Daily Archives: July 7, 2010

Download WBUR's iPhone App Now

Published July 7, 2010

WBUR’s new iPhone app is live now in the App Store. It’s free. Go get it! (I’ll wait.)

Simulation of WBUR app on an iPhone

The details are well-covered here and here and here, and Hubbub hosted a live chat to answer your questions about the app. Here are the Greatest Hits:

  • Stream us live
  • Read and share the latest NPR and WBUR news
  • Listen to 20+ programs on demand
  • Wake up to the WBUR alarm clock
  • Submit breaking news tips
  • View your member benefits on a map
  • Generate a virtual membership card to instantly redeem benefits
  • Search

Hope you love it. Please report bugs and request features in the comments. Be specific, and be constructive! Anything else will be ruthlessly deleted. We’re already working on iOS 4 support for the next update.

Coolest Governor? Not Deval Patrick

Published July 7, 2010

Gov. Deval Patrick’s new-media director, Brad Blake (@bradmblake), tweeted this unbelievable nugget today:

An air conditioning window unit

$50 on Craigslist

Just learned my boss @massgovernor doesn’t have AC at home. Not even window unit.

Good God, man! You can buy a window unit in great condition on Craigslist for $50. The seller is in Cambridge and offering free delivery!

The AP files this writethrough:

Patrick told listeners on WTKK-FM on Wednesday that he and wife Diane have thought about air conditioning, but always decide against it because they need it only two or three days a year. But, he says, “when those two, three days come, it’s tough.”

Maybe the winds of the Great Blue Hills cool down his colonial mansion…

T It To The Casino

Published July 7, 2010

This is what a casino resort at Suffolk Downs might look like.

This is what a casino resort at Suffolk Downs might look like.

No one seems to be talking about what I think is most interesting about a casino at Suffolk Downs, which was formally proposed yesterday.

The Globe reports it appears to be a done deal. Eastie is in House Speaker Robert DeLeo’s district, and DeLeo is a rabid proponent of casinos in Mass. But is anyone thinking about the implications of building a casino resort in the city? I’m not talking about environmental issues or crime. I’m talking about ease of access.

Right now, a trip to Foxwoods requires a car or a bus ticket and a free weekend. Even Milford, Palmer or New Bedford — the other proposed casino towns — are at least an hour out of town. They’re destination casinos. But you can take the T to Suffolk Downs. Maybe hit the slots during a lunch break.

When we had DeLeo on Radio Boston last week, commenter Alex G. tried to make the point this way:

Right now, folks who can’t even afford a car and want to play the slots must plan a trip ahead to take a Peter Pan bus to Foxwoods or a Greyhound to Mohegan Sun. If racinos pass, they can hop on the T, get off at the Suffolk Downs stop, and gamble away all their week’s paycheck. … Now that is scary.

Proximity would seem to amplify the worries about addiction and abuse, no?

Russian Spy Deal In The Works?

Published July 7, 2010

On our Cold War-era spy radar this morning, The New York Times reports a possible plea deal with the alleged Russian spies:

The proposed resolution could allow all the defendants to plead guilty to fewer charges or charges carrying lesser penalties or even time served, and it could result in deportations or agreements that allow them to return to Russia.

The newsroom has calls out to the usual suspects. The attorney for Donald Heathfield, the accused secret agent from Cambridge, won’t talk to us on the record at this point.

Update: WBUR’s Monica Brady-Myerov is attending a pre-trial hearing in Boston federal court at 11.

Update from NPR’s Dina Temple-Raston that I couldn’t say on the record earlier:

U.S. and Russian diplomats negotiated how the group might be swapped for prisoners being held in Russia. Five suspects in the case were hastily ordered to New York.

Dr. Berwick Skips The Waiting Room

Published July 7, 2010

Donald Berwick, the Newton doctor and health care reformer, will get to skip the Senate grilling and go straight to the helm of Medicare and Medicaid. The White House Blog announced President Obama will make a controversial recess appointment Wednesday:

Dr. Donald Berwick

Dr. Donald Berwick (Courtesy)

In April, President Obama nominated Dr. Donald Berwick to serve as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Many Republicans in Congress have made it clear in recent weeks that they were going to stall the nomination as long as they could, solely to score political points. … CMS has been without a permanent administrator since 2006, and even many Republicans have called on the Administration to move to quickly to name a permanent head.

Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., told Politico: “Once again, the Obama administration is going behind closed doors out of fear the American people will learn that Dr. Berwick plans to use rationing as a cost cutting tool to achieve the billions of dollars in cuts to Medicare called for in the health care reform bill.”

The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein today says Berwick is decidedly nonpartisan:

He’s known as a zealot and an entrepreneur when it comes to quality improvement. As an issue, quality — as compared to cost and access — is quite young, and Berwick is frequently credited with securing its place in the discussion, and saving many lives in the process.

Some good reading: