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A Peaceful Transition but More Work To Do

Pace LaVia

While Democrats are rejoicing at President Trump’s defeat at the hands of Joe Biden, not everyone is happy with Biden’s seeming lack of concern for the wishes of the more progressive wing of the party. 

While former Senator John Kerry has been named Biden’s “Climate Czar,” it seems that presidential primary runner-ups Senator Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders — both progressive Democrats — are being passed over for cabinet seats, the rationale being that their influence is more highly necessitated in the U.S. Senate. While that might be true, it’s still a huge disappointment to Warren and Sanders supporters. 

Meanwhile, the new wave of Covid-19 cases threatens to set the state back even farther than the first. Witness a massive drop in holiday travelers and the slow but inevitable decay of shopping malls in the state. 

Although malls were already on the skids as a result of the rise of online shopping, it seems that the pandemic has nailed the lid on the coffin not only for many of the state’s small businesses but also national brick-and-mortar retailers. Ironically, mall-killer Amazon.com is now taking over many of these shopping ghost towns and turning them into distribution and fulfillment centers including their latest takeover of the flagging Greendale Mall in Worcester - which was down to its last tenant.

Read on to learn more about all that, plus the results of Monday’s vote on marijuana delivery rules in this week’s news.

Politics News

Biden Snubs Warren and Sanders for Cabinet Seats

Under “normal” circumstances, runners-up in a presidential primary would be among the top contenders for cabinet seats under an incoming administration (ie President Barack Obama’s nomination of Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State in 2008). However, circumstances are nowhere near normal in the 2020 race for political power in America. 

Although there was some speculation that Biden might bring second and third runner-up candidates — Vermont’s Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts’ Elizabeth Warren, both of whom expressed interest in joining Biden’s cabinet — it’s now looking like Biden would prefer that the two Senators from New England remain in the Senate. 

In an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt last Tuesday night, Biden stated:

“One thing is really critical: Taking someone out of the Senate, taking someone out of the House, particularly a person of consequence, is a really difficult decision that would have to be made. I have a very ambitious, very progressive agenda. And it’s going to take really strong leaders in the House and Senate to get it done.”

While Warren was reportedly eyeing the Treasury Secretary position, Sanders had his sights set on the Labor Secretary seat. Biden has officially chosen former Federal Reserve Chairperson Janet Yellen to head up the Treasury.

Although most within the progressive wing of the Democratic Party are ecstatic that Biden beat Trump, many are not pleased with Biden’s seeming propensity to favor moderates for his cabinet, claiming that the transition team seems more interested in courting Republicans (in the interest of unity and bipartisanship) than in nominating progressives. 

Read the report at Boston.com.

More Politics News

Transportation News

After travel seemed to be on an upswing in Massachusetts — traffic and T ridership had been slowly but steadily increasing throughout the summer — a new surge of Covid-19 cases has put a damper on holiday travel in the Bay State and in Bean Town, especially. That is according to a report in the Boston Globe.

According to Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack, MBTA subway ridership which had been nearing 140,000 daily riders in October, has slipped back to around 120,000. Similarly, bus ridership is down from nearly 180,000 daily trips to about 160,000. Traffic has also tapered off since peaking around Labor Day.

Pollack’s said in a recent statement:

“Given the surge, given the advice from the Centers for Disease Control and the governor and everyone else that people need to spend more time at home and not travel for Thanksgiving, we may well see a remaining fall and winter. From the perspective of the pandemic, that is a good thing.”

A similar slowdown in air travel is being attributed to the autumnal coronavirus surge with just under 150,000 travelers departing from six major airports in New England between Friday and Wednesday. That figure, according to a Patch.com report is down more than 70 percent from the same time period ahead of Thanksgiving last year.

Jennifer Mehigan, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Port Authority, has said that prior to the pandemic Logan International airport routinely saw between 120,000 and 140,000 travelers arriving and departing each day.

“Heading into the Thanksgiving holiday this year, the busiest day was Nov. 21, when 27,761 people traveled from the six airports. That was down from the busiest day ahead of Thanksgiving 2019, when 93,000 people traveled from the airports,” according to the Boston Globe’s report. 

