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Presented by JUUL Labs
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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
BIDEN'S ROWDY CAMPAIGN STOP — It was supposed to be a standard meet-and-greet event in a coastal New Hampshire town.
But Joe Biden inadvertently created a ruckus in a pizza restaurant Monday when reporters and onlookers climbed on tables and broke glassware in a frenzied scramble to get a better view of the former vice president.
The small-venue event marked Biden's first foray into the early voting state since he launched his presidential campaign in April. And as he rises in the polls, there's no doubt candidates like Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Seth Moulton will keep an eye on Biden's warm reception in New Hampshire, the neighboring state where every Massachusetts-based presidential candidate is expected to perform well . During the campaign stop, the former VP was gifted a state license plate emblazoned with "BIDEN."
Biden packed a crowd of around 100 people into The Community Oven, where he laid out his vision for uniting the country and boosting the middle class. After delivering his stump speech, Biden took half a dozen questions from the audience. At one point during his speech, with the press crammed on a riser in front of the restaurant's brick pizza oven, Biden pointed to a person standing by the hot oven and joked the man "must be perspiring."
After he finished speaking, the event took on a chaotic feel as supporters rushed to take pictures with the former vice president. Because the crowd around Biden was so large, reporters and onlookers climbed over tables and onto chairs to snap photos of Biden while he took selfies and shook hands. That's when things got messy.
One person shattered a glass, and another knocked over a table as Biden slowly made his way through the crowded restaurant. When Biden unexpectedly took a question from reporters halfway through the photo line, it sparked another mad dash toward him.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com.
TODAY — Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito testify before the Joint Committee on Housing. Baker speaks at the Boston Leaders for Education breakfast, and testifies before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. Polito attends the Correctional Employee of the Year Awards and a meeting of the Local Government Advisory Council. The Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture hears testimony.
The Fund Our Future campaign and members of Massachusetts Parents United lobby at the State House and hold a rally on Boston Common. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh speaks at the Urban League's 100th anniversary breakfast. POLITICO's Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer speak at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.
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A message from JUUL Labs:
Youth vaping is a problem. We're taking action. No youth or non-nicotine user should ever try JUUL products. We've taken a series of actions to greatly reduce youth use of tobacco products, including our own. Learn more about our youth prevention efforts: JUUL.com/youth-prevention
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Massachusetts regulators considering how best to oversee financially struggling colleges," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "Over the past five years in Massachusetts, 18 colleges have closed or merged. This includes the abrupt shuttering of Mount Ida College last year, which led to anger and upheaval among students and staff, who were given little notice. State education officials are pushing for a bill introduced by Gov. Charlie Baker in March that would require schools to notify the state Board of Higher Education of "any known liabilities or risks which may result in the imminent closure of the institution or jeopardize the institution's ability to fulfill its obligations to current and admitted students." The Legislature's Higher Education Committee held a public hearing on the bill Monday."
- "Baker pressed on driver's licenses for refugees," by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: "Members of Congress are urging Gov. Charlie Baker to provide relief for immigrants who could lose driving privileges as a court fight over their legal status plays out. In October, a federal judge put a hold on the Trump administration's plans to stop renewing the legal status of 300,000 people living in the U.S. from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan. Immigrants from those countries — including an estimated 17,424 in Massachusetts — were set to lose temporary protected status over the next year. Those who stayed in the United States could be at risk of deportation."
- "Report From Weymouth Gas Foes Warns Of Pollution And Explosion Danger," by Mike Deehan, WGBH News: "Physicians and public health experts are calling on Gov. Charlie Baker and state environmental officials to take a second look at plans to build a natural gas compressor along a cove in Weymouth near the Fore River Bridge. Public health academics and doctors say the project by energy company Enbridge would add pollution to the surrounding, densely-populated neighborhood and create, should there be a leak or other mishap, the threat of a potentially devastating explosion. "Everything in this red area. Everybody would be — would be dead," Dr. Matt Bivens, chair of Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, said as he pointed out concentric circles on a map of the proposed compressor site and laid out what he said could happen if a two-minute long gas leak lead to an explosion."
BAKER CENSORSHIP
- "On subjects from birds to pollution, state scientists are barred from speaking to the Globe," by David Abel, Boston Globe: "I was working on a story about birds. Watergate, this was not. So I wrote to the state ornithologist, Andrew Vitz, who works for the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, asking if he'd be willing to chat. "I would be happy to talk with you," he responded in an email. I just needed permission from a state public relations person, he wrote. This was not unusual, particularly since Governor Charlie Baker came into office. But I wasn't optimistic."
