Wednesday, April 6, 2016
By Jay Fitzgerald and Keith Regan
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Today: Boston Marathon security, summit on gun violence, high-tech address
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Officials from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, the Boston Athletic Association, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, Massachusetts State Police and Boston Police Department discuss public safety planning efforts for the 120th Boston Marathon, Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel, Grand Ballroom foyer, 138 St. James Ave., 10 a.m.
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh attends a summit in Rhode Island with other New England mayors and officials to discuss actions that can be taken to prevent gun violence, Zuccolo Recreation Center, 11 Gesler Street, Providence, R.I., 12 p.m.
Gov. Charlie Baker speaks at the Massachusetts High Technology Council's annual meeting, Bentley University, LaCava Center, Executive Dining Room, 175 Forest St., Waltham, 12:15 p.m.
The governor delivers a keynote address on the opioid crisis at the HxRefactored conference, Westin Boston Waterfront, 425 Summer St., Boston, 5 p.m.
The Wisconsin casualty list
It's hard to figure out who was hurt more by losing in Wisconsin yesterday: Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton. We'll go with Trump, whose loss to Ted Cruz in Wisconsin almost assures a brokered Republican convention in Cleveland this July, or so say the pundits. If there is a brokered convention, does anyone seriously think the GOP establishment is going to allow Trump to get the nomination on a second vote? That's why the Wall Street Journal's Holman Jenkins is already writing Trump's obituary, arguing he was never truly serious enough as a candidate. The prediction sounds too early and rash. But unless Trump regains momentum in the New York primary and elsewhere, he'll be heading into Cleveland a very weakened candidate. http://bit.ly/1Sbi9md (Click on 'Trump, We Knew Ye.')
Hillary? What can you say? Her Wisconsin loss to Bernie Sanders prompts Eric Fehrnstrom in the Globe to recite once again why she's such awful campaigner. Not in the substance department. But in the actual mechanics of campaigning. She's still the odds-on-favorite to win the nomination. Yet Bernie Sanders is on a roll and still has a distant shot at toppling her. http://bit.ly/22bWkbz
The Brian Joyce dirty laundry scandal just got a whole lot more serious
At the recent St. Patrick's Day breakfast in Southie, there were more than a few yuks at the expense of state Senator Brian Joyce, the target of a federal probe centering around, among other things, his generous use of free dry cleaning services in Randolph. But now the feds are investigating why Joyce's law firm was hired by the Dolben Company - which allegedly paid Joyce Law Group $250,000 - while the Woburn developer was embroiled in controversy over a proposed housing complex and when the company already had attorneys of its own, according to a Globe story by Andrea Estes and Shelley Murphy.
From the Globe piece: "Investigators are focusing on allegations that Joyce told Dolben officials the project would go smoothly if they retained the Joyce Law Group, and then aggressively opposed it when they rebuffed him, according to the two people familiar with the case. After Dolben hired Joyce, he worked behind the scenes to advance the project, according to e-mails and interviews."http://bit.ly/1SbieX3
Finally, a solar deal is reached
After months of haggling, House and Senate leaders yesterday announced a compromise bill to raise the cap by 3 percent on the amount of solar energy that public and private customers can sell back to the grid system, while substantially cutting the value of the incentives for new projects, according to a story by Matt Murphy of the State House News Service. In addition, the compromise would let utilities to petition the Department of Public Utilities to charge solar-producing customers a minimum bill to cover the cost of maintenance and distribution of electricity over existing power lines, according to a bill summary obtained by SHNS. http://bit.ly/25KH1v2 (pay wall)
Apartment rent prices finally begin to stabilize - for now
Boston rent prices barely increased during the first quarter, perhaps signaling that the flood of new housing units coming on the market is finally having a positive effect, the Globe's Tim Logan reports. Granted, the first quarter is usually a slow period anyway for the real estate market. Still, real estate experts are quoted as saying the supply of new housing in booming Boston - 3,800 new apartments last year, 5,000 more units in the pipeline - is having an impact. http://bit.ly/1qr4fGR
But the question is: Will it last? The betting here is that it won't. That's because the city of Boston can only do so much to build new apartments and condos. Outside the city, new-home construction stats are well below pre-recession levels, according to a recent Globe story by a certain MassterList author. We might be seeing a lull in rental price increases, but long-term regional trends still point to an overall housing shortage. http://bit.ly/1WbWWP6
Boston City Council may extend own terms
The Boston City Council will take up a proposal Wednesday that would extend councilor terms from two years to four, putting their election on the same cycle as the mayor and eliminating the need for councilor-only elections every two years, Andrew Ryan of the Globe reports. The move would require legislative sign-off and critics say it will make it harder for challengers to unseat incumbents.http://bit.ly/1MRTNBC
Bernie Sanders is a very, very, very moral man
It's not that Bernie Sanders is wrong to be upset with the Too Big Too Fail banks and other corporations that helped to crash the economy last decade. People should be upset. But it's his moral certitude - based on the number of times he uses the words "moral" and "immoral" in his now somewhat famous/infamous New York Daily News interview - that's so startling. Boston.com's Nik DeCosta-Klipadid the world a favor by wading through the Daily News transcript to extract some of Bernie's more choice quotes about morality, especially those about Boston's soon-to-be very own General Electric, which Bernie thinks is an immoral company because all it wants to do is make a buck and apparently doesn't care about his family.
