IN THE FINAL days of major lawmaking before the winter break, the Massachusetts House and Senate are poised to send the governor legislation to ban drivers from handheld cellphone use. […]
Andy Metzger
Andy Metzger is currently studying law at Temple University in Philadelphia. Previously, he joined CommonWealth Magazine as a reporter in January 2019. He has covered news in Massachusetts since 2007. For more than six years starting in May 2012 he wrote about state politics and government for the State House News Service. At the News Service, he followed three criminal trials from opening statements to verdicts, tracked bills through the flumes and eddies of the Legislature, and sounded out the governor’s point of view on a host of issues – from the proposed Olympics bid to federal politics.
Before that, Metzger worked at the Chelmsford Independent, The Arlington Advocate, the Somerville Journal and the Cambridge Chronicle, weekly community newspapers that cover an array of local topics. Metzger graduated from UMass Boston in 2006. In addition to his written journalism, Metzger produced a work of illustrated journalism about Gov. Charlie Baker’s record regarding the MBTA. He lives in Somerville and commutes mainly by bicycle.
Posted inPolitics
What prompted Patrick’s longshot bid?
DEVAL PATRICK’S late entry into the presidential race is a compelling story for the same reason that Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels have drawn in readers over the decades. There is mystery […]
Posted inPolitics
Senate ousts Brady from chairmanship
This story was updated to reflect the vote Thursday night of the full Senate. THE SENATE OUSTED Sen. Michael Brady from his position as chairman of the Public Service Committee […]
Posted inTransportation
DeLeo calls off transpo tax debate – for now
HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DELEO is putting off a debate over tax legislation to fund transportation improvements until next year, throwing into doubt whether anything will happen in an area that […]
Posted inPolitics
Kaufman: ‘No diversity of opinion’ in DeLeo’s inner circle
FORMER REP. JAY KAUFMAN continued his recent lambasting of House Speaker Robert DeLeo during a panel discussion Wednesday about the lack of racial and gender diversity in Massachusetts government. The […]
Posted inTransportation
DeLeo unsure about tax bill timeline
HOUSE SPEAKER Robert DeLeo expressed some uncertainty Wednesday afternoon about whether the House will be able to advance a tax package before the end of the year. “Right now we’re […]
Posted inPolitics
In Mass., white pols dominate state and local politics
THE PREDOMINANCE OF white male politicians in positions of power in Massachusetts may be a symptom of the way elections are run, according to a report released Wednesday entitled MassForward. […]
Posted inTransportation
Fed review of I-90 project begins with a blackout
RECONFIGURING THE MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE in Allston and building a new transit station there will create construction disruption approaching the scale required for the Big Dig, so it was either inauspicious […]
Posted inPolitics
New Methuen mayor has tall task
IT WAS the most explosive Massachusetts mayoral election north of the Taunton River. In Methuen, political newcomer Neil Perry trounced City Council Chairwoman Jennifer Kannan to take over a city […]
Posted inTransportation
Lime riders traverse dangerous roadways
PEOPLE RENTING BIKES through an app often travel down dangerous roadways, such as Revere Beach Parkway, according to a planning agency that is hoping to sift the travel patterns of […]
Posted inTransportation
Spilka won’t commit to take up tax bill
WHILE HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DELEO plans to advance a transportation revenue bill within the next few weeks, Senate President Karen Spilka is taking a more cautious approach, and might not […]
Posted inPolitics
Trahan changes tune on campaign cash
CONGRESSWOMAN LORI TRAHAN wouldn’t look as bad right now if she had accurately explained the source of a last minute campaign-cash infusion soon after she was first asked about it. From […]
Posted inPolitics
Senate chair knocks House handling of tax break
AT A STANDSTILL over a corporate tax break, the Legislature on Thursday recessed for the remainder of the week without completing work on a bill wrapping up budgetary matters for […]
Posted inPolitics
Former rep backs up Kaufman’s account
FORMER STATE REP Cleon Turner remembers it well. Jay Kaufman was in an aisle of the House chamber in 2013 venting about how Speaker Robert DeLeo had told him that […]
Posted inPolitics
DeLeo to seek yet another term as speaker
HOUSE SPEAKER Robert DeLeo, who four years ago oversaw the scuttling of term limits on his reign, said he doesn’t plan to leave anytime soon and intends to seek another […]
Posted inPolitics
Ex-rep: DeLeo told me, vote for transpo bill or lose chairmanship
JAY KAUFMAN, THE former state rep from Lexington, remembers a conversation he had with House Speaker Robert DeLeo the last time the Legislature considered raising taxes to pay for transportation. […]
Posted inUncategorized
Harvard students take odd swipe at Crimson
SOME STUDENTS at Harvard don’t just want to abolish ICE. They also want to banish bedrock journalistic principles. The effort is misguided on a number of fronts, and potentially counterproductive […]
Posted inTransportation
Massport: New Uber/Lyft drop-offs will speed Logan travel
THE MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY staged a dry run on Wednesday to demonstrate how a centralized location for Uber and Lyft pickups and drop-offs will work at Logan International Airport. With […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass. residents overburdened by health costs
EVEN AS OVERALL statewide spending on health care has remained just within the strictures of the state’s benchmark of 3.1 percent annual growth, for many families the costs have surged […]
Posted inHealth Care
Lawmakers: Baker’s health care bill a good start
LAST SESSION, Beacon Hill’s big three – the governor, the House speaker, and the Senate president — each had fundamentally different ideas about how to reform the state’s health care […]
Posted inGambling
To entice customers, Encore discounts trips to casino
SINCE ITS JUNE OPENING, Encore Boston Harbor has slashed the cost of travel to the Everett casino, first offering free parking and now adding free bus service to some and […]
Posted inPolitics
Clark backs supervised drug injection sites
Congresswoman Katherine Clark supports the idea of opening facilities where people can use illegal drugs under medical supervision to prevent overdose fatalities and refer people to treatment for drug addiction […]
Posted inArts and Culture
The art of family reunification
THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES and the Massachusetts Cultural Council – two agencies that would appear to have little in common – have launched a pilot program with the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Celtics star hounded by Erdogan fans
This story has been updated to reflect that Bijan Rafiekian’s conviction was recently overturned. ENES KANTER was just trying to pray, but supporters of Turkey’s authoritarian leader found him on a […]