- "Gov. Charlie Baker, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh head to Washington to lobby for infrastructure investments," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, a Democrat, will travel to Washington, D.C., this week to advocate for more infrastructure funding. "The main point we're looking to accomplish is to put a Democrat and a Republican, a mayor and a governor, in front of a bunch of folks on the executive and legislative side, Congress and Senate, to talk about why this is important and why we believe this is something that both parties and the administration should be able to find a way to get to yes on," Baker told reporters at the Statehouse on Monday."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "Slowing down the 'stroads' of Boston," by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: "BOSTON'S VERSION OF VISION ZERO, an idea that originated in Sweden more than two decades ago, sets as its target zero fatalities or serious injuries by 2030 among people who walk, bicycle, or drive. A recent policy report from the Vision Zero Coalition indicates the number of fatalities has been declining in Boston, falling from 21 in 2016 to 10 in 2018, with the number of pedestrian fatalities dropping from 14 to 7 over that time period. But the number of crashes that required response by emergency medical service teams actually increased slightly, rising from 4,355 in 2016 to 4,367 in 2018."
- "MBTA ups estimate on repairs, now says $10.1B needed to fix aging system," by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: "MBTA ups estimate on repairs, now says $10.1B needed to fix aging system. "It makes the challenges more apparent — I don't think it makes the challenges more daunting," Poftak told reporters. This 38% higher number comes from the implementation of new federal guidelines for calculating what needs to be fixed, Poftak said. The GM told reporters that this new "capital-needs" estimate is more accurate, including "soft" costs like planning and design, as well as other governmental requirements like making stations handicapped-accessible."
- "Don't sell your house cheap," by Yawu Miller, Bay State Banner: "Last fall, utility poles in Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan were mostly bereft of adornment, aside from the occasional campaign sign left over from legislative races. But with spring came a flowering of corrugated plastic signs bearing messages of hope for beleaguered homeowners: "We buy houses cash," "Tired landlord? Need 2 sell fast?" and "We buy houses $$$." The signs, which companies illegally staple to wooden utility poles or attach to metal ones with plastic ties, are one of the more troubling signs of the city's overheated real estate market. With home values across the city at an all-time high, speculators are looking to make a quick buck on distressed properties, distressed owners or gullible owners looking to make a quick exit. And some community members are not pleased."
- "Michelle Wu talks transit, Elizabeth Warren, and Boston's role in the Green New Deal," by Christopher Gavin, Boston.com: "In the last five months alone, the three-term city councilor at-large has offered up three game-changing, conversation-starting ideas aimed at dislodging Boston's longstanding transit woes, with a particular eye on how the region's larger, looming issues come into play. In January, Wu started a grassroots campaign calling for a fare-free MBTA amid the agency's plans to hike rates (it ultimately approved a roughly 6 percent increase). Making the T free of charge would be a revolutionary step in fixing many of the city's most pressing problems, including inequality, climate change, and traffic congestion, she contended (and still does)."
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- "In legal victory for Robert Kraft, judge suppresses video in prostitution case," by Danny McDonald, Travis Andersen and John R. Ellement, Boston Globe: "Robert Kraft scored a major legal victory Monday when a Florida judge suppressed video evidence that allegedly shows the New England Patriots owner paying for sex acts inside a spa, substantially weakening the government's case. In a 10-page ruling in Palm Beach County, Judge Leonard Hanser sided with Kraft's lawyers, who had argued the warrant Jupiter, Fla., police obtained to secretly install cameras inside the Orchids of Asia Day Spa was flawed. "Defendant's motion to suppress is granted and all evidence obtained against defendant through and in connection with the search warrant is suppressed," Hanser wrote."
- "AG Healey Joins 44-State Lawsuit Against Pharma Companies," by Tori Bedford, WGBH News: "Attorney General Maura Healey has joined leaders from 44 other states in suing a group of drug makers and pharmaceutical executives for allegedly fixing prices on generic drugs. In a press release Monday, Healey announced the complaint against 20 drug companies and 15 pharmaceutical executives, accusing them of "intentionally" raising drug prices as much as 1,000 percent. "This was very much intentional," Healey told WGBH News. "This is something that these executives and these companies set out to do." The drugs in the alleged scheme include treatments for diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, cancer and epilepsy."
- "In ICE lawsuit, federal authorities respond to request that would stop courthouse arrests," by Danny McDonald, Boston Globe: "The federal government asked a judge Monday to reject a request that seeks to stop immigration authorities from arresting people at courthouses throughout the country, in a case spearheaded by two leading Massachusetts prosecutors. Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins and Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan, along with public defenders and immigration advocates, sued the federal government late last month, seeking to halt immigration agents from making civil arrests at state-level courthouses through a preliminary injunction, according to court documents."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "Sanders and Warren in hot pursuit of AOC endorsement," by Holly Otterbein and Alex Thompson, POLITICO: "The Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez primary is heating up. For the second time in five days, the star freshman congresswoman is appearing alongside Bernie Sanders at a high-profile event. Rep. Ro Khanna, co-chairman of Sanders' campaign, is talking with Ocasio-Cortez's staff about the primary. And Sanders' team told POLITICO that he and Ocasio-Cortez "have had phone calls." Ocasio-Cortez's work on Sanders' 2016 campaign — and the fact that several staffers from that bid went on to work for her and the pro-Ocasio-Cortez group Justice Democrats — suggest the Vermont senator has the inside track for her coveted endorsement. But Sen. Elizabeth Warren is making an aggressive pitch for Ocasio-Cortez's nod, too: She's met with her privately and wrote a gushing essay about her for Time magazine. An aide to Warren said their teams have been in touch."
