New from CommonWealth Beacon PRISON POLITICS: The governor appoints a corrections professional to oversee state prisons. So why do we elect people who are essentially regional correctional commissioners, with voters […]
CommonWealth Beacon staff
Posted inThe Saturday Send
YIMBY angst and four more stories
This week, Jennifer Smith digs into how housing advocates are reckoning with the implementation of MBTA Communities law. Plus: health care lobbying continues to buoy Beacon Hill, Michael Jonas asks why we elect sheriffs, and Senate Democrats propose stricter data privacy laws.
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The Download: Why do we elect sheriffs anyway?
New from CommonWealth Beacon DATA CRACKDOWN: Chris Lisinski reports that the state Senate is moving to crack down on what Senate President Karen Spilka called the “Wild West” of data […]
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The Download: ‘It was too effing complicated:’ A pro-housing reckoning over MBTA Communities.
New from CommonWealth Beacon MONEY TALKS: Health care interests continue to dominate spending on lobbying Massachusetts policymakers in the first half of 2025, according to newly released data. Chris Lisinski, […]
Posted inThe Download
The Download: Beacon Hill lobbying still buoyed by health care interests
New from CommonWealth Beacon GAPS IN COVERAGE: Despite “fragile progress,” the Commonwealth’s early child care system continues to suffer from a workforce problem, according to a new analysis published by […]
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The Download: Report highlights persistent challenges in early child care workforce
New from CommonWealth Beacon FUNDING INJECTION: A new legislative accord will direct $234 million to hospitals and community health centers in Massachusetts as part of an upcoming spending bill vote, […]
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The Download: Mass. HHS Secretary on protecting health equity and access
New from CommonWealth Beacon HEALTH POLL: New polling for CommonWealth Beacon conducted by the MassINC Polling Group paints a picture of Massachusetts residents mostly happy with their health care coverage, […]
Posted inCommonWealth Voices
“Persistently high volumes”: The view from inside a hospital
When COVID arrived, in March of 2020, Dr. Paul Hattis and Dr. Jarone Lee, a critical care and emergency medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, started a series for CommonWealth Beacon of what came to be more than a dozen interviews during the initial years of the pandemic. (You can read more here.) It has been about two and half years since their last Q&A posting. Hattis, a former professor at Tufts University Medical School and currently a fellow at the Lown Institute, decided to have a check-in discussion with Lee to see what his world is like these days and what sort of longer lasting impact Covid has had on it. This conversation has been edited for clarity.
Posted inThe Saturday Send
Healey just keeps swimming and four more stories
This week, it’s all about polls. Gov. Healey keeps her head above water and Massachusetts residents sound off on health insurance. Plus: A Connecticut lawmaker points the finger at Western Mass. cities after sewage overflows and the Codcast sits down with Massport CEO Rich Davey.
Posted inThe Download
The Download: New poll shows high satisfaction with health insurance in Mass., even as residents delay or skip care for cost reasons
New from CommonWealth Beacon OVERFLOWED: Cities like Holyoke, Springfield, and Chicopee have made multi-million-dollar efforts in recent years to prevent wastewater and stormwater overflows, Hallie Claflin reports. But as climate […]
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The Download: Western Mass. cities working to prevent sewer overflows amid funding challenges and intensifying rain
New from CommonWealth Beacon HEAD ABOVE WATER: In a new poll for CommonWealth Beacon conducted by the MassINC Polling Group, just over half of Massachusetts residents say they approve of Gov. Maura […]
Posted inThe Download
The Download: Healey holds her head above water in new poll
New from CommonWealth Beacon RAPID EXPANSION: The Committee for Public Counsel Services has hired 22 new attorneys, moving forward with “the largest staffing expansion in the agency’s history.” Michael Norton […]
Posted inThe Download
The Download: The faces of Mass. health care struggles
New from CommonWealth Beacon NEW CODCAST: On the latest episode of The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith interviews Rich Davey about his first year as Massport CEO. They talk […]
Posted inThe Download
The Download: Blocking and tackling with Massport CEO Rich Davey
New from CommonWealth Beacon CARE CHASMS: When hospitals close, communities reel. Even in well-covered Massachusetts, some regions of the state still struggle to access its nation-leading health care. And after […]
Posted inCommonWealth Voices
Follow the money: Is the CVS-MGB primary care deal good for Mass.?
Sponsored by The Boston Foundation The Best of CommonWealth Beacon OPINION (Photo via Canva) Follow the money: Is the CVS-MGB primary care deal good for Mass.? September 7, 2025 By John […]
Posted inThe Saturday Send
Health care deserts and four more stories
This week, Jennifer Smith explores the gap between Massachusetts’s shining reputation as a great state for health care and the reality on the ground for residents who don’t live within reasonable distance of a medical facility. Plus: wastewater flows into the Charles River and Elyse Cherry, CEO of BlueHub Capital, joins the Codcast to talk about the recent court decision that BlueHub violated consumer protection statutes around lending.
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The Download: Red lights on the way to health care
New from CommonWealth Beacon A CRAP DEAL: Despite major progress, more than 40 combined sewer overflow sites along the Charles, Mystic, Alewife Brook, and Boston Harbor persist – discharging wastewater […]
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The Download: Full of crap: Climate change could cause more sewage pollution for rivers, lakes, and beaches
New from CommonWealth Beacon OPINION: Kendra Winner’s son Aidan suffered multiple brain injuries during a car accident. After watching Aiden go through 10 surgeries and almost 80 days in intensive […]
Posted inThe Download
The Download: The health care access equation
New from CommonWealth Beacon CONSUMER PROTECTION RULING: This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith sits down with Elyse Cherry, CEO of BlueHub Capital, to discuss the recent […]
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The Download: After ruling on consumer protection violations, BlueHub digs in its heels
New from CommonWealth Beacon ARTIST HOUSING: The city of Fitchburg officially cut the ribbon on an affordable housing project for artists that’s been more than a decade in the making […]
Posted inThe Saturday Send
Reverse mortgage case heads to court plus four more stories
This week, CommonWealth Beacon sits down with Bruce Stebbins to discuss his reappointment to the Cannabis Control Commission. Plus: The attorney general’s suit against a Boston-based financial technology company for allegedly predatory loan practices moves forward and Fitchburg opens affordable housing for artists.
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Flashback Friday: Rooting for the home team
New from CommonWealth Beacon PLATE PLAN: The House gave initial approval to a bill that would ban tinted license plate coverings that could distort or block plate information. Alison Kuznitz […]
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The Download: What are your health care challenges?
New from CommonWealth Beacon MOTION DENIED: A lawsuit leveled by the state attorney general against a Boston-based financial technology company for allegedly predatory loan practices is allowed to move forward, […]
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The Download: Flexible financing or illegal reverse mortgage?
New from CommonWealth Beacon CANNABIS CONTINUITY: Cannabis Control Commission Acting Chair Bruce Stebbins, reappointed for a five-year term in mid-August, talks to reporter Bhaamati Borkhetaria about his experience on the […]