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| And the winner of this week’s big off-shore wind contract is … New Bedford |
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The New York Times has a report on this week’s awarding of a massive offshore wind contract by the state of Massachusetts to Vineyard Wind – and what it economically could mean for New Bedford and other port cities that might also one day host construction firms building offshore-wind farms elsewhere. Bottom line: It could mean thousands of jobs.
NYT |
| As Hilary Sargent hints at more Globe revelations, McGrory and newspaper rattle the legal swords |
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This is getting ugly – and personal. Hilary Sargent, the former reporter and editor who has accused Globe editor Brian McGrory of sexual harassment, is “hinting she has more to reveal about the culture of sexual harassment and workplace environment at the paper,” reports CommonWealth magazine’s Jack Sullivan. Meanwhile, WGBH’s Emily Rooney, in a Twitter blast, reports that the personal attorney for McGrory is accusing Sargent of "false and defamatory statements" that "are...actionable." The Globe’s Mark Arsenault has more details on the attorney’s blunt legal threat.
In a separate piece at WGBH, Rooney has more on the Globe controversy in general, including what looks like potential legal action by the newspaper itself against Sargent. Media critic Dan Kennedy at WGBH has a good summary of the entire mess. Of course, the Herald’s Howie Carr is loving every minute of all this.
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| Tito Jackson to head marijuana dispensary company |
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Not a bad runner-up prize for a politician. From Dan Atkinson at the Herald: “Six months after losing the mayoral race to Mayor Martin J. Walsh, former City Councilor Tito Jackson has a new job — pot dispensary CEO. Verdant Medical Inc., which is based in Boston but backed by Florida investors, announced Jackson’s hire yesterday. Jackson, a longtime supporter of legalizing marijuana, said the new role will give him a chance to make a difference in the city.”
Boston Herald |
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| Healey calls for state oversight office to avert the next Mount Ida |
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From the BBJ’s Max Stendahl: “Calling the recent closure of Mount Ida College ‘a wake-up call,’ Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey on Thursday urged state officials to create a new office within the state Department of Higher Education that would oversee financially struggling schools.”
BBJ
THIS WAS PREDICTABLE DURING THE DEBATES REGARDING THE GAMBLING LEGISLATION.
EXPANDED ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION INCREASES DUIs AND FATAL ACCIDENTS.
WE'VE WITNESSED IT IN CONNECTICUT AND ACROSS THE NATION. |
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| MGM seeks 4 a.m. liquor license – as long as patrons are still gambling |
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We’re curious to see how regulators rationalize a final decision on this one, no matter which way they rule. From Peter Goonan at MassLive: “Representatives of MGM Springfield told the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Thursday that its request to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. is strictly limited to the casino gaming floor area and solely to customers who are actively gambling.” The commission is now seeking public comment on the MGM request.
MassLive |
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| Everett casino to launch luxury yacht service |
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Speaking of casinos, Encore Boston Harbor has ordered three luxury shuttle vessels from a Charlestown boat maker, saying it will use the vessels to zip guests and employees across Boston Harbor once the casino opens next summer, Jordan Frias reports in the Herald. Boston BoatWorks was awarded the approximately $3 million contract to build the 41-foot boats capable of carrying 40 passengers at a time.
Separately, Encore Boston’s relationship with the state’s Gaming Commission isn’t exactly warm these days. The Herald's Jordan Graham explains.
| In western Massachusetts, Senate candidate apparently confuses political campaign for beauty pageant |
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Chelsea Kline, a Democrat running for Stan Rosenberg’s now vacant Senate seat, wasn’t exactly flattered when fellow Dem candidate Dave Murphy pronounced that she was “stunning” and “even more beautiful” in person than in photos, reports Shira Schoenberg at MassLive. Kline said her opponent obviously “didn't know a thing about me or my candidacy.” Murphy, a write-in candidate and former aide to Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, later called Kline to apologize, Schoenberg reports in a separate story. |
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| Still missing at sea: Researchers say remains don’t belong to pirate ‘Black Sam’ Bellamy |
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The mystery endures. Researchers say DNA tests show the human remains found amid the wreckage of the ‘Whydah’ do not belong to legendary pirate captain Samuel ‘Black Sam’ Bellamy, Jason Savio reports at the Cape Cod Times. But researchers did make an interesting determination: They say imaging shows the dead person in question died with a gun in his hand and a pocket full of gold. How very pirate of him.
Cape Cod Times |
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| Hospitals and Republican-backed groups launch early TV campaigns |
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This is just a taste of what's to come. First, the hospital-backed Coalition to Protect Patient Safety has begun airing 30-second TV ads against the proposed nurse-staffing ballot question, even though the election is still five months away and a legal challenge to the initiative is still pending in court, reports SHNS’s Michael Norton (pay wall).
Meanwhile, a Republican-backed group plans to tout Gov. Charlie Baker's clean-energy bonafides in yet another early-start TV campaign, reports SHNS’s Matt Murphy (also pay wall). |
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| What a surprise: State Police backing law that would shield trooper data |
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Facing a lawsuit brought by the Boston Globe seeking access to the birth dates of State Police troopers, the agency is putting its weight behind legislation that would shield that and other information from public view, Matt Stout reports at the Globe. The paper wants the birth dates so it can search the driving records of troopers. Government transparency types say the legislation’s wording is troubling and others note that the agency’s legislative timing isn’t exactly conducive to winning public trust, given all the scandals swirling around the State Police these days.
