By Lauren Dezenski ([email protected]; @laurendezenski)
WELCOME AND HAPPY SUNDAY. Let’s kick off this (probably) sleepy week of summer before things start up again next week.
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Will this be Elizabeth Warren’s week? As long as you haven’t been holding your breath at the announcement of a second Senate term. The senior senator continues his Bay State vacation with an appearance on WCVB’s “On the Record” over the weekend (highlights below). On Tuesday, Warren and Attorney General Maura Healey met to discuss student loan debt relief. On Wednesday, Warren sits down with Josh Miller of the Boston Globe. He will be in Brockton on Thursday to cut the ribbon on the new Brockton neighborhood health center.
Warren went on the air yesterday and noted a few things when naming vegetarians…
— RE-ELECTION? “It’s a little early to talk about it. I’m not even halfway there.”
— THE IRAN AGREEMENT: “At the end of the day, I think the deal is over. I will support it.”
— STUDENT LOAN DEBT: Warren: “We need to use the federal government to lower the cost of college. We have actually moved the bill three times now. “Every time the Republicans committed fraud, they stopped it.”
— Janet Wu: “What makes you optimistic that you will have more leverage in September than you have in the last two or three years?”
— Warren: “Go talk to the American people. … Republicans, Democrats, independents, libertarians, vegetarians – they want to see us lower student loan interest rates. Who prevents it? Republicans in the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives.”
— POPE’S VISIT +1: “I’ve already been rejected. I asked my eldest grandson, but he cannot skip school.”
Full interview here: http://bit.ly/1EvcxmB
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EYE ON 2016 — “Campaign ads will have mass appeal: $18 million in local spots already booked for 2016,” Erin Smith and Jack Encarnacao, Boston Herald: “Presidential candidates and super PACs have booked more than $18 million in local TV ad time over the next year — just the start of more than $300 million in presidential bonuses for area TV stations. … With ad buys targeting women, men, and both older and younger demographics, campaigns and PACs could make 2016 the highest-grossing campaign season yet. But it could also be the last major presidential election of the TV era before the internet begins to cut into broadcast ad revenue.” http://bit.ly/1FbjHHq
DATELINE CAPE COD — PORTMANTOW ALERT: “‘Guntry club’ planned for Hyannis,” Geoff Spillane, Cape Cod Times: “An indoor shooting range billed by its creators as unique to New England is planned for Hyannis and is expected to open this winter.” http://bit.ly/1Un95fI
HOME TEAM — Did the Sox win? No! They lost yesterday to the New York Mets 5-4. http://foxs.pt/1UheQki
TRAIN SPOTTING — “Pollack finds himself on the other side of Green Line extension debate,” By Stephanie Ebbert, Boston Globe: “The official who voted for the worst-case scenario — that the state might have to abandon the decades-long project — was none other than Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack, a longtime transit advocate who has been pressing for years that officials fail to meet their commitments to such transit improvements. they should.” http://bit.ly/1LNodn9
— CHUGGING TOGETHER: “Small but significant progress was made on the South Coast Railway this weekend,” Steve Urbon, New Bedford Standard-Times: “These level crossings and bridge projects are a deliberate strategy to force the state to gradually invest in the rail line to the point where there is no turning back. … “Everyone keeps talking about the rail project as we make continuous improvements to the rail line” [Department of Public Infrastructure Commissioner Ron Labelle] he said. ‘We want it so they don’t come back from it.’
REAL ESTATE — “Red flags follow rapid rise in commercial real estate lending,” Deirdre Fernandes, Boston Globe: “Competition for deals is so fierce that many banks are relaxing their lending standards, allowing developers to spend less to get financing, industry officials say. Many banks also waive standard protections, such as requiring developers to personally guarantee loan amounts in excess of the property’s value. … “Nothing that says disaster is expected,” said Darryl Fess, senior vice president of commercial real estate at Brookline Bancorp Inc., “but there are warnings.” http://bit.ly/1LNgfus
HOW DO YOU LIKE APPLES? — “Growers see strong apple picking season in New England” Bob Salsberg, Associated Press: “The six-state harvest is expected to be about 14 percent higher than last year and 18 percent higher than the region’s five-year average, according to the Apple Association of America. The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service predicts that New England apple production this year will total less than 170 million pounds. http://bit.ly/1KxF0JB
PAHK THA CAH — “What it’s like to have a Massachusetts license plate on a cross-country trip,” Madeline Bilis, Boston Magazine: “When you’re on a single Massachusetts plate a few miles away in a state like Oklahoma, people notice.” http://bit.ly/1JvYnk2
