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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
COLUMBIA GAS BACK IN THE HOT SEAT — Columbia Gas CEO and President Steve Bryant is back in the hot seat today for a natural gas safety hearing at the State House. The Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy will also hear from top officials at Berkshire Gas, National Grid and Unitil when they gavel in at 11 a.m.
Lawmakers feel a "sense of urgency" to move a bill that aims to make natural gas work safer, state Senate President Karen Spilka told reporters yesterday after huddling with Gov. Charlie Baker and state House Speaker Robert DeLeo.
CHARLIE BAKER HAS REMAINED SILENT ON THIS CATASTROPHE, FAILED TO ATTEND THE PUBLIC HEARINGS AND THE MEDIA IS AGAIN ALLOWING CHARLIE BAKER'S FAILURES TO REMAIN UNCHALLENGED. THIS IS NOT LEADERSHIP!
Baker filed the bill last month, which would require a professional engineer to review natural gas projects. "This would seem something we would try to do before the end of the session," DeLeo told reporters after that leadership meeting.
The natural gas oversight hearing and legislative push come several months after the Merrimack Valley gas explosions that killed one person and displaced thousands of people living in Andover, North Andover and Lawrence.
Last month, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey grilled the Columbia Gas chiefand the head of the utility's parent company NiSource, at a special field hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation that Markey brought to Lawrence. Rep. Seth Moulton suggested Bryant resign, Sen. Elizabeth Warren called on the gas company to "step up" and take responsibility for the crisis and Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera said Columbia Gas should disband completely.
The September catastrophe left many without gas service , meaning heat and hot water, through the fall. Columbia Gas reports the remaining households without restored service are self-mitigators, meaning they handled repairs without the aid of the gas company.
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TODAY - Gov. Charlie Baker speaks at a ribbon-cutting for the Ira H. Rubenzahl Student Learning Commons at Springfield Technical Community College with Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, stateSen. James Welch and state Rep. Bud Williams. State Rep. Jeff Sanchez receives an award from the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance at an event attended by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, state House Speaker Robert DeLeo, state Rep. Claire Cronin, state Rep. Kevin Honan and former House Speaker Sal DiMasi.
State Senate President Karen Spilka is in Western Mass for a tour of state Senator-elect Jo Comerford's district. Attorney General Maura Healey attends a Massachusetts Historical Society event chronicling the state's first AG. The Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy holds a hearing on natural gas safety. Walsh rings the Salvation Army bell at Downtown Crossing. The Joint Committee on Public Service holds a hearing.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Lawmakers push harder to resolve labor dispute at National Grid," by Victoria McGrane, Boston Globe: "Massachusetts political leaders kicked off a new round of rhetorical pressure on National Grid over its months long lockout of union gas workers amid signs that the negotiations have gotten fresh momentum. So far, neither the Senate nor Governor Charlie Baker are throwing their support behind House-passed legislation that would force National Grid to cover the tab for extending unemployment benefits for those 1,250 workers."
- "Representatives-Elect Talk About Goals Ahead On Beacon Hill," by Antonio Caban, WGBH: "The makeup of the state House of Representatives will have plenty of new Democratic voices come January, eager to deliver on their progressive campaign promises. But state Representatives-elect Nika Elugardo, Liz Miranda and Tram Nguyen are tempering their ambitions with realism. The soon-to-be House colleagues appeared Monday for a joint interview on Greater Boston where they discussed their priorities for the upcoming legislative session and how those priorities will fit into the larger framework of the House."
- "T board mad weekend commuter rail pass is ending," by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: "Board weren't pleased on Monday when they learned a largely successful six-month pilot program offering commuter rail customers a $10 ride-as-much-as-you-want weekend pass is coming to a halt so a federally required equity analysis can be done. The three board members at the meeting ordered staff to explore all legal and other options to keep the program running uninterrupted. The chairman of the board even suggested launching a new pilot at a slightly different price point to maintain the program's momentum."
- "SPILKA TO NATIONAL GRID: END THE LOCKOUT 'IMMEDIATELY,'" by Michael P. Norton, State House News Service: "Newly in possession of a House-approved locked out worker benefit bill, Senate leaders said Monday they are ready to intervene if National Grid won't end its lock out of union gas workers voluntarily. 'This process has gone on long enough, and the Senate is prepared to take action if needed,' Senate President Karen Spilka and Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr said in a statement released overnight Sunday."