- "Elizabeth Warren pledges to appoint a former public school teacher as education secretary," by Elana Schor, Associated Press: "Elizabeth Warren is pledging that if she's elected president, her secretary of education ''will be a former public school teacher who is committed to public education.'' Warren made the vow in an email to supporters on Monday ahead of remarks at a town hall with members of the American Federation of Teachers union. The Democratic presidential candidate and Massachusetts senator is a former special education teacher who often talks about her early hopes to work in education."
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| TRUMPACHUSETTS |
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- "Trump takes credit for Red Sox turnaround," by Caitlin Oprysko, POLITICO: "President Donald Trump tried to take credit on Monday for a sudden turnaround in the Boston Red Sox' season, pointing out that the reigning World Series champions have gone undefeated since their fraught visit to the White House last week. "Has anyone noticed that all the Boston @RedSox have done is WIN since coming to the White House!" Trump wrote in a tweet. "Others also have done very well. The White House visit is becoming the opposite of being on the cover of Sports Illustrated! By the way, the Boston players were GREAT guys!" The Red Sox, who visited the White House last Thursday, swept all three of their home games over the weekend against the Seattle Mariners, scoring 34 runs across the three games. Boston has won eight of its last 10 games, a stretch that predates the team's reception with the president."
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| MOULTON MATTERS |
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- "Moulton wants medical marijuana for veterans — plus much bolder drug reforms," by Dan Adams, Boston Globe:"Representative Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, a former Marine Corps officer, re-filed a package of bills in Congress Monday that would push the Department of Veterans Affairs to embrace medical marijuana. But Moulton, a Democrat who is running for president, also said in an interview that he supports much more significant changes to federal drug policy — declaring that anyone in the United States jailed solely for marijuana possession should be freed with a clear record, that the country should consider decriminalizing the use of hard drugs while cracking down on producers, and that so-called safe consumption sites should be legal."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "LEGENDARY DAY," "ICE BUST," "FELICITY FACES FIRE," "SHARING HER STORY," — Globe: "T's latest estimate to upgrade hits $10b," "Terror on the trail: Stalker held in slaying," "For Kraft, a major victory in Fla. case." |
| FROM THE 413 |
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- "Valley activists report back on standoff at Venezuelan Embassy," by Bera Dunau, Daily Hampshire Gazette: "Pioneer Valley residents supporting the government of President Nicolás Maduro were among the activists occupying the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington in a standoff with supporters of the country's self-declared interim president, Juan Guaidó. And despite having water and power shut off inside the building, six to 12 activists remain inside, said longtime Valley activist Paki Wieland, who left the embassy Saturday afternoon. "Our resolve is very strong," she said Monday. "The people inside are determined to stay there." Wieland, who currently splits her time between Washington and Conway, is part of the Embassy Protection Collective, which was invited to stay in the embassy by President Maduro's government on April 10. The last of the staff left the embassy in April."
- "State legislators talk about economic development, education funding in Chicopee forum," by Jeanette DeForge, Springfield Republican: "State senators and representatives agreed more money must be spent on education from kindergarten through college, but said finding the proper way to fund it is where the hard work begins. "We are all in it, we understand it will take revenues and resources that are not available to us now," said State Rep. Joseph Wagner, D-Chicopee. "We know we are going to have to tackle the tough issue of revenues." The Chicopee Democratic Committee Monday sponsored a forum to give people a chance to question their legislators about any topic.
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "Teachers union, residents sue to block New Bedford charter school plan," by Michael Jonas, CommonWealth Magazine: "A PLAN PUT forward by state education commissioner Jeff Riley as a compromise aimed at healing a rift over charter schools in New Bedford is instead drawing the wrath of the state's largest teacher union, which has filed a lawsuit to block a deal it calls an "extortionate proposal" and "strong-armed attempt" to undermine the will of local families and educators. In January, Riley announced a novel plan in response to an application from a New Bedford charter school to add more than 1,100 seats and open two new campuses in the city."
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Pam Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, WGBH's Lucy Martirosyan, Playbook's foodie-in-chief Alycia DiTroia and Sophia Nigro.
Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you're promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.
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A message from JUUL Labs:
We're combating the problem of underage vaping by: Advocating for raising the legal age to purchase our products to 21+ nationwide. Stopping the sale of non-tobacco and non-menthol based flavored JUULpods to traditional retail stores. Enhancing our online age verification process. Strengthening our retail compliance program with over 2,000 secret shopper visits per month. Shutting down our Facebook and Instagram accounts and working to remove inappropriate social media content generated by others on those platforms. And investing in new technologies to further prevent youth use. JUUL.com/youth-prevention |
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