Hey. You made it to Friday. And not that we're counting, but there's only three more of these August Fridays left. Make 'em count. But first, let's check out the news: Primary concerns: A coalition of some of Massachusetts' most powerful unions and left-leaning groups are launching a campaign today against Question 3, the ballot measure this fall to replace party primaries in the state with a top-two election system. "We are a bunch of grassroots organizations and unions and people who think every day about trying to make the world a better place, and our opposition are people with a lot of money," Jordan Berg Powers, the campaign's chair, said in an interview. - What would Question 3 do? If passed, the ballot question would replace party primaries in Massachusetts with an "all-party" or "jungle primary" system in which all candidates — Democrats, Republicans, etc. — compete in the same preliminary election and the top two finishers advance to the general election. (It's how cities like Boston and states like California already hold elections.) The change would apply to statewide offices like governor, all State House seats, federal congressional races and county/district offices like sheriff and district attorney. Proponents frame it as a fix to Massachusetts' notoriously uncompetitive elections, in which the battle for safely Democratic seats are often decided in lower-turnout primaries (if they're contested at all).
- Who's against it and why? The "No on 3" campaign includes the AFL-CIO, several local SEIU chapters, the American Federation of Teachers, the Massachusetts Democratic Party and a number of local progressive groups. Powers says all-party primaries would effectively give business interests and Republican voters — about 8% of registered voters in the state — more influence in Massachusetts. (The state's primaries are already open to independent, or unenrolled voters.) To start, the plan is to have lots of "person-to-person" conversations, according to Powers. They're also working on a strategy to raise money, but he said it's too early to estimate how much. "We're worried about being swamped under money," Powers said. " We're thinking a lot about how do we counter that. That's still in development."
- Who's behind it? The "Yes on 3" campaign has a broad group of supporters in its own right, including the NAACP, State Auditor Diana DiZoglio, former Democratic elected officials like Joe Kennedy III and Deval Patrick, former DNC chair Steve Grossman and former Republican Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey. The campaign raised over $2 million last year — most of which came from big donors with local private equity or investment firm connections.
No help from the feds: More than six months after fishing vessel the Lily Jean sunk off the coast of Cape Ann with seven people onboard, the U.S. Navy says it won't help with any recovery efforts. Back in May, Gov. Maura Healey and state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr formally requested help with the investigation. Specifically, they hoped the Navy could help recover a hard drive and video recorder on the vessel to help understand why the ship sank — and help recover any of the fishermen's remains. (Those on board at the time are presumed dead and have never been found.) - What the Navy said: "We are deeply sympathetic toward the families affected by this tragedy. However, the U.S. Navy is unable to fulfill your request for salvage and recovery," wrote Acting U.S. Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao in a July 27 letter to Healey. No reason was given for the denial. "One of the difficult things about this situation is it leaves us wondering why they can't or why they won't, and whether or not there's anything in addition that we could do to convince them to come to the table and help us," Tarr told WBUR's Rachell Sanchez-Smith.
- What's next: Tarr says he and others in Mass. are disappointed, but not defeated. While the Navy has among the best resources for the job, they're looking for other partners that might be able to help with recovery. "It isn't going to prevent us from moving forward," Tarr said. "There is an investigation that will hopefully give us a greater understanding of what has happened."
Flight aware: Heads up to travelers in and out of Logan this fall. Massport officials announced yesterday that they'll close one of the airport's main runways starting Aug. 31 so they can make safety improvements. (They expect it to reopen before Thanksgiving.) That reduced runway capacity could lead to more delays, especially when bad weather blows in. P.S. — Why did MBTA General Manager Phil Eng say summer is the best time to shut down subway lines for maintenance? Take our Boston News Quiz and test your knowledge of this week's stories. |
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| | | Ally Jarmanning Senior Reporter | | |
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| | | Nik DeCosta-Klipa Senior Editor, Newsletters | | |
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An AI-based private school will open two locations in Boston, including the space once used by the scandal-plagued Croft School in Jamaica Plain. Read more. |
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The jury in Latarsha Sanders' murder trial did not have access to thousands of pages of medical records showing that she suffered from undiagnosed schizophrenia. The state Supreme Judicial Court ruled that was a key error warranting a new trial. Read more. |
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The shot, named mFlusiva, is intended for adults age 50 or older. Read more. |
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Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security Committee voted to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress after he refused to answer their questions about the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more. |
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Researchers warn betting on clinical trials could incentivize insider trading and interfere with drug development. But Kalshi and Polymarket say they provide valuable information to patients. Read more. |
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- You Could Make This Beautiful, a new WBUR podcast series about poetry, launches today. The series celebrates the ways poetry in all its forms —traditional, comedy, music, nature, relationships — can make life more beautiful. Co-hosted by poet Maggie Smith and frequent Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! panelist Faith Salie, the podcast features star guests like Henry Winkler, Mike Birbiglia, Peter Sagal and more. Listen to a teaser for the series here or check out the full episodes in the Dear Sugars feed.
- Summer is the season of hot weather and heavy music — at least in Somerville. The annual Somergloom festival is underway this weekend with melancholic music from around the region, WBUR’s Amelia Mason reports.
- "My grandmother may not always remember my name. She may not know who my son is. But still, she loves us. Still, she reaches for us, even if she can’t recall why," writes WBUR's Arielle Gray in this essay for Cognoscenti.
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You can catch three different celestial events this month: a partial solar eclipse, the Perseids meteor shower and a near-full lunar eclipse. Here's when and how you can see each of them. Read more. |
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