11:00am Roundtable Discussion on Long Term Care, Room 428

Birthdays: Rep. Joseph McGonagle, Jr.

DeLEO, KEY DEMS TAKING MEETINGS THIS SUMMER IN PREP FOR "VERY BUSY FALL" » State House News Service STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, AUG. 22, 2017.....Though formal business has paused and lawmakers seldom make the trip into the State House during the August break, House Speaker Robert DeLeo said House members …

Bill seeks to streamline homelessness prevention efforts » State House News Service Meshell Whyte told lawmakers Tuesday that she fled her Brockton apartment because of domestic violence, and lost most of her personal records when her storage unit was auctioned off for non-payment.…

Is Anybody Home at HUD? » New York Magazine A long-harbored conservative dream — the “dismantling of the administrative state” — is taking place under Secretary Ben Carson. …

Trump laments 'poor' Jeffrey Lord, the CNN analyst fired for tweeting a Nazi salute » The Washington Post The president on Tuesday expressed incredulity and dismay at CNN's decision to fire a pro-Trump analyst who tweeted a Nazi slogan. …

McAuliffe emerges from Charlottesville crisis as a counterbalance to Trump » The Washington Post On the day that white nationalists and counterprotesters clashed violently over a Confederate statue in his state, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe spoke the words that President Trump would not. …

McConnell, in Private, Doubts if Trump Can Save Presidency » New York Times Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, has fumed over President Trump's regular threats against fellow Republicans and criticism of Senate rules. Credit Eric Thayer for The New York Times The r…

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey calls conduct alleged in 'Top Chef' trial 'unacceptable,' defends Teamsters union » MassLive After the federal-level acquittal of the four Teamsters who allegedly threatened "Top Chef" star Padma Lakshmi and tossed racial and sexist remarks at production staffers, don't expect any state-level…

The Incoming MBTA GM's Former Company May Face Bankruptcy » WBUR Global Power Equipment Group, the corporation run previously by incoming MBTA General Manager Luis Ramirez, has had to sell off assets, lay off employees, and risks declaring bankruptcy as a result of…

Republican committees have paid nearly $1.3 million to Trump-owned entities this year » Boston Globe The Republican National Committee paid the Trump International Hotel in Washington $122,000 last month after the party held a lavish fund-raiser at the venue in June, the latest example of how GOP pol…

Vets back president on Afghan strategy » Boston Herald President Trump's Afghanistan strategy has drawn positive reviews from some veterans, citing his desire to focus on eradicating terrorist hotbeds while also enlisting the aid of neighboring Pakistan a…

European company hopes to build $80 million plant in Western Massachusetts, bringing new trash-to-energy technology to US » MassLive A Danish energy company is hoping to bring a new and innovative technology to turn trash into renewable energy to the United States by building an $80 million waste management plant in Western Massach…

Healey alleges loan servicer overcharged student borrowers eligible for debt forgiveness » Boston Globe

Local legislators moved by service at Holocaust Memorial » Wicked Local Marshfield State Rep. Jim Cantwell and State Sen. Patrick O'Connor joined a bi-partisan group of legislators and religious leaders on Aug. 15 at the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston to denounce racism an…

Peace vigil in Dedham a response to recent national unrest » Wicked Local Westwood Nearly 200 people turned out for a vigil to support peace and love in the wake of the events in Charlottesville, Va.…

New Salem State president eyes science building, diversity » Gloucester Times Thousands of students will flock to Salem State University next week for the start of another year. But the guy on campus with perhaps the biggest learning curve has already gotten a head start.…

Deaths of North Atlantic right whales mark dangerous trend for species » Boston Globe Already among the most endangered creatures on the planet, North Atlantic right whales this summer have died in unusual numbers, an alarming development that has raised fears about their survival as a…

Latest shark incident prompts Cape Cod politician to push deadly plan » Boston Herald A Barnstable County commissioner is proposing a controversial “shark hazard mitigation strategy” after a shark attacking a seal off a Cape Cod beach Monday sent terrified swimmers and surf…

