THE HEALTH POLICY COMMISSION took two decisive steps to rein in Mass General Brigham on Tuesday, ordering the largest and most prominent health care system in Massachusetts to develop a […]
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 inCriminal Justice
Commission probes uneven sheriffs’ spending
THE BRISTOL COUNTY sheriff’s department spends around $50,000 per year for each inmate it incarcerates, and around $1,000 per inmate on programming. The Barnstable County sheriff spends twice that – […]
Posted inEducation
Making sense of COVID policies in schools
STUDENTS ARE CONTRACTING COVID-19, occasionally in school – but medical experts say school is the safest place for kids. Parents are urged to vaccinate their children against COVID, though children […]
Posted inPolitics
Costly ballot fights ahead on gig economy, income tax amendment
A BALLOT QUESTION that would classify Uber and Lyft workers as independent contractors while granting them certain workplace benefits is shaping up to be the biggest and most expensive fight […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Marijuana regulators support updates to drugged driving laws
SINCE MASSACHUSETTS LEGALIZED recreational marijuana, Gov. Charlie Baker has been pushing the Legislature to also update the state’s laws against driving under the influence of drugs. But a lengthy […]
Posted inEducation, Health Care
Baker expands test-and-stay to early childhood centers
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER announced Wednesday that he is expanding the state’s test-and-stay program to early childhood centers, so that children exposed to COVID at daycare do not have to quarantine. The announcement […]
Posted inEducation
House releases $55m bill for COVID testing, school masks
THE HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS Committee on Tuesday released a bill that would allocate another $55 million to expanding COVID testing sites, buying masks for schools, and doing vaccine outreach, even as Gov. […]
Posted inPolitics
Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga promises reset of City Hall
One in a series looking at newly-elected mayors across the Commonwealth. GLOUCESTER MAYOR Greg Verga was sworn into office on New Year’s Day promising to reset the tone in City Hall after […]
Posted inUncategorized
State budget writers forecast continued growth in tax revenues
STATE REVENUES keep rolling along. Budget officials on Friday revised upward their revenue forecast for the current fiscal year by $1.5 billion and then projected the state’s tax take would rise 2.7 percent in the next fiscal […]
Posted inPolitics
Labor unions top PAC fundraising
ORGANIZED LABOR, always a powerful force in Democratic-dominated Massachusetts, continues to hold sway heading into the 2022 election season – and nowhere is that clearer than in fundraising. The Office […]
Posted inEducation
Navient will repay Mass. student borrowers $43.2m
MASSACHUSETTS STUDENT loan borrowers whose private loans were serviced by Navient will get $41 million of those loans forgiven, under a national settlement announced Thursday by Attorney General Maura Healey. […]
Posted inBy The Numbers
Report says millionaires tax would raise $1.3 billion
A new report released by an independent think tank found that passing the so-called “millionaires tax” would raise an estimated $1.3 billion annually beginning in 2023. The number is lower […]
Posted inTransportation
Regional bus ridership down 52 percent from pre-pandemic levels
LIKE MANY TRANSIT systems nationwide, ridership on the state’s regional bus systems cratered during the early days of the pandemic. Ridership has rebounded at Regional Transit Authorities, according to a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker commutes sentences of two men convicted of murder
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Wednesday commuted the sentences of two men who were convicted of murder. the first commutations the Republican governor has issued since he took office. “I believe […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker, Democratic legislators clash on virus response
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER often says he and his political opponents will “agree to disagree.” That could have been the mantra of Tuesday’s oversight hearing of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Federal lawsuit alleges brutal abuse by Souza-Baranowski officers
A FEDERAL LAWSUIT filed by Prisoners’ Legal Services on Monday alleges brutal, violent, and racist behavior by correctional officers at the Souza-Baranowski prison, giving a rare look at the alleged […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker prioritizes rapid tests, buys 26m more
MASSACHUSETTS WILL GET 26 million rapid antigen tests over the next three months, which it will distribute primarily to K-12 schools and childcare facilities, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Tuesday. “Rapid […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass. offers QR code to prove COVID vaccine status
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION on Monday released a new technology that state residents can use voluntarily to provide digital proof of their COVID-19 vaccination status. A portal on a state-run website […]
Posted inEducation
New student loan ombudsman gets nearly 400 requests for help
IN ITS FIRST SIX MONTHS of existence, an ombudsman’s office tasked with addressing complaints about the student loan industry has gotten 393 complaints and requests for help. The complaints came […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
‘Red flag’ gun bill used just six times last year
WHEN GOV. CHARLIE BAKER signed the so-called “red flag” bill in July 2018, it was pitched as a way to save lives. Under the law, a family member or police […]
Posted inEducation
School struggles getting worse amid virus surge
AMID THE SURGE of COVID-19 cases, Cambridge Public Schools closed Monday and Tuesday to test 3,500 students. Superintendent Victoria Greer wrote to families Tuesday that 157 of 362 pools tested […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Commission sharply split on qualified immunity proposals
A SHARPLY DIVIDED commission established to study qualified immunity – a controversial legal doctrine that shields police officers and other public employees from liability from civil lawsuits – is recommending […]
Posted inPolitics
Two Western Mass senators face off in lieutenant governor race
TWO DEMOCRATIC state senators from Western Massachusetts will run against each other next fall – but not for the Senate. Sen. Eric Lesser’s decision Tuesday to jump into the primary race for […]
Posted inEducation
Schools face staffing shortages as teachers ill with COVID
ON SATURDAY, Brockton school superintendent Michael Thomas warned parents that although schools were planning to reopen Monday, he could not guarantee it. “Unfortunately, like most districts across the state right […]