| Dunkin’ dropped donuts years ago, not just yesterday |
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| This is no big surprise, since Dunkin’ Donuts has already been rolling out prototype “Dunkin’” stores, without “Donuts” in the name, for a while now. But the corporate folks in Canton made it official yesterday: Dunkin’ Donuts will now be known as just Dunkin’, as of next year. Max Stendahl at the BBJ has the name-change details.
As for the quality of Dunkies’ donuts, don’t get us going on the subject. They taste and feel like they’re made with Duncan Hines cake batter. Too soft, too squishy, too small, too bland. Nothing like old-fashioned bakery donuts that have actual heft, crunch and cracks, even occasional brown knobs. … OK, with that rant out of the way, back to all things politics. |
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| Trahan and Pressley: Products of ‘locally-driven heterogeneity’? |
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| David Bernstein at WGBH has a good piece on the political differences between Ayanna Pressley and Lori Trahan, the Democratic victors in the Seventh and Third Congressional primary elections, and how their views reflect the differences between their districts. “It just might be that locally-driven heterogeneity is the direction that congressional Democrats are heading,” he writes.
In other words: Pragmatists and progressive Democrats will just have to learn how to get along. |
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| New York inspectors to help oversee gas-line replacement work in Merrimack Valley |
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| Gov. Charlie Baker has announced that a team of inspectors from New York will assist state DPU regulators in overseeing the replacement of 48 miles of gas lines in the devastated Merrimack Valley area, reports the Herald’s Mary Markos. The story doesn’t say so, but we get the impression the New Yorkers are needed because of the Bay State’s shortage of inspectors, an issue that WGBH’s Mike Deehan writes about this morning. |
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| USAReally: A new source for morning political newsletters? |
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| We see we may have a new source for objective and insightful political news for our morning newsletter: USAReally, courtesy of fearless Russian journalists who the NYT libels this morning by suggesting they might have ulterior motives for their web venture.
Seriously, check out the site. It’s actually sort of brilliant, hitting all the ideological and emotional buttons of both the left and right. Here’s a simple grammatical giveaway that something is amiss: The site’s trouble with the use of the word ‘the,’ as in this opening line from its ‘About Us’ section: “Today, people of US do not receive …” |
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| MassHousing: Home of six-figure salaries, take-home cars and parking |
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| From the Herald’s Joe Battenfeld and Joe Dwinnel: “The state agency charged with funding affordable housing is home to some of the most lucrative jobs in the state, with its executive director and other top aides each making more than $200,000 a year, while spending more than $100,000 on a fleet of leased cars with downtown parking, a Herald review has found.” Among other things, the Herald reports that nine MassHousing employees rake in more than $200,000 a year and more than 150 of the quasi-public agency’s 375 employees make more than $100,000. |
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| Walsh boosts city’s housing production goal by 30 percent |
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| Speaking of housing: As more people move into Boston from the suburbs and housing prices soar across the city and region, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has decided to increase the city’s goal of building more housing units by 2030, from 53,000 units to 69,000 units, up 30 percent. The BBJ’s Catherine Carlock (pay wall) and the Globe’s Tim Loganhave the details on the ambitious new plan. |
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| Are Wynn Resorts’ days numbered in Everett? |
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| The state Gaming Commission meets tomorrow to hash out a “hearing process” after it receives a long-awaited report on sexual harassment at Wynn Resorts, holder of the Everett casino license, reports Gintautas Dumcius at MassLive. The Herald’s Jordan Graham reports that “pressure is building for tough action that could mean stripping (Wynn Resorts’) exclusive Boston-area gambling license.” Among those favoring tough action: Former Attorney General Martha Coakley.
FYI, also from Gintautas Dumcius at MassLive: “Mohegan Sun, which has lobbied for Wynn Resorts to lose the eastern Massachusetts casino license, is now seeking to remove the state Gaming Commission chairman from the process to determine whether Wynn keeps the license, based on “shocking” comments he made to reporters. |
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| Baker’s commanding lead, thanks mostly to Dems and Independents |
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| Another poll, this time by WBUR, shows Republican Gov. Charlie Baker with a huge lead over Democratic rival Jay Gonzalez, confirming a prior Suffolk/Globe survey showing that the race isn’t really a race. Steve Brown at WBUR has more on Baker’s 68-24 point lead in the ‘BUR poll – and how Democrats are breaking for Baker, not Gonzalez, who still has extremely low name recognition.
As if trying to steal the thunder of the new WBUR poll, the Globe’s James Pindell revisits the data from the prior Suffolk/Globe poll, also noting how Democrats and Independents are backing Baker – with Republican voters actually more divided in their support for the GOP governor. |
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| Oh, and Warren is croaking Diehl |
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| Not to forget: U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, is still way ahead of her main GOP opponent, state Rep. Geoff Diehl, in another WBUR poll. Benjamin Swasey at ‘BUR has the details on Warren’s 56-30 lead, a margin that’s slightly smaller than the one found in a recent Suffolk/Globe survey. There’s no major party crossover in this poll, which seems to roughly mirror the 2016 presidential results in Massachusetts.
Btw: Independent candidate Shiva Ayyadurai appears to be pulling some support away from Diehl. |
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| First gubernatorial debate set for Oct. 9, with two more to follow on Oct. 17 and Nov. 1 |
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| Back to the governor’s race: SHNS’s Matt Murphy at the MetroWest Daily News reports that the first gubernatorial debate between Gov. Charlie Baker and Democratic challenger Jay Gonzalez will take place on Oct. 9, with WBZ-TV host Jon Keller as moderator, according to campaign officials cited by Murphy.
It will be the first of three debates. A WGBH hosted debate, moderated by Jim Braude and Margery Eagan, is set for Oct. 17, the station confirms in a press release. The third debate will be hosted by a media consortium at WCVB studios on Nov. 1. |
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| There’s no doubt: Voters not confused about Question 3 |
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| Just to make sure voters weren’t confused by the odd wording of the Question 3 ballot initiative that would repeal the state’s new transgender rights law, Steve Koczela at WBUR reports that pollsters recently asked people a follow-up question to gauge where they stand on the repeal measure. Sure enough, the results were the same: They’re against repeal and want to keep the law. |
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| There’s no doubt, Part II: Warren backs Question 1 |
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| This is interesting. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is venturing into the contentious Question 1 debate, siding with nurses in their battle to increase nurse-staffing ratios at hospitals. Dan Glaun at MassLive has the details. |
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| Won’t you please help Attleboro mayor pay for his pet dog’s veterinarian bills? Please? |
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| This is a political first – we think. Attleboro Mayor Paul Heroux is under fire for reaching out to friends and family to help pay a $7,000 veterinarian bill for his beloved dog Mura, George Rhodes reports at the Sun Chronicle. Heroux defended his outreach–which some in the city say raises ethical concerns– noting it was limited to his closed Facebook group but leaked out, thanks, Heroux contends, to his political opponents.
You’ll know he’s venturing into truly dangerous political and legal waters if he starts putting out appeals to help pay for his dry cleaning and Dunkin’ Donuts bills, if you catch our meaning. |
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