Middleboro Review 2

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Israel and Palestine

In the midst of this terrible Israeli-Palestinian conflict, part of a multi-decades long tragedy, I wanted to share with you an op-ed I recently wrote for the New York Times.

The bottom line is that the United States cannot continue being an apologist for an increasingly right-wing and racist Netanyahu government. Israel has the absolute right to live in peace and security, without the fear of terrorist attacks. But the Palestinian people must also enjoy the right to live in peace, security and democracy.

At this moment, our most important task is to stop the bloodshed and destruction. Please join me in demanding an immediate cease fire to the violence which has already claimed more than 200 Palestinian and 10 Israeli lives.

I hope you'll read the op-ed below, and then sign my petition calling for an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Palestine to prevent any further loss of civilian life and to prevent further escalation of conflict.

“Israel has the right to defend itself.”

These are the words we hear from both Democratic and Republican administrations whenever the government of Israel, with its enormous military power, responds to rocket attacks from Gaza.

Let’s be clear. No one is arguing that Israel, or any government, does not have the right to self-defense or to protect its people. So why are these words repeated year after year, war after war? And why is the question almost never asked: “What are the rights of the Palestinian people?”

And why do we seem to take notice of the violence in Israel and Palestine only when rockets are falling on Israel?

In this moment of crisis, the United States should be urging an immediate ceasefire. We should also understand that, while Hamas firing rockets into Israeli communities is absolutely unacceptable, today’s conflict did not begin with those rockets.

Palestinian families in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah have been living under the threat of eviction for many years, navigating a legal system designed to facilitate their forced displacement. And over the past weeks, extremist settlers have intensified their efforts to evict them.

And, tragically, those evictions are just one part of a broader system of political and economic oppression. For years we have seen a deepening Israeli occupation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and a continuing blockade on Gaza that make life increasingly intolerable for Palestinians. In Gaza, which has about two million inhabitants, 70 percent of young people are unemployed and have little hope for the future.

Further, we have seen Benjamin Netanyahu’s government work to marginalize and demonize Palestinian citizens of Israel, pursue settlement policies designed to foreclose the possibility of a two-state solution and pass laws that entrench systemic inequality between Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel.

None of this excuses the attacks by Hamas, which were an attempt to exploit the unrest in Jerusalem, or the failures of the corrupt and ineffective Palestinian Authority, which recently postponed long-overdue elections. But the fact of the matter is that Israel remains the one sovereign authority in the land of Israel and Palestine, and rather than preparing for peace and justice, it has been entrenching its unequal and undemocratic control.

Over more than a decade of his right-wing rule in Israel, Mr. Netanyahu has cultivated an increasingly intolerant and authoritarian type of racist nationalism. In his frantic effort to stay in power and avoid prosecution for corruption, Mr. Netanyahu has legitimized these forces, including Itamar Ben Gvir and his extremist Jewish Power party, by bringing them into the government. It is shocking and saddening that racist mobs that attack Palestinians on the streets of Jerusalem now have representation in its Knesset.

These dangerous trends are not unique to Israel. Around the world, in Europe, in Asia, in South America and here in the United States, we have seen the rise of similar authoritarian nationalist movements. These movements exploit ethnic and racial hatreds in order to build power for a corrupt few rather than prosperity, justice and peace for the many. For the last four years, these movements had a friend in the White House.

At the same time, we are seeing the rise of a new generation of activists who want to build societies based on human needs and political equality. We saw these activists in American streets last summer in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. We see them in Israel. We see them in the Palestinian territories.

With a new president, the United States now has the opportunity to develop a new approach to the world — one based on justice and democracy. Whether it is helping poor countries get the vaccines they need, leading the world to combat climate change or fighting for democracy and human rights around the globe, the United States must lead by promoting cooperation over conflict.

In the Middle East, where we provide nearly $4 billion a year in aid to Israel, we can no longer be apologists for the right-wing Netanyahu government and its undemocratic and racist behavior. We must change course and adopt an even-handed approach, one that upholds and strengthens international law regarding the protection of civilians, as well as existing U.S. law holding that the provision of U.S. military aid must not enable human rights abuses.

This approach must recognize that Israel has the absolute right to live in peace and security, but so do the Palestinians. I strongly believe that the United States has a major role to play in helping Israelis and Palestinians to build that future. But if the United States is going to be a credible voice on human rights on the global stage, we must uphold international standards of human rights consistently, even when it’s politically difficult. We must recognize that Palestinian rights matter. Palestinian lives matter.

