‘It’s like the Hunger Games’: Quabbin Reservoir towns take funding fight to Beacon Hill amid extended drought
Declining economic conditions and a contentious history are roiling the communities that protect state’s largest source of drinking water
A perfect storm of long-held resentments, the well-known story of the financial crunch squeezing small towns across the state, and an act of blameless chance — weather — is raising the stakes and stoking new tensions between these sparse towns and the powers that be in state government.
THE CODCAST
Special episode: Unpacking the Legislature’s July 31 flurry, and what comes next
Beacon Hill made it through the traditional end-of-formals deadline with less chaos and upheaval than 2024 and 2022. But in the process, lawmakers left many big decisions for another day.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Commonwealth in depth
With public health at stake, many Boston hospitals struggle to meet the city’s air pollution goals
Hospitals in Boston consume far more energy than other buildings, and many rely on fossil-fuel–powered centralized energy systems, making it challenging for the city to meet its 2050 net-zero emissions goal
BY THE NUMBERS
Yet again, legislative competition in Massachusetts will be woeful
Three in five House, Senate races will feature only one candidate on the ballot
From the Archives
On Heritage Road
In the heart of suburbia, anxieties about the new economy


