| | | |  | | By Kelly Garrity | PASSING THE PUCK — The barely simmering tension between the U.S. and Canada will take center stage in Boston tonight. The countries are set to face off in the final of the 4 Nations hockey tournament at TD Gardent, the culmination of weeks of traded barbs and blows (literally) between the U.S. and its northern neighbor on and off the ice. If recent matchups are an indication, it could get ugly quick. Three fights broke out in the first nine seconds of the game last time the teams met (Hockey fans, is that a record?). And that was Saturday. The trash talk hasn’t ceased since. Why the animosity? The fights Saturday broke out after the U.S. national anthem got a resounding “boo” from fans in Montreal (though players said after that wasn’t the reason they traded punches). The booing has become a bit of a trend for Canadian fans facing U.S. teams in recent days, an outlet for their frustration over recent actions coming out of the White House. President Donald Trump has threatened to implement tariffs on the longtime ally and trade partner — and hasn’t dropped his persistent pledge to make Canada the “51st state.” But despite speculation, don’t expect Trump to be there. The U.S. team’s general manager, Bill Guerin, publicly extended an invite to the president. “We would love it if President Trump was in attendance,” Guerin said during a recent interview on Fox News. “We have a room full of proud American players and coaches and staff … we’re just trying to represent our country the best way we can." But per Trump’s public schedule, he’ll be in D.C. addressing a Republican Governors Association meeting less than an hour before the puck is set to drop (saving the Democratic leaders here from an awkward tarmac greeting). The trip would’ve marked Trump’s first to the Bay State since he retook the White House. And it would’ve put him just steps away from where hundreds of federal workers, researchers and union members rallied Wednesday against his administration's slew of firings. GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. The puck drops at 8 p.m.! TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey heads to D.C. for the National Governors Association’s winter meeting. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu holds a press conference detailing the city’s preparation for extreme weather events at 11:45 a.m. in East Boston and speaks at a ribbon cutting for a new restaurant at 1 p.m. in Roxbury. Rep. Jim McGovern hosts a roundtable on threats to National Institutes of Health funding and Medicaid at 1 p.m. in Worcester. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Drop me a line: kgarrity@politico.com.
| | | | We’ve re-imagined and expanded our Inside Congress newsletter to give you unmatched reporting on Capitol Hill politics and policy -- and we'll get it to your inbox even earlier. Subscribe today. | | | | | |  | DATELINE BEACON HILL | | — “Gov. Maura Healey deflects blame for surge in Massachusetts utility rates,” by Ben Simmoneau, WCVB: “Gov. Maura Healey said her administration is not responsible for the recent surge in utility rates, but she is asking state regulators to lower them immediately. When asked about the situation by NewsCenter 5 reporter Ben Simmoneau on Wednesday, Healey said ‘the Department of Public Utilities needs to take a look at the rates right now. We need to be doing anything and everything we can do as a state to lower heating bills.’” — “State education department proposes requiring Mass. vocational schools to use admission lotteries,” by Christopher Huffaker, The Boston Globe: “The state’s popular trade schools could soon be required to distribute their scarce seats by lottery, after years of criticism from advocates who argue the schools’ selective admissions processes lock many marginalized students out of the schools. The state’s education department proposed a regulation Wednesday that would bar the schools from ranking students based on selective criteria like grades, recommendations from guidance counselors, and personal interviews. Instead, they would be limited to using attendance and discipline as screening criteria for students to enter the lottery pool.”
| | FROM THE HUB | | — “Demolition underway at White Stadium, as residents remain split over renovation plans,” by Niki Griswold, The Boston Globe: “Demolition work at Franklin Park’s White Stadium is now underway after tree removal and dismantling of the East Grandstand began last week, and as residents in the surrounding areas remain split over Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s effort to redevelop the facility in collaboration with a new professional women’s soccer team. Wu’s plan to overhaul the 76-year-old dilapidated stadium through a public-private partnership has generated extensive controversy, and sparked a debate that mayoral candidate Josh Kraft has now weighed in on in support of the project’s opponents, as he seeks to unseat Wu in the November election.”
| | THE RACE FOR CITY HALL | | — “Candidates already lining up for November election in Attleboro,” by George W. Rhodes, The Sun Chronicle: “Candidates for the November election are already lining up, just two weeks after nomination papers became available. Mayor Cathleen DeSimone has taken out papers for reelection. Treasurer Laura Gignac is also seeking reelection, as is City Clerk Kate Jackson. There are nine seats on the school committee and 11 on the city council. So far, just incumbents have taken out papers with the exception of newcomer Tom Dolan, who has taken them out for tax collector. He is the husband of City Councilor Laura Dolan.”