Thank you for taking the time to read this op-ed.

Now, please sign my petition to join me in calling for an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Palestine to prevent any further loss of civilian life and to prevent further escalation of conflict.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

Paid for by Friends of Bernie Sanders

PO BOX 391, Burlington, VT 05402

RSN: FOCUS: The Supreme Court Just Took a Case That Poses a Major Threat to Roe v. Wade

17 May 21

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FOCUS: The Supreme Court Just Took a Case That Poses a Major Threat to Roe v. Wade

Ian Millhiser, Vox
Millhiser writes: "The case is the biggest threat to abortion rights to arise since Amy Coney Barrett joined the Court."

he Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a challenge to a Mississippi law that prohibits nearly all abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy. That means that Dobbs will be the first abortion case to be fully briefed and argued before the Supreme Court since Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation last October.

Barrett is an outspoken opponent of abortion, and she joined a Court that almost certainly already had five votes to roll back abortion rights before her confirmation gave Republicans a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court.

Last June, four justices voted to uphold a Louisiana anti-abortion law that was virtually identical to a Texas law that the Supreme Court struck down in 2016. Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts cast a surprising vote in that June case, June Medical Services v. Russo, to strike down Louisiana’s law. But Roberts’s opinion emphasized that he disagreed with many of the Court’s seminal abortion rights decisions, and that he only voted the way he did in June Medical out of respect for the principle that the Court should not simply ignore a ruling that it handed down just a few years earlier.

With Barrett on the Court, the four dissenters in June Medical no longer need Roberts’s vote to make significant incursions on reproductive freedom. And the legal issue in Dobbs is sufficiently distinct from the one in June Medical that Roberts is unlikely to vote with his liberal colleagues again on those grounds.

The legal issue in Dobbs is straightforward. A 2018 Mississippi law prohibits all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, “except in a medical emergency or in the case of a severe fetal abnormality.” Notably, this law applies even before the fetus is viable — meaning that it is capable of surviving outside the uterus. But, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed, “a State may not prohibit any woman from making the ultimate decision to terminate her pregnancy before viability.”

Notably, the Supreme Court decided to focus its argument in Dobbs on a single question — “Whether all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional” — which suggests that the Court could use this case as a vehicle to end the rule providing that an abortion patient gets to make the final decision whether to “terminate her pregnancy before viability.”

A conservative federal appeals court struck down the Mississippi law, with even Judge James Ho, a staunch opponent of abortion, conceding that existing Supreme Court precedent “establishes viability as the governing constitutional standard.”

Now that the case is before the justices themselves, however, Dobbs gives the Court’s new majority a vehicle it could use to toss out this longstanding rule. Indeed, it potentially gives them a vehicle to overrule Roe v. Wade in its entirety and permit outright bans on abortion.

The Court’s new majority, moreover, has already signaled that it is eager to roll back protections for abortion rights. Earlier this year, the Court handed down a decision permitting the Food and Drug Administration to impose limits on an abortion-inducing drug that it does not impose on any other medication.

The Court did not publish a majority opinion in that earlier case, FDA v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, so the American College decision did not make any explicit changes to the Court’s existing abortion rights doctrine. Nevertheless, the Court’s anti-abortion decision in American College may well foreshadow what’s to come.

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POLITICO NIGHTLY: Establishing a 1/6 commission is the easy part

BY ELANA SCHOR

Presented by Facebook

With help from Renuka Rayasam

AVOIDING SINS OF COMMISSION — A proposed independent body to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on Congress is moving ahead this week after nearing the brink of implosion because of partisan disputes over its scope and design. But it’s anyone’s guess whether the so-called 1/6 Commission can make headway in unearthing still-unknown facts about the Capitol riot.

Even if legislation creating the commission can make its way into law this spring — and, as our Burgess Everett and Marianne LeVine report, it may not get the required 10 GOP senators to vote yes — the true test of the commission’s success will be how deeply it digs into Donald Trump’s actions on Jan. 6.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and the former president conducted a critical call as rioters were sacking the Capitol, only some of which is public knowledge. The most infamous excerpt: According to Washington GOP Rep. Jaime Herrera Butler, Trump told McCarthy, “I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.” As Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) told ABC on Sunday, McCarthy should testify before the commission because he’s “got information about the president’s state of mind that day.”