Boston Globe |
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| Stephen Mindich, RIP |
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Stephen Mindich, the longtime owner and publisher of the Boston Phoenix and builder of a mini-media empire across the region, has died after a years-long battle with cancer. He was 74. His daughter-in-law announced his death on a Phoenix alumni Facebook page. Vanyaland and the Boston Globe have more on Mindich’s passing. Our condolences to all his relatives and friends.
| Lowell-area transit agency approves first fare hike in 16 years |
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The Lowell Regional Transit Authority has approved the agency’s first fare hikes in 16 years, saying it was either rate increases or service cuts, Robert Mills reports at the Lowell Sun. It should be noted the authority’s current rates are among the lowest in the state -- and 16 years is a long time to go without a rate hike.
Lowell Sun |
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| Private equity firm penalized for failing to pay 180 interns |
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This sounds like a border-line child-labor law violation. From Greg Ryan at the BBJ: “Boston-based Search Fund Accelerator will pay $550,000 to end a probe by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey into its heavy use of unpaid interns, whom Healey claims were, in reality, full-fledged employees. ... In a two-year period, SFA had more than 180 unpaid interns, compared with just 12 paid employees, according to Healey.”
BBJ |
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| Simmons College is now Simmons University |
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This is interesting: In an announcement yesterday, Simmons College says it will now be Simmons University, the result of a multiyear planning process that’s led to a “new academic structure, including four new colleges led by four recently appointed deans.” Many other schools, including Bentley and some state schools, have switched from “college” to “university” status, driven partly by the need to attract more international students.
Simmons.edu |
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| Things go batty at Newton city council meeting |
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Check out this Village 14 video of a Newton City Council meeting in which an uninvited guest interrupts Councilor Gregory Schwartz as he talks about ... well, that doesn’t matter. The meeting had to be recessed as the bat flew around the chamber. As Adam Gaffin at Universal Hub notes, the other star of the show is the woman at the lower right in the video.
UNDER CHARLIE BAKER'S POOR LEADERSHIP, MASSACHUSETTS' BOND RATING HAS BEEN DOWNGRADED.
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| Fidelity executive and former White House aide to join Baker’s budget staff |
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Gary Blank, a top Fidelity Investments executive and former White House economic official, will be joining Governor Charlie Baker’s budget team after the Memorial Day weekend, reports the Globe’s Joshua Miller.
Boston Globe |
| Northampton native award Congressional Medal of Honor |
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An appropriate story heading into the Memorial Day weekend, from Alex Ashlock at WBUR: “A former Navy SEAL from western Massachusetts has been awarded the Medal of Honor. Retired Navy Master Chief Britt Slabinski is a veteran of SEAL Team Six. The Northampton native was honored Thursday at the White House for risking his life during a 2002 rescue mission in Afghanistan that took place on a snow-covered mountainside. The team fell under fire by al-Qaida, and several SEALs died.”
WBUR |
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| Seventy-six years after Guadalcanal, remains of Marine Corps Pfc. Francis Drake return home |
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As mentioned in our Happening Today section above, there will be a memorial service this morning in Springfield for Marine Corps Pfc. Francis E. Drake Jr, who died during the Guadalcanal campaign in World War II and whose body was flown home from Hawaii to Bradley International Airport yesterday. George Graham at MassLive has more on Drake and his surviving relatives who “never got a chance to know their Uncle Franny, but it's an emotional homecoming for them all the same.”
MassLive |
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| Have a great Memorial Day weekend – and see you on Tuesday |
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MassterList will be taking Monday off for the Memorial Day holiday, so we’ll see you first thing Tuesday morning. Have a great holiday weekend, everyone.
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| Sunday public affairs TV |
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Keller at Large, WBZ-TV Channel 4, 8:30 a.m. This week’s guest: Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Gonzalez, who talks with host Jon Keller about his differences with primary rival Bob Massie and Gov. Charlie Baker, as well as the potential tax questions on the November ballot.
This Week in Business, NECN, 10 a.m. Ken Lazarus, chief executive of Scout Exchange, discusses job prospects for college graduates; Mark Hellendrung, Narragansett Beer CEO, talks about the revived beer brand and craft brew craze; and BBBJ editor Doug Banks on the UMass chancellor search, the Omni Hotel groundbreaking and top business stories.
CEO Corner, NECN, 10:30 a.m. A talk with Jessse LaFlamme, CEO of Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs, and Tom Giovagnoli of Giovagnoli Farms, one of 125 small farmers in the Pete & Gerry’s network.
DC Dialogue, NECN, 11:30 a.m. MITRE chief operating officer Pete Sherlock talks about his company’s role in fighting cyber terrorism; Navyn Salem, founder and CEO of Edesia, discusses he products her company produces that have helped feed millions of malnourished children; and New England Council CEO Jim Brett on the future of NAFTA and the congressional agenda over the summer.
This is New England, NBC Boston Channel 10, 11:30 a.m. With host Natasha Verma, this week’s main topic: Celebrating Memorial Day in New England and honoring all of those who fought for our country.
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