By Lauren Dezenski ([email protected]; @laurendezenski)
WELCOME BACK AND HAPPY MONDAY. Let’s get started on this (probably) sleepy last week of summer before things swing back into action next week.
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Will this be the week of Elizabeth Warren? As long as you don’t hold your breath on an announcement about a second Senate term. The senior senator continues her recess in the Bay State with an appearance on WCVB’s “On the Record” over the weekend (highlights recapped below). On Tuesday, Warren and Attorney General Maura Healey team up for a discussion on student loan debt relief. Wednesday, Warren sits down with Josh Miller of the Boston Globe. She’ll be in Brockton on Thursday to cut the ribbon on the new Brockton neighborhood health center.
Warren took to the airwaves yesterday and weighed in on a few things while name-dropping vegetarians…
— RE-ELECTION? “It’s a little early to talk about that. I haven’t even hit the halfway mark.”
— IRAN DEAL: “At the end of the day, I do think the deal is going through. I will be supporting it.”
— STUDENT LOAN DEBT: Warren: “We need to use the leverage of federal government to bring down the cost of college. We’ve put the bill forward now really three times. And every time the Republicans have filibustered, blocked it.”
— Janet Wu: “What makes you optimistic that you have any more leverage this september than you did in the last two or three years?”
— Warren: “Go talk to the American people. … Republicans, Democrats, independents, libertarians, vegetarians – they want to see us bring down the interest rate on student loans. Who is stopping it? The Republicans who sit in the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives.”
— PAPAL VISIT +1: “I’ve already been turned down. I asked my oldest grandchild but she can’t miss school.”
Full interview here: http://bit.ly/1EvcxmB
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EYE ON 2016 — “Campaign ads will have Mass. appeal: $18M in local spots already booked for 2016,” by Erin Smith and Jack Encarnacao, Boston Herald: “Presidential candidates and super PACs have already booked more than $18 million worth of ad time on local television through next year — just the start of a more than $300 million presidential bonanza for area TV stations. … With ad buys variously targeting women, men and both older and younger demographics, the campaigns and PACs could make 2016 the most moneyed campaign season ever. But it could also be the last big presidential election of the TV age, before the Internet starts cutting deeply into broadcast ad revenues.” http://bit.ly/1FbjHHq
DATELINE CAPE COD — PORTMANTEAU ALERT: “‘Guntry club’ planned for Hyannis,” by Geoff Spillane, Cape Cod Times: “An indoor shooting range being touted by its developers as unique to New England is being planned for Hyannis and is expected to open this winter.” http://bit.ly/1Un95fI
THE HOME TEAM — Did the Sox win? No! They lost to the New York Mets yesterday 5-4. http://foxs.pt/1UheQki
TRAIN SPOTTING — “Pollack finds self on other side in Green Line extension debate,” by Stephanie Ebbert, Boston Globe: “The official giving voice to the worst-case scenario — that the state might have to abandon a project anticipated for decades — was none other than Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack, a longtime transit advocate who for years had pressured officials to uphold their commitments to such transit improvements.” http://bit.ly/1LNodn9
— CHUGGING ALONG: “Small but significant progress made this weekend on South Coast Rail,” by Steve Urbon, New Bedford Standard-Times: “These grade crossings and bridge projects are a deliberate strategy of getting the state to gradually make such an investment in the rail line that there will be no turning back. … ‘Everybody keeps talking about the rail project while we’ve been making steady improvements on the rail,’ [Department of Public Infrastructure Commissioner Ron Labelle] said. ‘We want it so they can’t back away from it.’”
REAL ESTATE — “Red flags follow commercial real estate lending’s fast rise,” by Deirdre Fernandes, Boston Globe: “Industry officials say the competition for deals is so fierce that many banks are relaxing lending standards, allowing developers to put up far less of their money to get financing. Many banks also are waiving standard protections such as requiring developers to personally guarantee loan amounts beyond the value of the property. … ‘There’s nothing looming that says there’s a catastrophe,’ said Darryl Fess, senior vice president for commercial real estate at Brookline Bancorp Inc., ‘but there are warnings.’” http://bit.ly/1LNgfus
HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES? — “Growers see strong apple-picking season in New England,” by Bob Salsberg, Associated Press: “According to the U.S. Apple Association, the six-state harvest is expected to be about 14 percent higher than last year’s and 18 percent above the region’s five-year average. The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service forecasts the total New England apple production will come in at just under 170 million pounds this year.” http://bit.ly/1KxF0JB
PAHK THA CAH — “What it’s like to have a Massachusetts license plate on a cross-country road trip,” by Madeline Bilis, Boston Magazine: “When you’re the lone Massachusetts plate for many miles in a state like Oklahoma, people notice.” http://bit.ly/1JvYnk2
