State officials offer Thanksgiving travel outlook

By Katie Lannan
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

Projecting a 15 percent to 20 percent increase in traffic volume as Thanksgiving approaches, with more than 1.5 million people moving through Logan Airport and a "very unsettled weather pattern," state officials are recommending travelers take additional time and caution this week.

"There will be a lot of extra travelers out there over the next few days and this week, and because of the nature of holiday travel, many of these travelers will not be everyday users of our transportation facilities. So if you are traveling, it's especially important to pay extra attention to your surroundings," Massachusetts Department of Transportation highway administrator Jonathan Gulliver said said at a press conference Monday at MassDOT's South Boston highway operations center.

All road construction will be shut down to accommodate the anticipated traffic volume, with crews mobilizing only for emergency responses, Gulliver said.

"For those of you who may not follow the forecasts as closely as many of us up here do, we are also in a very unsettled weather pattern over the next few days, so we are preparing for a wintry mix tomorrow, and then again it looks like we might get some of the same this weekend into Sunday," he said. "We have sufficient materials and resources and equipment to deal with the weather, but we also need the help of the traveling public."

Gulliver said free coffee will be available for motorists at 18 service plazas across the state, including on the Massachusetts Turnpike, from 10 p.m. Thursday through 5 a.m. Friday.

Coffee and fresh air can help a drowsy driver, but the best solution is to "pull over to a safe location and take a quick nap," said Jeff Larason, director of highway safety in the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.

Larason urged drivers to keep their cellphones out of sight to avoid distractions. He cautioned that safety officials are also focused on drowsiness and impairments like cannabis – the first two adult-use marijuana retailers in Massachusetts are set to open Tuesday – and alcohol.

"Many of you might know that the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is commonly known as Blackout Wednesday," Larason said. "It's a time when a lot of people go out and celebrate. What we encourage people to do is if you're going to be celebrating over the holidays, plan ahead, get a ride share, a taxi, or use the MBTA so you can get to and from your destination safely and avoid the challenges of impairment."

MBTA General Manager Luis Ramirez said the T will run a Sunday schedule on Thanksgiving, with a few exceptions including "enhanced" service levels on the Silver Line 1 route that serves the airport, and a regular weekday schedule on Wednesday and Friday. Commuter rail will have added capacity on selected trains leaving Boston Wednesday afternoon, he said.

Drivers traveling this week will find gasoline prices three cents lower than last week, with regular unleaded averaging $2.71 a gallon, AAA Northeast announced Monday. The average price per gallon a year ago was 18 cents lower, at $2.53, according to AAA.

Mass. jobless rate below 4% for 30 straight months


The unemployment rate in Massachusetts dropped slightly, to 3.5 percent, last month as the state added 4,440 jobs, labor officials announced Friday.

October marked the 30th consecutive month the unemployment rate had held below 4 percent. Nationally, the rate is at 3.7 percent, state Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Rosalin Acosta said.

“With the Commonwealth's consistently low rate of unemployment, the economy continues to add jobs at a healthy clip and our labor force continues to grow to meet employment needs, with an additional 169,600 employed residents and 5,200 fewer unemployed over the last year,” she said.

The educational and health services, construction, information, manufacturing, trade, transportation and utilities, other services and professional, scientific and business services sectors all added jobs in October. Leisure and hospitality, financial activities, and government recorded job losses.

The total Massachusetts labor force in October was up 174,800 from the 3,658,100 people in October 2017.

–Katie Lannan/State House News Service

MBTA increases service capacity for Sox celebration Wednesday

By Chris Triunfo, State House News Service


The MBTA on Wednesday will run enhanced subway service throughout the day and provide additional capacity on certain commuter rail lines to accommodate the crowds expected to throng the city to celebrate the Boston Red Sox and their World Series win.

Subway services will operate at rush-hour levels from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. Wednesday also marks the celebration of Halloween, which will make commuter services especially busy, according to MBTA General Manager Luis Ramirez.

"Because the parade coincides with Halloween, we fully expect Wednesday to be a busy day in Boston and around the region," Ramirez said in a statement. "So, as a reminder, we’re asking people to please stay informed of service information. We want everyone to have an enjoyable day, so please be safe, be respectful, and enjoy the special day on Wednesday."

According to the MBTA, approximately 200 Keolis and commuter rail personnel will be at key stations to assist with wayfinding, boarding, and schedule information. Bikes will not be allowed on any commuter rail trains.

The parade begins at 11 a.m. at Fenway Park and will run on city streets near the following subway stations: Hynes Convention Center, Copley, Arlington, Boylston, Park Street, Downtown Crossing, and Government Center.

HRA will open development proposals at meeting tonight

The Hull Redevelopment meets at 6:30 p.m. at the Anne Scully Senior Center, 197A Samoset Ave.

At 7 p.m., authority members will open at least two responses to its Request for Proposals to develop a portion of the 13-acre urban renewal site. The land has been vacant for nearly a half-century.

The Times will publish meeting details in Thursday's edition.

New residents fuel state economy, experts believe

By Michael P. Norton

Economists have long argued that a labor crunch in Massachusetts, punctuated by an aging workforce and slow natural growth in the labor force and population, is serving as a brake on economic growth. They're changing their tune now.

Economists on the editorial board of the economic journal MassBenchmarks met privately Sept. 28 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. They released their consensus findings late last week and reported they had a "spirited" discussion about economic activity, including recent growth they described as the fastest since the recovery began in August 2009.

Notably, they reported that employment in Massachusetts has grown, year to date through August, at an annualized rate of 1.9 percent – "faster than normal for the state" – with growth concentrated in professional services, construction, and the software, education, and health sectors.

