GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Happy Monday!
WHERE'S BERNIE? — Our Revolution endorsed Sen. Ed Markey for reelection last night, the latest national progressive group to shift its attention to the Democratic primary contest between Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy III.
"We don’t always need to elect a new Democrat. We have some great Democrats who are currently serving our nation and one of them is Ed Markey,” Our Revolution organizer Hal Ginsberg said on a Zoom call last night. The Malden Democrat was previously endorsed by the Massachusetts chapter of the group.
The endorsement comes after progressive gains in primaries in New York and Kentucky last week, and another national group, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, has also thrown its support behind Markey in recent days. Plus, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an early Markey endorser and co-author of the Green New Deal, has been vocal about the Sept. 1 primary on social media.
But there's one popular progressive who hasn't weighed in: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. While Our Revolution was a spinoff of Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign, the Vermont lawmaker doesn't act in coordination with the group. Still, Ocasio-Cortez was among Sanders' most prominent surrogates on the 2020 campaign trail, and both Markey and Sanders share other supporters, like the Sunrise Movement.
On the other hand, Markey didn’t back Sanders in his two presidential bids. Markey endorsed Hillary Clinton over Sanders in the 2016 presidential primary, and backed home state Sen. Elizabeth Warren in 2020. Sanders and Markey have partnered on legislation in recent months, including a bill that would provide $2,000 monthly payments to Americans during the coronavirus pandemic.
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TODAY — Senate President Karen Spilka and state Sens. Cindy Friedman, Jo Comerford and Adam Hinds host a listening session on health care and Covid-19. Sen. Ed Markey speaks outside the State House with members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
TOMORROW AT 1 p.m. EDT - A POLITICO TOWN HALL: AMERICA AT A TIPPING POINT: The killing of George Floyd sparked demonstrations against police brutality and racial injustice around the world. One month later, join POLITICO Live for a town hall to reflect on the past and reckon with what is next to come. Featured guests include Julián Castro, former secretary of HUD and Democratic presidential candidate; Vanita Gupta, president and chief executive of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; Rashad Robinson, civil rights leader and president of Color of Change; and Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Additional guests TBA. REGISTER HERE.
 | THE LATEST NUMBERS |
– “Massachusetts reports 224 new coronavirus cases, 19 new deaths,” by Steph Solis, MassLive.com: “Massachusetts officials on Sunday announced 224 new COVID-19 cases with the positive test rate holding firm at 2%. Nineteen more people have died after contracting the coronavirus. Of the 224 new cases, 163 are confirmed and 61 are probable cases.”
| DATELINE BEACON HILL |
– “Pro-police, Black Lives Matter protestors meet outside Massachusetts State House,” by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: “What was advertised as a pro-police rally downtown featured the jarring sight of neo-Nazi and militia symbols in front of the State House as the small group of demonstrators drew a much larger counter-protest. A half-dozen people wearing “Nationalist Social Club” shirts — one with a swastika tattoo — unfurled a sonnenrad black sun banner, a neo-Nazi symbol, right in front of the State House.”
– “A ‘tsunami of evictions’ threatens to strike Boston,” by Zoe Greenberg and Tim Logan, Boston Globe: “As coronavirus cases continue to fall and the economy brightens for the moment, some communities in Massachusetts are bracing for a new threat: a surge of evictions that could push thousands of people from their homes. A disproportionate number will be Black or Latino. Even with rampant unemployment in the state, most residents have been able to stay put, thanks to enhanced unemployment benefits and a state law banning evictions during the pandemic. But those protections are slated to end this summer."
– “Baker pushes $35m more for economic recovery package,” by Sarah Betancourt, CommonWealth Magazine: “Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday proposed a $35 million increase and other changes in an economic recovery package he filed pre-COVID-19. The expanded proposal, which now has a price tag of $275 million and came up for a legislative hearing Friday, will bolster housing, community development, and business competitiveness in an economic landscape dramatically altered by COVID-19, he said.”
– “Report: Mass. Child Care System Needs $690M To Survive The Next 5 Months,” by Kathleen McNerney, WBUR: “The Massachusetts child care system needs an estimated $690 million to survive the next five months, and a millionaire's tax may be a way to get the money, according to two new reports released this week. An analysis by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center said child care providers would need $690 million to keep them afloat during the next five months.”
– “Cumberland Farms suspends effort to expand beer and wine sales,” by Dan Adams, Boston Globe: “Cumberland Farms is suspending its effort to increase the number of food stores permitted to sell wine and beer through a voter ballot initiative. In a statement, the ubiquitous New England convenience store chain said the coronavirus pandemic ‘required its coalition of retail supporters to refocus their collective attention to the health and wellbeing of their associates as they continue to provide uninterrupted essential services to their communities.’”
– “Massachusetts is one of only 4 states on track to contain coronavirus, model indicates,” by Michelle Williams, MassLive.com: “Massachusetts is one of only 4 states in the nation that are on track to contain COVID-19, according to data analyzed by Covid Act Now. Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York were hit hard by the novel coronavirus in recent months, but are each steadily seeing a decreasing number of cases locally and have enacted public health plans that meet or exceed international standards.”
– “Group calls for urgent nursing home reforms amid COVID-19,” by John Hilliard, Boston Globe: “As the coronavirus pandemic moved through the state’s nursing homes leaving thousands dead, longstanding practices in those facilities and in state government contributed to the number of deaths, a watchdog group calling for reforms said Sunday in a report to state leaders.”
| FROM THE HUB |
– “A cop’s cop and a Boston police pioneer, Gross eyes reform, not revolution,” by Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe: “Even before he became Boston’s first Black police commissioner, the big guy with the big smile was a fixture at community meetings and neighborhood barbecues, taking pictures, glad-handing, and bear-hugging anyone who’d let him, back when those things were still allowed. Willie Gross has never been one to shy away from a camera.”
– “‘What can I do?’: 19 Black and brown business leaders want to drive a movement to end racial inequities,” by Shirley Leung, Boston Globe: “In this moment of racial awakening and anguish, the question on many minds is: ‘What can I do?’ For 19 Black and brown business leaders in Boston, it was the question, too. They felt compelled to respond, and they’ve come up with a big idea: the creation of the New Commonwealth Racial Equity and Social Justice Fund.”
– “Walsh: Boston Police Officers Not Wearing Body Cameras During Overtime An 'Equipment Issue,’” by Zoe Mathews, WGBH News: “Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said Friday that police officers not wearing body cameras during overtime shifts is an issue surrounding lack of equipment. The city is ordering more body cameras so officers will be wearing them during overtime shifts, he said. Officers not wearing body cameras while working overtime has drawn significant criticism.”
– “‘I’m not a racist’: Marty Walsh responded to a call-in from the activist pushing to rename Faneuil Hall,” by Christopher Gavin, Boston.com: “Marty Walsh and Kevin Peterson, the local activist leading the charge for the city to rename Faneuil Hall, sparred in a tense exchange on the radio Friday, days after Peterson launched a ‘hunger fast’ to call on the mayor to take action on the name change.”
– “For the homeless in Boston and beyond, laws can criminalize life itself,” by Nick McCool, Noemi Arellano-Summer and Maggie Mulvihill, Boston Globe: “One in eight people arrested in Boston last year was homeless, the result of laws — common in cities where the cost of living is high — that advocates say criminalize the most basic necessities of life for people without housing. In Boston, homeless people accounted for almost 13 percent of arrests last year, up from 10 percent in 2016 and mirroring law enforcement patterns across the country, according to an investigation by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland.”
– “In Everett, the first Black woman on historically white council stands alone,” by Stephanie Ebbert, Boston Globe: “Gerly Adrien racked up the largest vote tally of any at-large council candidate last fall to become the first Black woman on Everett City Council. Suffice it to say she has found no similar base of support within government, where she has spent nearly six months relentlessly questioning and visibly antagonizing the powers that be.”
| PRIMARY SOURCES |
– “College Democrats of Massachusetts President Endorses Linos,” from the Linos campaign: “Dr. Natalia Linos is excited to announce an endorsement from Hayley Fleming, President of the College Democrats of Massachusetts and a rising senior at Amherst College. ‘After speaking with every candidate in the race, I am endorsing Dr. Natalia Linos for Congress. Natalia is uniquely qualified to fight for the issues that are most important to young people like me, from health care to climate change to racial justice,’ Fleming said.”
| DAY IN COURT |
– “Federal judge orders Department of Education to cancel loans for 7,200 students,” by Shelley Murphy, Boston Globe: “A federal judge has ordered US Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to cancel the student loan debt of more than 7,200 Massachusetts students who attended Everest Institute, part of Corinthian Colleges’ defunct national chain of for-profit schools, capping a prolonged legal battle.”
| MARKEYCHUSETTS |
– “U.S. Sen. Ed Markey pushes to ban government use of facial recognition technology, says ‘the criminal justice system is already rigged,'” by Steph Solis, MassLive.com: “The recent arrest of Robert Williams, a Black man in Michigan who was misidentified by facial recognition technology as a theft suspect, is the latest example of why Congress needs to ban government use of the biometric surveillance tool, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey said during a virtual news conference Sunday.”
| ABOVE THE FOLD |
— Herald: “PATS LAND CAM,” — Globe: “Justice 'a voice of one' in DACA ruling," "For schools in Worcester, hard lessons.”
| FROM THE 413 |
– “From ‘great choice’ to COVID-19 catastrophe: Ousted Holyoke Soldiers’ Home Superintendent Bennett Walsh’s fall from grace,” by Stephanie Barry, Springfield Republican: “At Bennett Walsh’s swearing-in as the new superintendent of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke in 2016, state Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders called him a ‘great choice.’ Commending his robust record as a combat veteran for the U.S. Marine Corps and ties to Western Massachusetts, Sudders publicly applauded his appointment as the top administrator at the venerated long-term care facility, which maintained a long waiting list and for years took ‘connections’ to gain entry.”
