SIPPING CHABLIS WITH Jill Biden, it turns out, was the least of Rachael Rollins’s transgressions. Ever since reports last summer that Rollins attended a Democratic National Committee fundraiser at an Andover home where the first lady was the headline guest, the Massachusetts US attorney has been under scrutiny for possible violation of the Hatch Act, […]
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
Black redistricting plaintiff doesn’t mind ruffling feathers
THE LAWSUIT CHALLENGING Boston’s city council redistricting map has often been portrayed as a showdown pitting the council’s four White, more moderate members, who objected to its boundaries, against its new left-leaning majority, made up of six councilors of color and three White progressives. Rasheed Walters says that narrative is “completely wrong” – and it’s […]
Posted inEconomy
New study calls WooSox stadium a bad deal for Worcester
THE WOOSOX may have hit a home run with huge attendance numbers at their new home in Worcester, but a study says the city has whiffed when it comes to shelling out public dollars to fund the team’s new stadium. The Red Sox Triple-A farm team moved from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to Worcester in 2021, setting […]
Posted inEducation
Senator to push voc school admission changes through budget amendment
SAYING HE’S FRUSTRATED by state inaction over ongoing enrollment inequities from admissions policies at vocational high schools, state Sen. John Cronin has filed an amendment to the Senate budget that would require the schools to use a lottery, rather than selective entry criteria, to choose incoming students. Vocational school admission policies have become a flashpoint […]
Posted inPolitics
Has party imbalance broken democracy in Mass.?
THE STATE OF the two political parties in Massachusetts could not look more different. We are perhaps the bluest of blue states, with Democrats now holding virtually every elected position of significance – from our congressional delegation to every statewide office from governor on down. Republicans barely register. What does that mean for the health […]
Posted inHousing, State Government
Boston rent control plan on the ropes
WHAT DO YOU call the opposite of a trial balloon? A deep-six signal? Whatever the term for it, it sure looks like legislative leaders are giving it some play when it comes to Boston’s home-rule petition to reestablish rent control in the city. Mayor Michelle Wu has made reining in rents a centerpiece of her […]
Posted inEducation
With dueling reports, battle lines form over MCAS
YOU DON’T EXACTLY need to ace reading comprehension on the MCAS to understand where a new education coalition is going with the report it issued this week on the state’s standardized testing system. Start with its title: “Toward a better MCAS.” Or the press release promoting it. “New report highlights changes needed in MCAS,” reads […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Poll finds big safety concerns among Boston public school parents
AMID GROWING CONCERNS over violence in Boston schools, a new poll finds that more than two-thirds of parents of Boston Public Schools students are worried about their children’s safety in school and three-quarters would support a return of police to the city’s schools. The survey, conducted by the MassINC Polling Group for the Shah Family Foundation, […]
Posted inEducation
$10m donation to Holyoke Community College sets record, challenges norms
TO PEG AND GARY WENDLANDT, it’s a simple matter of doing good after doing well. But in the world of higher education philanthropy, last week’s announcement that the couple are giving $10 million to Holyoke Community College stands out as an uncommon example of donor generosity targeted to the kind of institution that needs it […]
Posted inPolitics
In Boston race for open state rep seat, a field of 1
IT’S BECOME A dismal, recurring storyline underscoring the state’s political torpor: Massachusetts is among the least competitive states in the country when it comes to elections for state legislative seats. The electoral malaise is often framed as a function of the lack of challengers to entrenched incumbents. But a special election for state representative playing […]