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Requiem for a fierce advocate and communicator – The Boston Globe

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Requiem for a fierce advocate and communicator – The Boston Globe


President Biden despatched a video, closing with the road, “I want you have been nonetheless with me, man.” Senator Ed Markey and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh additionally delivered eloquent, in-person tributes.

However essentially the most highly effective phrases spoken in regards to the late political strategist Larry Rasky at a memorial occasion that was held final Sunday on the Boch Heart didn’t come from these with essentially the most highly effective titles. They got here from Larry Rasky’s son, Will, 32, who works as a particular assistant for presidency affairs within the workplace of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. First, Will Rasky listed all of the communication classes he discovered from his father. Then he paid homage to “this nice huge gregarious, fiery however cuddly bear of a person who fiercely beloved his household, pals, and teammates.” Whereas Larry Rasky was particular to all members of the family, he stated, “there was the present that was just for me: I obtained to have him as my dad.”

Larry Rasky died two years in the past, at 69, of issues from COVID-19. I attended the celebration of his life together with a number of hundred others — though I’m undecided Larry would have put me on the visitor checklist. Our skilled relationship had its ups and downs — no shock to anybody I’ve ever written about. Whereas there’ll at all times be some rigidity between those that cowl the information and people who work to form it, I revered Rasky’s ardour, tenacity, and drive. He was a fierce advocate and communicator who represented an period now thought-about “previous Boston,” however which was as soon as, after all, “new.”

A part of that inflow of younger individuals who come right here to go to varsity (in his case, to Emerson through New Jersey), Rasky stayed and carved out a distinct segment that helped make Boston rather less parochial, and residential to a different Grateful Useless fan. He famously obtained his begin in politics whereas working as a safety guard on the Boston workplace of Jimmy Carter’s reelection group, ending up because the marketing campaign’s deputy press secretary. I first met him when he was engaged on Ray Flynn’s underdog quest to develop into mayor. He additionally labored on Markey’s congressional marketing campaign and John Kerry’s Senate marketing campaign, amongst others. Within the early Eighties, he made a key connection to a Delaware senator named Joe Biden. When Biden ran for president in 1988, Rasky was his press secretary, and served as an adviser in subsequent bids.

Rasky began working firms that represented a mixture of company and political shoppers, simply as I began writing a column in regards to the intersection of enterprise and politics. He was completely satisfied once I wrote: “With a resume that bursts with Democratic political connections, Rasky provides steerage to executives who’re wanting to study who the political gamers are and the way they have to therapeutic massage their message to get by way of to them.” He was much less thrilled about journalistic exploration into the precise message massaging. At this time, if somebody dislikes an opinion or evaluation, they tweet one thing nasty about it. Again then, the telephone in your desk would ring, and Rasky’s quintessential growl would greet you. It was fierce, in-your-face advocacy and communication, not social media back-stabbing.

Rasky’s coronary heart was at all times on the market, too. He was dedicated to household — particularly, to his spouse, Carolyn — and to shoppers and causes. As Biden stated within the video, “We solid a quick friendship based mostly on a fundamental code. Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty.” Rasky caught with Biden after his first presidential marketing campaign fell aside, and caught with workers, too. Doug Bailey, a former Globe enterprise reporter and editor, who’s now a senior adviser at Rasky Companions, instructed me Rasky “angrily fired me a few instances, however inside hours forgot all about it.” Added Bailey: “There’s nobody like him.”

Referencing Rasky within the current tense is useful to an organization that can proceed to bear his title. “How may we not!” Justine Griffin, a principal at Rasky Companions, e-mailed me. “We’ve labored with Larry for many years and plan to proceed to construct on the sturdy basis he created.”

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That’s one measure of Rasky’s worth. However go away it to his son Will to sum up one other in his eulogy: “He wasn’t excellent, no one is, and we had occasional variations or disagreements, however I wouldn’t commerce a single minute I had with him for something on this planet, and I can’t let you know what number of issues I might commerce to have only one extra minute with him.”

For a fierce advocate and communicator, what larger worth can there be?


Joan Vennochi may be reached at joan.vennochi@globe.com. Comply with her on Twitter @joan_vennochi.





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Boston, MA

‘Absolutely looked real’: Text scam about unpaid parking ticket saturates Boston area codes

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‘Absolutely looked real’: Text scam about unpaid parking ticket saturates Boston area codes


‘Absolutely looked real’: Text scam about unpaid parking ticket saturates Boston area codes

Boston Police are issuing an alert regarding a text message scam about an ‘unpaid parking invoice’ that’s been saturating Boston area codes since Saturday.

The fraudulent message from a Montreal area code, which uses the city’s logo, instructs people to pay $4.35 to avoid ‘late fees of 35$’.