DATELINE MERRIMACK TERM — “Business avoids tax incentives more than it hits” Grant Welker, Lowell Sun: “The results are mixed, according to a Sun review of tax increment financing or TIF deals. … Some deals work out well, like the HB Software Solutions building or IBM’s campus in Littleton. But for every victory, several more deals do not take place.” http://bit.ly/1JGiopg
GLOBE on AIRBNB: YES, BUT — “Airbnb should be encouraged and regulated,” By the Boston Globe Editorial Board: “Massachusetts — a hotbed of innovation — should encourage businesses like Airbnb. But no company, no matter how cool or new, should operate outside of the basic rules that keep consumers safe. http://bit.ly/1KWysQm
TODAY ON TOM BRADY — “Tom Brady, today’s court date for the NFL” Bob McGovern, Jack Encarnacao, Boston Herald: “Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will meet in New York federal court today to either negotiate a settlement or leave the Deflategate saga in the hands of a judge.” http://bit.ly/1KWHrRx
— GOOD IDEA — “Tom Brady sketch artist rehearses for ‘Deflategate’ audition,” CBS Boston http://bit.ly/1Kndobl (video)
CLAIM FOR HAMPDEN COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS — Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics & Insight: “Primary day in Chicopee (Ward 1 only), Springfield and West Springfield is Tuesday, September 8, 2015. http://bit.ly/1KxQ6ye
WATCH THIS, PUTIN — “Hub firm aims to deprive Ukraine of Russian gas” Jordan Graham, Boston Herald: “The union plans to build 20 factories across the country that will make biofuel pellets from a crop called miscanthus. Each factory would be surrounded by 10,000 hectares of farmland for cultivation. Miscanthus, which looks like corn, is harvested, dried and pressed to make pellets that can be burned for fuel. According to Robertson, Miscanthus is considered one of the best crops for making biofuel, but it will have to be brought into the country first. http://bit.ly/1Un5YEw
ALLSTON CHRISTMAS HOUSING — “Housing inspectors sweep student enclaves,” Milton J. Valencia and Ian Ransom, Boston Globe: “Students begin arriving in Boston’s college neighborhoods, and so do inspectors in orange vests. … About 50 inspectors from the city’s Department of Inspectional Services joined transportation, code enforcement, public works and neighborhood improvement officials Sunday in a housing inspection ceremony during the city’s biggest moving week of the year.” http://bit.ly/1FbwAkL
Meanwhile, RHODE ISLAND — “Saturday Morning Post by Ted Nesi,” Ted Nesi, WPRI: “Change of plans: Hillary Clinton’s Aug. 31 fundraiser in Newport featuring Congressman Joe F. Kennedy III and hosted by Clay Pell and Michelle Kwan is now at the Wyndham in Newport.” The mansion was purchased by Giovanni Feroce, the former CEO of Alex + Ani, last year for $6.8 million. It’s a somewhat surprising placement, given that in 1992 Feros was the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor of Rhode Island. (He lost to Bob Weygan.) Feroce also donated thousands of dollars to GOP candidates Allan Fung, Catherine Taylor and Dawson Hodgson during the 2014 election cycle. http://bit.ly/1MX3V9B
MAZE! — happy Birthday to You Meghan BarrSenior editor and AP alum at Boston.com.
ATTENDANCE CHECK — “Many Boston council members attend multiple hearings: Turnout weak among those seeking pay raise” Andrew Ryan, Boston Globe: “Council President Bill Linehan, the public face of the fight for six-figure pay, attended 15 percent of the hearings, the fewest of anyone on the 13-member body.” http://bit.ly/1N3OcHf
TREE WAR — Herald: “BRACE FOR TV AD BLITZ! Prez challengers, PACs to spend record sums on race”, “Woman’s plea after very close match: SLOW DOWN THE BEAR” — Globe: “Record Spots at Council Hearings,” “Rejection Challenge Clouds Sampson Case,” “A Closer Look at Student Housing,” “Pokemon Bargaining and Zeal,” “Pollack Finds Other Side in Green Line Extension Debate,” “” Real Estate Lending Speed Flags raises”.
DATELINE BERKSHIRES — IN THIS WORLD: “UFO Visit Monument Unveiled in Sheffield” Phil Demers, Berkshire Eagle: “The first confirmation as the first event came in February from the neighboring town’s historical society, and is now being reconfirmed by a 5,000-pound granite monument to the 1969 Sheffield UFO, paid for by witnesses. … About 40 people gathered Wednesday to view the new monument on North Main Street near the Sheffield Bridge. Among them was former Kentucky resident Thomas Reed, who said he and his younger brother saw UFOs here in 1966, 1967 and 1969. …
— “It’s a good spot about 300 yards from where we saw it,” Reed said of the monument’s placement. http://bit.ly/1KWBW5t
SPOTTED — bearBuffalo on the run at Westminster (later caught) http://bit.ly/1FbnLHJ
NOW YOU’RE OVER, BUT GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS THE GREATEST PRESIDENT WITH FAKE TEETH OF ALL TIME — “Kanye West: I’m running for president in 2020” Hadas Gold, POLITICO: “Kanye West says he’s running for president. … In a crazy, emotional and sometimes weird acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night, the rapper, producer and fashion designer said he’s running for president in 2020. … It was not immediately clear if he was serious.” http://politi.co/1hNH8Sr