Scott Brown, back for seconds

AARP thanks legislators for passing a budget that invests in older residents, supports the Commonwealth’s 780,000 family caregivers, and helps more people save for retirement through Secure Choice. We urge Governor Healey to sign it. For more information, visit aarp.org/ma.

Want to run for the U.S. Senate? Bring your wallet, a fat one preferred. A political base and some name recognition would be helpful. And above all, you’d better have a clear idea of what you want the race to be about, and the will to impose your vision.

Scott Brown — the former Massachusetts senator who made sure that no politician will ever again refuse to press voter flesh out in the cold — checks most of those boxes as he launches his second try at election to the Senate from New Hampshire. “I’m older, I’m grayer, I’m a little bit heavier, a little bit more thin in the hair,” he said during an interview last week, the Zoom screen revealing a buff 66-year-old who could pose for a Truth Cosmo centerfold if he wanted to. “Aside from the physical attributes, I also have four amazing grandchildren, and I care very deeply about the direction of our country.”

To Brown, that means mounting debt and deficit, over regulation, and the right wing’s favorite bloody shirt, “men and boys in women’s and girls’ sports.” But for someone ostensibly focused on the future, Brown sure talks a lot about the past, mentioning Joe Biden four times in a ten-minute conversation and larding his announcement video with grainy images of Biden chatting up his likely opponent, Congressman Chris Pappas.

He may have good reason to focus on the past instead of the present. According to a late-May UNH Survey Center poll, voters are just as wary of Donald Trump in New Hampshire as they are across the country, with 55% disapproval of his job performance, 57% among the all-important independents and an eyebrow-raising 68% among women. In another UNH poll last week that featured generally positive results for Gov. Kelly Ayotte, only three percent of those who approved of her cited her support for Trump as the key reason; 22% of Ayotte voters said that’s the main reason they don’t approve.

Meanwhile, that most-recent survey found Brown deep underwater, just 12% favorable and 38% unfavorable. Among conservatives, it’s an anemic 23/17% fav/unfav split.

That last number won’t improve if Brown tries to distance himself from Trump; just ask Ayotte, who used to shun Trump but would now break her nose if he stopped in his tracks. And Pappas, like every Democratic candidate in states where Trump is unpopular, made it clear in an interview he intends to dress Brown in a Trump-style fat suit by election day, calling him “a full-throated supporter of Donald Trump…"

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10:00 | Mass. Gaming Commission meets with an agenda that calls for votes on the agency's FY26 budget and a potential civil penalty against Caesars Sportsbook over noncompliance with knowledge-based authentication requirements | Agenda

10:00 | Joint Committee on Health Care Financing holds two public hearings focused on matters tied to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and MassHealth, first dealing with children and individuals with disabilities, then with senior enrollees | Gardner Auditorium

HOW WILL PITTSFIELD COMBAT HOMELESSESS? Following Pittsfield Mayor Peter Marchetti's proposed ordinance that would ban people from sleeping or creating temporary shelters on public property in the city, there's a discussion happening amongst business owners, housing advocates and community leaders about what would be the best way to help address homelessness in Pittsfield. Marchetti has said he's open to modifying his proposal, but that business owners have threatened to close their businesses if he doesn't address people sleeping in their doorways.

At a packed, nearly three-hour meeting Monday night, the Pittsfield Ordinances and Rules Committee requested Marchetti make several amendments to his proposal, after hearing from 34 different speakers, the majority of which were opposed to the proposed ordinance. — Berkshire Eagle

HOTEL SHELTERS SHUTTERED: The Healey administration has closed all but four hotel shelters, two dozen of which have all been closed in June. Families have been, or are planning to be, transferred through the state's HomeBASE program, which provides families in the system who are eligible with up to $30,000 over two years for rental assistance. Some families, however, are worried they might not be able to find places to live by the time every shelter closes at the end of July. — GBH

HOUSING REPLACING MAURICE'S: Decades-old Maurice's Campground in South Wellfleet is on its way to becoming mixed-income housing, bringing to fruition one option that emerged when the town bought the property in 2022 for $6.5 million. The 21.5 acre parcel lies between Route 6 and the Cape Cod Trail. The goal is for the site to eventually comprise 250 homes, including housing for about 80 seasonal workers. — Cape Cod Times

WU, THE INTROVERT? A sit-down with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu about her job, her thoughts on super PACs, her background in politics and how she consumes media. — CommonWealth Beacon

TRUMP ADMIN SAYS HARVARD VIOLATED CIVIL RIGHTS LAW: The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Civil Rights Monday officially accused Harvard of violating the civil rights of Jewish and Israeli students by tolerating a campus environment that was hostile toward them. 

Harvard was warned in a letter to make "adequate changes" or face a loss of federal funding. Separately, the university's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, its largest collection of professors, in a survey conducted by the main student newspaper overwhelmingly supported Harvard's refusal to bend to Trump administration demands. — Harvard Crimson

BOSTON ACCUSED OF TAX GRAB: The Pioneer Public Interest Law Center asserted in a letter to the state Department of Revenue that the city “is unlawfully retaliating against commercial real estate owners who seek to challenge their tax assessments.” The city says it has been following the law. Boston has struggled recently because the valuations of commercial properties in many cases are falling while tax rates are unchanged. — Boston Business Journal

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Something was wrong. The due date for their twins was still months away. Twenty-six weeks was far too soon. With emotions and fear running high, Molly and Maddy Needham were born weighing less than two pounds, and it wasn’t until day seven that their parents were able to hold their daughters for the first time — READ MORE

$800M TO WIGGLE: Lawmakers quietly built themselves an about $800 million cushion in their fiscal 2026 budget. The amount was left budgeted but not spent as a result of uncertainty about federal actions and economic trends. 

NO DMH CASEWORKER PROTECTIONS: Budget writers did not explicitly protect Department of Mental Health caseworkers from major layoffs — a cut in workforce from 340 to 170 employees — proposed in the governor's January budget. DMH will have to submit monthly reports to lawmakers about case management positions and caseloads, as well as submit a report at least 90 days before changing its care model for case management. 

MASSHEALTH SPENDING DOWN: The Legislature included about $330 million less in MassHealth spending than either branch proposed initially, though MassHealth is still the single largest area of spending in the agreement. 

THE FUTURE OF COOLEY DICKINSON: The relatively new president and COO of Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, Kevin Whitney, talks about recruitment, new hospital offerings, like a new academic affiliation with Quinnipiac University, an emergency department expansion, and its relaunched shuttle to Mass General Brigham hospitals in Boston. — Daily Hampshire Gazette

POTENTIAL WASTE COLLECTION STRIKE: Teamsters Local 25 is in contract negotiations with Republic Services, and their agreement was set to expire Monday. The union says without a “fair” agreement, there will be “major service disruptions in waste collection” in 17 communities, as its members are “strike ready.” Workers are asking for increased wages, health care benefits and paid time off.

KOWLOON TURNING 75: Kowloon Restaurant on Route 1 North in Saugus is planning a gala bash to celebrate its 75th birthday. Originally called the Mandarin House when it was launched in 1950, the restaurant was acquired by Madeline and Bill Wong in 1958. The Wong family still owns it and scheduled the party for Aug. 20, which is set to include a concert by the band “Starship” of Jefferson Starship fame. Proceeds will go to the Joe Fund for cystic fibrosis. — ItemLive

Eric Convey contributed to this edition.

As foreign students reconsider coming to Boston, local businesses prepare for fallout

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