Former Probation Department commissioner John O’Brien is on trial at a South Boston federal courthouse for allegedly running his department like a criminal enterprise. Federal prosecutors claim that O’Brien oversaw a rigged hiring system that traded jobs for influence in the state legislature. Fred Wyshak, the lead prosecutor in the O’Brien case, has said O’Brien used probation jobs as “political currency” to advance a corrupt, bribery-riddled relationship with state lawmakers. Prosecutors haven’t had any luck proving that state lawmakers knew they were on the receiving end of a series of crooked deals, though. Federal prosecutors have put three current or former Beacon Hill lawmakers on the stand so far. And none of the three have done prosecutors any favors.

Yesterday saw a pair of Beacon Hill power players — former rep. Steve Walsh and outgoing Rep. Michael Costello — take the stand for the prosecution. Walsh and Costello are connected to three of the eight alleged acts of mail fraud the government says O’Brien committed. Neither had much to offer in the way of incriminating testimony.

Wyshak tried repeatedly to connect Probation hiring to former House speaker Sal DiMasi, whom Walsh and Costello channeled prospective probation hires through. But Wyshak couldn’t get many questions to stick. He met objections when he asked Walsh, “Do you know if the speaker’s office had influence with Mr. O’Brien?” and “Did you think that somebody needed legislative influence to get a job with probation?” After spinning his wheels, the best Wyshak could get Walsh to offer was, “I believed as a rank and file member that there was more influence with the speaker’s office than there was with mine.”

Costello, the first sitting lawmaker to testify, used his time on the stand to critique the indictment prosecutors slapped O’Brien with (“I couldn’t tell where the [legal] lines were,” he said), and to argue that the probation job-seeker he recommended, who is the daughter of a state judge, deserved to be hired. Costello also told defense lawyers that lawmakers routinely called in job-related favors across state government, not just in the Probation Department. Costello didn’t say anything to establish a special, corrupt relationship between the Legislature and O’Brien; he did note that the governor’s office had a wing that “used to be called the Office of Patronage.”

Prosecutors previously came up empty when they made a run at Jack Hart, a former state senator who now works as a lobbyist. Hart was plagued by a nonexistent memory during much of his testimony, but he said there was nothing special about the act of sending a job applicant’s name to Probation, or any other agency. “We’re in the business of writing letters of recommendation,” he said of lawmakers.

–PAUL MCMORROW    

BEACON HILL

House Speaker Robert DeLeo‘s gun violence bill barely makes it out of committee on a 7-6 vote, State House News reports.

Bridgewater State Hospital , which has been the subject of several scathing Boston Globe stories on the improper use of restraints and other questionable practices, was the subject of a surprise inspection late last month by the agency responsible for accrediting hospitals, and was given 45 days to respond to the findings or risk losing its accreditation.

Gov. Deval Patrick gives a wide-ranging interview to The Berkshire Eagle and discusses a proposed gas line through Western Massachusetts, medical marijuana, and state funding for a rail connection with New York City.

Tom Keane laments the regressive dynamics of the lottery, a state-sponsored taking from the poor and giving to the rich that he says casinos will only add to.

In an abrupt reversal, the state Department of Children and Families is asking a juvenile court judge to return custody of 16-year-old Justina Pelletier to her parents.

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

Despite campaign vows to have Boston’s municipal workforce reflect the diversity of a city where minority group members make up a majority of the population, Mayor Marty Walsh‘s full-time hires since taking office have been mainly white and mainly men, the Globe reports.

Facing a backlash of criticism, Walsh has scrapped his proposal to allow for exemptions from the city residency requirement for top City Hall officials.

CASINOS

A new Suffolk University poll has voter sentiment shifting sharply against casinos — a turn that has local officials in Plainville worried.

NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON

President Obama signs an executive order expanding the number of students who can have their student loan payments capped at 10 percent of their income, NPR reports.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, swept into office on his conservative bona fides with tea party backing, signs a new law granting in-state tuition benefits to illegal immigrants as long as they attended a Florida high school for at least three years.