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) speaks during a House Oversight Committee hearing on Capitol Hill. | Getty Images

Cheney added that she “wouldn’t be surprised if” McCarthy got a subpoena to tell the commission what he knows about Trump.

But as much as congressional Democrats would like to see the hypothetical 1/6 Commission take an unsparing look at Trump’s encouragement of the riot, whoever is appointed to fill its 10 seats will struggle to take the kind of whack at the former president that might break his hold on the GOP.

Think of it as a “Choose Your Own Adventure” story: On one branching path, the commission could take a close look at Trump and his support network, drawing a direct line from the defeated president’s “Stop the Steal” rally to the assault on the Capitol as lawmakers gathered to certify electoral votes. That would almost surely require subpoenas.

However, the commission as envisioned in the House’s current bill would be balanced evenly between Democratic and Republican appointees and could issue subpoenas only through bipartisan agreement.

That’s where the commission’s second path comes in: Given the potentially significant obstacle of reaching that bipartisan agreement on compulsory testimony from those close to the former president, the commission could take a more stepped-back view of the extremism that fueled the deadly insurrection.

There’s plenty of grist for that sort of probe, including the arrests of three leaders of the violent right-wing nationalist group known as the Proud Boys for conspiring to disrupt Congress’ certification probe. It could result in persuasive conclusions that would inform future investment in Capitol security.

That second, Trump-omitting approach seems like the more likely path for the potential commission — unless its GOP appointees are prepared to use their subpoena power to follow Cheney in crossing the former president.

Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas for us at eschor@politico.com and rrayasam@politico.com, or on Twitter at @eschor and @renurayasam.

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WHAT'D I MISS?

— Supreme Court will hear direct challenge to Roe v. Wade: The Supreme Court announced today that it will reconsider the right to an abortion it established almost 50 years ago , agreeing to review Mississippi’s ban on the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The court’s decision to take a case directly challenging Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide, suggests that the court’s new 6-3 conservative majority is ready to eliminate or, more likely, curtail the right to terminate a pregnancy.

— Biden, Harris release 2020 tax returns: Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris released their 2020 tax returns today, resuming a decades-long tradition by those holding the offices that Trump had ended. Biden and first lady Jill Biden reported $607,336 in adjusted gross income and more than $157,000 in federal tax paid — an effective federal tax rate of 25.9 percent. Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff reported nearly $1.7 million in adjusted gross income, with $621,893 in federal tax paid — an effective federal tax rate of 36.7 percent.

— U.S. will send 20M more vaccine doses overseas: White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s announcement followed an administration decision last month to send 60 million AstraZeneca doses across the world. The additional 20 million doses will come from either Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson. The total of 80 million doses will be sent out by the end of June, Psaki said.

— Payments for nearly 90 percent of kids will start July 15: The federal government will begin sending monthly payments worth up to $300 per child to millions of Americans beginning July 15 , in what is perhaps the most ambitious government initiative of the Biden administration so far. Some 39 million households, which include almost 90 percent of the nation’s children, are set to receive the payments, the Treasury Department says, marking the country’s first-ever child allowance.

— California won’t lift its mask mandate until June 15: California will not lift its mask mandate to align with new federal recommendations until after June 15, the target date for the state to fully reopen businesses, state health officials said today. “This four-week week period will give Californians time to prepare for this change while we continue the relentless focus to provide vaccines,” Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly said.

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ASK THE AUDIENCE

Nightly asks you: CDC guidelines and the president say we can drop our masks if we’re vaxxed. But to Nightly editor Chris Suellentrop, the real sign of our pandemic spring was the return of self-service fountain drinks at his local Panera. What small change have you witnessed recently that surprised and delighted you? Send us your answer in our form, and we’ll include select responses in our Friday edition.

FROM THE HEALTH DESK

WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED, EVEN IF YOUR FACE ISN’T — The CDC says you don’t need a mask in most situations if you’re fully vaccinated. But some states — and businesses — aren’t fully onboard yet. In the latest POLITICO Dispatch, health care reporter Adam Cancryn looks at the sticky situations arising in the aftermath of the new guidance.

Listen to the latest POLITICO Dispatch podcast

AROUND THE WORLD

‘CALM’ VS. PEACE — The Biden administration would like Israelis and Palestinians to “calm” down. Ideally, a “sustainable calm” that comes because the two sides “deescalate tensions” and bring a “halt to the violence.”

