MASSterList: Bad Drivers Wanted | Progressive labels | JOB BOARD MONDAY

MASSterList: Bad Drivers Wanted | Progressive labels | JOB BOARD MONDAY

WHERE ARE YA, CHARLIE? The T’s beyond bad record of hiring bad drivers

It’s as if the T’s rail operator put out a sign reading: Bad Drivers Wanted. The Globe’s Andrea Estes has the shocking statistics on just how many bad drivers – including one whose license has been suspended 39 times – have been hired as commuter rail engineers to operate trains. A sampling: “Nearly 50 engineers have had their driver’s licenses suspended — 44 of them more than once, according to Registry of Motor Vehicle records reviewed by the Globe.” Mathematically, it seems a blind-folded, pull-a-name-out-of-the-hat hiring system would have worked better. Boston Globe

Massie: ‘I am the only true progressive in the race’

His two Democratic rivals, Jay Gonzalez and Setti Warren, may beg to differ, but Bob Massie is declaring himself the only true progressive (“in the full historic sense of the word”) in the Democratic primary for governor. As he writes at CommonWealth magazine: “The term ‘progressive’ had been dormant for decades, but was revived in reaction to the Democratic Party’s unhealthy willingness to compromise with corporate interests in exchange for campaign contributions. It is now often used less as a true description and more as branding.” CommonWealth

WHERE'S CHARLIE?

Former state Inspector General: ‘UMass has gone rogue with its expansion plans’ Speaking of UMass, from the Herald’s Kathleen McKiernan: “The Pioneer Institute slammed the UMass Amherst-Mount Ida deal, calling it ‘irresponsible’ yesterday in light of rising fees and tuition, the high salaries of top university brass and the growing debt load at the state’s flagship university. ‘UMass has gone rogue with its expansion plans,’ Gregory Sullivan, research director at the think tank, told the Herald.” Sullivan served two five-year terms as the state’s inspector general. Boston Herald

SJC backs Healey in Exxon Mobil climate-change case Attorney General Maura Healey has won another round in her face-off against Exxon Mobil, after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court late last week ruled that Healey can compel Exxon to comply with her investigation into what the oil giant has known about climate change over the years, reports Shira Schoenberg at MassLive. MassLive Sean Hannity’s dubious attempt to connect Robert Mueller to Whitey Bulger The Globe’s Martin Finucane demolishes Fox News host Sean Hannity’s recent attempts to connect the dots between Boston gangster Whitey Bulger and Robert Mueller, a former federal prosecutor in Boston and now the special prosecutor looking into Russia’s influence in the 2016 election. Finucane’s opening point-by-point knockdown of Sean’s arguments: “What involvement did Mueller have with Bulger? None.” For Sean, it goes downhill from there. Boston Globe Ho hum. Another quarter, another multimillion dollar haul for Warren She doesn’t really need it, David S. Bernstein argues at WGBH, but U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren still raised $3 million in the first quarter of 2018 alone, giving her an enviable war chest of $15 million more suited to a closely-fought campaign than the easy stroll to re-election many are forecasting. All three of Warren’s potential GOP rivals in November raised around $300,000 each in the same time period, Bernstein reports.  WGBH GLAD HE FINALLY WOKE UP! Appalled by Trump, Boston billionaire starts throwing big bucks to Dems Boston hedge fund billionaire Seth Klarman used to lavish millions on Republican candidates for office. No more. The Globe’s Annie Linskey reports on how Klarman, alarmed at the election of Donald Trump as president, has already given $220,000 to 78 Democrats since 2016. Boston Globe ‘Red flag’ bill clears legislative committee From SHNS’s Andy Metzger at the Beacon Hill Patch: “A 19-member legislative committee Friday recommended passage of a bill that would authorize courts to prevent people from owning guns if the people are deemed dangerous. Anti-gun-violence activists, including students and many citizen activists, have recently stepped up their push for the bill, arguing it would provide a safety check to prevent dangerous people from accessing certain deadly weapons.” Patch.com Barnstable County official who targeted Florida survivors appears safe from recall push Angry voters have begun collecting signatures on a petition to recall Barnstable County Commissioner and ex-con Ronald Beaty Jr. for his online tirades against a survivor of the Parkland school shooting in Florida, Geoff Spillane reports in the Cape Cod Times. But it appears Beaty’s position is safe for now: The County government has no mechanism to recall an elected official. Meanwhile, Beaty, who has spent time in prison for threatening to kill the president of the United States of America, says the petition is the work of “over the top politically liberal extremists.”  Cape Cod Times

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