| Baker orders schools closed for remainder of school year This was almost inevitable. From Chris Burrell at WGBH: “All public and private schools in Massachusetts will remain closed through the end of this school year out of concerns for the safety of students and staff in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Tuesday. Baker said there’s ‘no authoritative guidance” on how to re-open and operate schools safely or transport schoolchildren to and from school safely.” |
| But uber-cautious Baker starts talking about partial reopening of economy One can’t “partially” reopen schools. But you can “partially” reopen an economy – and that’s what Gov. Charle Baker is now mulling, even as he rightly says his immediate focus is on the ongoing surge. A sampling of the headlines — From the BBJ’s Catherine Carlock: “Gov. Baker to tap business community to examine reopening economy.” … From SHNS’s Colin Young (pay wall): “Baker: Economic Reopening Will Be Heavily Regulated/ Baker, Biz Leaders Mull ‘Thoughtful Framework.’” … Also from SHNS (pay wall): “Baker, Advisers Exploring Economic Framework.” … And from MassLive’s Steph Solis: “Gov. Baker leaves door open for Massachusetts businesses to reopen before end of June if COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations decline.” Regarding a possible end-of-June reopening: Not going to happen. It’s going to be sooner. The governor’s past decision-making pattern has shown initial uber-caution during the coronavirus emergency, followed by action somewhat sooner than he had previously signaled. In this case, you can’t keep an economy locked down for more than three months – and the governor knows it. |
| Then again, Martha’s Vineyard ‘reopen rally’ canceled amid backlash Here’s one reason why the governor should move cautiously on reopening the economy. The owners of the iconic Black Dog restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard and other organizers of a would-be freedom rally this week say they’ve bagged the event in the face of backlash, including a push to boycott the restaurant, Brian Dowd at the MV Times reports. |
| The immigration ban: Trump finally got what he always wanted MassLive’s Benjamin Kail reports that Democratic members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation are blasting Republican President Donald Trump’s move during the coronavirus pandemic to halt all immigration. Meanwhile, Universal Hub is reporting that Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, is also none too happy about the ban: In an analysis piece, the Globe’s Jamine Ulloa reports Trump, using the pandemic as cover, basically got what he’s always wanted: Strict new immigration limits. But the Herald’s Joe Battenfeld writes that Trump is once again outmaneuvering “clueless Democrats” on a “no-brainer” issue that resonates with both his base and the newly unemployed. |
| Meanwhile, Trump takes populist aim at Harvard As Congress spends trillions of dollars to shore up the nation’s economy (and not always doing so fairly – see post below), President Trump took time out yesterday to focus on how $8 million of those funds went to … Harvard University. He says he doesn’t like it that Harvard, with a $40 billion endowment, is getting relief money, reports WCVB. But Harvard is pushing back. From WBUR’s Fred Thys: “Harvard Denies Trump Claim It Took Money Meant for Small Businesses.” |
| Federal loan funds: Flowing to where they’re least needed? The NYT reports that the U.S. Senate yesterday passed another massive coronavirus relief package. But let’s hope the federal funds are more fairly distributed this time around. The Globe’s Larry Edelman and Shirley Leung report that companies in Massachusetts and other more densely populated states hit hardest by COVID-19 are getting smaller shares of government-backed loans than firms in less densely populated states, such as Nebraska and North Dakota. |
| Business clients are angry with Santander over PPP loan rollout Perhaps this partially explains why Massachusetts companies aren’t getting their fair share of federal loan dollars. The BBJ’s Greg Ryan reports that local “business owners are frustrated with Santander Bank over its handling of the Paycheck Protection Program, with some saying they never got the opportunity to even apply for the funding, let alone to secure a loan approval.” |
| Coronavirus stimulus checks arriving for dead taxpayers You knew this would happen. WCVB’s Ben Simmoneau reports that a Fairhaven man who died two years ago received a $1,200 federal-stimulus deposit from the IRS – and it’s apparently far from an isolated incident. From WCVB: “But what’s most bizarre about this deposit is that it appears the IRS knew Timothy Smith had died.” |
| Maybe New Bedford isn’t such an exception? From Kiernan Dunlap at South Coast Today: “On Monday, Mayor Jon Mitchell announced that the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Whaling City were substantially higher than what was being reported by the state and later said the Greater New Bedford area was on a different curve of viral transmission than the rest of the state.” We’re not talking a big difference in numbers. So this story by the Globe’s Tonya Alanez and Naomi Martin is still valid and intriguing: “Why coronavirus has seemingly spared Fall River and New Bedford so far.” Offficials are trying to figure out what the two cities may have done right during the current pandemic, considering other lower-income communities have been hit hard by the coronavirus. Then again, it could be that Fall River and New Bedford have been simply lucky so far. |
| Nursing-home testing suspended amid sloppy and haphazard handling of samples Even though testing is seen as a key to containing the coronavirus epidemic in the state’s hard-hit nursing homes, the state has temporarily halted some testing because of inaccuracies, leaky tubes, unlabeled amples and other woes besetting the program. A three-reporter team at the Boston Globe and Steph Solisat MassLive have the details on what sure looks like a chaotic, haphazard testing situation at centers where there’s already little margin for error. |
| Nursing-home updates: Holyoke center hires lawyer, the numbers are back, Brockton home rocked, data reporting requirement Speaking of nursing homes and group-care facilities in general, here’s some headlines and quick summaries regarding the state’s hardest hit population. From MassLive’s Jeanette DeForge: “Holyoke Soldiers’ Home Trustees hires lawyer as nearly 70% of veterans infected with COVID-19.” … CommonWealth magazine’s Bruce Mohl reports that the state is now indeed reporting daily nursing-home coronavirus numbers, though he still finds faults with the reporting. … From the Enterprise’s Cody Shepard: “Brockton nursing home rocked by coronavirus.” … From MassLive: “House passes a bill requiring COVID-19 reports from nursing homes, assisted-living facilities.” … From the Enterprise: “Nurses: Raynham nursing home with 10 coronavirus deaths has failed to provide ‘safe’ environment.” And, finally, from WGBH’s Jenifer McKim: “Shattuck Hospital Sees First COVID-19 Death Amid Surge In Cases.” |
| Galvin preparing vote-by-mail legislation With the coronavirus pandemic expected to impact campaigning and voting later this year in Massachusetts, Secretary of State is indeed crafting a legislative package that would allow voting by mail – but he’s cautioning that in-person voting should still be allowed. The Globe’s Matt Stout and Victoria McGrane have more on Galvin’s proposal, while WBUR’s Anthony Brooks takes a look at the vote-by-mail debate in general. |
| Barely staying afloat: Steamship Authority eyes deep cuts A week after warning it would have to shut down by the end of May without a lifeline from the state, the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority is mulling a host of cost-cutting measures as its revenue is running more than $7 million behind last year’s numbers, Ethan Genter reports at the Cape Cod Times. |