| | DAY IN COURT | | — “24 members of Trinitarios gang in Mass. charged after decade of ‘bloodshed’,” by Heather Morrison and Charlie McKenna, MassLive: “Two dozen leaders, members and associates of the Trinitarios gang have been charged with federal offenses, including racketeering conspiracy in connection with six murders and 11 attempted murders. Two individuals, who were 15 and 16 at the time of the criminal offenses, have been charged by the Essex County District Attorney’s Office with murder. … The gang had chapters in Lawrence, Lynn, Boston and Haverhill, according to United States Attorney Leah B. Foley’s office. They would then attempt to ‘dominate their communities by intimidating rival gangs and establishing control over certain neighborhoods.’ Officials also said members of the Trinitarios would not hesitate to use violence, including murder, to further the organization’s goals.” — “Youthful offenders who committed murder, and who are suddenly eligible for parole, say process is too slow,” by Sean Cotter, The Boston Globe: “Seven men who are now eligible for parole following a groundbreaking Supreme Judicial Court decision last year are suing the state, saying they are facing untenable and illegal delays in scheduling the parole hearings they have long hoped for. All seven plaintiffs were convicted of first-degree murder for killings that were committed when they were 20 years old or younger, and all received life sentences without the possibility of parole. But last year, the state’s highest court ruled that no one can be sentenced to spend the rest of their life in prison without the possibility of parole for a crime they committed before they turn 21.”
| | TRUMPACHUSETTS | | — “No decision as Trump flag flap roils town,” by Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald: “West Boylston residents spoke out Wednesday after the police chief and new town administrator clashed over a Trump flag inside the police department. At the outset of the Wednesday’s meeting to the Select Board, Chairwoman Kristina Pedone said that no decision on the controversy surrounding the town manager and the police chief would be rendered that night. West Boylston Police Chief Dennis Minnich Sr., who has headed the 13-member department in the small Worcester County town since 1997, put himself on leave after Town Administrator James Ryan demanded a Trump flag be removed from the station’s gym late last month.” — “On websites, diversity messaging persists despite Trump administration warnings,” by Jim Kinney, MassLive: “The website of Springfield Technical Community College touts it as a Hispanic Serving Institution, a designation earned in 2015 for serving a population where at least 25% of students identify as Latina/Latino/Latinx. But the U.S. Department of Education page explaining the Hispanic Serving Institution program is now blank, scrubbed from the internet last month just after Donald Trump’s administration took office. … Pioneer Valley institutions surveyed Wednesday say they have not preemptively scrubbed DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) material from their websites and public presentations.” — “Federal education cuts threaten key school programs in New Bedford,” by Colin Hogan, The New Bedford Light.
| | | | A new era in Washington calls for sharper insights. Get faster policy scoops, more congressional coverage, and a re-imagined newsletter under the leadership of Jack Blanchard. Subscribe to our Playbook Newsletter today. | | | | | | | THE LOCAL ANGLE | | — “Thu Nguyen: 'I will not be returning indefinitely to the council floor',” by Toni Caushi, Telegram & Gazette: “Councilor-at-Large Thu Nguyen will not return to the City Council for an indefinite time period. In a statement released Wednesday morning that was seemingly addressed at the LGBTQ+ community, Nguyen said that they will not ‘partake in performative politics or a council that refuses to hold themselves accountable to human decency and the unravelling of transphobia, discrimination and the toxic council culture we've all witnessed in the last month.’”
| | WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD BE READING | | — “Behind the scenes of the fight over accessory dwelling units,” by Gintautas Dumcius, CommonWealth Beacon. — “For a diner that goes through 5,000 eggs in a weekend, eye-popping prices leave them scrambling,” by Camilo Fonseca, The Boston Globe: “You can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs, the saying goes. But these days, egg costs are breaking the bank. Bird flu outbreaks have caused the biggest spike in egg prices the country has seen in a decade, and diners and other breakfast places are paying a premium for their most sought-after commodity.” — “After backlash, MTA will remove alleged antisemitic materials on Israel-Hamas war from website,” by James Vaznis, The Boston Globe: “The Massachusetts Teachers Association announced on Wednesday it will be removing some learning materials regarding the Israel-Hamas war from its website, even as the union’s leaders continued to blast a special state commission that had raised questions about whether some images and items were antisemitic. The items are being removed as part of what the union characterized as an ongoing review of materials embedded in links on the members-only portion of its website.”
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