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Presented by JUUL Labs
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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. TGIF!
DELEO SPARS WITH ACTIVISTS — While you might associate free college with someone like Bernie Sanders, House Speaker Robert DeLeo says a group of student activists protesting for debt- and tuition-free higher education at the State House remind him of someone else: President Donald Trump.
Tensions between DeLeo and activists from the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts boiled over last night, when DeLeo slammed the activists for making what he calls "wildly inaccurate" claims about how they were treated during a five-day protest at the State House.
"I value participation by all stakeholders and everyone is entitled to their opinion on how taxpayer funds should be appropriated. Everyone, however, is not entitled to their own facts," DeLeo said in a statement last night.
The protesters say State House staff threatened to arrest them for holding a sit-in outside DeLeo's office, and that a court officer threatened them with facial recognition technology in the building. DeLeo disputed those claims in a statement last night, calling the accounts both untrue and "offensive."
"These Trumpian tactics are both offensive and counterproductive," DeLeo said. "There was no threat of arrest, there is no such technology used at the State House, and my staff and House members met with them on multiple occasions."
PHENOM activists are angry DeLeo did not meet with them to discuss the two bills they are pushing for, though his staff and other House members did meet with them. They fired back at the Speaker late last night on Twitter, and turned the Trump label around on DeLeo.
"I think it is incredibly sad that Speaker DeLeo has descended into name calling and spreading misinformation, exactly the 'Trumpian tactics' he accused others of using," PHENOM Executive Director Zac Bears wrote online.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: There will be no Playbook on Monday in observance of Memorial Day. Happy unofficial start of summer!
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, Rep. Stephen Lynch and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh attend the re-dedication of the Massachusetts Fallen Heroes Memorial. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito attends a ribbon cutting for the Dartmouth Maritime Facility. Walsh attends a ribbon cutting for the Madison Park Roadway project. Walsh is a guest on "Boston Public Radio."
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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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- "Mass. House Will Take Up Janus 'Fix' To Aid Unions," by Mike Deehan, WGBH News: "The Massachusetts House of Representatives will take up a bill before the July 4 holiday to aid local labor unions affected by a U.S. Supreme Court decision that cut deeply into their pocketbooks, according to a spokesperson for House Speaker Robert DeLeo. In last year's Janus v. AFSCME decision, the Supreme Court ruled that labor unions can't charge fees in lieu of dues to non-member workers who refuse to join the union. As a result, unions lost a key revenue stream and the ability for non-member workers to become so-called "free riders" on union services expanded. The bill Speaker Robert DeLeo plans to push through the House in June would let Massachusetts unions charge non-members for legal aid they benefit from in arbitration cases, restoring some of the cash flow lost under the Janus decision."
- "Right to choose safe in Massachusetts, Baker says," by Matt Murphy, State House News Service: "Acknowledging a "tremendous amount of anxiety" over abortion rights around the country, Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday that a woman's right to choose is safe in Massachusetts, even if he remains skeptical of expanding abortion access. "I certainly will do everything I need to do to protect a woman's right to choose here in Massachusetts, period," Baker said during an interview on Boston Public Radio.The Republican governor's comments came just days after abortion rights activists gathered at the State House in solidarity with protestors in other states opposing crackdowns on abortion access."
- "Former chief medical examiner being phased out," by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: "The state's chief medical examiner is phasing out her predecessor, Dr. Henry Nields, from his role as a part-time contractor — a move that has surprised staff in an office that's struggled to quickly complete death investigations. Dr. Mindy J. Hull, who replaced Nields in October 2017, told him in an e-mail last week that "at this time . . . we do not anticipate needing your services" because the office has been able to hire several new full-time examiners. She said it allows her to staff each of the agency's four offices in Boston, Holyoke, Worcester, and on Cape Cod without "extra" contracted workers. But Nields is the only one of four part-time, contracted medical examiners the agency uses who was removed from its June schedule, according to internal copies reviewed by the Globe. And the three others are each scheduled to work the same or a similar number of days as they have in May."
- "NEW BEDFORD CHARTER SCHOOL EXPANSION BILL BLOCKED IN HOUSE," by Katie Lannan, State House News Service: "A bill state education officials want to see passed by the end of the month to execute a deal between New Bedford and a charter school in that city hit a speed bump Thursday in the House of Representatives and could face a rocky path ahead with some representatives wanting a larger debate. The bill, a home rule petition approved on an 8-2 vote in late April by the New Bedford City Council, surfaced in the House for the first time on Thursday with about a dozen representatives in the chamber. Rep. James Hawkins doubted the presence of a quorum, forcing the House to adjourn because a quorum of lawmakers was not present."