In speeches, interviews, tweets and call readouts, Biden and his aides have used some version of the above terms more than 40 times during the past week, Nahal Toosi writes.

But what about “peace,” “peace talks” or even “cease-fire”? Not so much.

As the body count rises in the latest Israeli-Palestinian clashes, Biden and his aides’ public commentary offers a sobering reminder of how low the new U.S. administration has set its expectations for helping resolve the broader, decades-old Mideast conflict. The administration made clear early on that the Israeli-Palestinian crisis was not going to be a top priority, and it has struggled to keep up with the fast-moving violence that spiraled a week ago.

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NIGHTLY NUMBER

398 days

The length of the pandemic mask mandate in most settings in New York state. Vaccinated New Yorkers will no longer be required to wear masks or face coverings in most settings beginning Wednesday, under new state regulations that align the state with CDC guidance.

PARTING WORDS

TABLE FOR ONE — Nightly’s Renuka Rayasam emails:

In the pre-Covid days, I used to go to dinner by myself. Every so often, I would pick a cozy restaurant, take a seat at the bar, order dinner for one and read a magazine while I sipped wine. Then I got married, had two kids and shortly after my second maternity leave ended, Covid hit.

I’ve traveled a couple of times on reporting trips for stories during the past year, but I was unvaccinated, and the virus was circulating at high levels across the country. Instead of an opportunity to indulge in dinner by myself, I ordered delivery to my hotel and ate in my room while watching “Modern Family” reruns.

But on Friday, while I was reporting in Minneapolis, exactly 14 days after my second Covid shot, I realized that I would — for the first time in years — be able to go to dinner by myself.

It wasn’t exactly easy to organize. On Friday evening, after a day of reporting, I started Googling Minneapolis restaurants. All the ones I picked were slowly opening back up after more than a year of being shuttered. Some still were only offering take out. The ones that did indoor dining — at 55 degrees it was too chilly for this Texan to eat outdoors — had limited seating capacity. Pre-Covid there was always room at the bar for a solo diner. Not anymore. I was about to give up when Sanjusan, an Italian- Japanese eatery near my hotel, called to let me know that a table opened up — if I could be there in 10 minutes.

I called an Uber, ran a brush through my hair, swiped on some lip gloss that would later rub off in my mask (old habits die hard), grabbed a knit blazer and ran out the door. Soon I was shown to a countertop table for four by the window. I didn’t have a magazine with me, but I fired up the New Yorker app on my phone and stumbled onto a new David Sedaris essay about being an old married. When my drink arrived, I slipped my mask into my purse, looked around and, for the first time in a long time, felt at ease.

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Monday, May 17, 2021

RSN: FOCUS: Trump Has Blown Off Rudy Giuliani's Pleas for Help as Feds Circle

17 May 21

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FOCUS: Trump Has Blown Off Rudy Giuliani's Pleas for Help as Feds Circle

Adam Rawnsley and Asawin Suebsaeng, The Daily Beast
Excerpt: "Giuliani appears to be in hot water, and his allies keep asking for Trump's help. But so far, the ex-president isn't willing to ride to the rescue of his one-time lawyer."

n the weeks since the feds raided Rudy Giuliani’s apartment and office in late April, close allies have tried to ferry a slew of emergency requests to former President Donald Trump and his advisers.

But according to three people familiar with the matter, Trump, as well as several of his legal advisers and longtime confidants, have been hesitant about swooping in to help the embattled Giuliani, who for years worked as Trump’s personal lawyer, a political adviser, and attack dog. Giuliani also served as a major player in the Trump-Ukraine scandal and as a key driver in the former president’s efforts to nullify Joe Biden’s clear victory in the 2020 election.

Team Trump’s reluctance to intervene comes at a time when federal investigators have ramped up their probe into whether Giuliani’s Ukraine-related work during the Trump era amounted to an unregistered and illegal lobbying operation on behalf of foreign figures. So far, no charges have been brought against the former New York City mayor as a result of this investigation, which began in 2019. Trump’s silence has led to simmering frustrations among members of Giuliani’s inner orbit, who privately allege that the ex-president’s team is working to convince him to hang Giuliani out to dry in his hour of need.

“It’s a question now of whether or not [the former president and his team] want to leave Rudy to fend for himself or if they’re going to take a stand against this,” one person close to Giuliani said last week. “Right now, we don’t know.”

