In what was one of the most influential and historic elections in American history, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama won the 44th presidential election with 53 percent of the popular vote, setting as many precedents for the scale and reach of his campaign as he did by becoming the nation’s first black president-elect. Republican nominee John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin for his running mate made her the nation’s second female vice presidential candidate, though Palin’s apparent lack of experience in politics and foreign affairs made her a target for media ridicule.
CITY SMOKING BAN
The Boston Public Health Commission considered banning the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products near all college campuses in the city in September, a restriction that would give Boston one of the toughest antismoking regulations in the nation.
Some public health experts praised the move as a bold step to prevent young people from smoking. Others, like Boston University public health professor Michael Siegel, expressed skepticism as to whether the new laws would discourage smokers at all.
‘What this law is going to do is simply shift places where people are buying their cigarettes,’ he said.
The Health Commission is scheduled to vote today for the ban on cigar and hookah bars.
BIOLAB
Boston University’s Biosafety Level-4 laboratory has been a point of contention between local residents and the university since its inception in 2005. The biolab, proposed by the Bush administration in an effort to combat bioterrorism, will house some of the world’s most dangerous pathogens, including the Ebola virus and anthrax.
This fall, the lab faced growing opposition from local city councilors as well as political newcomers like Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, who was elected to the lab’s state Senate district on Nov. 4. On Dec. 1, Gov. Deval Patrick nominated Superior Court Judge Ralph Gants, who ruled the biolab’s environmental reviews were insufficient in 2006, to the state’s Supreme Judicial Court.
Concerns with the lab include overall safety of the facility, potential problems with city emergency evacuation plans in the event of a pathogen release and the transportation of the deathly pathogens to the lab. The lab is nearly ready for operations and is only waiting for the green light to start training its staff, pending approval from the National Institutes of Health’s Blue Ribbon review panel and the resolution of two court cases challenging the facility’s operations.
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ECONOMIC WOES
The United States’ financial woes reached a high when the stock market plummeted in September and brought giant financial institutions to their knees. To aid flailing businesses, the federal government announced on Sept. 7 that it was taking direct control of the Federal National Mortgage Association and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. On Oct. 3, the federal government continued its intervention when the House of Representatives approved the government’s $700 billion economic bailout plan in a sweeping rescue of the nation’s financial sector. The National Bureau of Economic Research, a private, nonprofit group based in Cambridge, announced on Dec. 1 that the United States economy was in an official state of recession.
THREE QUESTIONS
Massachusetts voters cast their ballots on local issues on Election Day. Question 1, which called for a repeal of Massachusetts’ 5.3 percent income tax, failed amid fears that the state would be forced to make massive cuts in education and other services to pay for the potential budget shortfall.
Possession of small amounts of marijuana was decriminalized in the state with the passage of Question 2. The new amendment reduces the penalty for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana with a $100 fine rather than jail time.
Question 3, also known as or the Greyhound Protection Act, passed in Massachusetts with 56 percent of the vote, banning greyhound racing at the state’s two greyhound tracks. The tracks must shut down by January 2010.
INTEGRITY SCANDALS
Massachusetts state and local politicians faced bribery charges this fall, shaking the public’s faith in Boston politicians. On Oct. 28, Sen. Diane Wilkerson was arrested after allegedly accepting $23,000 in bribes to obtain a liquor license for local nightclub Dejavu. The 18-month undercover FBI and Boston Police Department investigation prompted Wilkerson to resign on Nov. 19. Less than a month later, City Councilor Chuck Turner (Dorchester, Roxbury) was arrested at City Hall on Nov. 21 for allegedly taking a $1,000 bribe and then lying about it to the FBI. The FBI believes the Wilkerson and Turner cases are connected, and indicted them on conspiracy charges on Tuesday. Both maintained their innocence and plead not guilty to the charges on Wednesday.
