EVERYONE IS TALKING about how no one is talking to Michelle Wu. Never mind the controversy over her proposal to house homeless people in a vacant hotel near the troubled Mass. and Cass intersection. Or the complicated policy maneuvering that may be needed to implement her plans for a two-year pilot program of free-fare service […]
Michael Jonas
Michael Jonas works with Bruce 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.
Michael has worked in journalism in Massachusetts since the early 1980s. Before joining the CommonWealth staff in 2001, he was a contributing writer for the magazine for two years. His story on Boston youth outreach workers was selected for a PASS (Prevention for a Safer Society) Award from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. His CommonWealth work has also won awards from Capitol Beat for state government coverage and from the New England Newspaper & Press Association for work in several areas.
Prior to coming to CommonWealth, for 15 years Michael wrote a weekly column on local politics for the Boston Globe. Michael has also worked in broadcast journalism. In the late 1980s he was a co-producer for "The AIDS Quarterly," a national PBS series produced by WGBH-TV in Boston, and in the early 1990s, he worked as a producer for a weekly news magazine program on WHDH-TV (Ch. 7) in Boston.
Posted inPolitics
Edwards beats D’Ambrosio in special election primary for state Senate
BOSTON CITY COUNCILOR Lydia Edwards rode a wave of progressive support – and high-profile endorsements that included both of the state’s US senators and Boston’s new mayor – to defeat Revere school committee member Anthony D’Ambrosio in a special election Democratic primary for the state Senate seat covering Revere, Winthrop, and chunks of Boston and […]
Posted inHealth Care
State to distribute 2.1 million rapid COVID tests to hard-hit communities
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said the state will make 2.1 million rapid COVID tests available to more than 100 lower-income communities as part of the effort to curb the spread of the virus. The test kits will be distributed to communities this week, Baker said at a State House press briefing on Monday morning. “Like vaccines, […]
Posted inPolitics
‘Latinx’ not the language of election victory
IT’S BECOME a popular new substitute, in some circles, for the term Latino, a gender-neutral word that is increasingly embraced in academia and among some progressive activists. But in the brass-tacks world of trying to win elections, making appeals to “Latinx” voters is a losing strategy, according to a new national poll of Latino voters. The […]
Posted inPolitics
Senate showdown pits family roots against Boston councilor
ANTHONY D’AMBROSIO SAYS he’s the “anti-establishment” candidate for state Senate, calling out the failures of Beacon Hill leadership to which he says his opponent, Lydia Edwards, is tied. Edwards scoffs at the suggestion that she’s the insider, ticking off ways she has challenged the status quo and charging that D’Ambrosio, with little experience to tout, […]
Posted inPolitics
What does Baker’s exit mean for Mass. politics?
THE ANNOUNCEMENT BY Gov. Charlie Baker that he won’t seek a third term shakes up the Massachusetts political landscape in a way that few decisions by a single officeholder could do. Baker, a two-term Republican, has been one of the country’s most popular governors over a period when his party has lost legislative seats and […]
Posted inPolitics
A hole in the middle
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER’S announcement that he won’t seek a third term – and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito’s decision not to try to succeed him – not only creates a void when it comes to what Baker calls his “brand of Republicanism,” it creates an opening in the state’s broad political middle. Baker managed to maintain […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker, Polito say they won’t seek re-election
IT’S THE NEWS all of the Massachusetts political world has waited for, and now that it’s here, it will set off a flurry of activity on the state’s political landscape. Gov. Charlie Baker got the ball rolling himself on Monday, when he said in a radio interview that he was “pretty close” to announcing a […]
Posted inEconomy
What if we didn’t shop till we drop?
YES, THERE’S THAT big meal, with all the talk of gratitude and fellowship, as people gather tomorrow with family and friends. But for many, it also serves as the pregame, an exercise in day-before-the-marathon carbo-loading for retail enthusiasts. The race comes on Black Friday when victory goes to those up earliest and fastest on the […]
Posted inPolitics
Wu holds forth on policing, vaccine passports, and Walsh documentary
FOR MICHELLE WU, when it comes to making room amid her bold plans for the often more prosaic daily grind of city government, it’s time to make the donuts. When it comes to her first installment on GBH radio’s “Ask the Mayor,” Wu decided to buy some and bring them. So with an offering from […]