– “Authorities say alleged fraud ring with ties to Berkshires terrorized, isolated victims from family,” by Heather Bellow, The Berkshire Eagle: “The story of how the alleged plot was revealed is a cloak-and-dagger tale that involves suspicious and concerned FedEx workers and a small-town police detective who told one victim, ‘No one is going to do this in my town.’"
– “Mass Audubon cuts staff, programming throughout state due to revenue decline,” by Chris Goudreau, Daily Hampshire Gazette: Citing a dramatic decline in revenue during the pandemic, Mass Audubon has announced staff layoffs, furloughs and cuts to programs throughout the state, although wildlife sanctuaries in western Massachusetts won’t be greatly impacted, according to the organization.”
| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
– “‘I’m horrified that we didn’t get this right’: Worcester schools see rocky rollout of online learning,” by Bianca Vázquez Toness, Boston Globe: “For more than two months after schools closed in March, thousands of children in the state’s second-largest district lacked full access to the two things most essential to continue learning from home: computers and direct contact with their teachers. Until Worcester officials finally began distributing laptops in May, many students were unable to take part in online learning at all because they didn’t have access. Even students who did often ran into problems because of another policy: District officials discouraged teachers from talking one-on-one with students on Zoom, fearing lawsuits if a student recorded a teacher saying something inappropriate, for instance.”
– “Marlborough officials: John Brown bell, a symbol of the Civil War, will stay put,” by Elaine Thompson, Telegram & Gazette: “Statues and other relics of the Confederacy are targets of protesters across the country. But one local Civil War-era symbol that has ties to both the North and the South is likely safe from harm. The John Brown bell, housed in a tower on Union Common at the intersection of Rte. 85 and Main Street, is a representation of the radical Connecticut-born abolitionist who led an armed insurrection against slavery in Virginia, before he was captured by then-U.S. Marines Col. Robert E. Lee.”
– “Vote to change Columbus school name sparks controversy in Medford,” by Stephanie Purifoy, Boston Globe: “Police in Medford are conducting patrols by school committee members’ houses after the committee’s vote last week to rename the Columbus Elementary School was harshly criticized on social media and by an Italian-American organization.”
– “Video appears to show police stomping on Clark grad’s smartphone after riot arrest,” by Brad Petrishen, Telegram & Gazette: “A video captured by one of the people arrested at the June 1 protest in Main South appears to show police stomping the woman’s phone as she narrated her apprehension. ‘This is a criminal offense, and I believe charges need to be filed,’ Joseph F. Hennessey, the woman’s lawyer and a former Ashland police officer, said Friday.”
– “Blackface yearbook photo prompts rebuke from school leader,” by Dave Rogers, Newburyport Daily News: “In response to the unearthing of a decade-old photo showing students in blackface impersonating members of the Boston Celtics, School Superintendent Sean Gallagher Thursday night acknowledged the district has made ‘mistakes’ and needed to do more to combat what he called ‘systemic inequities’ in terms of race relations throughout the city.”
– “Lower Cape officials: threat of great white sharks has not changed,” by Doug Fraser, Cape Cod Times: “Cape Cod National Seashore Chief Ranger Leslie Reynolds could not believe that, due to COVID-19, it was this close to the July 4th weekend and she still hadn’t talked about what had become in recent years the perennial headliner: the hundreds of great white sharks that come to the Cape each summer hunting seals close to shore and the millions of people who frequent our beaches.”
– “Protesters at auction say WHALE is gentrifying minority neighborhood,” by Kiernan Dunlop, SouthCoast Today: “What initially began as a protest against the auctioning off of 305 -307 Pleasant Street on Friday turned into a platform for community members to discuss gentrification. The Pleasant Street property, located in a neighborhood of multi-family homes just south of the downtown, is a part of the Attorney General Office’s Abandoned Housing Initiative.”
HAPPY BIRTHDAY – to Amish Shah.
NEW EPISODE: SCHOOLHOUSE ROCKED – On this week’s Horse Race podcast, hosts Jennifer Smith and Stephanie Murray speak with MassINC’s Maeve Duggan about a new poll on school reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud.
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POLITICO Magazine Justice Reform: The Prison Conditions Issue, presented by Verizon: The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the difference between “inside” and the rest of society. With crowding, inadequate funding and inconsistent medical care, prisons have become hotbeds of the outbreak ― with a heavy cost also paid on the outside. POLITICO Magazine's second Justice Reform package looks at movements to improve prisons and how the epidemic has affected them. READ THE FULL ISSUE.
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