The New Republic ‘s Isaac Chotiner says Hillary Clinton was a mediocre secretary of state, but that’s mostly not her fault, he says, arguing that the role of cabinet secretaries has been diminished in recent years and especially so in the Obama administration.  

ELECTIONS

Out-of-state money is flowing into the governor’s race, with one of every six campaign dollars coming from outside Massachusetts, the Gloucester Times reports.

With days remaining before the state Democratic convention, Attorney General Martha Coakley continues to hold a commanding lead in polls, State House News reports. The Herald describes Coakley’s seven-point lead over her presumed Republican opponent — the second poll in a week showing a single-digit race for November — as “shaky.” David Bernstein breaks down recent polling in the governor’s race.

Charlie Baker spent the day touring Massachusetts manufacturing facilities, declaring in language that seemed to betray his years with Bill Weld that it’s a sector the state needs to stay focused on “watering.”

Hillary Clinton says she and Bill were broke when they left the White House, ABC News reports.

Doris Rodriguez , a Lawrence high school graduate, announces her candidacy for the state Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Barry Finegold, who is running for treasurer, the Eagle-Tribune reports.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Eleven of the nation’s grantmaking foundations announced a nearly $200 million initiative over the next five years to improve the lives of young minority men, including overhauling the criminal and juvenile justice system and addressing bias in the media.

MIT is researching the impact of long-term unemployment, WBUR reports. Check out this CommonWealth article on the hidden injuries of long-term unemployment.

Pharmaceutical giant Merck agrees to acquire Idenix Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge biotech firm with fewer than 100 employees, for the staggering price of $3.85 billion. The deal makes for a billion-dollar payday for Seth Klarman‘s Baupost Group hedge fund.

Vermont is shaking up the food business with a new law requiring identification of genetically modified ingredients in food products, Governing reports.

EDUCATION

Quincy school officials will use a $2.9 million budget increase from Mayor Thomas Koch to hire 16 new employees,including 12 new teachers, and expand programs, especially special needs.

Somerset ‘s top school administrators told the School Committee there is a nearly $600,000 deficit, including a $90,000 shortage in the school lunch program with just three weeks left in the fiscal year.

HEALTH CARE

Paul Levy takes issue with the Globe‘s endorsement of the deal between Attorney General Martha Coakley and Partners HealthCare, saying the agreement doesn’t add up to savings regardless of what the editorial claims. The Greater Boston Interfaith Organization is also dubious of the deal’s cost-saving claims.

The manufacturer of the controversial painkiller Zohydro will be in federal court today seeking an injunction against Massachusetts restrictions on the prescription narcotic, claiming the rules violate the US Constitution.

TRANSPORTATION

Teens and young adults protested outside the state Department of Transportation building in support of a youth T pass; more than 20 of the protesters ended up being arrested, NECN reports.

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

Solar developers and utilities, with the help of Patrick administration officials, develop compromise legislation on solar subsidies, CommonWealth reports.

A group urging the adoption of solar is telling potential customers solar panels are about as cheap as they’re ever going to get, the Salem News reports.

The North Middlesex Regional School Committee approves net-metering agreements with two solar developers that should allow the school district to cut its energy costs by $4.3 million over the next 20 years, the Sun reports.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

It was a bad day on Monday for the prosecutors seeking to convict former Probation commissioner John O’Brien and two of his top aides of mail fraud, racketeering, conspiracy, and bribery, CommonWealth reports.

A Roxbury man was shot and killed at the exact spot where his brother was gunned down 21 years ago.

An arrest of a Level 3 sex offender raises the issue of whether the state requires shelters to house homeless sex offenders, the Salem News reports.

MEDIA

The Atlantic investigates the challenges facing Time and digital journalism. Meanwhile, Time Inc. is in talks to buy a large piece of Vice Media, the publishing outlet that sent Dennis Rodman to North Korea.