Episode Transcript
[00:00:16] I'm Joe Catalano with an AM Quincy news update for Monday, August 4th a court hearing to determine if there will be a hold placed on plans by the City of Quincy to install two statues on the front of the new public safety complex that's being built on C Street has been postponed. A status hearing that was scheduled for Aug. 12 before a Superior Court judge has been rescheduled to Aug. 19. City solicitor Jim Timmons told the judge that he forgot he scheduled to be out of state with his family on a planned vacation on August 12th. An attorney representing the plaintiffs in that case agreed to the change.
[00:01:01] A group of Quincy residents is suing the city claiming that the Catholic statues of St. Michael and St. Florian violate the state constitutional separation of church and state. The city argues that the statues are the patron saints of police officers and firefighters. The 10 foot tall bronze statues cost an estimated $850,000.
[00:01:25] Quincy Mutual Fire Insurance Company is unveiling plans to demolish the former Sully's Bar location on Chestnut street in Quincy center and replace it with a new 5 story 100 unit apartment building with a 100 space parking garage underneath. The new building would sit across from the west of Chestnut apartment complex. A public hearing about the proposal will be held by the Quincy Planning Board this Wednesday at 6pm at Old City Hall. The plan is being proposed as part of the Quincy Center Urban Revitalization District plan. Solly's closed in June of 2018 after 84 years in business.
[00:02:10] Third generation owner Brian Sullivan cited changing demographics and times as reason for the closing.
[00:02:19] Demolition continues on two buildings in Quincy center to make way for two new apartment complexes. Crews are tearing down the buildings that sat next to the former Family Dollar store on Hancock Street. Mayor Thomas Koch says there will be a new seven story apartment complex with a two story restaurant on one side and a new 15 story apartment complex with retail space on the other side. And in between the two new buildings, the city will create a park with some seating.
[00:02:52] Mayor says the new park will also serve to link Hancock street with the new developments that are getting underway along McConville Way at the site of the former Ross Parking Garage.
[00:03:05] The Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania is getting closer for the Braintree American Little League team. Braintree American or Team Massachusetts and Essex Town Team Vermont are playing at 9 o' clock this morning in Bristol, Connecticut for a spot in the New England Regional Championship this coming Thursday.
[00:03:27] The loser will play Bedford in the semifinals on Wednesday. Braintree advanced after shutting out Machias Maine this past Saturday 15 to nothing. Today's game will be the last game of the New England regionals on ESPN plus, and Wednesday's semifinal and Thursday's regional championships will both be televised on espn.
[00:03:53] A group led by Celtics minority owner Steve Pagluca has reached a deal to buy the Connecticut sun for a record $325 million and moved the team to Boston. The franchise wouldn't play in Boston until the 2027 season.
[00:04:13] Pagluca would also contribute $100 million for a new practice facility in Boston for the team. A person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been publicly announced. The sale is pending approval of the league and its Board of Governors. The sun have played one regular season game at TD Garden each of the past two years, including one against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever in July. The league has announced five expansion teams that will begin play over the next five seasons, with Portland, Toronto, Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia joining the WNBA each paid a then a record $250 million expansion fee. Nine other cities bid for expansion teams, including Houston, which the league singled out as getting a team in the future when it announced Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia in June. Boston did not. The sun are owned by the Mohegan Tribe, which runs the casino where the team has played since 2003. The tribe bought the franchise for $10 million and relocated it from Orlando that year. The Connecticut franchise was the first in the league to be run by a non NBA owner and also became the first to turn a profit.
[00:05:35] Governor Healey announcing on Friday the final hotel shelters in Massachusetts have closed and she has formally terminated the emergency declaration that she issued in August of 2023. The state had previously shut down 24 shelters in June, leaving only four of them open.
[00:05:55] In addition to hotels, Healey said that the Norfolk Rapids shelter, located at the former Bay State Correctional center and the Chelsea Rapid Shelter sites have shut down emergency shelters in Massachusetts. Hotels for migrants have been a point of contention for years, with concerns ranging from safety to financial, but the shelters have been really the only landing place for new arrivals seeking to build a better life in the state.
[00:06:22] Soon after she took office, Healy declared a state of emergency and imposed a cap on the system at 7,500 families in 2023. Without a cap, she said, the caseload was projected to have reached 13,000 families by the summer of 2024. Governor also worked with the Legislature to reform the right to shelter law to implement a six month length of stay limit, require proof of Massachusetts residency and require that all family members had lawful immigration status with limited exemptions. At the height of the program last year, there were more than 120 active hotel shelters in the state. The administration said two months ago there had been a decline in the hotel shelter caseload after they'd spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the program over the last three years to assist families. It will now be up to more local advocacy groups to step up and help those in need.
[00:07:22] A security specialist with the U.S. department of Energy has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston for allegedly trying to bribe another Department of Energy employee in order to secure government contracts for his private company. 34 year old Edward Daugherty of Washington, D.C. and Weymouth was charged with honest services fraud, payment of illegal gratuities and bribery of a public official.
[00:07:51] Daugherty had previously been charged by criminal complaint and was arrested this past July. He'll make an initial appearance in federal court in Boston at a later date. According to the indictment, Doherty worked for the Department of Energy as security specialist until he agreed to participate in the deferred resignation program back in February. Just before he started working with the Department of Energy. In November of 24, Doherty allegedly started a company in Massachusetts called Mae Systems. Daugherty allegedly offered another employee money if that worker agreed to funnel contracts to his new private firm. But that employee turned Daugherty into authorities instead and a sting caught Dougherty offering the employee $10,000 in bribes. He now faces 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
[00:08:49] Check of business news this morning. Stocks pulled back on Friday. The Dow sank 542 points. The Nasdaq lost 472. The S&P dropped 101.
[00:09:00] Shares advanced in Asia today after Wall street had its worst day since May following the release of weak U.S. jobs data.
[00:09:09] The dollar rose, the euro was down. Oil at $67 a barrel.
[00:09:15] Sports Red Sox beat the Astros 6 to 1.
[00:09:18] They will host Kansas City at Fenway beginning at 7:10 tonight. Today's forecast from the National Weather Service. There is an air quality alert in effect due to wildfire smoke from Canada. Hazy hot and humid today with a high of 88 degrees for tonight. Some patchy fog and lows in the lower 60s.
[00:09:41] Tomorrow mainly cloudy at a high of 81. Partly cloudy on Wednesday high around 79. Same thing Thursday. Sun and clouds high 79.
[00:09:51] The marine forecast today one foot wave southwest winds five knots. Become southeast later today.
[00:09:58] High tide 8:17am Sunrise 5:40 sets at 7:58. I'm Joe Catalano with an AM Quincy news update for Monday, August 4th.
