Window Into The State House

By
South Boston Today Staff
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State leaders take it slow (for now) on sports betting
 
As other states vow to move as quickly as possible to approve sports betting in the wake of yesterday’s big Supreme Court ruling, state leaders seem to be taking a slower wait-and-see approach in Massachusetts. Gov. Charlie Baker said yesterday that gambling on sports is “certainly something we should look at,” reports Gintautas Dumcius at MassLive. House Speaker Robert DeLeo seems cautious, saying it remains a “big question” whether action can or will be taken this session, reports SHNS’s Colin Young at the Sentinel & Enterprise. Ditto Senate President Harriette Chandler.

But the Herald’s Joe Battenfeld and Hillary Chabot write that Beacon Hill is merely experiencing a calm before the storm, predicting there will be a “feeding frenzy” of lawmakers, lobbyists and gaming interests battling over the “spoils of the lucrative new business.”

Indeed, the state’s gaming companies are already mobilizing to get a piece of the sports-betting action, including MGM and the Plainridge Park Casino, reports Gintautas Dumcius at MassLive. The lead of the day goes to the BBJ’s Kelly O’Brien: “After spending several years and millions of dollars convincing state legislatures that it’s not a gambling operation, daily fantasy sports startup DraftKings Inc. says it will start pursuing gambling licenses. The turnaround is a result of a Supreme Court decision on Monday.”
 
Kerry Healey to step down next year as head of Babson College
 
Kerry Healey, the former lieutenant governor and the first female president of Babson College, will be stepping down as head of the Wellesley-based business school next June, six years after taking the helm at Babson.
 
UMass-Boston faculty vote no confidence in Meehan and trustees
 
Speaking of higher education: As senators prepare for tomorrow’s State House hearing on the planned UMass-Amherst takeover of Newton’s Mount Ida College, the faculty at nearby UMass-Boston want to make one thing clear: They’re not happy with the proposed deal. Yesterday, the university’s faculty council declared “no confidence” in UMass president Marty Meehan and trustees, saying the Mount Ida deal will only weaken UMass-Boston, reports the Globe’s Aimee Ortiz. Meanwhile, the Globe, in an editorial, is blasting Mount Ida president Barry Brown for planning to skip tomorrow’s Beacon Hill hearing.
 
 
GOP candidate makes Rosenberg scandal an issue in race against Eldridge
 
Margaret Busse, an Acton Republican who’s challenging Democrat Sen. Jamie Eldridge, is going there. From SHNS’s Katie Lannan: “In a campaign newsletter, Margaret Busse calls for ‘some new thinking and fresh blood in an institution that needs to change,’ saying ‘the scandal surrounding ex-Senate President Stan Rosenberg pulled the curtain back on the corruption that exists in our state government.’”

 

‘Court to Texans: Leave your AK-47s at home if you come to Massachusetts’
 
From Universal Hub’s Adam Gaffin, of course: “The Supreme Judicial Court (yesterday) upheld a Texas native’s conviction for illegal possession of an assault weapon and illegal possession of another gun, ruling that the Second Amendment still gives Massachusetts the right to ban assault weapons and regulate ownership of other guns.”
 
 
Handy who’s-who guide to Dem presidential hopefuls …
 
It’s not a chart. It’s not a list. It’s more like a one-dimensional bobbing heads summary by the Washington Post of all the potential Democratic presidential candidates, including U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Gov. Deval Patrick, and there sure are a lot of potential candidates. Curiously, Seth Moulton, Joseph Kennedy III and John Kerry aren’t listed/seen/portrayed, whatever.
 
 
The incredibly shrinking Boston Herald …
 
Bob McGovern recounts what it was like to work at the Boston Herald after it declared bankruptcy and ultimately was sold off to Digital First Media earlier this year. “At one point the Herald encompassed two floors — now advertising and editorial are separated by a little more than 77 inches of carpet,” he writes. He also recounts the strange way Digital First informed people they no longer had a job by not informing them.

 

How Brian McGrory helped convince John Henry to buy the Globe
 
Speaking of newspapers: Maybe this has already been out there, but we hadn’t heard it before, i.e. how former Boston Globe columnist and later editor Brian McGrory played a rather extensive role in convincing Red Sox owner John Henry to buy the Globe from the New York Times. In an excerpt at WGBH from Dan Kennedy’s new book ‘The Return of the Moguls: How Jeff Bezos and John Henry Are Remaking Newspapers for the Twenty-First Century,’ Kennedy explains.
 
 
Cambridge puts brakes on Amazon’s Central Square ‘campus’
 
Cambridge officials say a long-planned Amazon pickup location in Central Square cannot open without a special permit from the city’s planning board and it’s not clear if the e-retailer is willing to go that route, John Hawkinson reports in Cambridge Day. The city has determined the ‘Amazon Campus’ storefront a ‘formula business,’ meaning it is essentially one of a chain, and therefore is subject to stricter rules. Amazon spent about a half-million dollars to outfit the vacant storefront last year and has been cooling its heels ever since.
 
 
Long lines persist at RMV for new driver’s licenses
 
Nearly two months after the launch of the state’s new system for renewing driver’s licenses, the lines at RMV branches remain “definitely slower” than state officials expected, reports the Globe’s Adam Vaccaro. The waits vary from branch to branch, but, if you’re in Boston, Lawrence or other crowded cities, you better bring a battery recharger for your cell phone.
 
 
Rep. Moran calls for halt to Lawrence superintendent search, citing conflicts of interest
 
It is Lawrence, after all, so of course it couldn’t be that easy. As the two finalists for the job of superintendent of schools in the city prepare for final interviews, state Rep. Frank Moran is asking the state’s education commission to put the process on hold, saying two members of the search committee have unspecified conflicts of interest, Keith Eddings reports in the Eagle-Tribune.

 

Transit Matters gives its stamp of approval to T’s Green Line strategy, so it’s a go
 
Ted Pyne, a member of the wonky TransitMatters, is impressed with the MBTA’s ambitious plan to revamp key portions of the Green Line’s tracks to make way for the multibillion-dollar purchase of new light-rail cars — and he expresses hope at CommonWealth magazine that the T takes a similar approach to transforming the commuter rail system. Also at CommonWealth, Bruce Mohl reviews the T’s new capital budget – and notes how Gov. Charlie Baker sure loves coming attractions at the T. The governor will be reviewing today a prototype of the T’s new Orange Line cars.

 

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