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You are now entering Boston:
That will be $5, please
Mayor Marty Walsh is putting
distance between himself and a new Carbon Free Boston Working Group
recommendation calling for a $5 “congestion fee” to drive into downtown
Boston, reports the Herald’s Jonathan Ng and Brooks Sutherland.
One can argue over the
five-dollar figure. But our hunch is that some sort of downtown
congestion fee will be needed — and not congestion fees on merely a few
roadways entering the city, i.e. higher tolls for Pike and Tobin drivers
(again) while letting I-93 and Route 2 motorists etc. skate free without
paying any tolls (again).
Reports: Related Beal poised
to buy prime Gillette parcel along Fort Point Channel
The BBJ’s Catherine Carlock (pay wall)
and the Globe’s Tim Logan report that
Related Beal is in line to purchase a coveted waterfront Gillette
parcel along Boston’s Fort Point Channel, a move that could spur a wave
of yet more development in the area. The immediate question is how much
Related Beal might end up paying for the 6.5 acres. The BBJ bandies
about figures ranging from $216 million to $300 million.
Kenmore Square’s latest
‘renaissance’ …
In other development news: There’s
a running joke within business-journalism circles about how certain
areas of Greater Boston seem to always be on the cusp of a
“renaissance” that never quite arrives, such as Revere Beach, Chelsea,
etc. One of them is Kenmore Square, which, by our count, has seen about
four “renaissances” on the horizon over the years – and the fifth may
be on the way. The Globe’s Tim Logan has the details on a developer’s
plan for a major new hotel tower that could transform traffic patterns
in the congested area.
Quick question: Wasn’t the
relatively recent land/streetscaping around the T station in Kenmore
Square supposed to address some of these traffic concerns?
Lawmakers push for rail
service to shuttle passengers back home from late-night concerts and Sox games
From Mary Whitfill at Wicked
Local: “Local lawmakers are pushing for expanded commuter rail hours
along the Kingston/Plymouth, Greenbush and Middleboro/Lakeville lines,
hoping to see a train run late enough to shuttle residents back from
late-night concerts, Red Sox games and other Boston activities. Eleven
local state senators and representatives recently signed a letter
addressed to Joseph Aiello, chair of the MBTA’s fiscal management and
control board, supporting the proposal.”
House progressives and others
mobilize to battle DeLeo over rules
It’s not a coup attempt. More
like a Magna Carta moment. From Andy Metzger and Bruce Mohl at
CommonWealth magazine: “The Massachusetts House on Wednesday is expected
to vote on the rules it will operate under the next two years, but don’t
expect the usual ho-hum debate. A group of progressive dissenters are
planning to use the rules to challenge the House’s power structure, a
Republican is calling for term limits and the right for legislative aides
to unionize, and the speaker’s team is making some modifications.”
The Globe’s Matt Stout has more on the
rules fight.
Pundit: Rep. McMurtry the
‘victim of a progressive hit job’
Speaking of those evil
rabble-rousing progressives, political columnist Peter Lucas at the
Lowell Sun is blasting away at progressive lawmakers and the Boston
Globe, saying it’s “plausible” that Rep. Paul McMurtry was “set up” when
he was accused of sexual misbehavior and it’s also “plausible” it was
part of an attempt to weaken House Speaker Robert DeLeo.
Baker to visit mosque, the
first by a sitting Massachusetts governor
From the Associated Press at
WGBH: “Gov. Charlie Baker is planning to visit a Boston mosque.
Organizers say the visit Friday to the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural
Center — the largest mosque in New England — is the first by a sitting
Republican Massachusetts governor. Organizers say Baker will sit among
congregants for the sermon and observe the prayer, then speak briefly to
the community.”
Lap dance Rx, Part II: An
ex-stripper hired as a ‘sales manager’?
An update on that exotic lap
dancer who was reportedly employed by Insys Therapeutics to convince docs
to prescribe a potentially deadly fentanyl pain reliever to patients:
She’s Sunrise Lee, an ex-stripper who served as a “sales manager” for
Insys, as reported by Laurel Sweet at the Herald. One doc apparently
couldn’t keep his hands-off Sunrise. And we repeat: Release the names of
physicians allegedly partaking in these pathetic opioid-prescription
schemes, please.
Billionaires Schultz and
Bloomberg take shots at Warren’s ‘uber-millionaire’ tax plan
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is
probably, or ought to be, loving this: Two male billionaires, Howard
Schultz and Michael Bloomberg, both mulling runs for president, are taking
shots at Warren’s proposed “uber-millionaire tax” on the wealthy – with
Shultz calling it ‘ridiculous’ and Bloomberg comparing it to something you
might see in Venezuela.
The Associated Press at the Herald
and Talking Points Memo and the Globe’s James Pindell have all the
details, including Warren’s almost gleeful counter-attacks.
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Polls still aren’t going
Warren’s way …
Granted, it’s early in the
election cycle. But it’s still surprising to see U.S. Sen. Elizabeth
Warren, who most observers believe has had a good month since unofficially
announcing she’s running for president, barely registering as a blip in the
latest Washington Post-ABC News poll. Then again, other Dems can’t break
out of the single-digit category as well, it seems. Btw: The Herald’s Brooks Sutherland has more,
well, disappointing poll news for Warren out of Iowa.
Washington Post
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Worn down: Partners HealthCare’s
Torchiana to leave amid tensions with hospital chiefs
From the Globe’s Priyanka Dayal
McCluskey and Liz Kowalczyk: “Dr. David Torchiana, the chief executive of
Partners HealthCare, has unexpectedly announced his departure, after his
push to integrate the sprawling health system encountered rising tensions
from other Partners leaders. Over the past several months, the opinionated
former heart surgeon had stirred internal concerns with plans to expand
Partners and rethink the direction of the organization and its flagship
teaching hospitals.”
The BBJ’s Jessica Bartlett (pay wall) has
more on Torchiana’s departure, with the chairman of Partners effectively
acknowledging that, well, it’s not easy dealing with all the big egos at
Partners.
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