Among Giuliani allies’ pleas, the three sources said, have been for Trump to issue a strong verbal or written statement saying Giuliani’s work during the Trump-Ukraine saga was done on behalf of then-President Trump—and therefore not part of an illegal foreign lobbying effort. In other words, Trump’s corroboration would be more than good public relations for Giuliani, it would back up a key pillar of Giuliani’s legal argument that he wasn’t lobbying and is innocent of the allegations.

Other asks have included having the ex-president sign on to a legal motion to have federal investigators throw out any seized communications that Giuliani and his lawyers argue are covered by attorney-client privilege. Further, there have been repeated requests that Trump and his team financially aid Giuliani’s ballooning legal defense and help cover the mounting, sizable expenses.

Two people close to Trump say they have urged the former president to lay low on the matter and to refrain from making too many statements or commitments on Giuliani and the federal probe. These people have told Trump that it’s unclear what the feds have and that any statement could backfire both on him and on Giuliani. Moreover, various people in Trump’s social and political orbits have been trying to convince the former president for years that Giuliani has been too great a liability for him, and they have suggested that he cut the lawyer loose.

Many of them still blame Giuliani and his Ukraine shenanigans for getting Trump impeached the first time, and the attorney helped lead the Trumpworld and GOP charge in falsely claiming that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from the 45th U.S. president. In the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, both Trump and Giuliani have been slammed with lawsuit after lawsuit over their roles in firing up the mob that committed the anti-democratic assault.

In recent weeks, Trump himself has argued behind closed doors that he wouldn’t want to say Giuliani was doing all of the Ukraine work—which included a trans-Atlantic dirt-digging expedition on the Biden family that led to Trump’s first impeachment—on Trump’s behalf, according to one of the people close to the former president. Trump’s reasoning, this source relayed, is based in the ex-president’s insistence that he didn’t always know what Giuliani was doing during the Ukraine effort or concocting with his Ukrainian pals, several of whom Trump has privately dinged as “idiots.”

It is also unclear when or if Trump will ultimately sign on to the desired legal motion, with allies to Giuliani expressing consternation over how the ex-president and his lawyers have not jumped at the opportunity.

On Sunday, Robert Costello, Giuliani’s longtime attorney, said, “We do not know what, if anything, President Trump will do,” when asked by The Daily Beast whether Trump’s legal team would intervene in the effort to scuttle the search warrant. Costello said Giuliani’s attorneys have not formally asked Trump’s legal team to do so. “They can make up their own minds,” he said.

He added that neither he nor his client has asked Trump to make a statement since federal agents seized Giuliani’s electronic devices.

Alan Dershowitz, a celebrity lawyer who served on Trump’s legal team during the first impeachment trial, is now actively counseling Giuliani and his attorneys. “I’ve said to them that it would be very good to get people [including Trump] whose materials might have been seized to... become part of the [motion],” Dershowitz said in a brief interview.

The two sources close to the former president each said Trump has repeatedly expressed sympathy for Giuliani’s ongoing woes but has not committed to overtly assisting his personal lawyer yet. Another person familiar with the situation told The Daily Beast that Giuliani has said he remains convinced that Trump won’t abandon him and will step up when the time is right.

Over the decades and during his presidency, however, Trump has cemented a reputation for regularly turning his back on close allies and one-time loyalists, including when legal or political pressures became too hot for him. Chief among these former allies is one of Giuliani’s bitter rivals, Michael Cohen, another former personal lawyer and fixer of Trump’s. Cohen turned on his former boss after he felt abandoned by Trump following a 2018 federal raid and has since become an enthusiastic witness for federal investigators who’ve been looking into Trump and his business empire.

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POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: WHITE report FALLOUT — The fight to keep COCKTAILS TO-GO — CORREIA: ‘I will be vindicated’

BY LISA KASHINSKY

SHAKEN, NOW STIRRING — That margarita delivered to your doorstep with dinner is destined to go away when the pandemic state of emergency ends — unless a group of restaurant and business advocates gets their way.

Restaurateurs and business groups are planning a virtual rally today to push for a two-year extension of legislation authorizing cocktails to-go and capping third-party delivery-app fees at 15%. The original bill was opposed by package stores last year.

They also want a grant program for businesses that opened in 2020 and have struggled to access state and federal aid, and to compel insurance companies to pay business interruption claims. State Sen. Diana DiZoglio, who's co-hosting today's event, has filed all four as Senate budget amendments.

