The Boston Globe - 05.19.2019

BostonGlobe.com

VOL. 296, NO. 97

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Suggested retail price

$3.

Saturday:Nippy start.

High 57-62. Low 44-49.

Sunday:A bit warmer.

High 65-70. Low 60-65.

High tide: 5:09 a.m., 5:23 p.m.

Sunrise: 6:45 Sunset: 6:

Comics and Weather

in Sports, 8-9.

Obituaries in Sports, 11.

Acoldfrostyone

Saturday

OCTOBER 5, 2019

The Supreme Court agreed to hear a

challenge next year to a Louisiana law

that requires doctors performing

abortions to have admitting privileges

at nearby hospitals.Nation, 6.

A federal judge in Boston rejected

arguments seeking a temporary halt to

the moratorium on sales, saying a

restraining order “would conflict with

the public interest.”Metro, 2.

ATESTONABORTION

NIC ANTAYA FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

VAPE BAN CHALLENGE

By Michael S. Schmidt,

Adam Goldman,

and Nicholas Fandos

NEW YORK TIMES

A second intelligence offi-

cial who was alarmed by Presi-

dent Trump’s dealings with

Ukraine is weighing whether

to file his own formal whistle-

blower complaint and testify to

Congress, according to two

people briefed on the matter.

The official has more direct

information about the events

than the first whistle-blower,

whose complaint that Trump

was using his power to get

Ukraine to investigate his po-

litical rivals touched off an im-

peachment inquiry. The sec-

ond official is among those in-

terviewed by the intelligence

community inspector general

to corroborate the allegations

of the original whistle-blower,

one of the people said.

The disclosure came as

HouseDemocraticinvestiga-

tors widened the reach of their

impeachment inquiry Friday,

subpoenaing the White House

for a vast trove of documents

and requesting more from Vice

President Mike Pence to better

understand Trump’s attempts

to pressure Ukraine to investi-

gate his political rivals.

The subpoena, signed by

the House Oversight and Re-

form Committee, is for docu-

ments and communications

that are highly delicate and

would typically be subject in

almost any White House to

claims of executive privilege. If

handed over, the records could

provide keys to understanding

what transpired between the

two countries.

TRUMP, Page 11

By Jazmine Ulloa

GLOBE STAFF

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.—

Representative Elaine Luria’s

decision to support an im-

peachment inquiry into Presi-

dent Trump wasn’t just about

his political future. It also put

hers on the line.

She is a moderate Democrat

who last year narrowly won the

congressional seat for south-

eastern Virginia, a district dom-

inated by the largest Navy base

and carried by Trump in 2016.

Supporting an impeachment ef-

fort could seriously endanger

her reelection and she had for

months declined to do so. But

she was finally persuaded to

join many of her Democratic

colleagues last week by the alle-

gations that Trump had asked

the leader of Ukraine to investi-

gate a political rival.

And in her first large-scale

encounter with constituents

since joining them, Luria was

greeted with

more support

than opposi-

tion in a dis-

trict that Re-

publicans are

expected to

target next

year — partic-

ularly after

her decision.

“I didn’t

go to Wash-

ington to im-

peach the president,” she told

an audience of almost 300 at a

town hall meeting in Virginia

Beach Thursday night. “But I’d

also say that I didn’t spend 20

years in uniform defending our

country to watch something

like this.”

A Navy veteran who com-

LURIA, Page 11

By Laura Crimaldi and Vernal Coleman

GLOBE STAFF

For at least 20 years, the Registry of Motor Ve-

hicles has failed to stay on top of alerts from oth-

er states about Massachusetts residents who

broke their traffic laws, creating a massive back-

log that allowed an untold number of drivers to

skirt potential sanctions and remain on the road.

An independent audit released Friday re-

vealed that the failure by the RMV to suspend the

license of a 23-year-old truck driver accused of

causing a crash in June that killed seven was part

of a years-long pattern of delay and neglect by the

agency that extends to other critical functions.

In addition to rushing to reduce the mountain

of unprocessed notices from other states, the

RMV is also contending with significant backlogs

in other areas, such as processing violations of

drivers who have ignition interlock devices in

their cars and adding criminal information about

drivers to their records, according to the audit.

The Baker administration commissioned the

review by accounting firm Grant Thornton after

RMV, Page 5

By Steve Annear

GLOBE STAFF

Before Owen Williams and his friends

got cozy on the Cambridge resident’s shady

outdoor patio last month, he gave them a

warning.

“I said, ‘Just so you know, you may get

an acorn dropped on your head,’ ” the 39-

year-old software engineer said.

Nobody got pegged on the noggin that

evening, but the group still had to evacuate

— a decision prompted by squirrels forag-

ing high above and sending acorns down

like tiny bombs.

“They were just dropping onto us. They

would be pinging onto the grill and the

chairs,” Williams said. “It was enough of a

carpet-bombing that we had to basically go

inside.”

It’s autumn, and if you’ve found your-

self anywhere near an oak tree, you’ve

probably noticed that this acorn season

has produced a bit of a bumper crop. They

ACORNS, Page 10

By Andy Rosen

GLOBE STAFF

The federal government is calling for a complete re-

placement of the two bridges that cross the Cape Cod Ca-

nal, a long-awaited decision that will reshape a crossing

that has frustrated generations of travelers between the

Cape and mainland.

The US Army Corps of Engineers has released a draft

recommendation for a $1 billion replacement of the

Bourne and Sagamore crossings,

which were built 84 years ago and in-

tended to last a half-century.

The agency, which controls the

bridges, had deliberated for years

over what to do about the structures,

which are in poor condition and in-

creasingly need major maintenance

work that itself creates major traffic

headaches. The Army Corps consid-

ered a range of proposals, from differ-

ent bridge configurations, to tunnels,

to causeways — even the idea of filling

in the canal and directing marine traf-

fic around the Cape.

In the end, officials decided the

most practical solution is two new

bridges next to the existing spans,

likely on the inland side of each. The

bridges would have four travel lanes,

two added lanes for merging traffic,

BRIDGES, Page 10

2nd official

may also blow

the whistle

ConsideringcomplaintagainstTrump;

DemocratssubpoenaWhiteHouse

In a swing district,

discontent surfaces

Va.voterssupport

congresswoman

oncallforinquiry

RMV’s failures

stretch back for

decades, audit says ACORN SQUASHED

Headsup—it’s

oneofthoseyears

It’s not your

imagination —

acorns are

everywhere

this fall.

A $1 billion fix for Cape

bridges long past their prime

ArmyCorpsofEngineers

callsfortwonewspansto

replaceBourne,Sagamore

Elaine Luria

called alleged

misdoing “a

threat to all.”

‘I’msaying,“Dang!Whatisgoingon?”Theyhithard.’

RICHELLE SMITH,37, of Roxbury, on her acorn encounter

JOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFF

The Sagamore Bridge would continue to operate while a new one was being built nearby.

The report

highlighted

a cracked

weld on the

Sagamore

(above) and

a rusted

joint under

the Bourne.

US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS PHOTOS

Different

look

The designs

are prelimi-

nary, but

the bridges

would fea-

ture more

lanes.

Rendering, 10.

DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF

ORANGE

CRUSH —

The giant

pumpkins

were back

at the

Topsfield

Fair on

Friday for

the annual

weigh-off.

Check out

the winner,

Metro, 2.