Results tagged “devalpatrick”

• Marine Capt. Kyle Van De Giesen's funeral was held today in North Attleboro. He was killed in Afghanistan on October 26. [WCVB]

• A Plainville man is stationed at Fort Hood, where an Army major allegedly killed 13 people on Thursday in a shooting spree. [Attleboro Sun Chronicle]

While Boston voted for Mayor Tom Menino again, cities and towns around Massachusetts voted incumbents out and elected a diverse array of new leaders. [Boston Globe] With thousands of auxiliary ballots left to count, City Council and School Committee candidates in Cambridge won't have official results until at least the end of the day Wednesday. [Cambridge Chronicle] A Georgetown woman wants the Bay State to require insurers to cover children’s hearing aids. [Boston Herald]

Okay, we might be exaggerating a little, but this sentence from the independent review of the MBTA that was released yesterday caught our attention:

In a personal letter to Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian, Governor Deval Patrick issued an ultimatum yesterday: Rehire the housekeepers you fired in August from Boston's Hyatt hotels or stop doing business with the state of Massachusetts. Hyatt fired housekeeping staff from its Boston locations on August 31 and replaced it with outsourced, contract labor. In his letter, Patrick called the move "the worst nightmare of every worker in today’s weak economy." [More]

WBZTV reports that the Massachusetts Senate has passed the bill that would allow the governor to appoint an interim U.S. Senator to fill the seat left vacant by Ted Kennedy's death. It was a close vote, 24-16. Governor Deval Patrick is expected to sign it into law tomorrow. But will he appoint army tank and public transportation fanatic Michael Dukakis to the seat? Does he have any other, good choices?

Furthering our theory that nobody really cares about rider opinion and the T's administration is just a bunch of political play, Deval Patrick has canceled the rest of the MBTA public workshops that were scheduled to debate the fare increase. With supposed fare-hike-promoter Dan Grabauskas out of the picture, and any increases off the table until after a financial review of the T, there wasn't much point to the hearings, anyway. It might be a nice gesture if the MBTA at least pretended to listen to riders, but we suppose the agency is just being honest about its lack of concern for its users.

This weekend, Zoo New England let it slip that it might have to euthanize tons of animals because of state budget cuts. But guess what? They were completely lying. According to Steve Feldman, a spokesperson for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, "It’s not part of modern zoological practice, except in very rare instances, to use euthanasia as a population management tool." Zoo New England has since issued a statement to clarify: It has "no plans...to euthanize any animals."

Patrick signed the bill/ Our booze gets a big new tax/ Trips to New Hampshire

We, like the majority of Massachusetts residents, support universal health care in the Commonwealth, but the current system is badly flawed. And we need to figure out a way to fix it without screwing our most financially vulnerable neighbors.

• The NYTCo seeks to put the deal-rejecting Globe up for sale. [Globe]
• The topless coffee shop in Maine that burned down is back in business--in a tent, with clothed workers. Not quite as much fun? [Herald]
• Deval Patrick is selling his Milton mansion and moving to Boston. [WCVB]

David Plouffe, Barack Obama’s campaign manager in 2008, has joined Gov. Deval Patrick's reelection campaign as a consultant, the Boston Globe reported today. Plouffe's status is an obvious reminder of Patrick's friendship with President Obama. The Globe said this suggests the President will campaign for Patrick. Bostonist wants to know if Plouffe will bring the teleprompter.

The MBTA unveiled a new budget for 2010 this morning that cuts wages by $130 million, effectively eliminating 1,200 of its 6,000 jobs, reports WBUR. (No estimate was given regarding the percentage of bad drivers who would be among the layoffs.)

The state Senate has approved a 25% sales tax increase, bringing the rate from 5% to 6.5%. The increase is expected to raise over $600 million, which will be used to provide services, including public transportation, for needy residents. The revenue Governor Deval Patrick has said he would veto the increase if it's not accompanied by additional unspecified measures. Opponents say the higher tax will discourage residents from spending money and delay recession recovery.