DATELINE MERRIMACK VALLEY — “Business tax breaks more often miss than hit,” by Grant Welker, Lowell Sun: “The results, according to a Sun review of Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, deals, have been mixed. … Some deals work out well, such as the HB Software Solutions building or IBM’s campus in Littleton. But for each victory, several more deals don’t pan out.” http://bit.ly/1JGiopg
GLOBE ON AIRBNB: YES, BUT — “Airbnb should be encouraged, and regulated,” by the Boston Globe Editorial Board: “Massachusetts — a hotbed of innovation — should encourage businesses like Airbnb. But no company, no matter how cool or novel, should operate outside of basic regulations that ensure consumer safeguards.” http://bit.ly/1KWysQm
TODAY IN TOM BRADY — “Court date today for Tom Brady, NFL,” by Bob McGovern, Jack Encarnacao, Boston Herald: “Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will meet today in a New York federal courthouse to either talk settlement or put the fate of the Deflategate saga in the hands of a judge.” http://bit.ly/1KWHrRx
— PROBABLY A GOOD IDEA — “Tom Brady sketch artist practicing for ‘Deflategate’ hearing,” CBS Boston http://bit.ly/1Kndobl (video)
HAMPDEN COUNTY PRELIM MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS TIP SHEET — by Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics and Insight: “Preliminary Day in Chicopee (Ward 1 only), Springfield and West Springfield is Tuesday September 8 2015. … Preliminary Day in Holyoke is Tuesday September 22, 2015.” http://bit.ly/1KxQ6ye
TAKE THAT, PUTIN — “Hub firm aims to wean Ukraine off Russian gas,” by Jordan Graham, Boston Herald: “The association plans to build 20 factories across the country that would make biofuel pellets made from a crop called miscanthus. Each factory would be surrounded by 10,000 acres of farmland for the crops. Miscanthus, which is similar to corn, would be harvested, dried and compressed to make pellets that can be burned for fuel. Miscanthus is widely regarded as one of the best crops to make biofuels with, Robertson said, but it initially will have to be brought into the country.” http://bit.ly/1Un5YEw
MERRY ALLSTON CHRISTMAS — “Housing inspectors sweep through student enclaves,” by Milton J. Valencia and Jan Ransom, Boston Globe: “Students have begun arriving in Boston’s college neighborhoods, and so have the inspectors in orange vests. … About 50 inspectors with the city’s Inspectional Services Department joined transportation, code enforcement, public works, and neighborhood development workers Sunday, in an annual public ritual of inspecting apartments during the city’s biggest moving week of the year.” http://bit.ly/1FbwAkL
MEANWHILE, IN RHODE ISLAND — “Ted Nesi’s Saturday Morning Post,” by Ted Nesi, WPRI: “Change of plans: that Aug. 31 Hillary Clinton fundraiser in Newport featuring Congressman Joe Kennedy III and hosted by Clay Pell and Michelle Kwan is now being held at Wyndham, the Newport mansion bought by former Alex + Ani CEO Giovanni Feroce last year for $6.8 million. It’s a somewhat surprising venue, considering back in 1992 Feroce was the Republican candidate for Rhode Island lieutenant governor. (He lost to Bob Weygand.) Feroce also donated thousands of dollars to GOP candidates Allan Fung, Catherine Taylor and Dawson Hodgson during the 2014 election cycle.” http://bit.ly/1MX3V9B
MAZEL! — Happy birthday to Meghan Barr, senior editor at Boston.com and an AP alum.
ATTENDANCE CHECK — “Many Boston councilors attend few hearings: Attendance poor among some who seek pay increase,” by Andrew Ryan, Boston Globe: “Council President Bill Linehan, who has been the public face of the battle for six-figure salaries, attended 15 percent of hearings, the fewest of anyone on the 13-member body.” http://bit.ly/1N3OcHf
WOOD WAR — Herald: “BRACE FOR TV AD BLITZ! Prez rivals, PACs to spend record amount on race,” “Woman’s plea after very close encounter: SPARE THE BEAR” — Globe: “Record spotty in council hearings,” “Recusal call clouds Sampson case,” “A close eye on student apartments,” “The deal and zeal of Pokemon,” “Pollack finds self on other side in Green Line Extension debate,” “Real estate lending’s pace raises flags.”
DATELINE BERKSHIRES — OUTTA THIS WORLD: “Monument to UFO visit unveiled in Sheffield,” by Phil Demers, Berkshire Eagle: “First affirmation as a historical event came by an adjacent town’s historical society in February, and now a 1969 UFO siting in Sheffield is again affirmed with a 5,000-pound granite monument paid for by witnesses. … Around 40 people gathered on Wednesday to view the new monument, located near Sheffield Bridge on North Main Street. Among them was Thomas Reed of Kentucky, the former resident who says he and his younger brother saw a UFOs here in 1966, 1967 and again in 1969.” …
— ‘It’s a good spot, about 300 yards away from where we saw it,’ Reed said of the monument’s placement. http://bit.ly/1KWBW5t
SPOTTED — Bear, the escaped water buffalo, in Westminster (he was subsequently captured) http://bit.ly/1FbnLHJ
IMMA LET YOU FINISH BUT GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS THE GREATEST PRESIDENT WITH FAKE TEETH OF ALL TIME — “Kanye West: I’m running for president in 2020,” by Hadas Gold, POLITICO: “Kanye West says he’s running for president. … In a rambling, emotional and at times bizarre award acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night, the rapper, producer and fashion designer said that in 2020 he will run for president. … It was not immediately clear if he was serious.” http://politi.co/1hNH8Sr
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