New England Public Radio

Sam Hudzik

Massachusetts Settles Dispute With Kinder Morgan Over Pipeline Proposal

Massachusetts has agreed to a $640,000 settlement from Kinder Morgan to allow the company to run a pipeline through conservation land in Berkshire County on its way from New York to Connecticut.

The money will be spent on “mitigation and improvements” in the Otis State Forest and also to buy more conservation land in the area.

Katy Eiseman of the Massachusetts Pipeline Awareness Network said Thursday that she’s disappointed, but not surprised by the settlement. But she said groups like hers will keep fighting.

“That is now where people have to turn — is to the non-governmental organizations — if the state is not gong to protect the protected land,” she said.

Eiseman said opponents continue to object to the pipeline based on water quality concerns, and the disruption of stone walls important to Native American tribes.

Still, the settlement effectively ends the argument over Article 97 of the Massachusetts Constitution, which says conservation land can only be disrupted with legislative consent.

A judge previously ruled that federal regulators’ approval of the pipeline took precedence over the state constitution.

While Attorney General Maura Healey’s office said Thursday that it will not appeal that decision, it insists the settlement sets a high bar to prioritize conservation in the state.

Four Of Six New England States Raising Minimum Wage For 2017

The minimum wage next month is increasing in four of the six New England states.

Massachusetts’ 2017 rate of $11 an hour puts it in a tie for top statewide rate in the country, along with Washington state.

Not far behind are Connecticut, with a new rate of $10.10 an hour, and Vermont, at $10.

Rhode Island holds steady in the new year at $9.60, while Maine will see the largest increase in the region. On Jan. 7, its minimum wage will rise $1.50, up to $9 an hour, triggered by a ballot question voters approved in November.

That leaves New Hampshire well behind. It’s the only New England state that follows the federal rate of $7.25 an hour.

New Hampshire State Representative Ed Butler is a Democrat and a small business owner. He previously opposed a minimum wage hike he said was too fast and too steep. But he supports a gradual increase.

“I am hoping that we can slowly raise the minimum wage to participate in the competition regionally, but also just to improve the lives and the earning power of people who are at the lower end of the wage-earning spectrum,” he said Monday.

New Hampshire’s incoming governor, Republican Chris Sununu, said during the campaign he opposes establishing a state minimum wage.

New Leadership At Springfield City Council

The Springfield City Council will soon have a new leader.

In an informal vote earlier this month, councilors chose Orlando Ramos for the post. Unless there are any surprises, it’ll become official during the first meeting of the year, on Jan. 2, 2017.

State Sen. James Welch “will be administering the oath of office,” Ramos said. “He’ll be swearing me in.”

Welch is also Ramos’ boss at his day job. He’s director of the senator’s Springfield office. The meeting will feature another VIP, too:

“My daughter…who’s 12 years old, will be leading the Pledge of allegiance,” Ramos said.

Ramos is 34 years old and has been on the council since 2014, the last couple years as vice-president.

The presidency comes with quite a few more responsibilities, but only an  extra $500 in annual pay.

He said he plans to reorganize the legislative body — adding two new committees — though he won’t yet say what they are.

Among his top priorities as president, he said, is ensuring that more city workers live in the city.

“Going to continue to advocate for residency in all collective bargaining agreements, and continue to advocate for residency for all newly hired employees in the city of Springfield,” Ramos said.

Residency has been a main rift between the council and Mayor Domenic Sarno — with the council overriding a mayoral veto of an ordinance earlier this year.

Ramos succeeds Mike Fenton, who served three one-year terms as City Council president and did not seek the post again but remains on the council.

 

It’s Official: Mass. Lawmakers Won’t Delay Start Of Marijuana Legalization

Possession of small amounts of marijuana is now sure to become legal in Massachusetts this Thursday. That’s after legislative leaders made it clear on Monday that they will not pass legislation delaying the start of the new law.

Last week, House Speaker Bob DeLeo and Senate President Stan Rosenberg said they were considering delaying parts of the marijuana law, which voters approved in November.

The first part takes effect December 15th, when Massachusetts residents over 21 will be able to possess up to an ounce of marijuana in public, and up to ten ounces plus a half-dozen plants at home.

DeLeo and Rosenberg said the start date would be difficult to delay, but left themselves some wiggle room.

No longer. In a joint statement, DeLeo and Rosenberg said they “fully intend to respect the will of the voters.” They said they won’t make any changes to the December 15th effective date.

 

 

 

Neal And McGovern Want Hampshire College To Raise Flag

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday tweeted that there should be consequences if someone burns the American flag.

That message followed the burning of a flag earlier this month at Hampshire College. The school later decided to stop flying the flag for an unspecified period of time.

Several hundred protesters gathered near Hampshire’s campus in Amherst on Sunday to call for the flag’s return. A day later, congressmen Richie Neal and Jim McGovern — both Democrats — joined that call.

In a statement, McGovern said he shares the concerns of many after the election. But he added, “The decision to not fly the American flag is hurtful to many in our community and I hope this policy is reconsidered.”

Congressman Neal said Hampshire should fly the flag while debating the country’s challenges.

“In my opinion, the Hampshire College community can have a genuine conversation about our future while respecting the American flag in the process,” Neal said in a statement.

A college spokesperson had no direct response to Neal or McGovern’s statements.

Hampshire’s president, Jonathan Lash, has said the flag’s removal was not meant as a political comment, but instead to enable a campus discussion of values, and address discriminatory rhetoric and behavior.

Meanwhile, McGovern made clear his position on Hampshire’s flag does not mean he believes there should be punishment for flag burning, which the Supreme Court has ruled is protected as free speech.

Barrier-Breaking Journalist Gwen Ifill, A Onetime Springfield Resident, Dies

Journalist Gwen Ifill, a co-host of the PBS NewsHour, died Monday of cancer. She was 61.

NPR: Gwen Ifill, Host Of ‘Washington Week’ And ‘PBS NewsHour,’ Dies

Ifill was born in New York, but her father’s work as a pastor led the family to Springfield in the early 1970s.

Ifill occasionally returned to the area, and was awarded honorary degrees in 2005 from Smith College and 2007 from Bay Path, where she listed the things she loves about graduation ceremonies.

“The students who’ve finished the last exam. The faculty who love you dearly but are glad to see the back of you,” Ifill told the crowd. “And it’s good to be back in Longmeadow, a familiar stomping ground for me, at least a little bit over.”

Ifill went to the former Classical High School in Springfield — and was in choir and on the debate team, according to an article in the old Union-News, and would run to Friendly’s with her brother after school for a milkshake.

She attended Simmons College in Boston and went on to break racial and gender barriers in journalism.