Josh Kraft's Sisyphean task

It’s only July. Bostonians haven’t even figured out how to watch the Sox on the glitch-plagued NESN 360 app, let alone focusing on local politics.

But if the results of the latest Boston Globe/Suffolk University mayoral poll hold up, it won’t be long before Josh Kraft will be answering to a new nickname – Sisyphus.

When Michelle Wu’s critics say “she’s no Menino,” that can mean a variety of things. But her landslide 60-30% margin over Kraft is definitely Meninoesque. While not quite the horse-whipping the late mayor administered to hapless challengers in 2001 and 2005, it would top Menino’s 57-42% spread over Michael Flaherty in 2009.

If you were an outside observer mistaking the moaning of business executives and right-wing commentators for the pulse of the city’s electorate, you might have trouble comprehending what expert pollster Dave Paleologos found.

Wu’s favorability (66%) and job-approval (64%) are sky-high. Housing is by far the top issue on voters’ minds, and they overwhelmingly prefer Wu’s prescriptions – rent control, using city funds to jump-start stalled projects, tweaking zoning laws to allow more density – to the developers’ call for a rollback of affordable housing quotas and green energy requirements.

Wu critics cast her as the inept evil queen presiding over an urban hellscape of discarded needles in playgrounds and homeless addicts defecating on the sidewalk, all compounding the misery of an onerous cost of living. Boston has its problems, no doubt. But crime barely registered in the Globe/Suffolk poll, and a majority rated the city somewhat or very affordable.

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9:00 | Energy Facilities Siting Board holds a public meeting about implementing the 2024 clean energy law, which included energy and siting permitting reforms. The board is slated to hear staff presentations on draft regulations and guidance. | 1 South Station, Third Floor, Boston

12:00 | On the first day of hearings in Harvard University's lawsuit against the Trump administration, alumni, students, faculty and elected officials rally to express their support for the institution. | Moakley Federal Courthouse, 1 Courthouse Way, Boston

1:00 | The Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets holds a hearing on the Transportation Committee's rewrite of Gov. Maura Healey's Chapter 90 local road and bridge funding bill.  | State House, Room B-1

BALLOT CAMPAIGN ACCUSATIONS: Two former employees of the unsuccessful 2024 ballot committee to legalize psychedelics are asking state campaign finance regulators to investigate potential violations of campaign finance law. – Boston Globe

POLITICAL THEATER: A pilot program awarding up to $7 million per year in tax credits for live theater productions launched last week. The pilot was created through the economic development bill Gov. Maura Healey signed into law last November. – Boston Business Journal

FIRE SAFETY PLANS: Following the deadly fire in Fall River, the state’s Executive Office of Aging and Independence, which regulates assisted living centers, plans to launch a fire and life safety initiative on Monday. The state’s 273 facilities will have to issue safety plan letters, and return a compliance survey. – State House News Service

TOURISM TRAILS: State Sen. Dylan Fernandes, who represents Plymouth and part of the Cape, said tourism is down significantly amid concerns about federal immigration policies and tariffs. – WCVB

MBTA PAYROLL: More than 100 MBTA employees made more than $100,000 in overtime on top of their base pay in 2024, and the agency is on track to arrive at a similar figure this year. – Boston Herald

‘SHAKY START’: Cambridge officials have signed off on allowing multifamily housing, up to four and six stories tall, in the city, but historical protection regulations could put a damper on the push for more development.  – Banker & Tradesman

NOT DEAD IN DORCHESTER: Humor writer Dave Barry jousts with Google AI after it declares him dead, having mixed him up with a Boston-area political activist who died in 2015 and was honored in the Dorchester Reporter. – Substack

FIGHTING ANTISEMITISM: In Foxborough, 30 people working for New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft are taking a “Moneyball” approach to tracking and combating antisemitism. – Wall Street Journal

Norfolk County sheriff talks rehab in Mass. prisons, weighs in on Karen Read case impact

Mass. delegation divided over new federal crypto rules

Boston judge delays sentencing for former city councilor in corruption case

Should MA schools start later? Bill would push high school start to 9

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Executive Director, Metropolitan Area Planning Council

Regional Assistant, Senator Ed Markey

Assistant Town Attorney- Land Use and Litigation, Town of Barnstable

Director of Human Services, City of Newton

Manager of Police Information Technology, City of Newton

MTF Mid-Career Fellow, Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation

Regional Director, Greater Boston, Office of Senator Elizabeth Warren

Policy and Strategy Specialist, Boston Public Health Commission

Digital Communications Associate, Conservation Law Foundation

Senior Government Relations Specialist – City/Civic Relations, Boston Children’s Hospital

Senior Proposal Manager, GZA Geoenvironmental

Regional Operations Coordinator, MA Commission on the Status of Women

Research Specialist, MA Commission on the Status of Women

Vice President, Policy & Government Relations, United Way of Massachusetts Bay

Planning Director, Town of Easton

Transportation Engineer, City of Newton

Senior Director of Offshore Wind, Environmental League of Massachusetts

Senior Human Resources Generalist, City of Newton

Administrative and Operations Coordinator, Health Equity Compact

Paralegal, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General

Deputy Division Chief, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General