ELIZABETH WARREN is riding high, polling ahead of Joe Biden in early voting Iowa and New Hampshire, and closing the gap in national polls. But that surge has come with […]
Michael Jonas
Michael Jonas works with Laura in overseeing CommonWealth Beacon coverage and editing the work of reporters. His own reporting has a particular focus on politics, education, and criminal justice reform.
Posted inEnvironment
A caution on hiking ‘regressive’ gas tax
ADVOCATES HAVE LONG pointed to an increase in the state’s gas tax as a way to generate new revenue for transportation needs, often citing the much steeper increases in MBTA […]
Posted inPolitics
Correia declares victory in retreat
IT RINGS like an echo of the solution to the Vietnam War quagmire proposed by Vermont Sen. George Aiken — “declare victory and get out.” Fall River’s embattled mayor, Jasiel […]
Posted inPolitics
Kennedy still struggling to frame Senate run
WITH THE TOUGH decision to give up his House seat and challenge an incumbent Democratic senator behind him, Joe Kennedy now faces an equally tough question: Why is he running? […]
Posted inTransportation
Tackling traffic, fixing the T, and saving the planet
THE TRANSPORTATION CHALLENGES facing the Boston region have come to feel like an existential threat on more than one level. Business leaders, including Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce chief Jim […]
Posted inEconomy
Wu calls for abolishing Boston Planning and Development Agency
BOSTON CITY COUNCILOR Michelle Wu is jumping on a well-worn path of city leaders going back to Kevin White, calling for dissolution of the city’s redevelopment authority, which she says […]
Posted inEducation
Senate approves big boost in school aid
THE SENATE MOVED Massachusetts one step closer to a long-awaited revamp of the state’s 26-year-old education aid formula, unanimously passing a bill that would steer an additional $1.5 billion a year […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
No welcome wagon for sober houses
IT”S BECOME INCREASINGLY popular to talk about addiction problems as a public health issue, with those suffering from the problem in need of help, not scorn or jail. Much less […]
Posted inEducation
On education bill, funding and taxes loom large
THE RELEASE OF a long-awaited bill updating the state’s education funding formula immediately raised one big question: Would new state taxes be needed to pay for the $1.5 billion plan? […]
Posted inUncategorized
All politics is local
Though he made his biggest mark in Washington as speaker of the House, famous son of Cambridge Tip O’Neill’s most quoted aphorism was his claim that “all politics is local.” […]
Posted inEducation
Widespread praise for ed funding bill
WHEN THE YEAR STARTED, with Beacon Hill poised to make another go at a bill revamping the state’s education funding formula, some advocates were focused on boosting funding for schools, […]
Posted inEducation
Long-awaited education funding bill unveiled
FOUR YEARS AFTER a state commission declared that the Massachusetts education funding formula was shortchanging school districts by $1 to $2 billion, state lawmakers unveiled an ambitious proposal that would […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Epstein, MIT, and ‘sugar-daddy science’
THE SORDID TALE of efforts at MIT to woo donations from Jeffrey Epstein but keep hush-hush the fact the school was welcoming money from the registered sex offender has put […]
Posted inPolitics
The ‘conscience of Boston’
WHEN MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. led a march from Roxbury to Boston Common in 1965 to protest school segregation in the city, his deepest connection here was a young Roxbury […]
Posted inEconomy
Lights out for Doyle’s
THE BODY IS still warm, but the wake has begun for Doyle’s Cafe, the landmark Jamaica Plain saloon where cops, lesbian softball teams, and politicians of every leaning felt at […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Rollins scores big win with SJC
IN THE FIRST big legal test of her reform agenda, Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins scored a decisive victory on Monday, as a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Defense attorney: Judge Sinnott ‘has no leg to stand on’
THE BAND OF RIGHT-WING provocateurs who staged a “straight pride” parade in Boston 10 days ago were hoping to stir the pot. But they likely never imagined that the tempest they’d […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Disorder in the court
SIMMERING TENSIONS over Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins’s vow to turn a page on the traditional approach to prosecution apparently boiled over yesterday in Boston Municipal Court, where a […]
Posted inPolitics
For Joe Kennedy, the urgency of now
LET THE WORD go forth that Joe Kennedy is likely to cap several weeks of fevered speculation with an announcement that he’s ready for the torch to be passed to […]
Posted inUncategorized
Gronk running new pattern — hawking CBD
LOOKING TO Rob Gronkoswki for well-considered medical advice feels a bit like turning to Curt Schilling for tips on video game startups. They both excelled as pro athletes, but it’s not […]
Posted inUncategorized
Corruption or advocacy?
When two aides to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh were convicted earlier this month on federal charges of conspiring to extort organizers of the Boston Calling music festival in 2014, US […]
Posted inUncategorized
‘Methadone Mile’ problems mounting on Boston Common
TODAY’S Globe profiles William “Buddy” Christopher, the longtime Boston City Hall insider tapped by Mayor Marty Walsh to coordinate the city’s response to the problems centered around the area known as […]
Posted inGambling
Encore eating into Conn., Rhode Island gambling revenue
THE ENCORE BOSTON HARBOR casino brought in close to $50 million during its first full month of operation, and the lavish riverfront gambling facility already appears to be taking a […]
Posted inEconomy
‘No more real newspaper’ in Worcester
THE “GHOST NEWSPAPER” ERA has arrived in Massachusetts, and the worst is almost certainly yet to come. The state has not yet been hit with vast news deserts, the term of […]