Ordinarily, the Federal Reserve doesn’t cut interest rates when the economy is going gangbusters, but that’s what happened yesterday. The cut, which brings the rate to between 2 and 2.25 percent, was the first since 2008 when the central bank repeatedly dropped it from 3.5 percent to near zero in an attempt to boost lending […]
CommonWealth Staff
Posted inThe Download
Lawmakers eat away at transparency
We’re pretty sure it’s not what our friends at State House News Service had in mind when they dubbed their weekly podcast “State House Takeout.” And if lawmakers haven’t budged on the issue yet, it’s not clear that an expose on a tray or two — or even what appears to be considerably more than […]
Posted inThe Download
SF airport ride-hailing experiment called ‘hot mess’
San Francisco International Airport launched a centralized pickup location for ride-hailing apps last month, and news reports are calling it a “hot mess” during evening hours. Officials at Logan International Airport in Boston are keeping a close eye on what’s happening in San Francisco because they are preparing for their own experiment – the consolidation […]
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The Codcast: Alex Morse wants to change how Washington works
Alex Morse, the 30-year-old mayor of Holyoke, may look like he’s on a fool’s errand by challenging Rep. Richard Neal in next year’s Democratic primary. After all, just seven months ago Neal’s three decades of toil in the DC vineyards landed him in one of the most powerful positions in the House, chairman of the […]
Posted inThe Download
You call that extortion?
Was Boston Calling’s hiring of union labor in 2014 an extorted demand? Or a bargaining chip? While federal prosecutors continue to make their case that it was the former, a key witness in the criminal trial acknowledged under cross-examination that it was the latter. That certainly fogs things up for prosecutors who are trying to […]
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Are vaccines a religious matter?
More and more parents are citing religion in choosing not to vaccinate their children against a host of diseases. Children entering school are required by state law to be immunized against tetanus, measles, polio, pertussis, and diphtheria. There are only two ways for parents to avoid the requirement — obtain a medical exemption from a […]
Posted inThe Download
Finding a more ‘perfect fit’ for parking
IN THE EFFORT to get more housing built to meet demand — and to temper the continued run-up in costs that make the Boston region one of the most expensive in the country — a flashpoint has emerged that seemingly has little to do with construction costs or zoning rules over housing density. Cars — […]
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Pacheco raises concerns on offshore wind pricing
Sen. Marc Pacheco of Taunton raised an interesting policy issue on Monday when he spoke out against a provision in the Legislature’s budget that would tweak the way the state procures offshore wind power. Under legislation passed in 2016, each successive contract for offshore wind must come in at a price below the last one. […]
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Immigrant advocates slam Trump asylum changes
It’s inhumane. It’s a violation of international law. It’s not the way things have worked since the mid-1960s. These were the arguments of immigration advocates following last week’s announcement by the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice that rules for claiming asylum in the US would be changing. Sarah Sherman-Stokes, associate director of the Immigrants’ […]
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Is Rollins right to be angry?
Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins and 19 educators who support her approach to justice are angry about a Boston Globe story examining her record in prosecuting crimes over the last six months. Rollins, in an interview this week with Jim Braude and Margery Eagan on WGBH’s Boston Public Radio, said the Globe story focused […]