Proposed beach bylaw change would ban ball playing, tents and games » Cape Cod Times There has been a “decline in decorum” at the town's beaches, and the time has come to give the 50-year-old beach rules a much-needed tweak, according to the president of the Falmouth Heigh…

Powerball jackpot soars to $700 million » Boston Globe Wednesday's Powerball jackpot has increased to an estimated $700 million, the highest since the game's record-setting jackpot of $1.586 billion was awarded more than a year ago.…

Baker to testify on Obamacare before Senate committee » State House News Service

Advocates balk at stay-on-street rule to qualify for shelter » The Associated Press (AP) Advocates for homeless families in Massachusetts are pushing legislation that would remove a state requirement that they spend at least one night on the streets before being eligible for emergency she…

Massachusetts: Stay on street 1 night to qualify for shelter » 13 WTHR Indianapolis BOSTON (AP) — Advocates for homeless families in Massachusetts are pushing legislation that would remove a state requirement that they spend at least one night on the streets before being eligi…

Officials: Lowell has ended veteran homelessness » Lowell Sun Matthew Flynn returned home after serving in the military overseas, and suddenly felt isolated.…

Bill eyes streamlining homelessness prevention efforts » Sentinel & Enterprise Meshell Whyte told lawmakers Tuesday that she fled her Brockton apartment because of domestic violence, and lost most of her personal records when her storage unit was auctioned off for non-payment.…

Baker immigration bill getting law enforcement support » WWLP 22 Two Massachusetts police organizations are now backing Governor Charlie Baker's immigration enforcement bill.…

Massachusetts Cops Back Governor's Immigration Detention Bill » Daily Caller Police chiefs in Massachusetts are lining up behind Gov. Charlie Baker's proposal to let state and local police honor immigration detention requests for criminal aliens deemed to be public safety thre…

Some sanctuary city police chiefs back Baker ICE detainer bill » Commonwealth Magazine SOME MASSACHUSETTS POLICE CHIEFS appear to be staking out a different position than the communities they represent on how to handle detainer requests from the federal Immigration and Customs Enforceme…

Police Chiefs Back Baker Bill To Allow Officers To Comply With Certain ICE Detainers » WBUR Two of the state's largest police organizations have endorsed Gov. Charlie Baker's proposal to allow law enforcement, under certain circumstances, to detain arrestees at the request of federal immigra…

Judge, lawyers: State dragging feet on Amherst drug lab scandal » Gazette Net

Four confirmed by council to court positions » State House News Service

Mass. Becomes 1st State To Have Half Its Labor Force Hold Bachelor's Degrees » WBUR A new report finds that half of all workers in Massachusetts held a bachelor's degree or higher in 2016, marking the first time any U.S. state has reached that threshold.…

DeLeo, key Dems plan busy "Very busy fall" » Lowell Sun Though formal business has paused and lawmakers seldom make the trip into the State House during the August break, House Speaker Robert DeLeo said House members are hard at work preparing for what he …

Sen. Jennifer Flanagan to resign seat to become Cannabis Control Commission member » Sentinel & Enterprise

State Senator Jennifer Flanagan – Through the Years » Sentinel & Enterprise

Higgins to speak on several topics » Sentinel & Enterprise For the next two weeks concerned residents and armchair activists will have an opportunity to learn how they can become more involved with their communities through a new speaker series organized by R…

Challenge to Dennis Powell's school committee bid rejected by Pittsfield election officials » Berkshire Eagle PITTSFIELD — City election officials have rejected a challenge to Dennis Powell's candidacy for Pittsfield School Committee. The three-member Board of Registrars recently threw out claims by Al…

Rematch of 2015 Marlborough mayoral election to highlight ballot » The Metro West Daily News A busy election season is shaping up as contested races for mayor, two ward council seats and four councilor at-large positions will highlight November's ballot.…

