| A meager turnout at the Worcester Columbus Day parade—where flesh-pressing pols nearly outnumbered spectators—has at least one city councilor suggesting it is time to broaden the appeal of the holiday, Brad Petrishen at the Telegram reports, though the head of the parade organizing committee says it’s not going to change its focus anytime soon.
Meanwhile, in the Pioneer Valley, where Amherst and Northampton were the first two Mass. communities to start celebrating Indigenous People’s Day instead of Columbus Day, the Daily Hampshire Gazette foundstrong support for moving the state even further away from the traditional holiday. |
| Next up for Amherst: Changing the name of the college and even the town? |
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| Speaking of name changes: Amherst College dropped its school mascot, “Lord Jeff,’ due to Lord Jeffrey Amherst’s 18th Century suggestion that small pox might be deployed against Native Americans. An inn in town also changed its name. Now the question is: Should Amherst College and perhaps even the town of Amherst take the next logical name-change step? It’s unlikely to happen. But it’s being talked about, reports George Graham at MassLive. |
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| Refighting King Philip’s War: Native Americans want dark chapter in Long Island history commemorated |
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| And speaking of past mistreatment of Native Americans, some tribes are hoping to use the battle between Boston and Quincy over whether to rebuild the Long Island Bridge to bring attention to their efforts to mark the island’s use as an internment camp and burial ground during King Philip’s War in the 1670s. Erin Tiernan has the details in the Patriot Ledger. |
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| Bottom line: The state’s ‘rainy day fund’ can barely cover a brief drizzle |
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| The Globe’s Evan Horowitz goes over the numbers and concludes that, despite a recent infusion of $475 million into the state’s rainy day fund, the state still doesn’t have enough reserve funds to withstand a recession – and credit agencies are still nervous as a result. |
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| Dershowitz: Harvard’s ‘new McCarthyism’ treatment of Kavanaugh |
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| He’s at it again. Alan Dershowitz, a professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, writes at the Globe that newly sworn-in U.S. Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh should be allowed to teach again at Harvard Law School, if he so wishes, despite the “new form of McCarthyism that is quickly descending on university campuses and spreading throughout the country.” |
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| Here we go again: Lawsuit claims Harvard Law Review discriminates against white men |
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| Speaking of Harvard: First, Harvard University’s admissions policies were legally challenged by Asian Americans, in a suit many view as a barely disguised conservative assault on affirmative action policies in general. Now a Texas-based group, called Faculty, Alumni, and Students Opposed to Racial Preferences, has filed suit against the Harvard Law Review and the New York Law Review, claiming discrimination against white males, reports Max Stendahl at the BBJ.
Meanwhile, as Harvard prepares for the start next week of its separate admissions-discrimination trial, the Globe’s Deirdre Fernandes takes a look at how other universities are wrestling with race-based admissions policies, or lack thereof. |
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| The Baker-Warren truce: Is it based on the fear of mutually assured political destruction? |
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| Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, and U.S. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, are the two titans of Massachusetts politics, as measured by their high poll numbers, and yet they seem to have an unspoken agreement not to criticize each other in public, or least not criticize each other too much. The Globe’s Victoria McGrane explores the political dynamics that may be at work. Personally, we think the unofficial truce, so to speak, is based partly on the lose-lose fear of mutually assured political destruction (MAPD) if they were to go at it. So why go at it? |
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| Jocks for Geoff: Curt Schilling, Matt Light and Fred Smerlas to headline fundraiser for Diehl |
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| Speaking of Elizabeth Warren: Former Red Sox star Curt Schilling, who once contemplated running for U.S. Senate against the incumbent Warren, and Matt Light and Fred Smerlas, both former New England Patriots, will headline a “Super Star fundraiser” for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Geoff Diehl in Norwood on October 18, reports Shannon Young at MassLive.
Separately, Sean Philip Cotter at the Herald reports that Diehl believes he’s benefiting from a “Kavanaugh bump” as a result of the contentious U.S. Supreme Court nomination battle. We doubt if there’s much of a bump, if there’s a bump at all. But we could be wrong. |
DPU slaps moratorium on National Grid work after Woburn gas scare
This should help locked out workers in their contract battle with National Grid: The state Department of Public Utilities, only weeks after the gas-line disaster in the Merrimack Valley, has imposed a moratorium on most pipeline work by National Grid after a natural-gas scare yesterday forced officials to cut off service to about 300 homes in Woburn, reports Adam Vaccaro and Dugan Arnett at the Globe and SHNS’s Michael Norton at CommonWealth magazine. The Herald’s Sean Philip Cotter has a good explainer piece on why a surge in natural-gas pressure, as was the case in the Merrimack Valley and in Woburn yesterday, is considered cause for alarm. Basically, DPU pronounced yesterday: Enough is enough.
| No contest: Walsh’s salary dwarfed by San Francisco mayor’s annual pay |
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| Boston and San Francisco are often compared to one other – you know, two blue-state coastal cities, roughly the same size, Silicon Valley vs Boston, etc. etc. But they’re not even comparable when it comes to mayoral salaries – with Boston Mayor Marty Walsh netting $171,000 versus San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s $301,000. Jeff Jeffrey at the BBJ takes a look at all the big-city (and not-so-big-city) mayoral salaries across the country. |
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| What next for the Catholic Church? Healey and others have some suggestions |
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| The Globe has a special editorial section on what can, and should, come next for the Catholic Church, amidst repeated and widespread allegations of sexual abuse by clergy members. Among others, Attorney General Maura Healey and former John Hancock CEO David D’Alessandro have pieces on what they think needs to be done, externally and internally. |
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| It’s official: Maura Healey is a ‘badass’ |
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| Speaking of the attorney general: Instyle magazine has named Attorney General Maura Healey as one of its 50 “badass” women making a difference in the country. Healey also stars in an Instyle video, calling for more females in politics and government. |
