Some random thoughts on recent news:

 ‘Kelly’s Roast Beef Sold to Mass. Private Equity firm’ 

Is it a real estate play? Sorry, couldn’t resist. … But the sentiments behind the snark aren’t totally unreasonable. I’m not very confident this will lead to a better Kelly’s.

Natick’s Bridges Too Far: From one overpass to three

As Scott Van Voorhis notes at Contrarian Boston, it started out as a simple bridge replacement project over Route 9 in Natick. Today, it’s ballooned into a $100 million-plus, three-bridge “divergent diamond interchange” project. … The estimated costs went from $50 million four years ago to $71 million this past spring to $99 million in late 2024 – and the price will likely continue to climb. … My mind drifts to Fareed Zakaria’s column last week comparing NY to Florida. He just as well could have compared Mass. to Florida.

‘Massachusetts State Police Capt. smashes OT ceiling with $584K total pay’

Absolutely ridiculous. … Oh, they’ll investigate how this happened. Then nothing will happen. … Again, my mind drifts to the Fareed Zakaria column, which is admittedly a little overblown. But he’s right about blue states stubbornly refusing to tackle long-standing fiscal problems that decades ago evolved into tolerated forms of institutional corruption. 

‘The Mass. GOP Enters the Twilight Zone’

How bad is the Massachusetts Republican Party? It can’t win political traction despite all the long-standing woes facing the Commonwealth, such as the Natick and state trooper OT debacles above. … And, no, the answer isn’t more Trumpism. Jon Keller has more. 

The most underreported business story of the week: Analogic moving 500 jobs to N.H.

I should have caught this BBJ story last week. But better late than never. …

‘From whales and windmills in Mass. to annexing the Panama Canal: 5 takeaways from Trump’s press conference’

This is the way to cover Trump: Just show the wide array of whacky things he says on any given day. No need for hyper-partisan outrage. Just let Trump be Trump – and his craziness will eventually sink in (or so goes the latest oppositional theory).

Healey’s shelter problems: safety concerns and another $425M for an obviously flawed program

Gov. Maura Healey has requested another $425 million for the financially out-of-control right-to-shelter program that’s now expected to cost the state $1 billion this fiscal year. … Sure, Healey is proposing some common-sense reforms that that could cut shelter costs in half next fiscal year. But they don’t go far enough. The state needs to get back to the original intent of the right-to-shelter law and stop treating it as a migrant-support program. Perhaps limit it to people who have been in Massachusetts for 12 months or more? Just a suggestion. … 

Re safety concerns: I was initially hesitant to jump on the story about a resident at a Revere shelter who was arrested for allegedly possessing an assault rifle and a million dollars worth of fentanyl, thinking that it was perhaps an isolated incident and/or that it was getting blown out of proportion. But it turns out the incident is serious enough for Healey to order safety inspections of all state shelters. Meanwhile, the Herald has more on “serious incident reports” at shelters, including alleged brawls and rapes etc. … The story is getting bigger. …. To emphasize: I think the vast majority of migrants are decent, law-abiding, hard-working people. It’s ill-advised state policies that are the problem.

Boston’s Taxman lives in … Winchester?

Oh, we didn’t forget you, Nick. … Contrarian Boston’s Scott Van Voorhis strikes again.