| | |  | BY STEPHANIE MURRAY | GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. SCOOP: STATE PARTY CHAIR TO EXAMINE CONDUCT OF COLLEGE DEMS — The story about Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse is getting even stranger and more complicated by the day. Morse is denying allegations from a group of college Democrats who say he misused his power as an elected official and a lecturer at UMass Amherst for romantic or sexual gain. But a story published by The Intercept on Wednesday suggests the allegations were part of a stunning plot to derail Morse's campaign and boost incumbent Rep. Richard Neal. Morse told the Springfield Republican he believes he is the victim of a political hit job that came just a few weeks ahead of the Sept. 1 primary. Neal's campaign denies any involvement. The controversy has shifted national attention to the congressional race, which had been pushed to the back burner by the blockbuster primary contest between Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy III. Outlets including the Washington Post, HuffPost, The Daily Beast and The Young Turks are now eyeing what's happening in Western Mass. Amid the controversy, Morse's campaign is about to wrap up its best fundraising week of the entire race, the mayor said during an interview on WHMP posted Wednesday. And now, Massachusetts Democratic Party chair Gus Bickford intends to convene a group to examine the conduct of college Democrats who leveled the allegations against Morse, according to a source who has spoken to the party leader. The state party has a policy to stay out of primary elections, so Bickford will convene the group after the Sept. 1 primary to avoid weighing in on the race. The College Democrats of Massachusetts did not respond to a request for comment last night. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: NEW FUNDRAISING NUMBERS IN 4TH DISTRICT PRIMARY — Campaign fundraising numbers in the crowded primary to replace Rep. Joe Kennedy III are beginning to surface. The pre-primary reporting deadline was Wednesday, and reports are due to the FEC by Aug. 20. Newton City Councilor Jake Auchincloss nearly doubled his $200,000 fundraising goal, a source close to the campaign told me. The pre-primary filing period began July 1, and it’s shorter than the usual quarterly deadlines. And Alan Khazei, the co-founder of City Year, has raised $177,384 in the pre-primary period. Khazei has $709,000 in cash on hand, and he's raised $1.4 million for the primary over the course of his campaign, according to a spokesperson. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: MARKEY GETS THE NOD FROM 'WEST WING' STAR — Sen. Ed Markey is rolling out an endorsement this morning from Marlee Matlin, though fans of the show "The West Wing" may know the actor by another name. Matlin played Joey Lucas on the television drama. "Senator Markey is a bold, progressive leader who has consistently been a champion for the disability community,” Matlin says in an endorsement video. “Ed Markey has fought to ensure deaf people like myself can text, email and watch television.” Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com. TODAY — Rep. Katherine Clark holds a virtual town hall on Facebook Live with Florida Rep. Kathy Castor to discuss the climate crisis. Rep. Joe Kennedy III joins union workers to tour construction of the new science facility at Boston College, and hosts a livestream with Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar. Candidate for Congress Jake Auchincloss visits United Way of Greater Fall River with Mayor Paul Coogan and state Reps. Carole Fiola and Paul Schmid. | |
| | KEEP UP WITH THE WORLD FROM HOME : Economies and reputations are tanking around the globe. How have countries' responses to the pandemic caused them to lose favor around the world? And how do they reverse the trend? Our Global Translations newsletter, presented by Bank of America, layers global news, trends, and decisions with contextual analysis from the world's sharpest minds. For a unique perspective that you cannot find anywhere else, SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | |  | THE LATEST NUMBERS |
| – “Massachusetts reports 18 new coronavirus deaths, 229 cases while 11 municipalities now considered ’high risk,'” by Tanner Stening, MassLive.com: “State health officials announced another 18 coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, bringing the statewide death count to 8,547. Officials also confirmed another 229 cases of COVID-19, for a total of at least 113,198 .” | | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
| – “WBUR Poll Finds Mass. Voters Split On Ranked-Choice Voting Ballot Question,” by Simón Rios, WBUR: “Massachusetts voters are evenly split on a ballot question that would fundamentally change how they select candidates for state and federal office. A new WBUR poll conducted by the MassINC Polling Group, found that the voters surveyed were evenly split over the use of ranked-choice voting with 36% both for and against.” – “Mass. educators urge passage of controversial bill to suspend MCAS testing for four years, saying the test fails low-income students and students of color,” by Tanner Stening, MassLive.com: “Educators, local officials and education nonprofits urged lawmakers pass proposed legislation that would effectively suspend the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, or MCAS, for four years amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.” – “College exam backlog grows due to fewer test sites,” by Christian M. Wade, CNHI News: “The coronavirus outbreak is forcing testing centers to cancel college admission exams, creating a backlog of students seeking to take the SAT or ACT. Rising high school seniors are now scrambling for seats at a limited number of test sites.” – “Not every school district is buying Baker’s guidance,” by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: “Under new state guidelines issued Tuesday night, Somerville should be preparing to bring students back to school in person next month. It isn’t. Somerville, a dense urban area outside of Boston, is ranked as ‘green,’ or low-risk, on a new state map measuring COVID-19 rates. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education says green communities should have full-time in-person learning, or at least a hybrid model if there are extenuating circumstances.” | | WHAT CITY HALL IS READING |