According to the report, the decline in Thanksgiving travelers “was steeper in New England than in other parts of the country, where the decline in travelers was 60 percent.” 

More Transportation News

Energy News

President-Elect Joe Biden Taps John Kerry for “Climate Czar”

Former Secretary of State John Kerry has been tapped by President-elect Joe Biden to be the nation’s international climate czar. Kerry’s position is a first for the National Security Council.

Kerry, who served as secretary of state in the Obama administration, Tweeted:

“America will soon have a government that treats the climate crisis as the urgent national security threat it is. I’m proud to partner with the President-elect, our allies, and the young leaders of the climate movement to take on this crisis.”

In contrast to outgoing President Trump, Biden has signaled that he views climate change as a threat to the country’s national security.

Kerry was instrumental in negotiating the Paris Climate Accord which was nixed by Trump to the dismay of climate activists. Trump also rolled back numerous additional environmental and energy regulations instantiated by the Obama administration.

The Boston Globe has an extensive report on this story. 

More Energy News

Business and Real Estate News

Amazon.com To Take Over Flagging Greendale Mall

As shopping malls across the nation continue to see a vast decline in foot traffic, online mega-retailer Amazon.com has been busy converting emptied malls into distribution and fulfillment centers. Now it looks as if the Greendale Mall in Worcester, which is down to a single tenant, is next.

The Greendale Mall will be the first major shopping center in New England to be converted into an industrial site. That is according to the national real estate firm CBRE which maintains that nationwide 13.8 million square feet of retail space has been converted into 15.5 million square feet of industrial space since 2017. 

While Amazon.com is responsible for a major decline in brick-and-mortar sales, a global pandemic seems to be collecting nails for the coffin. The only other major shopping mall in the city, the Galleria, closed in 2006 after a failed attempt at converting the property to a factory outlet mall.

The Worcester Business Journal has the scoop.

More Real Estate News

Cannabis News

The Mass. Cannabis Control Commission has given final approval to new home delivery regulations. The new rules specify a delivery license framework and also include changes to the medical marijuana caregiver program.

Regulators said the new rules include an initial period of exclusivity for the state’s economic empowerment applicants and participants in the Social Equity Program are crucial to preventing monopolization of the new delivery sector.

Home delivery of marijuana was already allowed for medical marijuana dispensaries. Not everyone is happy with the new regulations. Some marijuana retailers have threatened to sue the CCC to prevent the implementation of the new policy.

Howard Cooper, an attorney with Todd & Weld LLP, wrote in a letter to regulators in mid-November:

“Put simply, the Commission’s adoption and implementation of the Proposed Regulation would be in direct contravention of its own governing and enabling statute which clearly and unambiguously states that only Marijuana Retailers, as defined in the statute, are [already] permitted to deliver cannabis products to consumers. Given the clarity of the law here, please understand that our clients will have no choice but to challenge the Commission’s Proposed Regulations in court if adopted. We write in hope of avoiding a legal dispute.”

CCC Chairman Steven Hoffman counters that the agency is acting within its authority. And Aaron Goines who advises the Massachusetts Cannabis Association said:

“Essentially, they want to own 100 percent of it or 80 percent or have as much control or influence over it as possible. That’s just not how the regulations are written, so get on board. Compete. You are not entitled to a clear runway of no competition in this country, it just doesn’t work like that.”

The new rules are expected to go into effect next year.

Learn more at MassLive.com. 

Massachusetts Among 10 Best Cannabis Business States in the US

Massachusetts has earned the number six spot on cannabis news publisher Greentrepreneur’s list of the “10 Best Places To Start A Cannabis Business in the US.” 

“Despite being the latest state to legalize recreational cannabis,” writes Tammy Taylor, “Massachusetts is quickly taking a prime position in the cannabis business world,” adding that now is the “perfect time to start your cannabis dispensary [in Mass.].”

Taylor points out that it can take under three months to be approved for a cannabis business license in the Bay State. “Aside from starting your dispensary, you can also consider supplying dispensaries and stores as the alternative,” writes Taylor.

Check out the full Top 10 list at Greentrepreneur.com.

More Cannabis News

More of the Latest Massachusetts News