Keller: Kelly Ayotte’s ICE detention fiasco

Mass General Brigham’s partnership with the YMCA of Greater Boston and the City of Boston is expanding access to fresh, healthy food for families. The Greater Boston Collaborative Food Access Hub serves an average of 20,000 residents monthly, distributing more than 1.7 million pounds of food. It recovers food that would have otherwise gone to waste, supporting both community health and environmental sustainability.

In surfing lingo, it’s called a “point break” – a perfect wave that breaks so consistently it provides the surfer with a long, easy ride.

New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte’s point break has been Massachusetts-bashing. You know the drill – Massachusetts is a hellscape of insane far-left policymaking, overrun with crime and unchecked illegal immigration, an economic and social wasteland that serves as “a cautionary tale” for others. “Don’t Mass It Up” was her campaign slogan, and it seemed to work just fine, as it has in the past for other shallow, cynical New Hampshire pols.

Whenever Ayotte steps in something, she reaches for her political security blankie. But her latest grab for the comfort of New Hampshire's inferiority complex doesn’t seem to be working so well.

Ayotte was humiliated earlier this month when she had to find out from the ACLU that ICE plans to buy and convert a 43-acre warehouse site in Merrimack into part of its planned network of concentration…er, “detention centers” for immigrants swept up in its crusade to meet insane Trump administration deportation quotas. That scheme had been disclosed in late December in a leak from the Department of Homeland Security, but Ayotte admits when she asked DHS and the White House about it, they blew her off.

Interesting.

Perhaps there is still Trump world animus toward Ayotte over the days when she denounced him as a sexist pig over his infamous 2016 Access Hollywood remarks. If so, all of her self-abasement since to make up for it has been for naught.

Maybe, after two presidential election losses and repeated defeats of Trump-endorsed congressional candidates, the president has given up on New Hampshire. That wouldn’t bode well for Ayotte’s re-election bid and GOP hopes of winning the Senate seat being vacated by Jeanne Shaheen.

Or could the disrespect of Ayotte and New Hampshire demonstrated in the Merrimack fiasco simply reflect the administration’s rank incompetence?

Massachusetts has led on clean energy, and we can’t afford to fall behind. Staying on track with planned solar and storage expansion will deliver major customer savings, reduce dependence on expensive gas, and boost grid reliability — with 44% of the benefits coming during winter. See the latest data.

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......Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency and activated the Massachusetts National Guard ahead of the severe winter storm hitting New England. House and Senate are closed. Karen Spilka’s office said Senate employees should not report to the State House on Monday.  Staff who can work remotely should do so following their regular work schedule……

10:00 | The Cannabis Control Commission holds a fully-remote regulatory hearing on extending the exclusive availability of certain license types to Economic Empowerment applicants and Social Equity Program participants for another three years. The change applies to licenses for marijuana couriers, marijuana delivery operators and microbusinesses with delivery endorsements. | More Info and Access

POWER OUTAGES: State officials say they expect “significant” power outages during the winter storm, and cautioned it may take days before power is restored. Utility workers have set up crews on the Cape and the Islands, as well as other areas expected to be hit hard by the storm. As of 7 a.m., a Mass. Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) map showed 114,000 people were without power. The map indicated the power is out for significant numbers of people in Scituate, Orleans and Provincetown, as well as Essex on the North Shore. – State House News Service

AUDIT DRAMA LATEST: Attorney General Andrea Campbell asked the Supreme Judicial Court to throw out the lawsuit filed by Auditor Diana DiZoglio. Campbell said DiZoglio is bypassing “settled law” in trying to hire her own attorney to force the House and Senate to agree to the audit approved by voters in 2024. DiZoglio took to social media to say Campbell has “chosen a side” in representing House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka in seeking to dismiss her case. – WBUR

SWITCHING AGENCIES: Kevin Scanlon, the top lawyer at the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, has left for the general counsel job at the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. His departure from MCCA comes as state lawmakers scrutinize the exit of the convention center authority’s CEO. – Boston Business Journal

FIREFIGHTER PENSIONS: Senators approved legislation that would allow certain firefighters to move between departments without affecting the calculation of their retirement pensions. – MassLive

NO WALK IN THE PARK: Gov. Maura Healey’s budget proposal, which would cut funding for state parks and seasonal employees, is drawing criticism from Berkshire County, with some saying the cuts could endanger the regional economy. – Berkshire Eagle

SNAP SHOT: Haywood Talcove, CEO of data analytics company LexisNexis, says Massachusetts ranks in the top five of the “worst states in fraud detection and in payment error rate for SNAP.” – Boston Herald

Join us for Keller @ Large LIVE in conversation with House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka on Wednesday, February 25, at the MCLE. Register!

WU BACKS MARKEY: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu endorsed U.S. Sen. Ed Markey for reelection. Markey has backed both of Wu’s runs for mayor. – Boston Globe

MOULTON ON ICE: Rep. Seth Moulton says the main issue he’s pressing in the Democratic primary against U.S. Rep. Ed Markey is the abolishment of ICE. – New Bedford Light

FARE-FREE BUSES: Three MBTA bus routes will remain fare free through June but the future of the program, which started with one route in 2021 and quickly expanded to three, remains unclear. The city of Boston pays the T $340,000 per month for making the routes free. – GBH News

TRANSFER TAX: Barnstable County’s Assembly of Delegates signed off on sending a petition to the Legislature that would allow its towns to enact a transfer tax on home sales over $1 million. The narrowly approved petition has drawn criticism from the losing side, which says it disagrees that the proposal is a solution to the housing crisis. – Boston Herald

BUTTERFLY EFFECT: An “industrial accident” in Brazil has led to the layoffs of more than 70 people in Massachusetts, “green” steel company Boston Metal told state officials. The cleantech company missed a milestone as a result of the accident, which affected a financial deal that was pending. – Boston Business Journal

CAMBRIDGE PLAN: A Denver-based developer has released a master plan for a longtime industrial neighborhood in Cambridge, close to the MBTA’s Alewife Station. – Banker & Tradesman

Going to war with Iran is ‘stupid,’ Rep. McGovern says

Maine weighs moratorium on data centers

Job cuts at Pru observation deck

The Boston lawyer challenging Rep. Stephen Lynch

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