SEN. ERIC LESSER, a key player in the state’s debate over legalizing sports betting, on Monday laid out his vision for the state’s latest gambling expansion, unveiling a proposal that […]
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 inRace/Racism
Why are Latinos so overrepresented in the state child welfare system?
LAST MONTH, workers from the state Department of Children and Families knocked on the door of Raquel, an El Salvadoran immigrant living in Worcester. DCF had gotten an anonymous call about a fight between her husband and […]
Posted inHealth Care
Delayed vaccines arrive in Massachusetts
AFTER A DAY of concern and confusing messages, the delayed shipments of COVID-19 vaccines have arrived in Massachusetts, and no appointments will be cancelled. “Gov. Baker and the Command Center have […]
Posted inPolitics
‘Teflon Charlie’ facing some real heat
FOR MOST of the past six years, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker has been ranked as the most popular governor – or close to it – in America. One Boston Globe […]
Posted inHealth Care
Manufacturing delay, weather holding up vaccine shipment
COVID-19 VACCINE DOSES scheduled to be shipped to Massachusetts from the federal government this week have been delayed, and state officials left open the possibility that vaccine appointments may be cancelled. “The […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker wants to send National Guard to pick up vaccines
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER is seeking federal permission to send the Massachusetts National Guard to pick up vaccine doses from Tennessee and Kentucky, to avoid weather-related delays. Baker said the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker ‘pissed off’ as vaccine website struggles
THE STATE WEBSITE for finding an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine crashed Thursday morning as a torrent of people 65 and above rushed to sign up, the latest chapter in […]
Posted inHealth Care
Advocates push vaccine equity for black and Latino residents
ADVOCATES FOR BLACK AND LATINO Massachusetts residents are asking Gov. Charlie Baker for a large influx of money and vaccine doses aimed at increasing vaccination rates among their populations. “For […]
Posted inEducation
Advocates push universal, publicly funded early education
A COALITION OF early education advocates will introduce an ambitious proposal Tuesday to completely overhaul the state’s early education system. The legislation would provide universal, affordable early education in Massachusetts, […]
Posted inPolitics
Getting a handle on Beacon Hill advocates, coalitions
HOUSE SPEAKER RON MARIANO recently announced that he was asking the House Rules Committee to take a look at the rules around “unregistered, or vaguely-affiliated, advocates and coalitions.” Mariano’s pronouncement […]
Posted inPolitics
Constitutional challenge to vote-by-mail likely
SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH Bill Galvin and voting rights advocates want to allow Massachusetts residents to vote by mail for any reason. But is that constitutional? The Massachusetts Constitution explicitly […]
Posted inPolitics
Galvin backs permanent mail-in voting
CITING THE SUCCESS of mail-in voting during the pandemic, Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin on Tuesday released a bill that would make voting by mail a permanent feature of […]
Posted inPolitics
Former state senator Ben Downing launches gubernatorial campaign
BEN DOWNING, a former state senator from Western Massachusetts, on Monday launched a run for governor, laying out a liberal policy platform that aims to address inequality amid the recovery […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Legislature slowly restarts with rules, new committees
THE COVID-19 pandemic may have increased the urgency of business before the state Legislature, but the 2021 legislative session has started at its usual slow pace. Lawmakers quickly passed a […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Mass. to get $13.2m from McKinsey opioid settlement
MASSACHUSETTS WILL get $13.2 million from a national settlement with consultant McKinsey & Company over the company’s role working for opioid companies. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, who has been […]
Posted inEducation
Poll: Students unhappy with remote and hybrid learning
A NEW POLL released Tuesday confirmed what many students have been saying all along: High school students far prefer to be learning in person than to be in a remote […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker says proposed drug overcharging penalties would total $70m
IT’S BAKER versus drug companies, take two. Gov. Charlie Baker, in his fiscal 2022 budget proposal, is reviving a controversial plan to penalize drug companies for charging too much for […]
Posted inPolitics
House delays rules debate amid transparency push
THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE is pushing off its biennial debate on rules for six months, citing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision to delay the rules debate also comes […]
Posted inUncategorized
Here is what Baker’s budget cut
WHEN GOV. CHARLIE BAKER made his $45.6 billion budget proposal Wednesday, he highlighted the things he is funding: education, economic recovery, mental health services, and local aid. Left unsaid was […]
Posted inEducation
School advocates call Baker’s funding proposal inadequate
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said Wednesday that his budget proposal for next year fully funds the first year of the Student Opportunity Act, the overhaul of the state’s education funding formula […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker releases FY22 budget with drop in spending, no new taxes
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Wednesday released a $45.6 billion state budget proposal for fiscal 2022, a 0.7 percent drop in spending compared to the current year. It is highly unusual […]
Posted inUncategorized
Report slams DCF for lack of language services
JUAN ABAD’S son was three months old when he was removed from his mother’s house and placed in a foster home after the boy’s twin was murdered. The boy turned […]
Posted inUncategorized
Northampton drops fee on marijuana companies
MARIJUANA COMPANY officials have long complained about the excessive fees imposed by communities statewide. Now, one marijuana-friendly city is going in the opposite direction. Northampton recently decided to waive the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
State slow to improve criminal justice data collection
A WELL-KNOWN management maxim warns, if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. By that reckoning, those trying to better the state’s criminal justice system are often flying blind. How long, for example, does the average probationer in […]