What’s newsworthy about new Boston Mayor Marty Walsh? Judging by today’s local dailies, it’s all relative.
From the Boston Globe’s front page:
Walsh vows steps to aid those hurt by Alzheimer’s
Mayor says his own experience will help to shape his plans
Martin J. Walsh walked in the door to visit his grandmother at her Irish farmhouse, and she did not know who he was.
Mary Ann O’Malley did not remember her own daughter, either. By the time she had reached her early 80s, O’Malley had forgotten much of what she once knew intimately.
“We would walk in the house,” Walsh said in an interview, “and she would ask who we were . . . ”
While Walsh’s struggles with cancer as a child and alcoholism as a young man became well known during the campaign, his family’s history with Alzheimer’s was news to many, who learned of it during his inaugural speech Monday.
So Walsh will be placing a high priority on “improving services for people with Alzheimer’s and their families.”
Crosstown at the Boston Herald, Walsh’s family news is less heart-warming than heartburn-y.
Walsh defends choice of cousin for driver
Mayor Martin J. Walsh said he picked his cousin, a Boston police sergeant, to be his official driver — a plum job that usually bodes well for the career of the cop selected — because she was qualified and he wanted someone he could trust in the position.
The administration confirmed Thursday that the driver, Sgt. Winifred Cotter, is the new mayor’s cousin.
“It’s not nepotism. Winny is a police officer who has an extensive career in the police department,” Walsh said yesterday. “She’s a sergeant. She’s somebody I completely trust. She’s worked in city government a lot longer than I have.”
Yes, well, keep this Crony Hall act up (paging Eugene O’Flaherty!) and she’ll work in city government a lot more than you will too, Mistah Mayah.
It's Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town 