Cocktail connoisseurs say the measure is a win-win for customers and restaurants, even if to-go cocktails are just a small piece of the much larger recovery puzzle.

“It incrementally helps restaurants, which face an uphill climb of a recovery,” said Jackson Cannon, who's behind three beloved Boston establishments — Eastern Standard, Island Creek Oyster Bar and the Hawthorne — that are all now gone for good.

Texas recently made to-go cocktails permanent. But efforts to extend the program in Massachusetts failed during debate over the unemployment insurance bill earlier this year.

“Even the couple thousand dollars a month in sales — that pays someone’s salary, that pays a bunch of stuff,” Christopher Almeida, beverage director of The Tasty in Plymouth, told me.

State Sen. Nick Collins, D-South Boston, who filed a budget amendment to extend to-go beer and wine for a year after the state of emergency ends, called it simply “common sense.”

PANDEMIC POLITICS — Massachusetts’s much-improved coronavirus and vaccination metrics are making it harder for top Democrats eyeing the governor’s office to critique its current occupant.

Attorney General Maura Healey — who grabbed headlines earlier this year with her criticism of Baker’s rocky vaccine rollout — praised the governor on WCVB’s “On the Record” Sunday.

“Governor Baker deserves credit for making corrections along the way,” Healey said, while remaining mum on her gubernatorial intentions. “I want the governor to do well on Covid; I’ve wanted that from the beginning. And I am pleased to see where we’ve ended up.”

The Republican governor once deluged with criticism from across the political spectrum is now winning plaudits even from the nation’s top Democrat, President Joe Biden. That’s not exactly what Democrats thinking of taking Baker on — if he chooses to run again — want to see.

Members of the Bay State’s congressional delegation haven’t been as complimentary. They issued a rare rebuke of Baker earlier over the vaccine rollout and have now signed a letter urging him to equitably distribute federal aid to hard-hit communities — a reminder that Baker faces a long road to pandemic recovery filled with potential political potholes.

GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Hope you got some sun this weekend! Now it’s back to the classroom for most high-schoolers.

Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: lkashinsky@politico.com.

TODAY — State Sen. Diana DiZoglio, state Rep. Dylan Fernandes and business advocacy groups host a virtual rally on legislation to aid restaurants at 10 a.m. State Reps. Mike Connolly and Erika Uyterhoeven join Massachusetts Teachers Association President Merrie Najimy, Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Steve Tolman and others at noon outside the Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. Federal Building for a Tax Day rally for a budget to “put people & planet over profits.” Rep. Lori Trahan and state Rep. Tram Nguyen celebrate AAPI Heritage Month with a 1:30 p.m. tour of Asian-owned businesses in Andover with state Reps. Frank Moran and Christina Minicucci.

THE LATEST NUMBERS

– “Massachusetts coronavirus vaccine rollout: 3.2 million people fully vaccinated, 494 new virus cases,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: “More than 48,000 coronavirus vaccine doses were administered in Massachusetts during the most recent day of vaccination data, as more than 3.2 million people in the state are now fully vaccinated. State health officials on Sunday also reported five more virus deaths and 494 new cases, as the number of new infections in the Bay State continue trending downward.”

DATELINE BEACON HILL

– “Baker expected to update state reopening early this week, following CDC indoor mask changes,” by John Hilliard and Nick Stoico, Boston Globe: “With Governor Charlie Baker expected to update the state’s reopening plan this week — following a dramatic easing of national indoor mask guidance for fully vaccinated people — some local public health experts urged him to ensure that any changes will protect those who haven’t received a COVID-19 vaccine.”

– “Massachusetts senators seek to legalize sports betting in budget amendments,” by Erin Tiernan, Boston Herald: “State senators are making another play at passing sports betting legislation while also setting up a showdown over a controversial film tax credit with a slew of policy proposals included in the nearly 1,000 amendments filed alongside their $47.6 billion budget.”

– “Panel eyes fix for unemployment fund,” by Christian M. Wade, CNHI/Salem News: “A state fund that covers unemployment benefits is nearly $3 billion in the hole, and that's squeezing employers who fund the system. On Friday, a newly created legislative commission met virtually for the first time to begin addressing the massive deficit in the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, which has ballooned amid a crush of pandemic-fueled layoffs and business closures.”

– “Legislative conference committee advances bill to build new Holyoke Soldiers’ Home,” by Stephanie Barry, Springfield Republican: “A joint Legislative committee has advanced a bond bill pledging $400 million for a new Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, putting it one step closer to Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk .”

