Jon Keller's Massachusetts Turkeys For 2019
BOSTON (CBS) - Turkeys are everywhere this year, it seems. On local roads, swarming local lawns, chasing terrified Bostonians down the street. And the feathered turkeys aren't the only one befouling the Massachusetts landscape:
CASINOS
When it opened last year, there were high hopes for MGM Springfield, the state's first full-scale casino. But the buzz wore off quickly, amid heightened competition from the Connecticut casinos.
And the opening of the mega-casino in Everett has left Springfield in the dust, revenues falling way short of projections, workers being laid off. Come to think of it, Everett isn't keeping its revenue promises either.
The state Gaming Commission was supposed to serve up a menu of gambling options that would provide sustained economic opportunity. Instead, it seems they cooked up a bunch of turkeys.
FALL RIVER'S MAYOR
"These things are totally made up, they are false," said Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia after being hit with a second federal indictment in the past 18 months, the former for allegedly defrauding investors, the latter for allegedly extorting bribes from local business owners. And after surviving a recall vote in March, Correia bailed out in October before the voters threw him out.
His cases are still pending, but it's not too soon to pronounce his apparently ethics-free political career a major turkey.
MBTA
"That is on us, that is on the MBTA," said a top T official when the cause of last June's derailment of a Red Line train was revealed.
No kidding, it's on you. Axle damage on the offending equipment went uninspected for too long by the T. And to make matters worse, the accident destroyed signal bungalows housing crucial switching equipment, raising yet another question about the perennially-troubled transit agency - what kind of turkey agency houses vital equipment so close to the tracks?
CAPE COD SHARKS
Once upon a time, the shark infestation off Cape Cod was kind of a hoot, a novelty that drew tourists and sold t-shirts.
But this year, it wasn't so funny anymore. Last year's fatal shark attack in Wellfleet cast a pall, and after more than a hundred shark-related beach closures this summer, they're becoming the unwelcome turkeys that threaten the Cape's crucial tourism industry.
Coming Wednesday, the 2019 turkeys from sports, showbiz and royalty.