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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
CLARK BIDS FOR TOP HOUSE POST — The Massachusetts congressional delegation could gain some more clout in Washington this week.
The House is holding leadership elections today and Thursday, and Rep. Katherine Clark is running for assistant speaker. The Melrose lawmaker currently serves as vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus.
Lawmakers will vote today from 9 a.m. to noon, and will select caucus chair, speaker, majority leader, whip and assistant speaker. All the top races are uncontested — Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn are expected to win their elections. But if the vote takes a while, Clark's race could be pushed to Thursday morning.
Clark faces Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline in her bid for the assistant speaker position, which would make either of them the fourth most powerful Democrat in the House. The role is held now by Rep. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, who is headed to the Senate. Clark and Cicilline are both members of Pelosi's leadership team, though Clark outranks him due to her post as vice chair of the caucus.
Clark is among the more low-key members in Massachusetts' star-studded delegation — some colleagues call her the "silent assassin." Clark was co-chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's "Red to Blue" program during the 2018 midterm, when Democrats took back the House, which earned her plenty of goodwill among her colleagues.
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TODAY — Boston Mayor Marty Walsh hosts his annual "Women's Event" fundraiser. Emerge Massachusetts honors state Rep. Rep. Claire Cronin and attorney Beth Boland at a “Women of the Year” event. Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty is a guest on WBUR.
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 | THE LATEST NUMBERS |
– “Massachusetts broke single-day record for most COVID cases last week; reports 2,263 new COVID cases, 20 deaths today,” by Tanner Stening, MassLive.com: “Massachusetts last week broke its record for the most new COVID-19 cases in a day with 3,175 cases on Nov. 9. The previous one-day high was 2,990 on April 17, according to data of cases by date released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. State health officials confirmed another 2,263 coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing the number of active cases to 32,309.”
| DATELINE BEACON HILL |
– “Governor nominates Serge Georges Jr. to Supreme Judicial Court,” by Matt Stout and Shirley Leung, Boston Globe: “Governor Charlie Baker on Tuesday nominated Boston Municipal Court Judge Serge Georges Jr. to the Supreme Judicial Court, the latest in a series of historic picks that aim to bring unprecedented diversity to the high court. By selecting Georges, a Black jurist raised in Dorchester, Baker has now offered seven new nominees to the SJC, putting the Republican governor in line to appoint the entire bench and make the state’s top appellate court better reflect the 7 million residents it serves.”
– “Massachusetts senator’s proposal would limit the Baker administration’s executive powers during the pandemic,” by Steph Solis, MassLive.com: “A Massachusetts lawmaker has filed a proposal to limit the longevity of a Baker administration executive order, requiring that they expire after 30 days if they don’t get legislative approval. Sen. Ryan Fattman, a Sutton Republican, proposed the limitation as one of nearly 500 amendments to the fiscal 2021 budget plan the Senate will debate this week.”
– “Charlie Baker re-evaluating TCI in Massachusetts amid pandemic as advocates urge support,” by Erin Tiernan, Boston Herald: “Gov. Charlie Baker said governors are re-evaluating support of a controversial carbon tax designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions as advocates renew calls for its passage. ‘We’re living at a point in time right now that’s dramatically different than the point in time we were living in when people’s expectations about miles traveled and all the rest were a lot different,’ Baker said Tuesday during a press conference at the State House.”
| FROM THE HUB |
– “U.S. Attorney Finds Constitutional Violations At Massachusetts Prisons,” by Deborah Becker, WBUR: “Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling says the state Department of Correction has not provided adequate mental health care or supervision to prisoners in mental health crisis. He also says the DOC has violated the constitutional rights of prisoners in crisis by using prolonged mental health watch under restrictive housing conditions, resulting in some prisoners harming or killing themselves while on watch.”
– “Walsh Threatens Thanksgiving COVID Crackdown,” by Craig LeMoult, GBH News: “A Thanksgiving meal that would be routine any other year could result in a 911 call and a fine, warns Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. As Boston hit an average of 224 new cases of COVID-19 a day, Walsh announced a range of new metrics the city will use for measuring the pandemic's growth. He also threatened to enforce the city's ban on more than 10 people gathering indoors for the upcoming holiday.”
– “Text messages fly on Boston School Committee after chairman’s racist remarks,” by James Vaznis, Boston Globe: “As a contentious Boston School Committee meeting on Zoom last month approached midnight, Chair Michael Loconto clicked off his camera, but accidentally left his microphone on. Within seconds, he could be heard mocking the Asian names of some upcoming speakers, remarks that set Twitter aflutter and reverberated around City Hall the next day. His fellow School Committee members, stunned and confused by what they heard, sat nearly frozen in front of their cameras.”
