GAMBLERS IN MASSACHUSETTS have a full menu of wagering options to choose from these days: physical casinos, sports betting in person or online, and the state lottery, which some officials […]
Jennifer Smith
Jennifer Smith writes for CommonWealth Beacon and co-hosts its weekly podcast, The Codcast. Her areas of focus include housing, social issues, courts and the law, and politics and elections. A California native who also lived in Utah, Jennifer has covered Massachusetts since 2011 for a variety of publications. She worked breaking news in the Boston Globe’s metro section and provided courtroom coverage of the Boston Marathon bomber trial for the international wire service Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) while completing her undergraduate journalism degree at Northeastern University in Boston. For four years, Jennifer was a staff writer and later news editor for the Dorchester Reporter, covering her home neighborhood and the city of Boston with a particular focus on politics and development. Her work and commentary have appeared in WBUR, GBH News, Harvard Public Health Magazine, and Politico’s Massachusetts Playbook. She has co-hosted MassINC’s Massachusetts politics and policy podcast The Horse Race since 2018, interviewing newsmakers, journalists, and elected officials across the state.
Posted inGovernment, Housing, Politics
What’s Driscoll’s role in new administration?
WHEN GOV. MAURA HEALEY spent a day in Michigan earlier this month, acting governor Kim Driscoll did not take the opportunity to bring some semblance of Salem to the corner […]
Posted inTransportation
Eng touts ‘forward progress’ in removing MBTA slow zones
THE MBTA IS targeting slow zones that would most impact daily commutes as it chugs along on completing track replacements and lifting speed restrictions. General Manager Phillip Eng touted “forward […]
Posted inEnvironment
Proposed Cape Cod machine gun range draws fire
CAPE COD may be known for ocean breezes, waterbirds, and maybe some raucous seaside vacationers rolling through. But along one stretch, that could include the sound of more than a […]
Posted inEconomy, Government, Marijuana
Social consumption cannabis plans get a retooling
IT’S BEEN SEVEN YEARS since Massachusetts legalized recreational marijuana, but there’s still a lengthy road ahead before someone can sit down in a cannabis cafe, pop an edible or break […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice, Politics
Attention turns to Arroyo’s role in Rollins scandal
RACHAEL ROLLINS wasn’t sending out text messages into the void. City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo was answering. Two scathing reports on Rollins’s conduct as US attorney showed that she crossed all sorts […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass health officials move to protect preventive care
AFTER A FEDERAL Texas court ruling lobbed another potential grenade at comprehensive health coverage, a Massachusetts state board is pulling one of its lesser-known levers to make sure residents here […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
A reputation for straight talk – but a record of subterfuge
RACHAEL ROLLINS built her political persona on a straightforward message: What you see is what you get. But it turns out the public got a lot from the US attorney […]
Posted inCourts, Government, State Government
SJC punts on individual contributions to super PACs
THE STATE’S HIGHEST COURT decided on Tuesday not to rule on whether limits can be placed on individual campaign contributions to political action committees, putting those who favor limits in […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
AG Andrea Campbell picks her targets
ATTORNEY GENERAL Andrea Campbell has waded into some politically thorny topics so far, trying to balance an advocacy lens as “the people’s lawyer” with the practical demands of being “top […]
Posted inTransportation
Tired of waiting for MBTA, lawmakers push Fairmount changes
ADVOCATES SAY the commuter rail’s Fairmount Line is low-hanging fruit for electrification, service improvement, and fare equity. But it’s been low-hanging fruit for many years, and some lawmakers are tired […]
Posted inPolitics
Competitiveness is watchword on Beacon Hill, but what does it mean?
BEACON HILL’S favorite buzzword these days is “competitiveness,” but the meaning isn’t always the same among the three big players in state government and their different approaches to the topic […]
Posted inEnvironment
Coastal flood maps leave homeowners in the lurch
MASSACHUSETTS IS ONE of 15 states that has no flood disclosure requirements for a potential homebuyer, so residents usually turn to maps developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to […]
Posted inGambling
Envisioning a Massachusetts ‘iLottery’
IF THE MASSACHUSETTS LOTTERY expands onto the internet with a new “iLottery,” what could it look like? Let’s spin the wheel. Option 1 – Michigan. Started in 2014, the Michigan […]
Posted inCourts, Government
SJC wades into face-off over online stock trading
IT’S A NICE THOUGHT that “broker-dealers” who handle transactions in the ever-changing world of online securities trading platforms should show a basic standard of care to clients, but that may not […]
Posted inArts and Culture
The promise and pitfalls of relying on artificial intelligence
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS changing the way we think about authorship, art, and white collar work. It may be changing how we think, full stop. As artificial intelligence, or machine learning, […]
Posted inEducation
Momentum building for removing another barrier for immigrants
THE LEGISLATURE last year approved a new law giving immigrants without legal status the ability to apply for state-issued driver’s licenses. The bill had been kicking around Beacon Hill for […]
Posted inHousing, State Government
Westwood chided for lackluster MBTA Communities plan
THE STATE IS moving to cut Westwood off from several sources of funding – the first municipality to be penalized for submitting a zoning roadmap that doesn’t comply with the requirements […]
Posted inGambling, State Government
Campbell is wary but OK with online Lottery
THE COLORS ARE bright, the ads are popping, and promises of free money encourage you to just try out a bit of online gambling. Welcome to a vision of the […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Boston pitches libraries, affordable housing as perfect match
IN THREE BOSTON neighborhoods, home could soon be where the stacks are. The city is set to join a handful of other places that combine public libraries with affordable housing, a […]
Posted inHousing, State Government
Stand-alone housing secretariat moves forward
GOV. MAURA HEALEY’S plan to create a new Cabinet-level post on housing got the green light from the Senate on Thursday, bringing the administration one step closer to an adjustment […]
Posted inEconomy, State Government
Mass. House approves unaltered tax plan
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to pass its $1.1 billion tax relief bill exactly as pitched earlier this week. A provision that would adjust an obscure tax giveback […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Juul to pay Mass. $41 million in multi-state settlement
MASSACHUSETTS WILL RECEIVE $41 million as part of a $462 million settlement between e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. and six states plus the District of Columbia for the company’s role […]
Posted inGambling
What you need to know about the House budget proposal
What follows is an explainer about what’s in the House Ways and Means budget proposal for fiscal 2024. How big is the House Ways and Means budget? It comes in […]