Banned For Life: The HUB

The HUB is a daily newsletter designed for what you want — to be caught up on the most interesting, important news in 5 minutes or less. It's a little bit of this, a little bit of that, but if there's something you want more or less of, email me at mike.carraggi@patch.com.

Today is Monday, July 19. Let's get started.

Good riddance.

The fan who hit Red Sox left fielder Alex Verdugo with a baseball during Saturday night's bizarre contest in New York has been banned for life from attending Major League Baseball games, the Yankees said Sunday night.

"While the Yankees appreciate the spirit and passion of our fans in our various rivalries — especially with the Red Sox — reckless, disorderly and dangerous behavior that puts the safety of players, field staff or fellow fans in jeopardy will not be tolerated,” the Yankees said in a statement.

The New York Post says the "abhorrent behavior is nothing new." Still, the fan is lucky he didn't get arrested.

P.S., if you didn't stay up last night, the Sox dropped their second straight to the Yankees, 9-1.

It's never over with Whitey. The FBI declassified its massive 300-page file on the Boston mobster two after The Boston Herald's Freedom of Information Act request. You can see the entire file here and read Joe Dwinell's take on it here.

They're getting back to work. The state's unemployment in June was under 5 percent for the first time since March 2020, Chris Lisinksi of State House News reports via GBH. The 4.9 percent unemployment is still a far cry from the 2.7 percent at the start of the pandemic. Massachusetts employers added 9,400 jobs in June.

Gordon-Conwell is without a full-time Black staffer after one of the largest theological seminaries in America failed to renew the contract of its only Black professor. Religion News Service said Rev. Emmett Price III was a victim of budget cuts at the Hamilton-based seminary. The seminary is overwhelmingly white — only 7 percent of students are Black, The Boston Globe said in reporting about the backlash the seminary has received.

Local voices

The Boston Herald's Howie Carr says keep your white privilege, he wants Massachusetts State Police privilege. "Steal thousands from the taxpayers, get caught red-handed, show zero remorse and do no prison time — what a racket!" He actually does a good a job in shining a light on an underreported story — six more former troopers being ordered to pay back tens of thousands they "earned" for skipping out on overtime shifts — and even details what they'll be making in exorbitant monthly pension payments.

The Boston Globe's editorial board says Acting Mayor Kim Janey must clean up yet another mess that didn't happen on her watch. This time it's the pathetic misdirect city lawyers gave a judge in relation to failing to disclose controversial text messages in a case about exam school admissions. "Surely we can’t build a fairer city on the foundation of such deception, even if it helped grease the wheels for a more equitable outcome for exam school admissions in the short run. The ends don’t justify the means."

What I'm reading today: Anyone else who has a job there's no punching in or out off can probably relate to what this story from The Atlantic is trying to say: Stop using your leisure time to get things done.

Weather

The National Weather Service says: During the day — A chance of showers, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 71. West wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. At night — A chance of showers, mainly before 9pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 64. Light west wind. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Have a swell week.

You can email me at mike.carraggi@patch.com and follow me @PatchCarraggi.