South Coast casino fears
By 
For years, South Coast politicians were the lonely voices in the gambling wilderness. Even when legislative leadership stood solidly against legalizing casinos in Massachusetts, politicians from the state’s southeastern region would reliably push the issue, arguing that the area was in desperate need of large-scale investment, and casinos were as good a bet as anything else. They flirted with the state’s two federally recognized Indian tribes, and they pushed casino legalization to no avail.
Now, however, as the state prepares to hand out three casino licenses, South Coast lawmakers are fearing that they’re about to be left behind by an industry they’ve spent years chasing.
Yesterday’s State House hearing on the recently-signed compact between the state and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe was dominated by concerns about the tribe’s ability to actually deliver on their planned Taunton casino. The tribe, which had previously chased casino deals in Middleborough and Fall River, must put its Taunton land into federal trust before it can open a tribal casino. However, a 2009 Supreme Court ruling held that the federal government can’t legally take land into trust for tribes that, like the Mashpee, were recognized after 1934.
The tribe and Gov. Deval Patrick’s office are now looking for ways around the Supreme Court. That’s of little comfort to South Coast lawmakers, who had initially opposed any carve-out for the Mashpee, and are now sandwiched between an inevitable-looking Caesars complex in East Boston, and a legally murky Mashpee casino in Taunton. Yesterday, New Bedford Rep. Robert Koczera said he feared the Mashpee casino could turn into a legal “Pandora’s box” that would keep the region out of the casino rush, and advocated for putting the Mashpee on a two-year land-in-trust clock. House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who ushered casinos through the Legislature, offered this lukewarm vote of confidence on the Mashpee: “How long a period of time the Indian tribe is going to be able to address this issue of the land in trust? Who knows?”
Cowan also argued that the tribal compact puts the South Coast first in line for a casino, ahead of commercial bidders. Of course, that take assumes the tribal development doesn’t run into any legal roadblocks.
–PAUL MCMORROW
BEACON HILL
House Speaker Robert DeLeo again denies that he’s a target in the ongoing federal probe of patronage at the Probation Department, after the Globe reported that prosecutors were probing whether DeLeo won the speakership by trading Probation jobs for votes. “I can tell you that any member who would testify there was any agreement that, if they voted for me, they’d get a job down the road in Probation is being untruthful,” DeLeo said yesterday.
Gov. Deval Patrick tells the Herald the paper is not entitled to the parking records of lawmakers. The newspaper has appealed the decision to Secretary of State William Galvin, who has been studying the issue for three months. Long delays on public records appeals are common, according to a story in CommonWealth.
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
The state Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of a Hingham man whose request to build a pier in the back of his oceanfront home was denied by the town’s Conservation Commission one day after the 21-day period required by law.
CASINOS
Springfield residents tussle over casino siting at a local hearing.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
The New York Times explores the close ties between Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and a financially struggling company that runs halfway houses.
ELECTION 2012
The Salem News analyzes the fundraising of US Rep. John Tierney and his Republican challenger Richard Tisei.
US Rep. William Keating is leading the field for the new 9th congressional district in fundraising with nearly four times as much cash on hand as his nearest competitor.
Both Mitt Romney and President Obama are raising significant amounts of money abroad. Obama has so far outraised Romney in donations from Americans living abroad, the Globe reports. The two candidates continue to throw wild punches at each other. Slate argues that, so far, the Obama campaign is winning ugly. Swing state voters show a sudden curiosity about Bain Capital. David Bernstein breaks down Romney’s missing Bain years for Al Sharpton. The Wall Street Journal wonders aloud about Obama’s chances with wealthy-ish suburban whites.
BlueMassGroup takes a victory lap for the Democrats’ widely ridiculed 2002 challenge to Mitt Romney’s residency, which turned out to provide the basis for some of the Globe’s recent reporting on when Romney left Bain.
The Obama campaign ham-handedly lifts a pro-government riff from Elizabeth Warren.
Speculation continues to run rampant about Romney’s possible running mate. The Globe focuses on Bobby Jindal.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Union-only contracts: Good policy or good politics? The Eagle-Tribune answers the question.
Google’s Marissa Meyer, pregnant with her first child, is named CEO of Yahoo, Dealbook reports.
Advertising on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter isn’t giving retailers the return on their dollars that business hope.
Lobsters are being caught in abundance this season, driving prices down and making it difficult for fishermen to make money, the Globe reports.
Writing in the Globe, Paul McMorrow argues for making parking garages less valuable through better mass transit, allowing them to then be torn down and redeveloped.
EDUCATION
Two new innovation schools are being proposed for the embattled New Bedford school system.
HEALTH CARE
Massachusetts General Hospital took the top spot in U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking of the nation’s top hospitals. Brigham and Women’s Hospital also made it into the top 10, ranked 9th overall.
Massachusetts becomes the last state to legalize drug coupons, but only for certain types of drugs, WBUR’s Commonhealth blog reports.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
Sen. Fred Berry, in a Salem News op-ed, supports special legislation for converting the coal-fired Salem power plant to natural gas.
Twelve of 14 protesters arrested in May at the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth refused an offer from the judge to have their cases dropped if they paid a $100 fine.
Alec Baldwin runs into opposition to his plans to place a 120-foot wind turbine at his Hamptons home.
In the latest edition of Animal Kingdom, there is a 12-foot python on the loose in Plymouth, an apparent escaped housepet.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
The Berkshire Eagle hails a Supreme Judicial Court decision that will require criminal defendants to prove that they cannot afford an attorney before they receive a court-appointed lawyer.
MEDIA
Buffalo News Editor Margaret Sullivan is named public editor of the New York Times.
The Banyan Project, a venture started by a former New York Times editor and others, is eyeing Haverhill as the site of one of its online news cooperatives.
Former SJC Chief Justice Margaret Marshall talks about the court’s historic gay marriage decision, her life under apartheid, and her retirement on Greater Boston.
Rep. Alice Peisch, a Wellesley Democrat, proposes a shield law for journalists.