LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, Senate President Karen Spilka is trying to wrap her head around the idea of reopening the state’s comatose economy. In a speech delivered virtually to the Greater […]
Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl oversees the production of content and edits reports, along with carrying out his own reporting with a particular focus on transportation, energy, and climate issues.
He previously worked at the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper.
Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Posted inHealth Care
Are face mask fines the way to go?
FOUR WEEKS AGO we were debating whether face masks were necessary or not. Now we’re starting to fine people if they fail to wear masks in any public place, inside or outside. […]
Posted inTransportation
Poftak: Federal funds may not be enough
THE MBTA, after balancing this fiscal year’s budget with $217 million in federal coronavirus funds, expects to have $610 million left over to help balance next year’s budget. But General […]
Posted inTransportation
T approves $212m hike in fare collection contract
THE MBTA OVERSIGHT BOARD on Monday unanimously approved a $212 million amendment to its contract with a pair of private vendors to develop, install, and manage a new fare collection […]
Posted inEconomy
UPDATED NUMBERS: Baker leaves ‘reopening’ door open
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Saturday declined to say whether the state will begin reopening on May 4, but he didn’t rule it out. On a visit to a Cartamundi/Hasbro manufacturing […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker holds out hope on reopening
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER appears to be still holding out hope that he could start reopening the state on May 4, even though time is running short for that to happen. […]
Posted inHealth Care
State doing baseline COVID-19 testing at nursing homes
THE HEAD OF THE MASSACHUSETTS COVID-19 command center said she has dramatically stepped up testing at the state’s nursing homes and wants to test all residents and employees as quickly […]
Posted inHealth Care
Virus notes: Biggest one-day jump in new cases
TWO OF THE KEY INDICATORS for determining whether the state is nearing the end of its COVID-19 surge sent conflicting signals on Thursday, as hospitalizations declined slightly while new cases […]
Posted inHealth Care
Sudders: Deaths common at nursing homes
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER’S point person on COVID-19 tried to provide some context on Wednesday for the rising number of deaths at nursing homes. Marylou Sudders, the secretary of health and […]
Posted inHealth Care
Virus notes: 22 mayors back vote-by-mail
TWENTY-TWO MASSACHUSETTS MAYORS signed onto a letter urging lawmakers to adopt some form of vote-by-mail system for the fall elections. “Our constituents deserve the opportunity to exercise their right to […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker hints at ‘rules of road’ for reopening
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER indicated on Wednesday that some of the state’s businesses could begin reopening after the COVID-19 surge concludes as long as they comply with rules his administration is […]
Posted inHealth Care
Oops, nursing home COVID-19 deaths omitted
IN CREATING A NEW DASHBOARD for the state’s war on COVID-19, key information on one of the so-far losing battles was inadvertently dropped on Monday. Deaths at long-term care facilities, […]
Posted inPolitics
Virus notes: Baker hits Trump immigration stance
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said on Tuesday that he disagrees with President Trump’s plan to issue an executive order temporarily suspending all immigration into the United States. Baker, a moderate Republican […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker: We’re in the 3d or 4th quarter
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Tuesday indicated the state is nearing the end of the COVID-19 surge, but he implored the people of Massachusetts not to pull back on social distancing. […]
Posted inHealth Care
State revises regs on crisis care
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION revised its voluntary guidelines for who should receive scarce treatments like ventilators during the COVID-19 crisis by prioritizing those likely to survive for the next five years and […]
Posted inHealth Care
Surge status: Mixed reviews
ON THE FINAL DAY of the COVID-19 surge projected by the Baker administration, the number of new cases dropped for the fourth day in a row and hospitalizations remained manageable. […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker accused of misplaced COVID-19 priorities
TWO LEADING OFFICIALS in the state’s nursing home industry said on the Codcast that the Baker administration focused too much attention in the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis on […]
Posted inHealth Care
Most COVID-19 deaths now at nursing homes
THE COVID-19 EPIDEMIC in Massachusetts is fast becoming a nursing home epidemic. According to data released by the state on Saturday, 810 people died of COVID-19 at Massachusetts long-term care […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker talks more about restarting economy
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Friday indicated he would probably abide by new guidance from the federal government suggesting no state should relax its social distancing measures until it goes through […]
Posted inUncategorized
Judge upholds Baker decision on marijuana
SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE Kenneth Salinger ruled on Thursday that Gov. Charlie Baker’s decision to close recreational marijuana stores as non-essential was constitutional, and not subject to second-guessing by him. But […]
Posted inUncategorized
Essential or non-essential, who decides?
DECIDING WHICH BUSINESSES are essential and which ones are nonessential during a pandemic can sometimes get tricky. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott on March 23 banned all medical procedures that are […]
Posted inHealth Care
Virus notes: Really, Williamstown a hot spot?
WILLIAMSTOWN, a bucolic town in western Massachusetts whose website barely mentions COVID-19, discovered on Wednesday that new state data suggests the municipality is a hotspot for the disease. Chelsea, Brockton, […]
Posted inHealth Care
Nursing home funding boosted, but is it enough?
AMID OMINOUS REPORTS on COVID-19 tests and deaths, the Baker administration on Wednesday promised to boost funding and support for the state’s struggling long-term care facilities, but a spokeswoman for […]
Posted inUncategorized
Two thoughts on death in the COVID-19 age
By Colman M. Herman THE CALL CAME late at night a few weeks ago. It was my niece. Given the hour, the news was bad of course. Her mother — […]