Speaker 1: This is WBZ, Boston's news radio, redefining local news.
Speaker 2: That sun is popping out him in some pretty heavy
Speaker 2: clouds out there after a little bit of rain. Breezy today,
Speaker 2: time year, seventy degrees aki weather coming up right now,
Speaker 2: fifty seven in downtown Boston, and we start in Boston.
Speaker 2: The Boston City Council is expected to vote today on
Speaker 2: the mayor's initiative to protect homeowners in the city from
Speaker 2: seeing a dramatic spike in their property tax bills. Her
Speaker 2: home rule petition had increased commercial property tax rates beyond
Speaker 2: what's currently allowed under state law, which is why the
Speaker 2: mayor had to file a home rule petition with a
Speaker 2: state legislature. She needs their support, along with the support
Speaker 2: of the Boston City Council. It's been a tough go.
Speaker 2: A council meeting yesterday reflected that tensions remain high on
Speaker 2: a device issue, highlighted by pushback from business owners in
Speaker 2: the City of Boston. The vote today is on the
Speaker 2: revised plan on taxes after a compromise with business groups.
Speaker 2: Keep it here. As soon as there is a vote,
Speaker 2: if there is one, we will let you know. We
Speaker 2: do have some new numbers on the US economy, It
Speaker 2: grew at a healthy two point eight percent annual rate
Speaker 2: for the last half of this year. ABC's Jim Ryan
Speaker 2: has that.
Speaker 3: The Commerce Department says the gross domestic product the total
Speaker 3: output of goods and services, did slow slightly from the
Speaker 3: previous quarter, but economists sy the latest figure still reflects
Speaker 3: surprising durability in the economy. On the downside, Americans have
Speaker 3: racked up record credit card debt to deal with rising prices.
Speaker 2: One facet of this growth comes from consumer spending. Despite
Speaker 2: high inflation, we're bringing it down. You and I were
Speaker 2: still spending, and that really helped the GDP on its own.
Speaker 2: Consumer spending accelerated last quarter as well. Hundreds of the
Speaker 2: striking hotel workers in Boston could be back on the
Speaker 2: job by Friday morning, pending the results of a new
Speaker 2: contract vote. This afternoon. Wbz's James Rojas is in downtown crossing.
Speaker 4: With that union members are going to vote on whether
Speaker 4: to ratify a tentative agreement with four Hilton hotel properties.
Speaker 4: If approved, around six hundred workers will be back to
Speaker 4: their normal duties bright and early Friday morning. Unit here
Speaker 4: Local twenty six says in the meantime, picking lines outside
Speaker 4: the two striking Hilton properties are suspended. The tentative agreement
Speaker 4: is said to achieve the same standard of wages and
Speaker 4: benefits set by Omni Hotel and Resorts and its workers
Speaker 4: in downtown Crossing. James Rojas, WBZ Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2: Updating the stubborn rush fires burning in dozens of places
Speaker 2: across Massachusetts for yet another day. The statewide fire mobilization
Speaker 2: plan is sent firefighters and apparatus to Salem and Middleton, Boxborough,
Speaker 2: and Stotem. The State Department of Fires Services telling WBZ
Speaker 2: News Radio crews have about fifty percent contained the fire
Speaker 2: in Salem Woods that was a large fire. Another large
Speaker 2: fire is about ninety five percent contained in Salem, and
Speaker 2: the Mayor of Salem says at this point they have
Speaker 2: no plans to cancel or postpone any Halloween festivities. We're
Speaker 2: starting to see temps in the sixties right now Walpole
Speaker 2: and Norwood, cloudy in sixty, sun starting to appear through
Speaker 2: the clouds in the greater Boston area, and Boston will
Speaker 2: see a high today near seventy degrees. We do have
Speaker 2: a little bit of a worrisome breeze out there with
Speaker 2: those wildfires. Tonight cloudy fifty seven in Boston, and then
Speaker 2: Halloween tomorrow sunny breeze warm seventy seven degrees in Boston,
Speaker 2: the record eighty one set back in nineteen forty six.
Speaker 2: Nearly twenty years after decades of sexual abuse was uncovered
Speaker 2: in the Catholic Church in Boston, Medecin releases its first
Speaker 2: report on what it's doing to protect minors, but local
Speaker 2: advocates say it falls short. Boston Archdia says Cardinal jan
Speaker 2: O'Malley leading the commission behind this report fifty pages of it,
Speaker 2: and it outlines steps the Catholic Church needs to take,
Speaker 2: including a streamline process for removing clergy from office and
Speaker 2: reparations for victims. A Boston attorney was represented hundreds of
Speaker 2: victims tells The Globe the report is just an academic exercise.
Speaker 2: He says, the church cannot police itself. Meantime, Cardinal O'Malley
Speaker 2: is set to retire tomorrow. You will hold a prayer
Speaker 2: service tonight for his replacement. Vice President Kamala Harris just
Speaker 2: responded to an apparent gaff from President Biden moments ago.
Speaker 2: The Vice President says she strongly disagrees with criticizing people
Speaker 2: over who they vote for. This comes in response to
Speaker 2: President Biden weighing in on a racist joke made at
Speaker 2: a mega rally over the weekend in New York, and
Speaker 2: ABC's Rachel Scott has.
Speaker 1: That Republicans seizing on the President's words, accusing him of
Speaker 1: calling Trump's supporters garbage.
Speaker 3: Breaking news for you, mister president.
Speaker 4: You may not have heard this.
Speaker 3: Just moments ago, Joe Biden stated that our supporters are garbage.
Speaker 1: Biden even taking the social media to clarify, writing earlier today,
Speaker 1: I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed
Speaker 1: by Trump's supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage,
Speaker 1: which is the only word I can think of to
Speaker 1: describe it. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That's all
Speaker 1: I meant to say.
Speaker 2: The Trump campaign has said it does not agree with
Speaker 2: a joke which referred to Puerto Rico as a floating
Speaker 2: island of garbage. Last night, vin's president Harris gave her
Speaker 2: closing argument speech at an infamous spot on the National Mall.
Speaker 5: Her message about this election was clear, it will probably
Speaker 5: be the most important vote you ever cast, she spoke
Speaker 5: at the same spot where on January sixth, she said
Speaker 5: Donald Trump sent an armed mob to the United States
Speaker 5: Capital to overturn the will of the American people.
Speaker 3: This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed
Speaker 3: with grievance.
Speaker 5: Adding it is time for new generation of leadership, and
Speaker 5: she is ready to offer that leadership as President. Lindy Kenyon,
Speaker 5: CBS News Washington.
Speaker 2: You are now in the loop for news updates throughout
Speaker 2: the day. Listen to WBZ News Radio on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2: I'm Laurie Kirby, WBZ, Boston's news radio