lowell Sun reports. The letter was written on behalf of the Native American Guardians Association and says the bill would be discriminatory because it only addresses Native American names. So a bill designed to eliminate bias is biased? It's tough being a progressive these days.
Lowell Sun |
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| Lawmakers eye state takeover of troubled Reggie Lewis center |
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From the Herald’s Dan Atkinson: “State legislators are looking to take control of the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center away from Roxbury Community College after a series of high-profile controversies last year, a move one state track official says is long overdue.” State Rep. Russell Holmes is co-sponsoring a bill that would create a new state board that probably would be appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker and the Legislature, Atkinson reports
Boston Herald |
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| Higher pay, newly renovated chamber. What more can you ask for? |
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State senators will be moving out of their third-floor chamber in April for a planned $20 million-plus renovation of the historic legislative meeting place. Or as SHNS’s Colin Young puts it at the Lowell Sun: “State senators angling for higher paychecks this week will have to wait a while longer for a renovated clubhouse.”
Lowell Sun |
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| Governor to forgo generous housing perk tucked into pay-raise bill |
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Speaking of the pay-raise bill and plush accommodations, Gov. Baker yesterday made clear he plans to forgo a $65,000 housing allowance tucked into the legislation, reports Frank Phillips at the Globe. Well, if he ever changes his mind, the money will always be there, for Senate President Stan Rosenberg is expressing confidence that the Legislature has enough votes this week to override Baker’s veto of the pay-raise bill, reports Matt Stout and Chris Villani at the Herald.
FyI: Peter Lucas, writing at the Lowell Sun, is now referring to Rosenberg and House Speaker Robert DeLeo as the Cheech & Chong of Beacon Hill. Lucas almost has sympathy (repeat: almost) for freshmen lawmakers recently forced to cast votes for the pay-raise bill as one of their first official acts on Beacon Hill. |
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| Baker revisits the ancient battlefield of tourism funding |
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From Shira Schoenberg at MassLive: “Gov. Charlie Baker is - again - fighting with regional tourism councils over how much money tourism will get in the annual budget and how that money will be allocated.” Shira explains how less is technically more, depending on which fiscal-year figure you use as a base and where the allocations go and don’t go.
MassLive
| Cabbies: End nigh as Uber arrives |
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Both Uber and Lyft can begin picking up passengers at Logan Airport today -- and Boston cab drivers say it is only a matter of time before they are put out of business, Dan Adams of the Globe reports. Meanwhile, the Globe’s Jeff Jacoby laments the all-but-inevitable discrimination claims likely to be launched against Safr, the women-only ride-hailing service poised to open operations soon in Boston. |
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| Healey has spent $63K on Texas showdown with Exxon |
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Attorney General Maura Healey’s office plans today to seek dismissal of Exxon’s federal lawsuit against Healey over her wide-ranging probe of what the giant oil company has known about climate change over the years. The AG’s legal tab so far on the Texas case: $63,000, according to the Herald’s Matt Stout.
Boston Herald |
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| Don Chiofaro’s dream come true is almost true |
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From the Globe’s Tim Logan: “The City of Boston has taken another stab at moving forward stalled plans for a skyscraper on the site of the Boston Harbor Garage. Development officials on Tuesday released a new zoning plan that would allow developer Don Chiofaro to build a 600-foot tower along Atlantic Avenue near the New England Aquarium, but would require more open space at street level, a nod to the aquarium and other neighbors who worry the project might wall off the waterfront.” It’s not clear if the changes will be enough to appease neighbors and other critics, Logan cautions.
Boston Globe |
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| Faulkner Hospital prepares for union vote |
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Another local hospital is facing a big union decision. From the BBJ’s Jessica Bartlett: “Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital will have a vote to unionize an estimated 500 workers. The decision would allow the workers to vote on whether or not they want to join United Healthcare Workers East 1199SEIU. According to union officials, the group will have 75 days from Jan. 30 to do organizing work and talk with support staff — which includes administrative services, housekeeping and food service employees — before holding a vote.”
BBJ
| Herald blasts Rep. Michlewitz’s alternative tax plan |
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Airbnb tax idea A Herald editorial this morning is going after Rep. Aaron Michlewitz’s alternative proposal to tax Airbnb and other apartment-rental firms, calling it a “convoluted, multi-layered, costlier plan” than Gov. Baker’s call to simply tax short-term rentals at the same rate as hotels.
Boston Herald |
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| Lawmakers scramble to preserve birth-control mandates |
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From the Globe’s Stephanie Ebbert: “Faced with the threatened repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which provided free birth control to women for the first time, Massachusetts lawmakers are scrambling to deliver a bill that would preserve — and even expand — free contraceptive coverage for all state residents.”
Boston Globe |
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| Legislation would enable homicide charges against dealers |
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State Sen. Bruce Tarr has filed a bill that would allow prosecutors to file second-degree murder charges against dealers who sell drugs that lead to fatal overdoses, reports Christian Wade at the Salem News. Tarr said he wants to hone his legislation to target top-level traffickers, not addicts who sell drugs to feed their own habits.
Salem News |
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| Wynn appointed to top GOP finance post |
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In addition to overseeing construction of his new Everett resort casino, Steve Wynn will also now be overseeing the Republican National Committee finances, as the party’s new finance chair, reports the Globe’s Travis Andersen.
Boston Globe |
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| Confirming the already confirmed: Aetna eyeing move to Boston |
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The Hartford Courant sparked a small media scramble yesterday after it reported that, over the past six months, Aetna Insurance has been in talks with the Baker administration about moving its headquarters to Boston. Actually, they’ve been in talks for nine months, as reported by the BBJ last April. But who’s counting? The BBJ did report late last month that Aetna is scouting out properties in Boston for about 150,000 square feet of space, which doesn’t quite sound big enough for a wholesale headquarters relocation. But we’ll see.
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