Governor/First BFF Deval Patrick is in Washington, D.C. today as President Barack Obama rolls out new fuel and emission standards. Obama plans for these new standards, which include requiring cars and light trucks to get 35 miles per gallon, to be in practice by 2016. Of course, there is a big bunch of media speculation that Patrick is really there to discuss the looming Supreme Court opening that the President will have to fill.

People love celebrity gossip. Admit it, you want to know if Tom Brady's sperm struck again. Apparently, cops in the Bay State are no different. According to state Auditor Joseph DeNucci, law enforcement personnel in Massachusetts often access the state's criminal records systems for personal information, including driving histories, car ownership and Social Security numbers, on famous people. Brady's personal records in the Criminal Offender Record Information system (CORI) were searched 968 times. Other celebrities, including Matt Damon, James Taylor, Paul Pierce and Red Sox owner John Henry, have been searched, too.

Can't be bothered to read the reasons why Governor Deval Patrick plans to veto Robert DeLeo's proposed sales tax increase? Let his mellifluous voice do the reading for you. Patrick's YouTube account posted this video today to clearly delineate the governor's opposition to the sales tax increase. No retaliation has been forthcoming from the less Web-savvy corners of Beacon Hill, but how long can Patrick post these things before his videos become parody fodder for the Israel Defense Forces?

Governor Deval Patrick took the legislature's slogan, "Reform Before Revenue," and flipped it when he threatened to veto any legislation that incorporated Speaker Robert DeLeo's proposed 25% sales tax hike. The tax, which would provide $275 million additional revenue for transportation agencies, was proposed in response to Patrick's request for a 19% gas tax hike and significant reforms in transportation agencies. Patrick's tax would have provided twice as much revenue for the agencies. In his letter to the legislature, Patrick claimed that DeLeo's tax plan was unfocused and accused both the House and the Senate of neglecting to enact crucial ethics and pension reforms that Patrick thinks are the prerequisite for any tax increase. [Globe]

In part due to gas tax anger and folks bristling over his appointments of personal friends like Marian Walsh, Deval Patrick's approval ratings are heading to the toilet. If a gubernatorial (love that word!) election were held today, 35% would vote for Tim Cahill (though the state treasurer hasn't even officially declared a campaign) and 30% for Patrick. These numbers are from a poll conducted by Suffolk University, which also found that 47% of respondents felt it was time for a glowing new governor. Patrick's approval is pretty split, with 43% assessing him unfavorably and 44% favorably. The Phoenix is mostly okay with Patrick's policy, but criticizes his political skills (or lack thereof), particularly his willingness to snub the media.

Joan Venocchi's column appears on the Opinion/Editorial page in today's Globe. Why does it read, in parts, like a favorable book review for the book that Governor Deval Patrick hasn't even written yet? Deval Patrick comes across as a hero facing a horde of villains, most of them Republican.

-- Bostonist again barely misses Time's "Top 25 Blogs" list. [Time]

Does approving and building casinos guarantee new revenue? No. Ask Rhode Island.

Deval Patrick has a plan. He wants to get rid of the Turnpike Authority (yay!) and increase the gas tax (boo!), which hasn't been raised in nearly 20 years. Globe and Herald commenters are up in arms about the gas tax increase, which will take away a few dollars a week from their apparently near-empty pockets. These are the people who kept driving when gas was $4/gallon, and are now complaining that it might be $2.20. Make sense to you?

There is not a person among us who has not endured a rant about how SUV owners should pay an extra tax for the damage that their gas-guzzling, road wrecking, child endangering, shameful monstrosity of a vehicle does to the rest of us. Some of us might have even been the perpetrators of such a rant. But could the idea actually come to pass?

Deval Patrick wrote an op-ed in the Globe yesterday about reforming Massachusetts transportation. He advocated consolidation and system-wide planning, and emphasized multi-modal transportation. Proposing an elimination of the Turnpike Authority, Patrick outlined a plan to turn over roads that go to Logan and the South Boston Seaport (including Mass Pike east of route 128) to Massport, while the Highway Department would take over the turnpike west of 128. Tolls will be eliminated on the western pike as well, as these funds cannot be used to fund the Big Dig. Other tolls will be implemented to help pay for construction and upkeep. In general, Patrick's plan focused on tolls and roads, not the T.