- "Senate says no to boost in minimum education aid," by Chris Lisinski, State House News Service: "The state Senate on Wednesday rejected a budget amendment that would have increased the minimum education aid every district receives from $30 per pupil to $100 per pupil on a 7-32 vote Wednesday. After lengthy debate to open the second day of budget deliberations, senators voted virtually along party lines to shoot down the Republican-sponsored change, which would have added $30 million to the $42.7 billion budget. Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, who filed the amendment, said that while the proposed budget's $268 million increase to the Chapter 70 program that helps cities and towns with education costs was laudable, at least 182 districts would only see a boost of $30 per pupil next year. He described that amount as insufficient to meet the growing needs in many schools."
- "Lawmakers: Compressor case erased public confidence in regulators," by Jessica Trufant, Patriot Ledger: "Lawmakers are urging a state regulator to overturn the air-quality permit issued for a proposed natural gas compressor station in Weymouth due to what they see as incomplete air testing, a delayed disclosure of new data and questionable appeal proceedings. Nine South Shore legislators sent a letter to hearing officer Jane Rothchild this week requesting that she reject the air-quality plan and force gas company Spectra Energy-Enbridge to resubmit a plan that incorporates all data. State environmental regulators last week released hundreds of pages of additional air-quality testing data from the Fore River Basin several days after they received it, and two days into an appeal hearing on the air-quality permit."
- "Collins's budget priorities center on UMass, DCR projects," by Jennifer Smith, Dorchester Reporter: "The Massachusetts State Senate is assembling its annual budget this week, considering more than 1,110 amendments to the $42.7 billion bill that made it through the upper chamber this month. Among the local amendments on the table are some that are intended to boost transit service, bolster Community Preservation Act funds and open spaces, and wrangle with the University of Massachusetts over its budget. Lawmakers are not yet proposing any major new revenue sources; they plan to tackle revenue or potential tax hikes in a separate discussion later this year. State Sen. Nick Collins, whose First Suffolk district stretches from South Boston through Dorchester and Mattapan, filed amendments that would push for studying electrification of the Fairmount and Providence commuter rail lines and advance a two-year pilot program to bring the Fairmount up to rapid transit service."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "John Henry, owner of Red Sox and the Globe, considered buying Everett casino," by Mark Arsenault, Boston Globe: "It was one of the biggest deals in memory that didn't happen: Wynn Resorts this month discussed selling the Encore Boston Harbor hotel and casino to MGM Resorts, though talks broke off without an agreement. But MGM was not the only suitor for the $2.6 billion gambling resort on the Mystic River in Everett. Boston businessman John W. Henry, principal owner of the Boston Red Sox and the owner and publisher of The Boston Globe, backed by a group of potential investors, quietly investigated buying the Encore in 2018 and again just weeks ago, Henry confirmed in response to questions from a Globe reporter ."
- "Racism allegations put MFA in the spotlight," by Brian MacQuarrie, Gal Tziperman Lotan and Zoe Greenberg, Boston Globe: "The Museum of Fine Arts found itself under siege Thursday as educators, politicians, and civil-rights activists assailed the renowned institution over reports that minority students from a Dorchester middle school were subjected to racial insults and close security during a field trip. Mayor Martin J. Walsh called the allegations "disturbing," while City Council President Andrea Campbell decried them as "sad and unacceptable." An official with the Boston NAACP questioned whether the 149-year-old museum, one of the country's largest, had violated federal and state antidiscrimination law during the May 13 outing by 26 seventh-graders from the Helen Y. Davis Leadership Academy."
- "Conservative group to push redistricting reform in Massachusetts," by Lisa Kashinsky, Boston Herald: "A national conservative group focused on government reform says it wants to take on gerrymandering in deeply blue Massachusetts. Alabama-based Take Back Our Republic wants to replace the Legislature's redistricting process with a nonpartisan commission in the Bay State, with the aim of increasing voters' access to their elected officials, said John Pudner, the group's executive director. "We're going to get districts that are much fairer for people," Pudner said. Take Back Our Republic plans to follow the model that was adopted in Michigan last year — using a ballot initiative to create a 13-member independent commission that would redraw district lines based on the 2020 census."
- "BPS memo called for 'right-sizing' Boston's schools," by Trea Lavery, Bay State Banner: "When Boston Public Schools moved to close the West Roxbury Education Complex last year, students and teachers from the Urban Science Academy and West Roxbury Academy, the two schools making up the WREC, blasted department officials for not finding a way to keep the two high schools' students together. School officials said they exhausted every option, yet documents from the decision-making process suggest that the district may have closed the school regardless of whether a solution had been found."