| – “Boston’s ZBA is a new battleground in Walsh-Wu jockeying,” by Danny McDonald, Boston Globe: “A new front has opened up in the ongoing jockeying between might-be 2021 mayoral opponents Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Councilor Michelle Wu: Boston’s Zoning Board of Appeal. The board, which governs small and midsize development projects across the city, has a handful of vacancies, but some Walsh appointments have stalled for months in a committee that Wu oversees.” | | FROM THE HUB |
| – “It’s a renter’s market in Boston,” by Sarah Betancourt, CommonWealth Magazine: “‘It’s a renter’s market’ hasn’t been uttered in the Greater Boston area for over a decade, but now it’s being heard over and over again as landlords cut their prices to attract tenants in a market transformed by the coronavirus. Here’s a glimpse of the deals being offered. A two-bedroom in Allston for $1,900 with no security deposit or broker fee.” – “Across the state, child-care shortage is growing dire,” by Stephanie Ebbert, Boston Globe: “As teachers and parents agonize over final plans to return to school, the state’s early education leaders are sounding the alarm over care for younger children: Only 72 percent of the spots available in Massachusetts child-care centers before the pandemic are expected to be available in September, the Department of Early Education revealed this week.” – “Faneuil Hall tenants, landlord in standoff,” by Colman M. Herman, CommonWealth Magazine: “The landlord and tenants at Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston seem to be at a standoff, with the landlord refusing tenant demands for more modifications of the existing lease agreements during the COVID-19 pandemic. The landlord, New York City-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., issued a statement saying it cannot comment on ongoing lease negotiations but is working closely with tenants ‘to identify solutions to maintain a vibrant business community at Faneuil Hall Marketplace through these unprecedented times.’” – “Boston University instates policy to issue degrees to students after death, starting this Fall,” by Angela Yang, The Daily Free Press: “Students who die while attending Boston University will be able to undergo an official process to obtain a posthumous degree, starting this Fall. The University released the policy June 12, but did not make an announcement or notify the BU community otherwise. BU spokesperson Colin Riley said the release of these guidelines is not related to the pandemic.” – “Boston schools opening ‘one of the hardest decisions we have to make’: Walsh,” by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: “Mayor Martin Walsh called the Boston Public Schools’ back-to-school planning ‘one of the hardest decisions we have to make,’ saying officials hope to announce in the next couple of weeks what will happen. ‘It’s really important though that we’ll have to make a decision fairly quickly for parents to have that predictability,’ Walsh told reporters in a press conference Wednesday.” | | PRIMARY SOURCES |
| – FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: “Former Newton Board of Aldermen President Brooke Lipsitt Endorses Becky Grossman,” from the Grossman campaign: “Today, Former Newton Board of Alderman President joins Senate Majority Leader Cindy Creem, Rep. Ruth Balser, Rep. Kay Khan, and several other Newton leaders in endorsing Becky Grossman for Congress. ‘ Addressing the crisis of housing affordability and achieving a socially just society requires leaders with a track record and vision to enact bold solutions to help working families,” said Lipsitt.” – FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: “Karen Mulhauser, Former Executive Director Of The National Abortion Rights Action League (Naral) And Founder Of Every Women Vote 2020, Endorses Alan Khazei For Congress,” from the Khazei campaign: “Karen Mulhauser, former Executive Director of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) and Founder of Every Women Vote 2020, has endorsed Alan Khazei in Massachusetts’ Fourth Congressional District.” – “Barry Shrage dishes on two key Massachusetts Democratic primaries,” by Matthew Kassel, Jewish Insider: “The Senate primary matchup in Massachusetts between Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-MA) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) has made for some curious dynamics. While progressive Democrats are throwing their support behind the 74-year-old Markey, a co-author of the Green New Deal who has held elected office for nearly 50 years, the local pro-Israel community has largely rallied behind Kennedy, the 39-year-old political scion who gave up his seat in the state’s 4th congressional district to run against a member of his own party.” – “Ed Markey says it took ‘two years’ for Joe Kennedy to support Medicare-for-All. Kennedy says it took Markey even longer.” by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com: “Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy both agree that the Democratic Party needs a ‘big, bold agenda.’ They just disagree about who’s leading it. During the fifth — and perhaps most fiery — debate of their Senate primary contest Tuesday night, the two Massachusetts Democrats clashed over everything from racial justice to campaign finance.” – “Kennedy gets specific about Markey differences,” by Robert Mills, The Lowell Sun: “U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, who is in a tighter than expected race against incumbent U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, got even more specific, and perhaps a little more sharp-tongued than in previous Sun interviews, when pressed on what sets him apart from a respected incumbent who agrees with him on many of the nation’s biggest issues.” – “Tucker Carlson singled out a Mass. congressional candidate for ‘ingratitude.’ Here’s how she responded.” by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com: “Attention can be hard to come by in the crowded, nine-person field to replace Rep. Joe Kennedy III in Congress. And yet, Ihssane Leckey, a candidate in the Democratic primary race for Kennedy’s seat, found herself the subject of a brief segment on one of the country’s most-watched TV shows Tuesday night: Fox News’s ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight.’” | | DAY IN COURT |
| – “Former Boston police union president charged with indecent assault on a child,” by Milton J. Valencia and Jeremy C. Fox, Boston Globe: “Patrick M. Rose, a former president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, has been arrested and charged on multiple counts of indecent assault on a child under 14, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the matter.” – “Mass. Bail Fund Answers Criticism After Freeing Convicted Sex Offender Accused Of New Rape,” by Philip Marcelo, The Associated Press: “A bail fund in Massachusetts is defending itself after freeing people facing serious crimes, including a convicted rapist who has since been charged with a new rape. The Massachusetts Bail Fund said in a statement Wednesday that it bails out people based on financial need ‘ regardless of charge or court history’ because it believes pretrial detention is ‘harmful and racist.’" – “Prosecutors Get Another Month To Decide Whether To Appeal Tsarnaev's Death Sentence,” The Associated Press: “A federal appeals court has agreed to give prosecutors another month to decide their next step after the court tossed Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's death sentence. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week said prosecutors can have until Sept. 14 to file a petition asking the full court to rehear the case.” | | WARREN REPORT |
| – “What Ayanna Pressley said after Elizabeth Warren wasn’t picked as Biden’s running mate,” by Dialynn Dwyer, Boston.com: “Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley had strong words of praise Tuesday for Sen. Elizabeth Warren after Joe Biden announced he was selecting California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate. How the Mass. congressional delegation reacted to Kamala Harris being Biden’s VP pick. ‘So many righteous fights ahead for my dear partner in good and my Senator Elizabeth Warren,’ the Massachusetts Democrat tweeted Tuesday.” | | ABOVE THE FOLD |
| — Herald: “DISGRACE," "BRUNCH SPECIAL,” — Globe: “New guidance could limit online classes," "In unison, ticket targets Trump.” | | FROM THE 413 |
| – “Hampshire County Sheriff announces furloughs for 77 employees,” by Michael Connors, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “Hampshire County Sheriff Patrick J. Cahillane announced Tuesday that 77 full-time employees at the sheriff’s office began working reduced hours last week to cut costs. Beginning Aug. 2 and ending Oct. 24, Cahillane said in a statement, his office is implementing a WorkShare program, offered by the state Department of Unemployment Assistance, for 77 employees.” | | THE LOCAL ANGLE |
| – “Lawrence school leaders endorse remote learning,” by Jill Harmacinski, Eagle-Tribune: “School leaders have voted for a remote learning plan for the city's 14,000 public school students as the COVID-19 pandemic remains an issue in the densely populated city. While a hybrid learning plan, with some in school time planned, was previously suggested, members of the Lawrence Alliance for Education on Wednesday night voted to embrace a remote plan.” – “Cellphone data confirm steep drop, then gradual rise in social interactions during pandemic,” by Cyrus Moulton, Telegram & Gazette: “Massachusetts locked down fast and hard in March in response to COVID-19, according to a new study examining the number of social interactions in the continental United States before and during the pandemic. “Without question, we have seen a marked decrease in social interactions across the country this year compared to last year,’ said Sean Lansing, director of client strategy at TOP Data.” – “Cape Cod task force to serve as conduit for school reopenings,” by Geoff Spillane, Cape Cod Times: “The Cape Cod Reopening Task Force is turning its attention to the region’s K-12 school systems as fall approaches. ‘This is a tremendously anxious time for students, families, teachers and anyone who works in our schools,’ said state Sen. Julian Cyr, D-Truro, who serves as public information officer for the task force.” HAPPY BIRTHDAY – to state Sen. Patrick O’Connor, Josh Romney, who is 45; Nicholas Hull, Eric M. Nelson and Denise Perrault. Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com. | |
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