As recently as January the same group of economists reported that the pace of economic growth in Massachusetts was expected to slow in 2018 due to labor supply constraints. But the most recent numbers from the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development show a sharp uptick in the labor force in Massachusetts, which was up by 145,700 people from the 3,660,400 in August 2017, with 141,800 more residents employed and 3,900 more residents unemployed.

The question is where are those people coming from.

In their most recent talks, the economists concluded more residents are participating in the labor force and international immigration "seems to be holding steady, but does not appear to be a source of growth." And while noting that hard data won't be available "for quite some time," they tentatively agreed that domestic migration – or people moving to Massachusetts from other states – appears to be on the rise, even though it's been a net negative for years.

"It stands to reason that the fuel for the state's recent labor force growth is the movement of workers into the state from other states," economists wrote Thursday in an "excerpts from the board" summary released by the UMass Donahue Institute. "This could entail people both moving in to live and work in the state, and an increase in workers commuting into the state."

Compared to other states, high housing and energy costs and a higher cost-of-living in Massachusetts have long served as an impediment to growth, countered by the state's economic selling points such as higher wages and stable knowledge-based industries like higher education, the life sciences and health care.

State officials told the News Service Friday that residential developers on the North Shore say nearly a quarter of their leases are from people relocating from out of state. And Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash says jobs are pulling more people into Massachusetts.

"Massachusetts is renowned for its world-class talent, educational institutions, and forward-thinking companies. Our innovation economy relies heavily on our highly educated and skilled workforce, and it also attracts people who live in the broader New England region to cross the border for great jobs," Ash said. "Companies from key sectors such as life sciences and advanced manufacturing are expanding their presence in the state or relocating operations altogether, and this creates a greater pull for talent."

MassBenchmarks Executive Editor Robert Nakosteen, an economics professor at UMass Amherst, said editorial board members are "digging into the data" as they look for more conclusive proof about domestic migration.

IRS data reflecting 2018 tax returns and Census Bureau data will be available in late 2019 or 2020 and will shed light on domestic migration, according to Michael Goodman, co-editor of MassBenchmarks and executive director of the Public Policy Center at UMass Dartmouth.

"We just sort of backed our way into the hypothesis," Goodman said. "We reasoned our way to a plausible explanation for the growth."

Blue Hills deal would push Rockland Trust assets to $11B

By Michael P. Norton, State House News Service

Once its newly announced acquisition of Blue Hills Bank takes effect, Rockland Trust expects to have more than $11 billion in assets, the most bank branches of any bank headquartered in Massachusetts, and a presence on both Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. 

Rockland Trust, which has a branch in Hull, last week announced merger plans with Blue Hills Bank, which was founded in 1871 as Hyde Park Savings Bank. Blue Hills Bancorp, with headquarters in Norwood, operates branches in Boston, Dedham, Hyde Park, Milton, Norwood, West Roxbury, Westwood, and Nantucket. As of June 30, Blue Hills Bancorp had $2.7 billion in assets. 

Independent Bank Corp., the parent company of Rockland Trust, estimates the value of the Blue Hills Bank transaction at about $726 million. 

The boards of each company have unanimously approved the transaction, according to Rockland Trust. “Our transaction with Blue Hills Bank is a natural fit and is consistent with our strategy of acquiring banks in overlapping and adjacent markets,” said Christopher Oddleifson, president and CEO of Independent and CEO of Rockland Trust. “Blue Hills Bank is a strong, well run, growing company with a tremendous franchise. This acquisition will strengthen the position of Rockland Trust in Eastern Massachusetts and also permit us to expand onto Nantucket Island.” 

Rockland Trust, which is in the process of acquiring The Milford National Bank & Trust Company, expanded to Martha's Vineyard in 2017 with the acquisition of The Edgartown National Bank. 

Hull woman cited after Cohasset crash

Cohasset Police responded to a motor vehicle crash Friday at the intersection of Route 3A and Beechwood Street. Police responded to numerous 911 calls at about 11:30 a.m. that reported a crash with injuries.

Arriving officers found four people injured and two cars with heavy damage to the front ends, Cohasset PD said in a Facebook post.

Witnesses said that the driver of a 2016 Nissan SUV was heading north on 3A when the driver of a southbound 2018 Hyundai sedan cut in front of the Nissan in an effort to turn left onto Beechwood Street from 3A. The vehicles collided in the intersection.

Three people from the Nissan and a single occupant of the Hyundai were transported to South Shore Hospital by ambulances from Cohasset, Hingham, and Scituate. None of the injuries were reported as life threatening.

Both vehicles were towed and the driver of the Hyundai, a 23-year-old Hull female, was cited for failing to grant right of way. She was not named in the Facebook post.

Student threatens firearms use at Hull High, but no weapon found

Superintendent Michael F. Devine and Hull High School Principal Nicole Nosek report that Hull Public Schools leaders acted swiftly after a student reportedly uttered threats against the school.
On Wednesday at approximately 9 a.m., it was reported to the high school main office that a student had made a threat to harm others with a firearm. The studentwas identified, and the Hull Police Department was called immediately.
A search revealed no weapons, and the police department took over from there. The administration will take the proper actions with regard to this student, according to a statement issued by the school district this morning, but there was no immediate threat and no danger to the high school. At no point was there a direct threat to students or staff. The school day is continuing without interruption.
"What matters most in this unfortunate situation is that our students, faculty and staff are not in danger," Devine said. "The policies and procedures we have in place for these kinds of situations were followed correctly, and the situation was resolved without further escalation or disruption to our school community."