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Providence

Goaltending was the story of the weekend in the Providence Bruins’ two-game weekend series at home against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Brandon Bussi recorded a 30-save shutout on Friday night, bolstering the P-Bruins to a 3-0 victory over the Phantoms. The Sound Beach, New York, native earned his first shutout of the season and the fourth of his career.

Bussi was thrilled with his overall game in the team’s victory.

“I just competed really hard,” Bussi said immediately following Friday’s win. “These kinds of games, you have to bring your lunchbox and get to work. They [Lehigh Valley] are a good team, and they make it hard on you. You’ve got to compete.”

Michael DiPietro got the start between the pipes on Saturday and backboned the P-Bruins to a 2-1 overtime victory over the Phantoms. The Windsor, Ontario, native stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced to earn his sixth win of the season. The netminder improved his numbers to a 2.08 goals against average and a .924 save percentage to start the season.

Georgii Merkulov, fresh off a three-game stretch with Boston, returned to Providence in style over the weekend, netting the winning goal in Saturday’s overtime victory over the Phantoms.

The Ryazan, Russia, native caught a stretch pass from Ian Mitchell to send him on a breakaway, where he deked and flipped the puck past the Phantoms netminder to win the game for Providence. With 13 points early in the season, the forward has at least one point in his last seven AHL games, with nine total in that span.

Merkulov believes the key to keep the team’s momentum going starts with how the team practices.

“We have to be good in practice,” said Merkulov following Saturday’s win. “It starts with practice. We have to chip away every day. I’m looking forward to next week.”

Good Monday Morning, all.

As if it were needed, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu provided further confirmation last week that she won’t be “[rolling] out the welcome mat” for the incoming Trump administration if it comes to town and starts trying to deport people.

The Democratic mayor’s comments came after President-Elect Donald Trump’s pick for border czar, Tom Homan, dismissed Wu, a two-time Harvard grad, as “not very smart” for her very public defiance, and questioned why any public official would stand in the way of getting criminals off the streets.

“They can not cooperate,” Homan told the cable news channel NewsMax last week, according to The Boston Herald. “But there are certain laws in place that they can’t cross and I hope she doesn’t cross it.”

Wu fired back in a statement, arguing that Trump and his lieutenants can “say whatever they want about me, but our public safety record speaks for itself: Boston is the safest major city in America.”

The mayor’s tough talk represented the latest escalation in tensions between the Bay State’s top Democrats and the incoming Republican White House as it firms up its plans to use the U.S. military to deport millions of people who are in the country illegally.

If Trump carries through on those plans, tens of thousands of people in Massachusetts also could be deported. However, the effort is expected to face vigorous legal challenges.

Democratic Gov. Maura Healey already has said that the State Police won’t be put to work assisting the new administration.

• Read More: A big climate bill is headed to Mass. Gov. Healey’s desk. What’s next? | Bay State Briefing

In an interview with MSNBC earlier this month. Healey noted that “every tool in the toolbox has got to be used to protect our citizens, to protect our residents, and protect our states, and certainly to hold the line on democracy and the rule of law.”

Massachusetts Republican Party Chairperson Amy Carnevale slammed Healey and Wu in a statement last week, saying that it’s “appalling and disgusting” that the two pols are “prioritizing appeasing the most radical elements of their political base over the safety of Massachusetts residents.”

Carnevale’s statement came in response to the news that federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices in Boston had arrested two undocumented immigrants on child rape charges and taken another into custody who had been convicted of the same charge in Brazil.

“Parents across the Commonwealth are horrified that individuals charged with such serious crimes are allowed to roam free because local authorities refuse to work with ICE to remove these criminals from our streets,” Carnevale continued.

X boss Elon Musk also weighed in, attacking state policies and Boston’s decade-old status as a sanctuary city.

“Why are ‘sanctuary’ cities protecting child rapists? Unconscionable. Any politician who does so should be recalled immediately,” the billionaire, and close Trump ally, posted to the social media site, WBUR reported.

In that same statement, Wu defended the city’s approach.

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“Our homicide rates are among the lowest of any city nationally, and gun violence has been at an all-time historic low over the last two years here in Boston,” Wu said, according to WCVB-TV in Boston.

“This is no coincidence — it’s a reflection of the trust between our residents and our public safety officials and a result of our daily focus on community policing and coordinating city services. We will continue to focus on that work and have no intention of rolling out the welcome mat for them,” she continued.

At least one Bay State Democrat has acknowledged that the party’s immigration policies are a political liability.

Speaking to business leaders in Boston last week, U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-8th District, said the Democrats’ policies have “caused people to be afraid.”

“Our task is to know who is coming into the country — to have an orderly process that does not scare the bejesus out of people of Arizona and New Mexico,” Lynch said.

Can you hear them now?

There’s no doubt that Election Day went pretty well for Massachusetts Democrats. Vice President Kamala Harris handily carried the state; U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren coasted to reelection, and the party retained its super-majority on Beacon Hill.

Nonetheless, Bay State Dems are engaging in the same kind of group introspection that’s kind of become a cottage industry since Nov. 5.

Party officials announced a “virtual listening tour” last week that will analyze what worked and what didn’t in 2024; gather feedback on areas for improvement, and “foster a collaborative environment where all voices are heard.

“Your voice matters, and this is your opportunity to help us build on our successes and strengthen our movement for the future. Together, we can ensure the Massachusetts Democratic Party continues to represent and advocate for the values that matter most to our communities,” state Democratic Chairman Steve Kerrigan said in a statement.