North Attleboro officials seek moratorium on pot sales » The Sun Chronicle Town officials hope to join a swath of other area towns that have banned recreational marijuana shops until regulations can be drafted.…

Proposed Newbury Street dispensary's promise: No recreational sales » Boston Globe Facing opposition from its Back Bay neighbors, a medical marijuana nonprofit that wants to open a dispensary on Newbury Street has promised to not convert the facility into a recreational pot shop.…

A free-speech rally, minus the free speech » Boston Globe If one line captured the essence of Saturday's Boston Common rally and counterprotest, it was a quote halfway through Mark Arsenault's Page 1 story in the Globe:…

More liquor licenses in Boston? Cheers to that. » Boston Globe Preserving the artificial value of the city's 1,110 liquor licenses should never be a goal for policy makers. After all, the transferable permits, which allow restaurants to serve alcohol, were never …

Donald Trump usually trusts his instincts, and that's a problem » Boston Globe If ever there was an apt two-sentence encapsulation of the problems with Donald Trump and his presidency, Trump himself offered it Monday as he set up his flip-flop on Afghanistan.…

Battenfeld: Scandals not rocking Walsh re-election campaign... yet » Boston Herald The scandals are mounting for Mayor Martin J. Walsh — the question is when they'll start to take a political toll.…

As I See It: Recreational marijuana and its consequences for youth » Worcester Telegram On November 8, 2016, voters of the Commonwealth voted 54 to 46 percent in favor of legalizing the recreational use of marijuana through a ballot initiative. In Worcester, voters also approved legalizi…

PETER LUCAS: Governor Baker's monumental debate » Lowell Sun Gov. Charlie Baker should do more than just remove the boarded-up Confederate memorial on Georges Island in Boston Harbor.…

Toward the Year 2018 (6 Responses) » Will Brownsberger Earlier this month, my wife and I spent some time with her parents as they downsized out of their home of 46 years. Among their books, we came across a collection of future forecasts titled “Tow…

AG Maura Healey is tough on Trump, but not the Teamsters » Boston Globe

So far, only one Democrat is openly eyeing this statewide race. » Boston Globe Massachusetts Democrats have been notably underwhelmed by the field jockeying to challenge Republican Governor Charlie Baker, and so far the 2018 race has drawn little attention.…

Massie Seeks to Bring Long-term Solutions in Bid for Governor » iBerkshires Sustainability is a word Robert Massie said he hasn't heard the current governor say.…

Letter: Attacks on Ferrante "Hypocritical" » Gloucester Times It is the height of hypocrisy for Amanda Orlando Kesterson, president of the Gloucester Republican City Committee, to be using GOP talking points to defend a so-called “non-partisan organization…

Mike Capuano may dodge party lines in gubernatorial vote » Boston Herald U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano yesterday joined a growing list of powerful Democrats who won't commit to voting for one of their own in the 2018 gubernatorial race against presumed front-runner, Republican…

Allegations against Felix Arroyo becomes political hot potato » Boston Herald Sexual harassment allegations against suspended city health and human services chief Felix G. Arroyo have quickly become political fodder in the mayoral race.…

Obama's former staffers hope to build upon his legacy as they run for office » Los Angeles Times

State could be turning corner on opioid fight » Boston Herald Efforts to curb the Bay State's deadly drug scourge may finally be paying off, with new statistics showing a 5 percent drop in opioid-related deaths since the same time last year — but fentanyl…

Is the opioid epidemic easing in Mass.? » Boston Globe Opioid-related overdose deaths in Massachusetts declined by an estimated 5 percent in the first half of 2017 compared with the same period last year, the strongest indication to date that the state's …

US Sens. Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren look to ban menthol cigarettes » MassLive Contending that research has shown menthol cigarettes pose a greater public health risk than other types of cigarettes, U.S. Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, called on federal of…