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES

– “New CDC Mask Guidance Creates Confusion in Mass. As Local Mandates Remain In Place,” by Craig LeMoult, GBH News: “While the CDC's Thursday announcement that vaccinated people can reduce their mask-wearing was a relief to many who are eager to show their smiles in public again, it's not yet the rule everywhere, and there's likely to be some confusion as Massachusetts transitions to a new normal.”

– “Why A Group Of Scientists Are Calling For An Investigation Into Origin Of Pandemic,” by Sharon Brody and Paul Connearney, WBUR: “Prominent local scientists are joining a group of international colleagues who are calling for a thorough investigation to determine the origin of the coronavirus pandemic.”

FROM THE HUB

Kim Janey’s move to oust Boston Police Commissioner Dennis White on Friday after releasing a report into domestic-violence allegations against the top cop has created a messy political situation for the acting mayor who’s trying to make her job title permanent.

The Boston Globe’s Andrew Ryan and Elizabeth Koh and the Boston Herald’s Sean Philip Cotter have the details of the report. WBUR’s Ally Jarmanning and Deborah Becker have more on White’s lawsuit. GBH News’ Saraya Wintersmith has the reaction from White’s daughter, Tiffany. A three-reporter team at NBC10 Boston details Janey’s plans for reform within the police department, including requiring background checks for all candidates for BPD leadership going forward.

A three-reporter team from the Globe has more on the political fallout, and the Globe’s Danny McDonald writes how the report’s release puts mayor-turned-Labor Secretary Marty Walsh back in the spotlight just as he’s adjusting to his new life in D.C. CommonWealth Magazine’s Michael Jonas wonders: “Why did Walsh look to cut short police commissioner probe?”

More Hub headlines:

– “Kim Janey’s senior staff continues Boston mayoral trend of large paychecks,” by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: “Heavy turnover in the mayor’s senior staff came around the time when Martin Walsh handed the city’s reins over to Kim Janey — but though the faces often changed, the hefty size of the paychecks did not.”

– “‘A wild ride.’ The rollercoaster of renting an apartment in Boston this spring,” by Tim Logan, Boston Globe: “Not so long ago, in the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, Boston-area renters had a rare advantage in their long-running struggle with landlords to find a good apartment they can afford. That time is ending.”

THE RACE FOR CITY HALL

– “Keller @ Large: Candidate Jon Santiago Says Boston Mayoral Race ‘Transcends Politics’” by Jon Keller, WBZ: “‘This race is really about the future of Boston,’ Santiago said. ‘I’m running right now to be this mayor at this crucial time. I think this moment transcends politics as usual. It’s going to require a leader and someone who’s committed to public service and getting things done.’”

PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

– “The latest problem on the new Orange Line cars? A thin piece of synthetic material about a foot long,” by Adam Vaccaro, Boston Globe: “Following a series of tests, the MBTA last week revealed that the undersides of the new trains are not turning properly as they accumulate more miles — an effect that officials now say played a key role in the March 16 derailment.”

DAY IN COURT

– “'What he wanted was money, what he wanted was power': How Jasiel Correia fell from grace,” by Dan Medeiros, Lynne Sullivan, Linda Murphy and Jon Root, Herald News: “‘If I'm doing something wrong, come and get me.’ Jasiel Correia II issued that challenge in a documentary chronicling his rise to power as mayor of Fall River. And the federal government did just that. A jury of Correia's peers, after four days of deliberations, found him guilty Friday of 21 of 24 federal counts of wire fraud, tax fraud, extortion and extortion conspiracy.”

– More: “Ex-mayor Correia found guilty of extortion, fraud; vows ‘the fight’s not over’” by Shaun Towne, Steph Machado, Eli Sherman and Sarah Guernelli, WPRI: “Correia faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, and his sentencing was scheduled for Sept. 20. He continued to be released on his existing bail in the meantime, with the addition of an ankle monitor. Correia defiantly maintained his innocence as he left the courthouse, saying he will be ‘vindicated’ on appeal.”

DATELINE D.C.

– FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition President and CEO Eva A. Millona joins the Biden-Harris administration as assistant secretary for partnership and engagement in the Department of Homeland Security. Millona said it’s “been the greatest honor” to lead MIRA for more than 12 years. Myran Parker-Brass will be acting CEO while MIRA looks for its next leader.

– Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey joined more than two dozen colleagues in calling for an “immediate ceasefire agreement” to prevent the further escalation of Israeli-Palestinian violence in a statement issued Sunday night. More: “Biden faces an angry rift in his own party over Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” by Zachary B. Wolf, CNN. “POLITICO Playbook: Biden under pressure to act, not mull,” by Tara Palmeri, POLITICO.

FROM THE DELEGATION

– “Reps. Trahan, McGovern rally in support of striking St. Vincent nurses,” by Aaron Curtis, Lowell Sun: “Days after St. Vincent Hospital announced plans to hire permanent nurses to replace those currently on strike, U.S. Reps. Lori Trahan and James McGovern appeared outside the facility in a sign of solidarity with the hundreds of picketing nurses.”

FROM THE 413

– “Roy Martin announces 10th run for mayor,” by Greta Jochem, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “NORTHAMPTON — When Roy Martin ran for mayor in 2017, it was his ninth — and at the time he said his last — run for the corner office at City Hall. But this spring, he took out nomination papers and has announced his 10th run for mayor, becoming the fifth person seeking the job. ‘I’m not retired from politics,’ Martin, 78, said with a laugh. This time around, he said, ‘I’ve got a different feeling. I’ve got a different outlook.’”

– “Amherst town councilors to hear call for reparations committee,” by Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “Groups that have been studying how to remedy racism toward Black residents, and researching racial injustice in Amherst over the town’s 212-year history, will call on the Town Council Monday to create a committee for providing reparations.”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

– “'It's just so tragic': Brockton boy was trying to rescue his cousin when both drowned,” by Mina Corpuz, Brockton Enterprise: “Community members gathered Sunday at D.W. Field Park to create a memorial for the two boys who drowned in Waldo Lake on Saturday evening.”

– “Boston area resident in Tel Aviv bomb shelter: ‘You don’t know when the next missile attack will come,’” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: “A Boston area resident visiting family in Israel is now staying in a community bomb shelter, as she says the last week has been ‘surreal’ and uncertain with people always on their toes, not knowing when the next rocket attack will start.”

– “Nahant Town Meeting deals blow to Northeastern’s marine center expansion plan,” by Laura Crimaldi, Boston Globe: “Opponents of Northeastern University’s plans to expand its Marine Science Center on coastal land in Nahant secured a key victory Saturday as Town Meeting voters decisively backed a plan to seize a portion of the property by eminent domain. The 647-271 vote gives the Board of Selectmen the power to initiate legal proceedings to take 12.5 acres of undeveloped land on East Point, a step that could potentially block the construction project, which was unveiled in 2018.”

– “Worcester police union heads: Review board would be redundant, costly, divisive,” by Brad Petrishen, Worcester Telegram & Gazette: “The heads of the city’s police unions Thursday said they do not believe a civilian review board is necessary, calling such a proposal costly and redundant in light of pending reforms. Sgt. Richard P. Cipro, head of the police officials union, and Daniel J. Gilbert, head of the officers union, said they also believed such a measure could be divisive to the community and unfair to police.”

– “Ahead of the 50th anniversary of Boston Pride, former volunteers double down on calls for board of directors to resign,” by Tanner Stening, MassLive.com: “This year marks the 50th anniversary of Boston Pride, whose annual pride parade has become the largest public event of its kind in New England. Not only is the annual celebration on hold due to the COVID pandemic, but a group of former volunteers who used to make up the majority of the Boston Pride Committee before resigning last summer, is doubling down on calls for the board of directors to resign amid what they say are longstanding concerns of institutional racism.”

– “House Speaker Mariano: Quincy College is worth saving,” by Mary Whitfill, Patriot Ledger: “House Speaker Ronald Mariano says city councilors' calls to stop supporting or move Quincy College to the state's community college system are misguided and short-sighted.”

SPOTTED – State Rep. Tackey Chan threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park on Sunday as the Red Sox honored the Asian Caucus as part of AAPI Heritage Month. State Reps. Maria Robinson, Tram Nguyen and Vanna Howard also took the field. Link.

MAZEL! – Former first daughter Malia Obama is among the 2021 Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize Winners for her submission entitled “Yellow Light” — supervised and nominated by Musa Syeed, per POLITICO Playbook.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY – to Ralph Neas and happy belated birthday to Boston Acting Mayor Kim Janey, who celebrated Sunday.

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