Advertisement
Boston's Morning Newsletter
What we know about the SJC nominating process
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
You can officially start booking your summer Nantucket ferry trips today at 8 a.m. — for real this time, after the Steamship Authority had some technical difficulties last month. (Martha’s Vineyard ferry tickets go on sale same time next Wednesday.)
But first, a quick cruise through today’s news:
Gov. Maura Healey’s second nominee to Massachusetts’ highest court has proved to be a controversial one in some circles. Healey announced yesterday that she has picked Appeals Court Judge Gabrielle Wolohojian to fill the newly open seat on the Supreme Judicial Court. By all measures, Wolohojian looks like a very qualified nominee. Where it gets sticky is that she also happens to be Healey’s former longtime partner. (The two lived together in Charlestown, before separating several years ago.) As WBUR’s Deborah Becker and Walter Wuthmann report, that past relationship has raised questions about conflicts of interest, even as Healey defends the process.
- What we know about the process: Candidates for SJC seats put themselves forward by filling out a detailed application. Then, a special nominating committee interviews candidates to decide whose name will be sent to the governor for consideration. According to Healey’s office, a five-member committee screened candidates — and unanimously selected Wolohojian.
- What we don’t know: Was Wolohojian the only name submitted to Healey? Or did she pick from a list? Healey declined to say when asked that question by reporters yesterday at the State House. Rather, she stressed Wolohojian had the “unanimous and unqualified support” of the nominating committee.
- What’s next: Wolohojian’s nomination needs approval from the Governor’s Council, where there appears to be mixed views. Councilor Tara Jacobs told New England Public Media the pick could be a conflict of interest, since the SJC regularly hears cases related to the governor’s policies. However, others say it’s not an issue. “She’s extremely qualified. I don’t think she should be punished for her prior relationship with the governor,” Councilor Terrence Kennedy told Deb. Read more of the (mostly supportive) reactions from legal experts in Deb and Walt’s story.
Supermarket scuffles: Medway schools are asking parents to help stop a string of recent disruptive behavior by their kids. According to school leaders, over 100 middle schoolers head to the nearby Shaw’s supermarket after school and ride in carriages and electric carts, knock over displays, build forts out of paper towels, and steal.
- In an email to parents earlier this week, Medway Middle School principal Amanda Luizzi said the loitering and bad behavior is especially prevalent during half-day Wednesdays, The Boston Globe reports. While the grocery store has not yet banned the students, local police have been notified.
On the trading block: The NBA trade deadline is this afternoon, but the Celtics are not ones to procrastinate. Yesterday, the team sent Lamar Stevens and two second-round draft picks to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for 25-year-old big man Xavier Tillman.
- Why’d they make the trade? Tillman is a defensive-minded forward (kinda like Charlie Baker back in the day). So, he’ll give the Celtics front court a little depth behind (the relatively fragile) Kristaps Porzingis and (the relatively old) Al Horford.
Brockton hospital will reopen this spring, after being forced to close by a nine-alarm fire last winter. Parent company Signature Healthcare announced the news yesterday on the first anniversary of the fire, which destroyed most of the hospital’s electrical wiring.
Hobo no-go: Pour one out for Somerville residents who won’t have a new Lord Hobo location around the corner after all. The Woburn-based brewery had been planning to open a new taproom at the former ONCE Lounge and Ballroom on Highland Avenue for the past two years. But CEO Simon Thorpe told the Globe that those plans for Somerville are canceled in order “to focus on the continued development of Seaport and Woburn locations.”
P.S.— General admission tickets are still available for tonight’s CitySpace talk with former NPR host Michele Norris. She’ll also be signing copies of her new book after the show. Join us!