- "Education advocates call for Charlie Baker to prioritize 'fair school funding,'" by Morgan Hughes, Boston Globe: "More than 20 parents of schoolchildren delivered nearly 1,700 letters to Governor Charlie Baker's office on Monday, asking for what the group called a more equitable school funding formula. The letters were handwritten by parents, grandparents, and community members from across the state on behalf of the nonprofit Stand for Children Massachusetts, asking Baker to invest in creating equal footing for wealthy and underserved school districts."
- "PROGRESSIVE FIND FEW ON BEACON HILL WORTHY OF TOP GRADES," by Katie Lannan, State House News Service:"Advocacy group Progressive Massachusetts on Monday released its latest legislative scorecard, giving 'A' grades to just three state representatives and four senators, and using the grades to call for more transparency on Beacon Hill. 'People deserve to know whether or not their elected officials are standing for their values,' Jonathan Cohn, who chairs the group's Issues Committee, said in a statement. 'Our state legislators actively avoid taking recorded votes - or any votes at all - on major issues, and when they must, they make it unnecessarily complicated for engaged citizens to find that information.'"
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "Ayanna Pressley, before heading to Congress, listens one more time," by Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe: "They were victims of violence and, in some cases, perpetrators of crime themselves. They had suffered trauma, as had their families and friends. They shared stories of lost loved ones and spoke out for better education and expanded mental health resources. At a City Council committee meeting Monday night, more than a dozen residents from across Boston took the rare opportunity to air their grievances about life in their neighborhood and ways to make it better."
- "Should Boston go back to an elected School Committee or would it create more dysfunction?" by James Vaznis, Boston Globe: "It is arguably the most important job of any school committee anywhere: the power to hire and fire the superintendent. Yet in Boston last summer, it was not the School Committee that decided the fate of then-Superintendent Tommy Chang. It was Mayor Martin J. Walsh. He was the one who had a tough conversation with Chang about his future, prompting Chang to resign and catching the School Committee off guard ."
- "Massachusetts residents struggle to access mental health care, study finds," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican:"Although Massachusetts has some of the country's top health care providers, that health care is not always accessible to residents -- especially those seeking care for mental health or substance use disorders, according to a study released Tuesday by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation."
- "Did removing a toll plaza ruin East Boston's roads?" by Adam Vaccaro, Boston Globe: "You know it's bad when drivers are nostalgic for the days of the toll booth. At least that's the case in East Boston, where endless traffic has residents and commuters lamenting the removal of the toll plaza from the mouth of the Sumner Tunnel. Getting into the tunnel is something of a daily crisis, with changing traffic patterns during construction confusing drivers and causing long backups on neighborhood streets, while a surge in volume has overwhelmed the road network."
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| THE OPINION PAGES |
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- "Setting a new standard for retail pot stores in Boston," by Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, Boston Globe: "Many know that I opposed the ballot measure in 2016, and I remain concerned about the impact that easier access to pot will have on the developing brains of our young people. But my personal concerns play no role whatsoever in how the city is handling the licensing of marijuana businesses. I am committed to implementing the law in a manner that is timely, equitable, and respectful of the voters and the community."
- "We are former senators. The Senate has long stood in defense of democracy — and must again." a letter from former senators including John Kerry and Paul Kirk, Washington Post: "As former members of the U.S. Senate, Democrats and Republicans, it is our shared view that we are entering a dangerous period, and we feel an obligation to speak up about serious challenges to the rule of law, the Constitution, our governing institutions and our national security. We are on the eve of the conclusion of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation and the House's commencement of investigations of the president and his administration."
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- "State Ban On Secretly Recording Gov't Officials And Cops Ruled Unconstitutional," by Laney Ruckstuhl, WBUR: " A Massachusetts ban on the audio recording of people without their knowledge was declared unconstitutional in regards to government and law enforcement officials while performing their duties in public by a federal judge in Boston on Monday. The ruling comes from two separate lawsuits filed against former Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts on behalf of two Boston activists and Project Veritas, a conservative organization known for targeting candidates and groups it considers liberal. The ACLU suit also names the Boston Police commissioner ."
