WHEN THE LEGISLATURE passed an unprecedented expansion of mail-in voting, they did it for this year only, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that makes crowding into polling places unsafe. […]
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 inPolitics
Auchincloss declares victory; Mermell hasn’t conceded
Update, 12:15 p.m.: Mermell called Auchincloss to concede on Friday morning. She announced in a video posted on Facebook and Twitter that she will not request a recount. UNOFFICIAL RESULTS […]
Posted inPolitics
Glitches mar Tuesday’s election
TUESDAY’S DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY for the 4th Congressional District seat dragged into Thursday with the outcome still uncertain, largely because of glitches in counting ballots related to the state’s expanded voting […]
Posted inPolitics
Auchincloss leads Mermell, but count not final
AS OF WEDNESDAY afternoon, Jake Auchincloss appeared to be edging out Jesse Mermell to win the Democratic nod for the 4th Congressional District seat, with just 1,500 votes separating them. […]
Posted inPolitics
Neal leads incumbent sweep in congressional races
US REP. RICHARD NEAL, the powerful chair of the US House Ways and Means Committee, on Tuesday fended off Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse, his strongest primary challenger in recent years, […]
Posted inUncategorized
Marijuana regulators approve major shift in delivery model
THE CANNABIS CONTROL COMMISSION agreed to a major change in how marijuana delivery companies can operate, in response to an outcry from potential entrepreneurs who said the model initially envisioned […]
Posted inPolitics
Galvin predicts near-record turnout in Tuesday primary
SECRETARY OF STATE William Galvin is predicting near-record turnout in Tuesday’s state primary election, amid a vast expansion of voting by mail due to the coronavirus pandemic. Galvin said Monday […]
Posted inUncategorized
Licensing of new childcare providers on hold
NICOLE MCCORMACK, a hairstylist from Haverhilll, always dreamed of opening a home daycare. So with her youngest son entering kindergarten, she started applying for a license in March. Five months […]
Posted inPolitics
A bipartisan State House stand against Postal Service cuts
BOSTON ISN’T WASHINGTON, and President Trump’s concerns don’t represent Beacon Hill Republicans. As if that weren’t clear enough already, Massachusetts House Minority Leader Brad Jones, a North Reading Republican, is […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Justice Department seeks reinstatement of Tsarnaev death penalty
THE US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE will seek to have the death penalty reinstated for convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who had his death sentence overturned by a US Appeals […]
Posted inHealth Care
Senior living complexes caught in COVID-19 limbo
SPRINGHOUSE SENIOR LIVING in Boston offers older adults three options: independent living for those able to stay in their own apartments, assisted living for those who need additional help, and […]
Posted inEducation
Unions say in-person learning plans not a done deal
THE SHARON SCHOOL COMMITTEE voted to start the year with a hybrid model of education, where students will return to school in person two days a week. Sharon teachers, however, […]
Posted inUncategorized
Mass. pursuing lawsuit over post office cuts
MASSACHUSETTS IS JOINING a multistate coalition filing a federal lawsuit requiring President Trump’s administration to adequately fund the US Postal Service and ensure it can deliver election-related mail. Secretary of the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Federal funds sought for Holyoke Soldiers’ Home renovations
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION has hired a company to begin an “expedited” process to renovate the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home. The exact timing of construction remains uncertain, but the administration’s goal is […]
Posted inEducation
Curtatone, Novick slam state guidance on reopening
FOR MONTHS, school districts were struggling to decide whether to reopen schools in person, with little guidance from the state as to what thresholds to use to make that decision. […]
Posted inUncategorized
Should medical marijuana retailers have to grow their own pot?
MASSACHUSETTS MARIJUANA regulators are soliciting public opinion about eliminating one of the costliest rules affecting the medical marijuana market, the requirement that medical retailers grow their own marijuana. But the […]
Posted inEducation
Private-pay childcare providers struggling
JENNIFER SIMPSON, who runs a family daycare in Southbridge, will have lost more than $33,000 in tuition money by the time she reopens August 31. She has spent nearly $6,000 […]
Posted inPolitics
Second-guessing begins on Alex Morse allegations
HOLYOKE MAYOR ALEX MORSE is fighting for his political future, amid allegations that he had sex with students attending the university where he taught. Now questions are being raised about what […]
Posted inEducation
Not every school district is buying Baker’s guidance
UNDER NEW STATE GUIDELINES issued Tuesday night, Somerville should be preparing to bring students back to school in person next month. It isn’t. Somerville, a dense urban area outside of Boston, […]
Posted inEducation
Baker says most kids can return to in-person learning
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said a key COVID-19 metric currently indicates children in nearly 91 percent of the state’s cities and towns can safely return to school this fall for in-person […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
State begins targeting COVID-19 spread in 33 communities
A CLUSTER of working-class cities remain the most hard-hit by COVID-19 in Massachusetts, as Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday announced new state assistance for virus hotspots. Although state officials have […]
Posted inEducation
What is a ‘hybrid’ education plan?
HUGE NUMBERS of Massachusetts students this fall will be returning to school on a “hybrid” plan – some mix of in-person and remote learning. Like so much of the post-pandemic […]
Posted inEducation
Parents turning to ‘pandemic pods’ and ‘microschools’
WHEN NORTH ANDOVER SCHOOLS closed in March, Jennifer Quadrozzi’s family formed a quarantine pod with three other neighborhood families. Quadrozzi’s seven-year-old daughter now had eight other children, ages two to nine, to play with. The kids would learn at their […]
Posted inEducation
Colleges reconsider reopening plans
WHEN THE BOSTON GLOBE reported Sunday that many colleges and universities throughout the country were reversing their plans to reopen in-person, only Berklee College of Music had taken that step in […]