| SJC: Cops can arrest stoned drivers based on observations The state’s high court isn’t waiting around for policymakers to come up with new laws on how to deal with suspected drugged drivers. From Scott Croteau at MassLive: “Police in Massachusetts can still arrest people for driving under the influence of marijuana if the officer observes signs of use. The state Supreme Judicial Court made that finding in a ruling issued Monday as more and more retail marijuana shops pop up across Massachusetts.” In Vermont, high-court justices have reached, it appears, a somewhat different conclusion, ruling that the “faint scent of burnt marijuana is no longer justification for a police officer in Vermont to search or seize a person’s property,” writes Felicia Gans at the Globe. Granted, they’re two different things: Arrests versus searches/seizures. But still … The consensus: Warren’s off to a good start Four Globe political reporters — Jess Bidgood, Liz Goodwin, Victoria McGrane and James Pindell – answer all the questions you may have about Elizabeth Warren’s now two-week-old presidential campaign. The consensus among the four reporters: The campaign has gone better than expected for Warren, as she preaches the gospel of populist economics. Meanwhile, the big question is whether U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a potential progressive rival to Warren, will even run – or, if he does, whether he can catch his old 2016 mojo. The Globe’s Michael Levenson has the details. Americans are now more likely to die from opioid overdoses than traffic accidents This is just incredible – and depressing. From Ian Stewart at WGBH: “For the first time in U.S. history, a leading cause of deaths, vehicle crashes, has been surpassed in likelihood by opioid overdoses, according to a new repport on preventable deaths from the National Safety Council. Americans now have a 1 in 96 chance of dying from an opioid overdose, according to the council’s analysis of 2017 data on accidental death. The probability of dying in a motor vehicle crash is 1 in 103.” One in 96 will die from overdoses? Georgia company to acquire Bay State pot retailer Speaking of marijuana, Surterra Wellness, a rapidly growing pot company based in Atlanta, is acquiring New England Treatment Access, a marijuana firm that only recently opened its first pot shop in Massachusetts and that owns other cannabis businesses in the state as well. SHNS’s Colin Young at Wicked Local has more. More delays for Charlton marijuana farm proposal One more pot item and it comes down to this: Chill. That’s the message from the Charlton Planning Board, which has delayed until March a decision on a subdivision proposal for land being eyed for a massive and controversial marijuana cultivation operation. Valley Green Grow agreed to the two-month deadline extension even as it considers whether to appeal an unfavorable ruling from the board made earlier this month. Rollout of new Orange Line cars delayed again What can you say? From Bruce Mohl at CommonWealth magazine: “A holdup in the testing of a new vehicle signal system will delay the introduction of new Orange Line cars by at least six to eight weeks, MBTA officials said on Monday. The MBTA had hoped to begin introducing the new vehicles into service this month, but Jeffrey Gonneville, the T’s deputy general manager, said a vehicle signal system developed by a subcontractor on the project needs to be fully checked out by an independent third party and that process will not be completed until mid-March.” SHNS’s Colin Young at WBUR has more on the latest T delay. And, what the heck, we might as well squeeze this T item into the post, from Mark Williams at the Globe: “MBTA pension crisis should be a priority.” |
| Baker on shutdown: ‘My pox is on all the houses down there’ Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, once again caught in the middle of a partisan brawl in Washington, is making it clear he’s sick of the federal government shutdown: “My pox is on all the houses down there,” Baker said yesterday. Shira Schoenbergat MassLive and the AP’s Steve LeBlanc at the Herald have more. Btw: LeBlanc reports the administration is exploring ways to offer state unemployment benefits to federal workers and contractors now going without paychecks. But the idea faces a number of hurdles, not least whether federal workers even qualify for unemployment benefits. Btw, II: The shutdown headlines keep coming. From Worcester Magazine: “Worcester’s Heard Marketing goes viral with shutdown offer to federal employees.” From MassLive: “Israeli singer forced to postpone Boston show because of government shutdown.” |
| Lawmakers push to pay Coast Guard members amid shutdown Here’s another way to help at least some federal workers. Mary Whitfill at Wicked Local reports that state Rep. Patrick Kearney, a Democrat, and Sen. Patrick O’Connor, a Republican, have formed a bi-partisan team to draft legislation that would have the state pay local Coast Guard members who haven’t been paid in more than three weeks. The state would, hopefully, get reimbursed after the shutdown ends. |
| Massachusetts business confidence hits two-year low, thanks to shutdown and stock gyrations Not good. From SHNS’s Katie Lannan at the Worcester Business Journal, via an AIM survey: “Confidence levels among Massachusetts employers hit a two-year low in December, driven by national factors like the federal government shutdown and the largest one-month stock market decline since the Great Depression. Closer to home, employers have their eyes on the cost of health care and fees imposed by the state.” |
| Angie’s List for Medicaid patients It’s odd this hasn’t been done before: The state, for the first time, is seeking the opinions of thousands of Medicaid recipients about the quality of their experiences in doctors’ offices, allowing the state to determine how well patients are served and, perhaps eventually, allowing patients to compare the quality of provider networks. The Globe’s Liz Kowalczyk has more. |
| Foes no more: New Bedford and charter school reach ‘novel’ agreement to end feud Aimee Chiavaroli at the Standard-Times and Michael Jonas at CommonWealth magazine report that New Bedford officials and operators of the Alma del Mar Charter School, after months of acrimonious debate, have reached a “pioneering” and “novel” agreement that would allow the private school to expand – with enrollment limits — in exchange for taking over a currently shuttered New Bedford school building. |