– “Ashkenazy says it has paid $2.1M owed to Boston for Faneuil Hall,” by Catherine Carlock, Boston Business Journal: “Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. said in a statement Tuesday evening that it has paid the $2.1 million the city of Boston says it’s owed as part of payment in lieu of taxes for Faneuil Hall. Boston Planning and Development Agency Director Brian Golden last week served New York-based Ashkenazy with a notice of default, alleging it owed two payments of $1.05 million to hold the lease on the historic property.”
– “Prison visits halted, testing underway for COVID-19,” by Jill Harmacinski, Eagle-Tribune: “No visitors are allowed and testing is underway at state prisons as COVID-19 positive cases climb again statewide, officials said. The Department of Corrections announced this weekend it was going into ‘modified operations’ for a period of 14 days so a second round of COVID-19 testing for inmates and staff could be conducted, according to a statement.”
– “ICE arrests man in East Boston park,” by Sarah Betancourt, CommonWealth Magazine: “Four agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested a man in an East Boston park on Tuesday morning. A video from a passerby shows ICE agents searching the man’s wallet, frisking him, and then taking him into custody. According to the passerby, one of the agents said ‘ICE had a warrant for his [the arrested man’s] apartment.’”
– “College students’ Thanksgiving plans have public health officials worried,” by Deirdre Fernandes, Boston Globe: “Adri Lanza is yearning to spend a traditional Thanksgiving at home in Pennsylvania with her mom making empanadas and pernil, a Puerto Rican pork dish reserved for celebrations. Instead, she’ll be in her Northeastern University dorm room, microwaving baked potatoes and spaghetti with her roommate.”
– “Sean Ellis’s quest for justice remains maddeningly unfinished,” by Adrian Walker, Boston Globe: “Sean Ellis was freed after serving 22 years in prison for murder, but never exonerated. Released, yet somehow still a captive. Ellis was released from prison in 2015 after judges found significant evidence of police misconduct, though a related conviction on a gun charge was left untouched. That Ellis remains a convicted felon is a miscarriage of justice, and it has to change.”
| HEALTH CHECK |
– “New Pfizer Results: Coronavirus Vaccine Is Safe and 95% Effective,” by Katie Thomas, The New York Times: “The drug maker Pfizer said on Wednesday that its coronavirus vaccine was 95 percent effective and had no serious side effects — the first set of complete results from a late-stage vaccine trial as Covid-19 cases skyrocket around the globe. The data showed that the vaccine prevented mild and severe forms of Covid-19, the company said. And it was 94 percent effective in older adults, who are more vulnerable to developing severe Covid-19 and who do not respond strongly to some types of vaccines.”
| CABINET WATCH |
– “Why Charlie Baker is more likely to be offered a Biden cabinet post than Elizabeth Warren,” by James Pindell, Boston Globe: “President-elect Joe Biden’s victory has set up the ultimate political guessing game in Massachusetts. Senator Elizabeth Warren for Treasury Secretary? Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh for Labor Secretary? Representative Stephen Lynch for Postmaster General? Those moves, should Biden ever decide to make them, are logical enough given the backgrounds and passions of each person.”
| PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES |
– “The MBTA says its planned service cuts will be temporary. Transit advocates worry the effects will be permanent.” by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com: “MBTA officials have tried to take some of the edge off their recently proposed — and seemingly inevitable — service cuts, needed to offset unprecedented revenue losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the assurance that they aren’t forever. ‘The service reductions are not intended to be a permanent shrinkage,’ MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said during a meeting last week. While the sweeping cuts will be painful in the near term, the idea is to ‘build back’ service when ridership eventually rebounds, he said.”
– “AG Investigation Forces Company To Pay Mass. For False Claims About Sanitizer Sold To MBTA,” by Christine Willmsen and Beth Healy, WBUR: “A Maryland-based company will pay $550,000 to resolve claims it illegally misled the MBTA to purchase tens of thousands of dollars worth of hand sanitizer that was fake, according to Attorney General Maura Healy's office. In March, Federal Resources Supply Company sent the MBTA a marketing email claiming the product ‘Theraworx Protect’ sanitizes in a ‘30-second flash and provides a 6 hour prolonged effect’ to fight off the coronavirus, Healey's office said.”
| DAY IN COURT |
– “Massachusetts drug lab scandal: Suffolk DA vacates 100-plus convictions tied to former state chemist Annie Dookhan,” by Jackson Cote, MassLive.com: “Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins announced Tuesday her office has moved to vacate more than 100 convictions tied to former state chemist Annie Dookhan, who faked test results in hundreds of criminal drug cases in a scandal that rocked the commonwealth roughly a decade ago.”
