New Turnpike tolls are coming
By 
All-electronic tolling launches on the Massachusetts Turnpike in October. Are you ready?
The folks at Masslive are all over this story. They’ve created a catalogue of stories on the new system and we can give you the highlights.
How does it work? The 32 toll plazas at the entrances and exits of the Turnpike will be taken down and replaced by 16 gantries spanning the highway at various intervals. Riders with transponders will see no difference, although they won’t need to slow down as they go under the gantries. For those without transponders, the gantries will take a picture of their license plate and mail them a bill.
How much will the tolls cost? A consultant is working up toll rates that are expected to be unveiled next month, but an end-to-end run on the Turnpike is expected to cost about the same. Individual costs may vary depending on where you get on and off relative to where the gantries are located. Parts of the Turnpike near Worcester and Springfield have stretches where no toll will be collected so you can get on and off without paying anything.
So what’s the advantage? The gantries should speed up driving times on the Turnpike and reduce noise and pollution as waiting time is eliminated at toll booths. The new gantries are also a great way to test a system that could be added relatively easily to other roads.
Do the gantries gather other information? They track how fast vehicles are going, but state officials say that information won’t be used to ticket speeders.Sensors in the ground work in tandem with the gantries to gauge the speed of vehicles so a picture of a car’s license plate can be taken at exactly the right time.
What happens to the old tollbooths? Most will be scrapped, but Maine is interested in buying some parts for backup with its toll system.
BRUCE MOHL
BEACON HILL
Gov. Charlie Baker and Daniel Bennett, his secretary of public safety, raise concerns about how Attorney General Maura Healey is applying her copycat assault weapons directive. (State House News) At the Democratic National Convention, Healey says her gun initiative is working. (State House News)
Two newspaper town: A Herald editorial welcomes Gov. Charlie Baker’s flip-flop on the Airbnb tax, while a Globe editorial suggests the governor should flip again and go back to his original position in support of the tax.
A desperate search for a 7-year-old boy who went missing from a city-run day camp in South Boston ends in tragedy as the child drowned. (Boston Globe)
An abutter’s suit against a proposed $40 million private dormitory in Lowell is settled when the developer agrees to redesign a few aspects of the project and make a $1 million contribution to Massachusetts General Hospital. (Lowell Sun)
Dennis residents were divided on a home for homeless vets on town-owned land, but the Board of Selectmen pushes ahead with the project. (Cape Cod Times)
A good old-fashioned shaming: The Herald News of Fall River publishes the names of taxpayers who owe the city more than $1 million.
WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
Attorney General Maura Healey refuses to comply with a congressional subpoena seeking records from an investigation into whether Exxon Mobil misled the public on climate change. (Boston Globe)
ELECTIONS
The Democrats make Hillary Clinton a historic nominee. (New York Times) The Globe’s Shirley Leung says you don’t have to be a Hillary supporter to appreciate the significance of her candidacy. Maureen Dowd’s take: Bill Clinton pours on the estrogen. (New York Times) Meryl Streep brings down the house. (The Daily Beast) Kevin Peterson and Darnell Williams call Michelle Obama the prophet of family values. (CommonWealth)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren didn’t give her greatest speech at the DNC on Monday night, but the Boston Globe suggests she’s got bigger problems — her standing with the left wing of the party may be shaky.
US spy agency consensus emerges that Russia hacked the DNC. (New York Times)
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Boston’s LogMeIn is merging with Citrix in a $1.8 billion deal that will triple the company’s size. (Boston Globe)
EDUCATION
No public school district in Massachusetts has grown faster than ….Everett. Can you believe it? (Boston Business Journal)
With school set to start soon, Fall River goes hunting for candidates to fill 111 vacant teaching positions. (Herald News)
TRANSPORTATION
The number of MBTA workers eligible to take unscheduled, unpaid days off under the Family and Medical Leave Act is down 20 percent since last year. (Boston Herald)
The Conservation Law Foundation challenges the T’s cancellation of late-night service. (Boston Globe)
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
The state Department of Public Utilities launches an investigation into alleged improper communications between Eversource and a DPU official regarding an Eversource bid to tap its customers to finance a new natural gas pipeline. (CommonWealth)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS
Hampden County Sheriff Mike Ashe Jr. says data indicate the recidivism of inmates in his jails is 33.5 percent, which he says is the lowest of any urban county jail in the country. (Masslive)
A state trooper from Boxboro is charged with rape and stalking, but his attorney says a vindictive ex-girlfriend is making false claims. (Lowell Sun)
Boston Police have used a cellphone tracking device 11 times over the past 7 years without obtaining a search warrant, but it’s unclear whether each instance was permissible under existing law. (Boston Globe)
The Boston Globe is sued by the delivery company it dumped. (Boston Business Journal)