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| TRUMPACHUSETTS |
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- "Berkshire Innovation Center early steel order dodged price spike from tariffs," by Larry Parnass, Berkshire Eagle: "A high-stakes project that faced delays due to money finally caught a break. Structural steel that will arrive next month for the Berkshire Innovation Center was procured early enough to avoid tariffs, helping the $13.8 million venture avoid a surprise run-up in materials costs. Stephen Boyd, chairman of the center's board, said a pre-construction team with Consigli Construction Co. put orders in early enough to prevent what could have been a 30 percent rise in steel costs."
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| FROM THE DELEGATION |
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- "Markey Demands Details About Life Insurance Denials For Carrying Naloxone," by Martha Bebinger, WBUR: "Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Ed Markey is asking two national organizations that deal with life insurance for details about companies that deny coverage to applicants who carry naloxone, often sold as Narcan, the drug that reverses an opioid overdose. Markey's letter comes in response to a WBUR story last week about a nurse at Boston Medical Center who was denied coverage from two different insurers because she carries naloxone."
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| EYE ON 2020 |
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- "Deval Patrick's New Job: Finding A 2020 Candidate To 'Break The Fever' Of Trump's Leadership," by Darren Sands, BuzzFeed News: "Deval Patrick, who is no longer considering running for president himself, sees a lot to like in Beto O'Rourke, the Texas lawmaker who is now weighing whether to run for the presidency in 2020. 'I liked him a lot. I liked his earnestness,' Patrick told BuzzFeed News in a wide-ranging interview after he decided against joining the presidential race for personal reasons. 'He seemed serious. He seemed to have a set of core convictions without thinking that he had necessarily a lock on all of the best ideas. I respect that, because I think that's hard in politics — it's much more like a real human being.'"
- "Chabot: Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders headed for 2020 New Hampshire showdown," by Hillary Chabot, Boston Herald:"A Granite State 2020 showdown between senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders could split progressive voters and batter both prospective presidential candidates, clearing the way for more moderate challengers like Joe Biden to surge, warned New England Democrats ."
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| MOULTON MATTERS |
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- "Moulton Likely to Get Primary Challenge in 2020," by Alison King, NBC10: "Outgoing state Sen. Barbara L'Italien, who ran unsuccessfully in this year's third district race despite living in the fifth district, has similar concerns about Moulton and is already looking ahead to possibly challenging him in 2020. 'I am politically savvy enough to know that in order to get things for your district, you cannot be challenging the leadership to the extent that Seth Moulton has,' L'Italien said."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "'HEARTS ARE BROKEN,'" — Globe: "CHANGE, TOO, TAKES TOLL ON DRIVERS," "Troubling details in crash that killed girl," "Pats pass on giving lowdown on loss." |
| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "Memories of firefighter, father who 'never wanted people to feel down,'" by Elaine Thompson, Telegram & Gazette: "A common theme from folks who knew Firefighter Christopher Roy is his insurmountable love for his 9-year-old daughter, Ava. Firefighter Roy, 36, of Shrewsbury, died early Sunday while battling a 5-alarm fire at 7 Lowell St. He was a single father to Ava and the two of them lived together on Lake Street, Shrewsbury, in a home he bought two years ago. 'He loved that girl. I know he did. She was his life,' said Jonathan Richmond, 30, general manager at Wicked Wing Co. on West Boylston Street."
- "Dennis waterfront owners prevail in beach access court case," by Doug Fraser, Cape Cod Times: " Shore Drive residents east of Mayflower Beach thought they'd won a tangible victory three years ago when the state Supreme Judicial Court reopened a pathway to the beach that they had used for generations. Access along that pathway was what the original developer of the subdivision had intended and was a selling point, touted by real estate agents as guaranteed. It was the reason that many of them had purchased their home and paid more for it, they told the SJC."
- MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE: "NH Democratic Party headquarters evacuated after suspicious package found," by Paul Feely, New Hampshire Union Leader: "The headquarters of the New Hampshire Democratic Party was evacuated Monday night after a suspicious package was found. Sarah Guggenheimer, a communications associate with the New Hampshire Democratic Party, confirmed Monday night that party headquarters — located at 105 N. State St. in Concord — was evacuated after a suspicious package was found in the building."
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to former Senator and Secretary of State John Kerry.
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY - to Rufus Gifford campaign alum David Todisco, who celebrated Monday.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes! The Celtics beat the Pelicans 113-100.
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