– “New Bedford family joins lawsuit over school flu vaccine mandate,” by Wheeler Cowperthwaite, The Patriot Ledger: “A New Bedford family is among six families suing Gov. Charlie Baker and the state Department of Public Health over the requirement that schoolchildren be vaccinated against the flu. The lawsuit is part of an effort by Vincent Delaney, of Peabody, to fight the vaccine mandates. On the GoFundMe website, Delaney has raised $80,414 to fund the lawsuit fighting the mandatory flu vaccinations. The private ‘Flu You Baker’ Facebook group has more than 13,000 members.”
– “Female Watertown detective calls out ‘toxic’ and ‘sexually charged’ department,” by Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald: “Watertown’s first female detective is suing the town and police union over what she alleges was a ‘toxic’ and ‘sexually charged’ workplace that left her feeling vulnerable — including when the bullets began to fly after Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found cowering in a boat.”
| FROM THE DELEGATION |
– “Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey slam Trump for nominating 1st Circuit appeals court judge after election,” by Lisa Kashinsky, Boston Herald: “U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey are calling on President Trump to withdraw his nomination for a new federal appeals court judge in Massachusetts, saying it was made during a ‘lame-duck session’ after the presidential race was called in favor of his rival.”
| ABOVE THE FOLD |
— Herald: “DANNY'S DAY!" "SHOTS FIRED,” — Globe: “Gains in virus fight tempered by obstruction," "Baker picks Boston judge Serge Georges for high court," "BIDEN GIVES THANKS FOR NANTUCKET.”
| FROM THE 413 |
– “Jacob’s Pillow Theater, Site of Dance Festival, Is Destroyed in Fire,” by Julia Jacobs, The New York Times: “A theater at Jacob’s Pillow, a destination for dance performance in Becket, Mass., was destroyed on Tuesday in an early morning fire. The fire was reported around 7 a.m. at the Doris Duke Theater, according to a statement from Jacob’s Pillow. Videos from the scene showed a collapsed building engulfed in smoke, with firefighters blasting water onto heaps of charred wood. The theater was lost, the statement said, but the fire was contained to the one building at the performing arts campus.”
– “Area COVID testing sites stretched thin,” by Jacquelyn Voghel, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “The Holyoke Community College COVID-19 testing site — one of the few state-sponsored ‘Stop the Spread’ testing locations in western Massachusetts — is being stretched to its limits as hundreds of people flock to the site each day, sometimes resulting in hourslong waits and people being turned away.”
| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
– “Varian cleanup has faded from view, but chemical levels remain high,” by Paul Leighton, The Salem News: “An industrial site on Sohier Road continues to show high levels of contamination despite a cleanup that has been going on for nearly three decades, raising concerns about the impact on nearby residents, according to two experts on environmental cleanups. Recent tests at the site of the former Varian Associates revealed elevated levels of potentially toxic chemicals in the groundwater at several locations on the property.”
– “Civic Center Commission OK's use of DCU Center as a field hospital, rent-free, but wants help to offset revenue loss,” by Nick Kotsopoulos, Telegram & Gazette: “The Civic Center Commission unanimously agreed Tuesday to again allow UMass Memorial Health Care to use the DCU Center's exhibition hall for a COVID-19 field hospital. At the request of UMass Memorial Health Care, the commission also agreed to waive all rental fees for the space for at least two months.”
– “Rockland restores $890,000 to town budget,” by Johanna Seltz, Boston Globe: “A Special Town Meeting in Rockland quickly approved restoring $890,000 to the fiscal 2021 town budget in a session that lasted barely 20 minutes. The money had been cut in the spring in anticipation that the state would reduce aid to towns because of the pandemic, but Rockland did not have its state aid cut, Town Administrator Douglas Lapp said.”
– “Polar plunges, cozy dinners, security details: For Joe Biden, Nantucket means a perfect Thanksgiving,” by Hanna Krueger, Boston Globe: “Everyone on Nantucket has a Joe Biden story. Just ask the taxi driver who watched him plunge into the icy waters of Children’s Beach on Thanksgiving morning. Or the gaggle of saleswomen at Murray’s Toggery Shop who have sold countless pairs of authentic Nantucket Reds to the Biden bunch.”
| MEDIA MATTERS |
– “Boston Herald newsstand sales crater during pandemic,” by Don Seiffert, Boston Business Journal: “The Boston Herald's newsstand sales, which make up roughly half of the tabloid's print circulation, are down 41% year-over-year in the past few months as much of the city remains empty due to the Covid-10 pandemic, according to the newspaper's own filing this week. The Herald, owned by Denver-based MediaNews Group since March 2018, said in a filing with the Alliance for Audited Media that its total weekday print circulation over the six months from April to September this year averaged 24,540 per day.”
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