Boston To New York In 100 Minutes: The HUB

The HUB is an effort to get you caught up on whatever you need to know each weekday in Boston and around Massachusetts.

Today is Tuesday, June 22. Let's get started.

3 Things To Know Today

Boston To New York In Under 2 Hours? Lawmakers Lobby For Bullet Train In Infrastructure Deal

The main pitch: Zip from Boston to New York in just an hour and 40 minutes, less than half the current travel time. It's the kind of idea [Doug] McGarrah didn't consider realistic until some key pieces fell into place.

"First Biden is elected," McGarrah said. "He's Amtrak Joe, so maybe there's an opportunity. And then the Georgia Senate victory." (Callum Borchers, WBUR)

Rachael Rollins takes jab at Marty Walsh over the Dennis White police scandal

Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins is calling out former Mayor Martin Walsh about his last-minute decision to hire now ex-Police Commissioner Dennis White, saying Walsh either knew about the domestic violence allegations against him “and he’s lying, or he didn’t know about it,” and was a terrible manager.

The former mayor has been adamant that he was unaware of past allegations of domestic abuse against White at the time he appointed him the city’s top cop earlier this year. (Rick Sobey, Boston Herald)

ALSO: For Rollins, it’s full speed ahead (Michael Jonas, CommonWealth)

Labor union files complaint against city of Boston over COVID-19 reopening plan

A labor union that represents Boston municipal employees has filed a complaint with a state agency claiming the city did not seek its input in its return-to-work plan and failed to bargain in good faith regarding its COVID-19 reopening.

SEIU Local 888, which represents more than 8,000 state, municipal, and education workers in Massachusetts, made the claim with the state’s Division of Labor Relations last week. The legal action was first reported by The Boston Herald.

The union’s move comes after Acting Mayor Kim Janey’s administration recently took heat from some city workers who viewed the city’s reopening plan as inflexible for those in need of child care. (Danny McDonald, Boston Globe)

Red light, red light

Traffic is rearing its incredibly ugly head as the pandemic recedes. It didn't take long for it to get back to pre-pandemic levels.

“Traffic, for all intents and purposes, is back to about 2019 levels on most roadways in Massachusetts at this point,” Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said at a Monday presentation to the Department of Transportation.

Chris Lisinski from the State House News Service has more on the sad news at The Boston Globe.

What I'm reading today: This appears to be going nowhere — and there's a lot of blame to go around for that — but it's worth paying attention to. A seismic voting rights bill is expected to tank in the Senate today, Nicholas Fandos writes at The New York Times.

Weather

The National Weather Service says: During the day — A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 5 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 84. West wind 7 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. At night — A chance of showers, mainly before midnight. Cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 55. Northwest wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Have a swell Tuesday.

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