A SLEW OF candidates are lining up to oust Massachusetts Republican Party chair Jim Lyons, in a sign of deep unease with the turmoil that has been roiling the state […]
Shira Schoenberg
Shira Schoenberg is a reporter at CommonWealth magazine. Shira previously worked for more than seven years at the Springfield Republican/MassLive.com where she covered state politics and elections, covering topics as diverse as the launch of the legal marijuana industry, problems with the state's foster care system and the elections of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Gov. Charlie Baker. Shira won the Massachusetts Bar Association's 2018 award for Excellence in Legal Journalism and has had several stories win awards from the New England Newspaper and Press Association. Shira covered the 2012 New Hampshire presidential primary for the Boston Globe. Before that, she worked for the Concord (N.H.) Monitor, where she wrote about state government, City Hall and Barack Obama's 2008 New Hampshire primary campaign. Shira holds a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
Posted inArts and Culture
GBH host O’Donovan faces bleak prognosis with ‘poetry and prayers’
IT WAS A MOMENT when memories were made, beautifully, poignantly, publicly. Brian O’Donovan, celebrating the 20thyear of his annual live show “A Christmas Celtic Sojourn,” stood onstage at Boston’s Cutler […]
Posted inMarijuana, State Government
Cannabis licensing snafu over O’Brien much ado about nothing
THE CANNABIS Control Commission unanimously approved a final license for Greenfield Greenery on Thursday, resolving a months-long delay resulting from questions about whether Commission Chair Shannon O’Brien properly removed herself […]
Posted inCourts, Housing
Lawsuit alleges racial discrimination in tenant screening tool
TWO BLACK WOMEN from Massachusetts are at the center of what could become a landmark federal case about whether software that screens potential tenants is illegally biased against Black and […]
Posted inMarijuana
Plummeting prices destabilize Mass. marijuana market
ON A RECENT DAY, a Brockton customer looking for some marijuana could have bought one-eighth of an ounce of LA Kush Cake flower for just $20 at Commonwealth Alternative Care. […]
Posted inMarijuana, State Government
Board named for social equity marijuana loan fund
THE BOARD that will oversee the state’s new fund to help social equity cannabis businesses will be comprised of a diverse group of individuals, who represent various segments of the […]
Posted inMarijuana
Lantern closure shakes marijuana delivery market
THERE’S ANOTHER major shakeup coming in the already-struggling marijuana delivery industry, with the impending closure of one of the largest marketing websites in Massachusetts. Lantern, a website where consumers can […]
Posted inGovernment, Health
Boston employee vaccine mandate heads to SJC
COVID VACCINE MANDATES for customers of private businesses were short-lived. Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration, which had a strict vaccine mandate for executive branch workers, has been quietly hiring back some terminated […]
Posted inGovernment, Politics, State Government
Maura Healey sworn in as 73rd Massachusetts governor
AMID A DAY full of pomp, circumstance, and a nod to history in the making, Maura Healey on Thursday was sworn in as the 73rd governor of Massachusetts and the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Healey’s office asks SJC to reinstate charges in Soldiers’ Home deaths
MISMANAGEMENT AT THE Holyoke Soldiers’ Home undoubtedly contributed to the high COVID-19 death toll there in the first days of the pandemic. The question before the state’s highest court is […]
Posted inState Government
Lawmakers fail to agree on “sexting” bill
A FLURRY OF last-minute lawmaking left a slew of bills on Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk on Wednesday, but lawmakers denied the outgoing governor a final legislative win when they failed […]
Posted inPolitics, State Government
Baker bids farewell
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER, who often called the “blocking and tackling” of state government the centerpiece of his approach in office, on Tuesday began a two-day process of saying a public […]
Posted inMedia, State House News Service
COVID dominates CommonWealth’s 2022 most-read news stories
The COVID-19 pandemic may no longer be in its most acute stage, but its aftereffects continue to be felt in the Bay State and interest in the disease remains high. […]
Posted inState Government
Bump says DiZoglio is being ‘well-schooled’ on auditor’s duties
STATE AUDITOR Suzanne Bump will leave office in January after 12 years on the job. In an interview on this week’s Codcast, she reflected on her time in office and […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
Berkshire County study tracks use of plea deals
AN UNPRECEDENTED look into how criminal cases get disposed of in Berkshire County reveals a trove of data, shedding a light on racial disparities, disparities based on lawyer type, and […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Campuses report 901 cases of sexual misconduct
IN 2020, there were 901 reports of sexual misconduct on Massachusetts college campuses, of which two-thirds involved allegations between students, according to a new report released by the Department of […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Governor’s councilors seem supportive of Jubinville nomination
THE GOVERNOR’S COUNCIL on Wednesday considered one of their own – Councilor Robert Jubinville – as a nominee for a clerk magistrate’s job. The half-hour hearing was mainly a lovefest, although […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
DOC accepts sweeping settlement on mental health care for prisoners
THE MASSACHUSETTS Department of Correction will have to completely transform the mental health care it provides to inmates, under a settlement the department reached with the US Department of Justice […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker officials slammed for criminal justice reform compliance
LEADERS OF THE Legislature’s Judiciary Committee and prisoners’ advocates at a hearing Tuesday slammed the outgoing administration of Gov. Charlie Baker for failing to properly implement the 2018 criminal justice […]
Posted inCourts, Health, Health Care
SJC rules physician-assisted suicide is illegal
THE MASSACHUSETTS CONSTITUTION does not protect a right to physician-assisted suicide, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled Monday, leaving it up to the Legislature to decide a controversial end-of-life issue that […]
Posted inMarijuana
Marijuana content labels can’t be trusted
ONE OF THE main arguments in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana was that consumers would have access to tested, regulated products, and know exactly what they are buying. But a […]
Posted inEducation
Healey picks Patrick Tutwiler, former Lynn superintendent, for education secretary
GOV.-ELECT MAURA HEALEY on Friday announced the appointment of former Lynn school superintendent Patrick Tutwiler as her education secretary. Tutwiler is currently working as a senior program officer for the […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker nominates Jubinville for clerk magistrate
IN ONE OF HIS LAST nominations as governor, Gov. Charlie Baker has nominated Governor’s Councilor Robert Jubinville to a lifetime appointment as clerk magistrate of Framingham District Court. Jubinville’s nomination […]
Posted inEconomy
Low birth rates, slow immigration harms state workforce
ALMOST EVERY INDUSTRY, from hospitals to restaurants, is struggling to hire in Massachusetts. And while some of this may be due to COVID-related factors that will eventually diminish, a new […]