The City Council voted 11-2 today for a resolution, sponsored by Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson (Roxbury) calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of humanitarian aid for the region, the release of Israelis held hostage by Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza. Read more.
Politics
The state Ethics Commission today fined Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden $5,000 for the way the DA's press office released a statement that basically accused his opponent of sexually assaulting a girl when the two were in high school. Read more.
NBC Boston reports Boston Police move in around 2 a.m. and dragged out students protesting the situation in Gaza and tents from Boylston Place. Emerson canceled classes for today. Some video.
Meanwhile, Harvard students are in their second day of an encampment in Harvard Yard. The school is barring non-Harvard people from the Yard.
CommonWealth Beacon introduces us to Ian Cain of Quincy, who today formally announced his bid to win the Republican nomination to take on incumbent Elizabeth Warren this November. He's running against (so far), cryptolawyer John Deaton.
The Dorchester Reporter reports that after all 16 members of the Boston Landmarks Commission - which has oversight over demolition of any Boston building more than 50 years old - criticized Wu's handling of several major projects in the city, she fired its executive director, Rosanne Foley. Foley was appointed to the post by then Mayor Walsh in 2015.
CommonWealth Beacon takes a look at the new Boston Policy Institute, whose donors it won't reveal - unlike the older, more staid and currently leaderless Boston Municipal Research Bureau. The group's organizers say they have to keep their donors secret to avoid retribution from City Hall.
The Lexington Observer reports on the protest by - and arrests of - members of Extinction Rebellion Boston.
Earlier this week, City Councilor Erin Murphy (at large) introduced a resolution calling for a hiring freeze at city agencies due to potentially choppy fiscal waters about to hit the city, but withdrew it before it could come up for a discussion or vote at yesterday's weekly council meeting. Read more.
The City Council yesterday formally recognized Eid Al-Fitr, the end of the Muslim sacred month of Ramadan - after Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson (Roxbury), who is Muslim, gave an impassioned plea on behalf of the people of Gaza. Read more.
The Boston City Council today officially honored the city's four state-championship teams with proclamations - and pizza: Charlestown High School, whose boys basketball team won the Division 3 state championship, New Mission High School, whose boys basketball team won the Division 5 championship, the Josiah Quincy Upper School's girls wrestling team brought home medals in Division 2 and Boston Latin School, whose hockey team won the Division 2 championship. Read more.
Politico reports (scroll way down for "Yahd Signs and Bumpah Stickahs") that current City Councilor Erin Murphy on Saturday announced endorsements by nine labor unions for her bid to get elected clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County - in a press release that showed the logos of 49 labor unions and groups, at least one of which says, no, it's not endorsing her this time around. Read more.
A UHub correspondent reports he was on the outbound Red Line platform at Charles/MGH around 6:15 p.m: Read more.
Mayor Wu said today she will seek state legislation that would let the city tax owners of commercial and industrial property at a higher rate for four years, should official assessments being conducted this year show a precipitous drop in the assessed value of downtown office space in particular due to work shifts caused by the pandemic. Read more.
City councilors voted unanimously today to support the trans community in Boston and across the country on Sunday's Transgender Day of Visibility. Read more.
The other night, state Rep. Sam Montaño (D-15th Suffolk) hosted a meeting at English High School to talk about how to consider Boston Medical Center's plans to turn Shattuck Hospital into a large recovery center possibly featuring several hundred housing units in addition to a rebuilt hospital building. Read more.
The City Council voted 11-2 today to seek permission from the state legislature to change the date on which councilors and the mayor are inaugurated following an election from "the first Monday" in January to "the first weekday after the second day in January." Read more.