From a purely policy wonk standpoint, the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza thinks Bernie's NY Daily News interview was a disaster and a "moment of reckoning" for Sanders. Obviously, die-hard Sanders supporters in Wisconsin and elsewhere would disagree. But this much is clear: Bernie won't be soon doing any interviews with the Daily News again. http://wapo.st/1VwkfSX
Then again ...
No sooner did Bernie's moral rant against GE and other firms go viral yesterday, along came, as if on cue, news that two former State Street Corp. executives have been charged with plotting to overcharge their clients by millions of dollars through secret commissions, as reported by the BBJ's Greg Ryan. But does this make State Street immoral? If so, then the entire country of Iceland is immoral for having elected a prime minister [DUMB COMMENT!] who was forced to resign yesterday after the sensational leak of documents from a secretive Panama law firm about offshore shell companies and tax shelters, as the NYT reports. The family of Britain's prime minister, David Cameron, is also getting swept up in the growing Panama Papers scandal.
The New England Journal of Medicine's self-inflicted wounds ...
One of the most respected medical journals in the world, the New England Journal of Medicine, may be slipping in relevancy and reputation, Charles Ornstein of Propublica writes in the in Globe: "The journal and its top editor, critics say, have resisted correcting errors and lag behind others in an industry-wide push for more openness in research. And dissent has been dismissed with a paternalistic arrogance, they say." ... Arrogance? In New England? By what appears to be a bow-tie-wearing editor? Nah. He must be talking about JAMA. http://bit.ly/1XgHgZh
Framingham presses for PILOT
A growth spurt for Framingham State University has led to taxable property being removed from the town's taxable reach and it has town selectmen there asking the college to step up and make payments in lieu of taxes, Danielle Ameden of the MetroWest Daily News reports.http://bit.ly/1S1GmRZ
Baker touts economic development plan
Gov. Charlie Baker testified on behalf of his $918 million economic development plan and got a positive reception from lawmakers, Mike Deehan of WGBH reports. The plan heavily funds the MassWorks program and includes $75 million in additional vocational and technical high school funding. "The workforce skills gap is the single most significant threat facing the Massachusetts economy," Baker said. http://bit.ly/1SbaofO
Building purchase ends Lawrence 'odyssey'
The Lawrence City Council voted Tuesday to purchase the former home of the school department, property over which the city has been locked in a legal battle, Bruce Mohl of CommonWealth Magazine reports. Critics say the deal should have been made two years ago, before the city moved school offices to another location, and that the city would have saved nearly $3 million if it had acted sooner.http://bit.ly/1TByx4O
Baker-backed Orrall wins national GOP slot
A divided Massachusetts Republican State Committee on Tuesday elected Rep. Keiko Orrall as the state's Republican National Committeewoman, handing Gov. Charlie Baker his latest party win, Shira Schoenberg of MassLive reports. Orrall defeated incumbent Chanel Prunier by a count of 41 votes to 37. Some conservatives had warned that replacing Prunier would be a signal that they were no longer welcome in the state GOP. Well, some sort of signal was sent. Now what for conservatives?http://bit.ly/1TByEgH
Baker won't proposed NC travel ban
Although he disagrees with a newly passed North Carolina law widely condemned by gay and transgender rights advocates, Gov. Charlie Baker will not propose banning public employees from traveling the Tarheel state, the Globe's David Scharfenberg reports. A spokesman said the governor does not want to place "any restrictions on the ability of the Commonwealth's employees to do their important work." http://bit.ly/1XgEnYj
Go for it! Pats fans sue Roger Goodell and NFL over Deflategate
Yes, it's a silly lawsuit. Yes, those filing it need to grow up and get a life. But ... you gotta love it. Especially the claim about violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. That's a nice touch. MassLive's Kevin Duffy has a great lead on his story: "In the latest edition of Yes, this actually happened in Deflategate, a group of New England Patriots fans have filed a lawsuit against the NFL in federal court, asking a judge to return the franchise's 2016 first-round draft pick." ... Justice will be served! http://bit.ly/1RDXjjp
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