- "Federal officials investigate Mass. prisons on elderly, ill inmates, solitary confinement," by Maria Cramer, Boston Globe:"Federal prosecutors are investigating the Massachusetts prison system over its use of solitary confinement, and the treatment of elderly and severely ill prisoners, according to several attorneys who have spoken with federal investigators. The investigation, launched by the civil rights unit of the US attorney's office in Massachusetts, is focused on reports of mistreatment of inmates in order to identify potential patterns and practices of abuse, those familiar with the investigation said. Lawyers who have been interviewed by federal investigators said they have provided documents alleging abuses of inmates who are 50 and older, inmates who are terminally ill, and prisoners who have spent months, even years, in isolation."
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- "Suspended Newton judge declined plea deal that would have meant no criminal charges," by Andrea Estes, Shelley Murphy and Maria Cramer, Boston Globe: "Suspended Newton Judge Shelley Richmond Joseph turned down a deal that would have allowed her to avoid prosecution — and possibly preserve her career — if she admitted that she illegally helped an undocumented immigrant elude arrest by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, according to several people briefed on the federal prosecutor's offer. US Attorney Andrew Lelling had offered Joseph a "deferred prosecution agreement" under which she would not have been indicted and, in a year, as long as she didn't repeat the conduct, prosecutors would abandon the obstruction of justice charges, according to the people familiar with the deal."
- "Can ICE target undocumented immigrants for arrest in Massachusetts courts? Federal judge hears the first arguments in case brought by DAs," by Jacqueline Tempera, MassLive.com:"A Boston federal court judge heard the first arguments Thursday in a case that will decide whether U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents can target and arrest undocumented immigrants who show up for court dates in Massachusetts. Erez Reuveni, who is representing the government, argued that ICE focuses only on people who pose a national security or public safety threat when they take the step of a courthouse arrest."
- "Years after bitter breakup, Boston lawyers to square off in court," by Greg Ryan, Boston Business Journal: "A trial is scheduled to kick off next week in a Boston courtroom that pits the owner of a local law firm that specialized in asbestos defense work against six partners who left his firm in 2016 to launch a competing outfit. David Governo, owner of Boston-based Governo Law Firm, sued the founders of CMBG3 Law shortly after they left his firm, accusing them of stealing electronic client data and the firm's trade secrets before they quit."
- "Massachusetts High Court Says Poor Evidence Storage Endangers Fairness Of Justice System," by Mark Herz, WGBH News: "Massachusetts' highest court has said that problems with the storage of DNA and other kinds of crime evidence could threaten the integrity of the state's criminal justice system by making it harder to overturn wrongful convictions. In a decision on Tuesday, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled on several similar cases in which there was a tussle between state court clerks and local police departments over who would store and preserve such evidence. In its decision, the court said that Massachusetts needs a state of the art facility for evidence storage staffed by trained professionals."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "A toaster once nearly set Elizabeth Warren's kitchen on fire. Here's why the story sticks with her." by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com: "For Sen. Elizabeth Warren, toasters are more than just a convenient kitchen appliance or stereotypical wedding gift. They're a reminder of her belief in how government should work. Over the past two decades, the Harvard law professor-turned-Massachusetts senator has repeatedly brought up the bread-cooking devices in speeches, writings, and even a fundraising email from her 2020 presidential campaign this week. "Let's talk about toasters," Warren began a speech last year at Georgetown University's School of Law."
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| FROM THE DELEGATION |
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- "Trahan disclosure shines light on finances," by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: "A newly filed personal financial disclosure by U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan suggests she had more than enough revenue and assets to secure sizable loans to her campaign last year, but watchdog groups that filed complaints against the congresswoman say her story still doesn't add up. Trahan, a Westford Democrat, has been accused by two groups of violating campaign finance laws by loaning her campaign $371,000 in the months ahead of a contentious primary election. The complaints question the source of the loans, alleging that Trahan's revenue and assets in 2018 weren't enough to secure them."
- "US House passes bill to aid workers saving for retirement; Rep. Richard Neal praises vote," by Patrick Johnson, MassLive.com: "The U.S. House of Representatives' passage on Thursday of a bill that intends to increase the ability of people to save for retirement was praised by U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal as a way of averting an impending "retirement crisis." The bill, known as the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, was overwhelmingly approved by a vote of 417-3, with 11 representatives not voting. Neal, D-Springfield, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement that the House has made "significant progress" in helping to ensure workers of all ages are able to save enough money for retirement."
