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We may break a 150-year-old temperature document right this moment in Boston. But do not let March trick you — the chilly air is plotting a comeback later this week. Danielle Noyes has a preview of today’s warmth and the lurking winter weather.
Now, to the information:
On Beacon Hill: Massachusetts lawmakers have taken a small step towards making some fairly huge adjustments to the state’s sports betting panorama. As the State House News Service first reported yesterday, a Senate invoice that will ban prop bets and betting on dwell video games not too long ago handed its first hurdle: a good 5-0 vote from the chamber’s committee on financial improvement and rising applied sciences. But does it have the legs to turn into legislation? Here’s what to know:
- What’s the cause for the proposal? The bill — sponsored by state Sen. John Keenan — comes amid rising concern about sports betting dependancy, particularly among young adults. According to Keenan, his invoice takes purpose at the “most addictive form of bets.” (Prop bets are wagers on a person efficiency or a particular occasion taking place throughout a recreation, similar to who scores a landing or wins Super Bowl MVP. Live bets are wagers with always altering odds whereas the recreation is in progress.) “They are quick, they’re easy to place, and they provide instant gratification if somebody should win — or a desire to respond to it, if they should lose, perhaps by doubling down,” Keenan informed WBUR’s Rachell Sanchez-Smith final 12 months, after first introducing the invoice.
- What else does it do? If handed, the so-called Bettor Health Act would not solely ban dwell betting and prop bets. It would additionally ban sports betting advertisements throughout televised sporting occasions in Massachusetts and lift the state’s 20% tax on on-line and cellular sports betting income to 51% — the similar fee it is taxed at in neighboring New Hampshire, Rhode Island and New York.
- What’s subsequent: The invoice remains to be far off from hitting Gov. Maura Healey’s desk, and State House leaders have but to point out any help. (The workplaces of each House Speaker Ron Mariano — who spearheaded the push in 2022 to legalize sports betting — and Senate President Karen Spilka declined to touch upon the laws Monday.) The invoice now goes the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, which may advance to a full Senate vote or do nothing in any respect.
In different sports-related information: Prosecutors are dropping a misdemeanor domestic assault charge towards New England Patriots defensive lineman Christian Barmore. The 26-year-old had been accused of grabbing his girlfriend by the shirt and throwing her to the flooring throughout an argument final summer time in Mansfield — which allegedly started with a disagreement over their bed room thermostat being set at 70 levels versus 68.
- However, Bristol County prosecutors stated they now do not consider they will show their case towards Barmore, as a result of the girl who made the criticism didn’t need to journey out of state for the proceedings, amongst different causes.
All aboard: Tickets go on sale today for the MBTA’s particular occasion trains for this month’s Brazil-France exhibition soccer match at Gillette Stadium. The $30 tickets will likely be out there at 11 a.m. solely on the mTicket app. The T is working 4 trains from Boston’s South Station to Foxborough for the March 26 pleasant. As WBUR’s Andrea Perdomo-Hernandez not too long ago reported, the company is utilizing the recreation as a trial run for the World Cup, when the T will run as many as 14 particular occasion trains on recreation days.
- The elevated particular occasion service does additionally imply that the T will likely be canceling some common commuter rail trains on the Foxborough/Franklin line that afternoon. Click here for all the details.
Point32Health, the firm behind Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, laid off roughly 100 workers yesterday — or 2.3% of its workforce. As The Boston Globe first reported, it is simply the newest spherical of job cuts for the Canton-based well being insurer, which is now on 12 months 5 of multimillion working losses. According to the Globe, Point32 has lower greater than 450 jobs since final October.
P.S.— Ever questioned who’s behind the information? Click here for a take a look at the child broadcasters, engineers and managers who preserve WBUR going (plus a Boston sports icon for good measure).