State lawmakers’ last-minute push to let the liquor flow more freely for a roughly two-month stint this summer passed with (relative) speed this week. But don’t raise a glass to extended hours at bars across the state just yet.
Cities and towns still have to opt into the program that would allow bars to stay open as late as 3 a.m. and make way for municipalities to create “outdoor drinking zones” where World Cup fans (or anyone else) can imbibe outdoors.
But getting that done before the temporary law expires on July 31? That’s where the proposal hits a sobering reality.
“If the intention was to help small or independent businesses, the timing of this did no one any favors,” said Greg Reibman, president of the Charles River Regional Chamber, which represents businesses around Newton, Needham, Watertown, and other communities. “Generally speaking, there’s a long process that involves public notice and public hearings, and in many cities and towns, licensing boards don’t meet every week.”
But — serendipitously or because of advanced planning — several municipalities are already moving into position to tweak their laws this week.
Licensing boards in Worcester and Methuen plan to take up the measure Thursday, local officials said. Cambridge officials are looking to advance the proposal Wednesday, and in Somerville, city officials had already moved to allow restaurants and bars to stay open later.
“We’ll be able to do this pretty quickly,” said Cambridge Vice Mayor Burhan Azeem. “We’ve been preparing for a while.”
Getting the new policy in place quickly “definitely is doable,” said Methuen Mayor D.J. Beauregard. But getting new outdoor drinking zones up and running — just for them to close by August — is likely “beyond us right now.”
Not all municipalities have been quite as eager. While Brookline’s select board plans to vote on whether to opt into the pilot program at a meeting Tuesday, the town’s focus for World Cup prep has been “more event-oriented,” said Brookline Town Administrator Chas Carey. “There hasn’t been a lot of conversation about, ‘Are we going to keep the bars open?’”
The same goes for Lynn. “We have been in conversation with the business community about whether there is interest, and that’s still something the business are thinking through,” said Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson.
But, he said, the city has other plans, pointing to a watch party his office is hosting in collaboration with the Essex County District Attorney’s Office for the match between Haiti and Brazil on June 19.
There’s another player that poses a potential hurdle to making this happen: bar owners and staff themselves.
The law gives establishments the option to seek to stay open later, but many operators — particularly outside the state’s larger cities — aren’t clamoring for extra hours. Some owners and bartenders have also raised concerns about longer shifts and staffing challenges.
“At this time, it appears that the restaurants I have spoken with are happy with their current closing times,” said Lowell city manager Tom Golden, though he added the city would consider adjustments if opinions changed.
That is, in the next 51 days.
Thanks to Samantha J. Gross for the assist on today’s report.
DEMOCRATS NEIGHBORS FOR MINOGUE: In new ad, she’s a Democrat backing GOP gubernatorial hopeful Mike Minogue. Left unsaid: She’s also his neighbor. by Chris Van Buskirk, The Boston Globe: Michael Minogue, a Republican candidate for governor, did not look far for someone to be the face of his new “Democrats for Minogue” advertisement. Identified as “Jeanni,” a woman featured in a television ad Minogue’s campaign released Tuesday touting his bipartisan appeal is also the candidate’s direct neighbor and married to the chief operating officer of the biotechnology company Minogue ran for more than 18 years.
In the 30-second advertisement, Jeannine Hicks, a registered Democrat, describes Minogue as an “excellent family man” and a “servant leader.” But the spot did not detail her connections to the GOP’s endorsed candidate, whom records show also sold Hicks and her husband a chunk of land from his lakeside property in their South Hamilton neighborhood.
MAINE MAKES IT OFFICIAL: Platner wins Democratic Senate nomination in Maine by Sam Brodey, The Boston Globe: Graham Platner, the combat veteran and oyster farmer virtually unknown outside this corner of Maine a year ago, officially clinched the Democratic nomination in the state’s U.S. Senate primary election on Tuesday night, according to the Associated Press. After Governor Janet Mills suspended her Senate campaign in April, Platner faced only minimal opposition. But with his campaign rocked by damaging allegations in recent weeks — and with some Maine Democrats still withholding their support despite him being the presumptive nominee — his final margin of victory will be revealing as a test of his political resilience.
The Globe’s James Pindell’s take: Platner’s campaign is now headed for a kind of political limbo. Welcome to the Platner Purgatory Summer.
CHRIS FLANAGAN LATEST, via the Globe’s Chris Van Buskirk: State Representative Chris Flanagan hit another legal setback this week as he fights federal charges that he stole thousands of dollars from a former employer.
A federal judge rejected an effort by the Dennis Port Democrat to toss a charge that he submitted falsified expense reports to state campaign finance officials in an attempt to mask the true source of cash he funneled into his campaign account.
Flanagan’s defense lawyer argued that the federal government had no jurisdiction over the matter because the allegation stems from documents Flanagan is accused of submitting to the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued that the United States Postal Inspectors Service had authority to investigate the matter. Judge Denise J. Casper ruled that at least at this stage in the case, his “conduct was within the jurisdiction” of federal officials.
Flanagan’s case is advancing toward trial, though a date has not been set.
Flanagan won’t be on the September primary ballot after failing to pull reelection papers by a late April deadline. Two other Democrats have announced campaigns for the House seat.
SIGNS IT’S AN ELECTION YEAR: Happy hour comeback? Healey, once wary of idea, says she supports local option for discounted drinks. by Samantha J. Gross, The Boston Globe: Governor Maura Healey said on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” on Tuesday that she “personally” supports happy hour, which allows for discounted prices on alcoholic drinks, but has been illegal in Massachusetts for decades. When asked if she could ever see happy hour making a return, she framed the idea as part of her “competitiveness” pitch to attract and retain more people in the state. It’s a change of tune from just two years ago, when she sounded less sure about the idea.
POWER DOWN: Two-week pause of Canadian hydropower exposes frailty of Mass. plan to wean off natural gas by Jordan Wolman, CommonWealth Beacon: The New England Clean Energy Connect project (NECEC), a 145-mile transmission line bringing hydropower from Canada into Massachusetts, was completed in January after a decade-long topsy-turvy political and legal process. Yet the project had not delivered any power into New England for two weeks before it flickered back to life on Tuesday, according to data from ISO New England, the regional grid operator.
PAGE TURNER: Mass. House readies vote on bill aimed at curbing book bans in libraries by Anjali Huynh, The Boston Globe: Massachusetts House lawmakers are scheduled to vote Wednesday on a bill that would standardize how books are added and removed from Massachusetts school libraries and prevent librarians from facing penalties for doing so.
Also on the House agenda, per the State House News Service: A bill to address workplace and public safety risks of hot works like welding, and a piece of a supplemental budget bill that Healey filed in April.
House lawmakers kept a version of the emergency shelter system changes Healey initially attached to the $227.3 million spending bill, but tossed most of her other policy riders including a proposal to allow hunting on Sundays and a provision that would restrict access to Massachusetts birth records, death certificates, and marriage notices.
FREE WHEELING: Boston, MBTA say fare-free bus program will now run through at least the end of 2026 by Niki Griswold and Chris Van Buskirk, The Boston Globe: Three MBTA bus routes will remain free to ride through the end of the year, Mayor Michelle Wu and the MBTA announced Tuesday, just weeks before the fare-free pilot program was again set to run out of funding. Spokespeople for the Wu administration and the transit agency, however, did not immediately make clear Tuesday how much the program’s temporary extension would cost.
LATE FEES: Boston school bus vendor hit with nearly $70K fine for late April buses by Suevon Lee, WBUR: Boston Public Schools’ bus vendor Transdev was fined nearly $70,000 for significantly late or no-show buses in April, marking the second month in a row the private contractor had to fork over a penalty for stranding students.
Backers of $4 billion data center want more time; city wants more answers by Jim Kinney, The Springfield Republican.
Easthampton voters approve $6.9M override by 237 votes on Tuesday by Sam Ferland, Daily Hampshire Gazette.
Cape Cod–Boston commuter rail plan moves closer to reality by Susan Vaughn, Cape Cod Times
Skeptical Brockton councilors grill superintendent over budget request by Jacob Posner, The Brockton Enterprise.
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This newsletter was edited and produced by Matt Stout and produced by Diamond Naga Siu.
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Kelly Garrity can be reached at kelly.garrity@globe.com.