Danvers considers regional dispatch with Hamilton, Manchester » The Salem News The town's new, $5.5 million dispatch center could become a regional dispatch center for Hamilton and Manchester, saving all three towns a significant chunk of money, according to a consultant's repor…

State police suspend Brookfield trooper for traffic-stop taping » Worcester Telegram State police confirmed Tuesday night that a trooper from the Brookfield barracks who took video recordings of traffic stops for two years without department authorization has been suspended.…

Work officially gets underway on Ruggles Station improvement project » Boston.com Officials celebrated the groundbreaking of a $38.5 million improvement project at Boston's Ruggles Station on Tuesday morning.…

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker says he's 'quite confident' in new MBTA general manager despite Global Power lawsuit » MassLive Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said he remains "quite confident" in Luis Ramirez, the incoming general manager of the MBTA, as the company Ramirez once led is dealing with a shareholder lawsuit and …

MassDOT announces $6 million winning bid in sale Commonwealth's Medford property » Sampan The Baker-Polito Administration's Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is pleased to announce that Combined Properties' $6 million bid is the winning bid in the sale of the land parcel…

Could underwater garages solve Boston's parking shortage? » Boston Globe Tell someone you stashed your car in the Charles, the harbor, or Fort Point Channel, and you'll probably get a sideways look.…

FAA backs $6.6M Pittsfield Municipal Airport runway project » Berkshire Eagle This time next year, aircraft landing in Pittsfield will touch down on new runways, erasing the city airport's dubious distinction of having some of the worst pavement in New England. …

$6M sale of MassDOT sign shop to pave way for 500-unit development in Medford » Boston Business Journal The Medford deal is part of Gov. Charlie Baker's “Open For Business” initiative, which launched in 2015 with the goal of helping private developers build on publicly owned transportation l…

Cold water thrown on Brockton tying into Stoughton pipeline as backup source » The Enterprise Public officials poured some cold water on the potential for Brockton to tie into Stoughton pipelines in order to use the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority as a backup system for the city.…

All state reviews of proposal Weymouth compressor station on hold » Patriot Ledger For the first time since the project was introduced more than two years ago, all regulators have put their reviews of a proposed 7,700-horsepower North Weymouth natural gas compressor station on hold.…

Social Media Spotlight

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CBS Boston Opioid-Related Deaths In Massachusetts Appear To Be Dropping

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Ted Lieu @tedlieu Kim Ferguson @KimFergusonMA Speaker Bob DeLeo @SpeakerDeLeo

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Podcast Spotlight

Washington Post The Daily 202's Big Idea: Trump’s penchant for revisionist history on display during Arizona rally Boston Herald Boston Herald Radio: Mike Capuano WBUR The ARTery: 'It's Me, Too': New U.S. Citizens Welcomed To MFA With Free Membership WBUR WBUR News: Environmentalists Tend To Have Bad Voting Records — And Lie About It WGBH News Boston Public Radio: Rep. Stephen Lynch: Trump's Afghanistan Speech Was 'Self-Contradictory' WBUR Radio Boston: How A Speech From 1860 Resonates In Boston Today WBUR Radio Boston: Reflecting On Saturday's 'Free Speech' Rally

Police chiefs back Gov. Charlie Baker's immigration detainer bill » MassLive

Chelsea Fights Trump's Executive Order On Sanctuary Cities » WBUR

Whipps leaves Republican Party » The Recorder

Western Mass. Rep. Susannah Whipps ditches Republican Party to become 'unenrolled' » MassLive

Baker-Polito Administration, federal and local officials celebrate groundbreaking for $38.5 million Ruggles Station improvement project » Sampan

DeLeo, key Dems plan busy "very busy fall" » The Valley Dispatch

Deaths from opioid overdoses trending downward in first half of 2017 » State House News Service

Our view: Homesellers should be required to disclose lead plumbing » The Salem News

Baker defends hiring of new MBTA general manager » Boston Globe

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