Details on the sessions, conducted over Zoom, will be coming soon, the party said.

The plural of caucus is …

U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-4th District, has joined with several of his House colleagues to launch a pro-housing caucus on Capitol Hill. The group has been dubbed the “YIMBY Caucus.” Or “Yes in My Backyard.”

Other members of the bipartisan group include U.S. Reps. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz.; Scott Peters and Robert Garcia, both Democrats of California; Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo.; Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., and Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., Auchincloss’ office said in a statement announcing its creation.

“The cost of housing is the greatest economic challenge facing Massachusetts. The answer: build more housing,” the Newton lawmaker said. “At all levels of government, Americans need permitting & land use reforms that unlock more housing production.”

Zzzzz …

If you lost sleep on Election Night, take heart, you’re hardly alone.

Nearly 93% of Americans said the nation’s quadrennial political drama cost them some shut-eye this year, according to a post-election study by SleepCycle.

The website analyzed more than 593,000 sleep sessions to come up with its results. And if there’s any comfort, Americans slept better in 2024 than they did during the 2020 election, the analysis found.

In Massachusetts, 73% of residents reported some quality shuteye on Nov. 5. And most of you headed to bed around 11:35 p.m., according to the analysis.

Voters in Wyoming got the soundest sleep on Election Day, while Mississippi voters had the roughest night, the analysis found.

They said it

“They continue to deliver on the schedule that we’ve set, and the quality has not shifted. Quality, in fact, has gotten better … All of the learning curve that took place during the Orange Line [car delivery] prior to myself getting here is being factored in, so now the Red Line cars are performing right off the bat.”

— MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng on the improving quality of the T’s newly delivered Red and Orange Line cars after the agency “reset” its contract with Chinese manufacturer CRRC (via State House News Service).

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Mass. Rep. Clark retains top House leadership post

Mass. rail backers push for ‘Northern Tier’ passenger trains

Charles Luster, co-founder of Uncommonwealth Group, running for Worcester City Council

Turned up to 11

Because, sometimes, you just need to start the work week with Carly Rae Jepsen. Here she is, live, with Jack Antonoff’s Bleachers with a live version of “Tiny Moves,” recorded at Fisher Green Pavilion in Seattle in July.

Your Monday long read

President-elect Donald Trump has been populating his incoming administration with allies and loyalists from the two states he calls home — New York and Florida. On Friday, the Republican named former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his choice for U.S. attorney general.

Writing for The Dispatch, Michael Warren delves into the Sunshine State’s move into the national spotlight.

Here’s the germane bit:

“No one represents this Florida takeover better than Susie Wiles, the co-chair of Trump’s 2024 campaign who will serve as his White House chief of staff. And Wiles is not just the architect (along with Chris LaCivita) of Trump’s victory this year,” Warren wrote. “She’s a powerhouse in Florida Republican politics, getting a large amount of credit for both Rick Scott’s out-of-nowhere victory in his 2010 run for governor and Ron DeSantis’ win in the 2018 gubernatorial race. Wiles ran the Trump campaign’s Florida operation in 2016, putting the state back in the Republican column for the first time since 2004. In the eight years since, Florida has only tipped further into the GOP’s column, up and down the ballot.”

That’s it for this morning. Tips, comments, and suggestions can be sent to jmicek@masslive.com. Have a good week, folks.

“Spider-Man” superstar Tom Holland dropped in for a surprise visit to the Campus School at Boston College, which will be receiving new adaptive equipment and technology thanks to a $25,000 grant from a nonprofit run by the actor’s family.

Holland, whose girlfriend Zendaya is shooting a film called “The Drama” in Boston and other Massachusetts towns, spent several hours Thursday in each of the six classrooms at the Campus School, which educates students ages 3-22 with extensive support needs, according to a press release from the college located in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

The British actor talked with students and even jumped in on tambourine and vocals during a music therapy session.

“We are so grateful to Tom Holland for taking the time to visit our small special needs school,” said Campus School Interim Director Thomas Miller. “He participated in a music session, posed for photos, and fully immersed himself into our students’ activities and their hearts.”

Nonverbal students were able to greet Holland using assistive technology, pressing switches or utilizing eye gaze devices to introduce themselves and welcome him to campus.

“Every single student was engaged, they were vibing off the room for sure. The way he engaged with them was really quite beautiful. He was just so natural and so caring,” said Jennifer Miller, the Campus School’s marketing manager. “He couldn’t have been more down to earth. He was fully, fully engaged with our students—they were absolutely the priority—but he was so friendly towards the staff as well.”

Hundreds of BC undergraduate and graduate students have been volunteers and teaching assistants at the Campus School, which was founded in 1970. Last year, a former volunteer’s mother, who knew the Holland family well, called Miller and recommended the Campus School apply for a grant from The Brother’s Trust, which supports nonprofits that “struggle to be heard,” the school said in its news release.

People around Boston have spotting celebrities — Zendaya and Robert Pattinson were seen around town for a reported A24 movie shoot, even popping in to a local pottery shop to unwind.

Last month, The Campus School was awarded a $25,000 grant that will be used to purchase assistive technology as well as a ceiling lift for physical therapy exercises.

The private, publicly funded, special education day school is located within the Lynch School of Education and Human Development on the Boston College campus. The Campus School benefits from innovative research in special education, graduate student Teacher Assistants, a thriving University-wide volunteer program, and meaningful relationships with Boston College athletes and teams, according to the school’s website.