SHANE MURPHY, a resident of Springfield, was walking around Faneuil Hall with his date recently when he decided to visit the newly minted skating rink on Boston’s City Hall Plaza. […]
Natasha Ishak
Natasha Ishak is the editorial intern at CommonWealth magazine. Her duties include reporting and writing on the latest policy issues happening on Beacon Hill.
Before arriving at CommonWealth Magazine, she worked as a digital intern under NOVA/PBS at WGBH. She was a reporter in her hometown of Jakarta for four years, writing up stories at The Jakarta Post - Indonesia's oldest leading English-language daily, and as a production assistant on the popular news program, the Indonesia Morning Show.
Now in her second year pursuing a master's degree in journalism at Emerson College,
she hopes to shed light on marginalized communities through stories related to politics, immigration, social justice and the environment.
Posted inEnvironment
Belmont taking ‘baby step’ on trash
MASSACHUSETTS’S ONGOING TRASH DILEMMA – having too much of it, but nowhere to put it – is trickling down to the local level across the state. Belmont recently faced a […]
Posted inGambling
Plainridge pulling gambling money back to Mass.
NEARLY 60 PERCENT of the money collected by the Plainridge Park Casino during its first year of operation came from Massachusetts gamblers who previously would have been going out of […]
Posted inEconomy
Panera Cares, but for how long?
FOUR YEARS AFTER the Panera Cares community café opened at Center Plaza in Boston, it’s still in business. But the restaurant’s unorthodox approach to addressing hunger isn’t working out exactly […]
Posted inEconomy
Chinatown residents protest short-term rentals
RESIDENTS MARCHED through the streets of Chinatown to the Massachusetts State House on Thursday to protest a short-term rental industry that they say is squeezing out residents of the downtown […]
Posted inThe Back Story
MBTA rolls out new transit ambassadors
THE MBTA IS STARTING to ramp up its new transit ambassador program, its latest bid to improve service using private contractors. Transit ambassadors, wearing bright red shirts emblazoned with […]
Posted inPolitics
Trump ends DACA; Markey says Congress will respond
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION on Tuesday ordered an end to an executive branch program shielding young undocumented immigrants from deportation, prompting an outpouring of opposition from top officials in Massachusetts. The […]
Posted inPolitics
Some sanctuary city police chiefs back Baker ICE detainer bill
SOME MASSACHUSETTS POLICE CHIEFS appear to be staking out a different position than the communities they represent on how to handle detainer requests from the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA’s new GM likes to blog
NOT MUCH IS KNOWN about the MBTA’s new general manager, Luis Manuel Ramirez, but a blog he wrote at his Dallas business consulting firm TodoModo Group provides some clues. Most […]
Posted inPolitics
Walsh, Baker condemn hatred, bigotry
BOSTON MAYOR MARTY WALSH delivered a stern message on Monday to “hate groups” who may be planning to come to Boston this weekend. “Boston does not welcome you here. Boston […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Sizing up 3 options on ICE detainers
Debate over immigration policy has bubbled up for years at the federal level, and now the recent decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in the case of Lunn v. […]
Posted inTransportation
T details Foxborough, overnight pilots
THE MBTA OUTLINED on Monday the cost and benefits of pilot projects that would provide overnight bus service in the Boston area and extend daily commuter rail service to Gillette […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA solicits proposals for bus garage outsourcing
THE MBTA ISSUED a request for proposals last Friday for its planned privatization of three bus maintenance garages located in Quincy, Lynn, and Boston, a move that has put the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Senate retreat to hear from criminal justice experts
LEADERS OF THE SENATE, including President Stan Rosenberg and William Brownsberger, the Senate chairman of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, have made clear their support for a range of […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story, Transportation
Free bump on the Fairmount
Even two weeks of free rides on the Fairmount Line didn’t boost traffic that much, but they did expose more people to the least-used line on the MBTA’s commuter rail […]
Posted inTransportation
RIDE call center operator fined $100,000
THE MBTA FINED the operator of its paratransit call center $100,000 in May for a series of contract violations that resulted in poor service for customers. The fines equaled about […]
Posted inTransportation
T takes go-slow approach on alcohol ads
WARY OF OFFENDING the public, the MBTA’s Fiscal Management and Control Board on Monday directed the agency’s staff to redraft an alcohol advertising proposal to reduce exposure to young transit […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
About-face on marijuana
THERE’S BEEN A LOT of pot talk lately on Beacon Hill, as the House and Senate battle back and forth over whether changes should be made (and which ones) to […]
Posted inPolitics
May tax revenues $30m higher than expected
STATE TAX REVENUES in May came in $30 million higher than expected, but that still leaves Beacon Hill officials with a $439 million revenue shortfall to deal with before the […]