It provides a link to a deceptive .com website that is not the boston.gov website.

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At-large City Councilor Erin Murphy is among the growing list of people targeted by the scam over the weekend.

“At first glance, absolutely looked real. Could easily scam people,” said Murphy. “Almost everyone I talked to, they got it or someone in their household got it.”

Murphy said she’s heard directly from people who were tricked by the message and compromised their banking information.

“It’s scary to know that someone was able to send that many text messages out, and they were targeting Boston phone numbers,” she said.

Boston police are still trying to figure out what phone database the scammers accessed and exactly how many people received the text message scam.

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“They definitely got a lot of people, and the amount, $4.35, a few people said that was the fee they paid at a parking meter,” said Murphy. “It directed them to a website that looked very similar to the city of Boston website.”

Boston 25 News spoke with a handful of people who received the fraudulent message.

Some said they too almost fell for it.

One person said they didn’t own a vehicle and knew it was a scam right away.

The message has some grammatical errors and uses a ‘$’ sign after the number 35.

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Boston 25 News called the phone number it came from, and it went directly to a voice message in French.

“Don’t feel embarrassed if you did pay it,” added Murphy. “Let us know so we can help track to make sure there’s no fraud going on or no money taken.”

While city officials recently announced a significant drop in violent crime and other serious crimes, one of the crimes that remain on the rise is financial fraud.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW

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Boston, MA

Army Drops Second Conference Game in Hard-Fought Contest Against Boston

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Army Drops Second Conference Game in Hard-Fought Contest Against Boston


The Army Black Knights (6-8, 0-2 conference) went east to try and record their first conference win of the season when facing off against a perennial Patriot League powerhouse Boston University (7-8,1-1), but they dropped their second contest in as many games, losing 71-63.

It’s been an up-and-down campaign for Army.

They have dominated some of the lesser opponents on their schedule, while also getting blown out when stepping up in class, and losing some shootouts to teams who are roughly on the same level as them.

That brought Army into their first Patriot League matchup against Colgate (4-10, 1-0) with a 6-6 record, but after dropping that contest and now losing to Boston, they now sit two games under .500.

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The first half against the Terriers was a shootout.

Army got out to a hot start, taking an 8-2 lead just under three minutes after tip, but once Boston found their footing a bit, it started to turn into a back-and-forth affair.

The Black Knights were able to take control during the middle portion of the first half, getting out to a double-digit lead at the 9:37 mark. But a strong four-minute stretch to close things out saw the Terriers erase a six-point deficit and head into the locker room up, 40-35.

This was a lead Boston never relinquished.

Army tried to nudge back in front at multiple points during the second half, going on a 9-0 run to make it a three-point game with roughly 14 minutes left and fighting back to get within one point with 7:14 remaining.

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But, it wasn’t enough for them to win their first conference game of the year.

Senior guard Jalen Rucker led the way for Army in the scoring department, putting up 17 points on 7-for-18 shooting from the field and 2-for-5 from deep. He was joined in double figures by fellow starters Ryan Curry and Josh Scovens, who both had 13.

Michael McNair led Boston with 17 points of his own. Miles Brewster was the only other starter for the Terriers to score double-digits, but Ben Roy and Ben Palacios added 12 and 10 off the bench respectively.

Army was dynamic from deep, shooting 42.3% (11-26), but they struggled from the floor overall in comparison by going 40.7% (24-59).

Boston was able to outlast the Black Knights by shotting 50.9% (27-53) from the field and 39.1% from 3-point range (9-23).

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Army will try to secure their first Patriot League win of the season when they welcome Loyola MD (6-7, 1-1) to Christl Arena on Jan. 8 at 6 p.m. EST with the game broadcasted on ESPN+.



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Boston, MA

Death investigation in Charlestown after man found shot in 7-Eleven parking lot

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Death investigation in Charlestown after man found shot in 7-Eleven parking lot


A man was found dead in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven in Boston’s Charlestown neighborhood late Saturday night, according to police, who say he had been shot.

Boston police announced Sunday that there is a death investigation underway at 140 Main Street after officers responded around 10:33 p.m. the night before to a report of a pedestrian struck there and found an adult male lying on the ground in the convenience store’s parking lot.

Further investigation revealed the victim had been shot, police said, and he was pronounced dead on scene by Boston EMS. His name has not been released.

Police haven’t shared more information about the incident at this time.

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The Boston Police Department’s homicide unit is actively investigating what happened, and anyone with information is strongly urged to contact detectives at 617-343-4470. Anonymous tips can also be called into the CrimeStoppers tip line at 1-800-494-TIPS, or texted to CRIME (27463) with the word “TIP.”



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