He didn’t get mentioned until the fourteenth paragraph of a very speculative story in the New York Times about who the Democrats might run for president in 2020, but that was enough for the Boston Globe to spin out a front-page story on Tuesday suggesting US Rep. Seth Moulton may be in the hunt for the White House.
It’s all way, way, way premature, but interesting nonetheless. The Times characterized the Democratic field 101 days into President Trump’s tenure as split between the oldies (Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren) and the newbies (Sens. Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, and Kamala Harris and Mayors Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles and Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans.)
And then there’s Moulton. He’s 39, a combat veteran, and someone who seems very comfortable in his own skin. Sure, he can dish on Trump with the best of the Democrats, but what sets him apart is his willingness to embrace even long-shot policies and strategies if he thinks they make sense. Even more impressive, he’s interested in local issues. How long has it been since a member of the Massachusetts congressional delegation took any interest in a controversial local policy issue?
Consider the rail link between North and South Stations. It was an idea dying on the vine when former governors Michael Dukakis and Bill Weld rescued it from oblivion. Their intervention led Moulton to investigate, and he concluded they were right. Moulton says it makes sense to build an underground connection between the two stations rather than buy up land around South Station to build more tracks and holding pens for idle trains. Give him a few minutes (listen to our recent Codcast with him), and you’ll come away intrigued.
–BRUCE MOHL
BEACON HILL
Gov. Charlie Baker says he doesn’t think Massachusetts should become a sanctuary state. He says decisions about police involvement with federal immigration enforcement are best made at the local level. (MassLive)
House Speaker Robert DeLeo floated the idea of an oversight board for the state’s new marijuana industry somewhat like the panel regulating casinos, with appointments made by various state officials. (Boston Globe)
Baker and DeLeo both express reservations about a proposal supported by the Massachusetts Medical Society to open clinics where drug users could inject illegal drugs under medical monitoring. (Boston Globe)
The state received no bids on its offer of 5½ acres of real estate in downtown Boston, with developers saying the $167 million minimum bid was too high given the complications of the parcel, including a requirement to rebuild a steam plant on the site. (Boston Globe)
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Wish we could say this was pulled from the 1970 archives: Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones says he was targeted by racist taunts at Fenway Park last night and a fan was ejected for throwing a bag of peanuts at him. (USA Today)
Fire and police officials are becoming town meeting members in Billerica to block a measure that would remove the chiefs of the fire and police departments. (Lowell Sun)
The movie Manchester by the Sea is coming to Amazon Prime, and the company is whipping up publicity by giving every Manchester resident a free, one-year subscription and popcorn. (Gloucester Times)
Brewster Town Meeting voters approved a proposal to petition the Legislature to allow the town to tax private home owners who rent their properties the same as hotels, motels, and bed and breakfast accommodations. (Cape Cod Times)
Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia will once again move to sever the city’s ties with the private Fall River Office of Economic Development, with whom he has a contentious relationship. (Herald News)
WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
A Herald editorial is aghast at President Trump’s “kissing up to tyrants.” Former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson writes that Trump’s 100-day speech to a Pennsylvania rally may have been the most hate-filled presidential speech in modern history. (Washington Post)
Keller@Large travels to Billerica, one of the state’s towns that voted for Trump, to see what people there think about the president after 100 days and the answer is the same. Those who voted for him would do it again, those who voted against feel vindicated.
The spending bill agreed to by Republicans and Democrats to keep the government running saves coal miners health care and Planned Parenthood funding but no money for Trump priorities such as the border wall and smaller increases for defense than he requested. (U.S. News & World Report)
Trump seems to have very distant relationship with basic facts concerning the US Civil War. (New York Times)
Joan Vennochi says Moulton and Rep. Joe Kennedy are vying to be seen as the lead up-and-comer in the state’s congressional delegation. (Boston Globe)
A federal judge in Houston rules Harris County’s cash bail system is unconstitutional because it locks away indigent people facing minor offenses simply because they don’t have enough cash. (Governing)
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
A wholesaler in Stoughton that shut down last month is being sued by a local Teamsters union for violating federal law that requires companies with 100 or more employees to give 60 days notice to workers if they plan to close or have widespread layoffs. (The Enterprise)
HEALTH/HEALTH CARE
Cuts and closures of abortion clinics by Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, who calls himself “unapologetically pro-life,” could lead to the state becoming the first in the nation without access to legal abortion. (New York Times)
EDUCATION
School officials in Abington and the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District sent alerts to parents cautioning them about children’s viewing of the controversial Netflix show 13 Reasons, which focuses on teen suicide. (The Enterprise)
Tests of the water supply in more than 1,000 Massachusetts schools show a majority with at least one sample with high lead levels. (Boston Globe)
The Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University lets its accreditation lapse, calling the application process flawed and not useful. (Chicago Tribune)
TRANSPORTATION
The MBTA is seeing a spike in the number of on-the-job injuries reported by transportation operators. (CommonWealth)
James Aloisi offers some lessons from the collapse of Bridj. (CommonWealth) The Globe reports that the company folded because a deal collapsed for Toyota make a big investment in the venture.
The MBTA is going to miss its capital spending mark this year. (CommonWealth)
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
Massachusetts utilities unveiled the RFP for the nation’s first major offshore wind installations, and indicated in a footnote that a Rhode Island utility and the state of Connecticut could get in on the act. (CommonWealth)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS
Tina Chery, whose 15-year-old son Louis D. Brown was shot and killed in Dorchester in 1993 as he walked to an anti-violence meeting, sits down with her son’s killer to explain why she forgives the man whose gun robbed her of her boy. (Greater Boston)
Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian is working with a client who alleges he was sexually abused by four Marist brothers at Central Catholic High School in the 1960s. The school is already being rocked by allegations of impropriety by two administrators and a teacher at the school. (Lowell Sun)
The Bristol district attorney’s office filed a motion to oppose any move to vacate Aaron Hernandez’s 2013 murder conviction following his suicide. (Boston Herald)
A talk show host on South Shore’s WATD-FM was sentenced to two years in jail with five months to serve after being convicted of possession of child pornography. (Patriot Ledger)
MEDIA
Lowell Sun columnist Peter Lucas blames the Boston Globe for the unwarranted prosecution of former Probation commissioner John O’Brien.
PASSINGS
Kathryn White, the widow of Boston mayor Kevin White, who was herself the daughter of a family steeped in Boston politics, died yesterday in her Beacon Hill home. She was 82. (Boston Globe)