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| MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS |
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- "Cannabis Control Commission approves first sale of a marijuana company," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "The Cannabis Control Commission on Thursday approved the state's first acquisition of a marijuana company. The commission approved the sale of Sira Naturals to Cannabis Strategies Acquisition Corp. Sira Naturals owns three medical marijuana dispensaries, in Cambridge, Somerville and Needham. It has secured licenses to cultivate, manufacture and transport marijuana for the recreational market. Cannabis Strategies Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded company in Canada, announced in October that it had an agreement to buy Sira Naturals along with three Nevada-based marijuana companies and one company that operates in Nevada and Colorado."
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| EYE ON 2020 |
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- "Brookline Attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan On Why She Wants To Take On Sen. Ed Markey In 2020," by Jamie Bologna and Zoë Mitchell, WBUR: "U.S. Sen. Ed Markey has served in Congress for more than 35 years, but one Brookline labor lawyer has decided that this term should be his last. Attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan will challenge Markey in the Democratic primary next year. Liss-Riordan has spent the past two decades fighting for worker's rights, against companies which include Uber, Starbucks, FedEx and American Airlines."
- "The First Big Democratic Primary Challenge of 2020 Is Happening In Massachusetts," by Hannah Levintova, Mother Jones: "Labor lawyer Shannon Liss-Riordan announced this week that she is running for the U.S. Senate, challenging incumbent Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey in next year's Democratic primary race. Markey was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1976 and moved to the Senate in 2013, after winning a special election to replace John Kerry, who had stepped down to become Secretary of State. With the exception of a 2013 primary to succeed Kerry, the last time Markey faced a Democratic challenger was 2002."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "DROP PUCK, LIFT FORK," "HOT ICE!" — Globe: "Mass. prisons are facing US review," "SPECTER OF RACISM PUTS MFA IN SPOTLIGHT," "Inclusion means more than just opening the doors," "Torrent of criticism follows reports about students' treatment." |
| FROM THE 413 |
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- "As Nominating Window Closes, Women Rise to Consider Sarno Challenge," by Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics & Insight: "In the twilight of the signature gathering-phase of Springfield's election, two women have stepped forward to consider a challenge to Mayor Domenic Sarno. On Thursday, Linda Matys O'Connell, an advocate, activist and journalist in the city, announced she was pulling paper for mayor. She follows Yolanda Cancel, who began gathering signature this week after her son was the victim of a gun crime. Both women will need to collect 500 signatures by Tuesday at 5pm to appear on the September 10 preliminary ballot. But, if they meet that threshold, they will face added challenge of fundraising and organizing in a seemingly crowded preliminary before taking on Sarno in a November smackdown. Still, their consideration and potential entry reflects growing unease with Sarno's now-12 year reign. It also recognizes the myth of his invincibility."
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "City eyes scooter rollout," by Dustin Luca, The Salem News:"Nevermind more sharable bikes. A fresh fleet of electric scooters could soon be buzzing through the streets of Salem. The City Council is considering a trial run for expanding its public bike-sharing system with Zagster to include as many as 250 electric scooters around the city. The issue was sent to the City Council's ordinance committee for a future meeting. Zagster has managed a bike-share network in the city since 2017, when three hubs of six bikes each initially launched. Today, the system has 80 bikes maintained and distributed by Zagster throughout 16 docks across the city, according to city senior planner Tom Devine."
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| MEDIA MATTERS |
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- "GateHouse staff cuts hit Telegram, WoMag newsrooms," by Zachary Comeau, Worcester Business Journal: "Worcester Magazine's editorial staff is down to just one reporter, the Telegram & Gazette lost six positions and hundreds of other journalists, photographers and hundreds of other employees working for newspaper giant GateHouse Media are jobless after round of cuts today, as the New York-based company announced the continuation of its $100-million stock buyback program. In Worcester, the magazine's Editor Walter Bird and Arts & Entertainment Editor Josh Lyford were laid off, leaving reporter Bill Shaner to run the only weekly alternative paper in the city."
- Laurel J. Sweet leaves the Boston Herald and joins the public affairs team at FBI Boston. Tweet.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Massachusetts Teachers Association government relations specialist Kate Donaghey and Boston Globe crime reporter Evan Allen.
HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND - to WGBH's Kirk Carapezza, Rosina-Maria Lucibello of Team Dukakis; Julia Lucivero , media relations manager at the Innocence Project; Jeff McCue, head of the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance; WGBH's Brendan Deady, and UMass Journalism student Brian Choquet.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes! The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 8-2.
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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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