GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Monday signed a bill that will let restaurants sell alcoholic mixed drinks along with a takeout food order. Under the law, a customer over 21 can […]
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
Whole Foods workers sue over Black Lives Matter masks
A GROUP OF WHOLE FOODS employees working in four cities, including Cambridge, are suing the company for discrimination, alleging the store selectively enforced a dress code by barring employees from […]
Posted inTransportation
Sharp split on need for new transpo revenues
WITH 17 PERCENT UNEMPLOYMENT, a recession, and a global pandemic, does Massachusetts need to be raising more money right now to fix the state’s ailing transportation system? CommonWealth Magazine · […]
Posted inPolitics
Is Karyn Polito angling for a third term — or a first?
ON THE WALL behind her desk, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito keeps the official portrait of former Republican Gov. Paul Cellucci, one of her political mentors, the man who first encouraged […]
Posted inUncategorized
Mail-in ballot applications on their way to voters
SECRETARY OF STATE William Galvin has started mailing out applications for absentee ballots to all registered voters in Massachusetts, and all the applications should be sent out by Tuesday. If that […]
Posted inHealth Care
$176 million lawsuit filed against Holyoke Soldiers’ Home officials
THE FAMILY OF a veteran who died of COVID-19 at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home is filing a class action lawsuit against former Superintendent Bennett Walsh, former Secretary of Veterans’ Services […]
Posted inHealth Care
$1.1 billion budget bill packed with local earmarks
THE LEGISLATURE SENT Gov. Charlie Baker a $1.1 billion supplemental budget bill on Thursday, an indication of the staggering sums the state is spending responding to the coronavirus pandemic. The 57-page […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Veterans tell Baker: Listen to us
A DAY AFTER independent investigator Mark Pearlstein released his scathing report on what went wrong with the coronavirus outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, Gov. Charlie Baker released a bill that would implement […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
What happened to the transportation revenue bill?
LESS THAN FIVE months ago, frustrated drivers and transit riders saw a glimmer of hope that a major infusion of cash might soon be on its way to shore up the state’s ailing transportation system. The Massachusetts House – […]
Posted inEducation
Minority, low-income students more likely to have changed college plans
MINORITY AND LOW-INCOME students are more likely than white and better-off students to have changed college plans due the pandemic, according to new results from a poll conducted by the […]
Posted inEconomy
Healey sues Uber, Lyft for misclassifying drivers
ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against ride-hailing platforms Uber and Lyft accusing them of misclassifying drivers as independent contractors instead of employees. “Uber and Lyft have […]
Posted inEconomy
State quietly restores plastic bag bans
ON FRIDAY NIGHT — a time often reserved for releasing bad or controversial news — the Department of Public Health quietly lifted the state’s ban on reusable bags in grocery stores and […]
Posted inPolitics
Voting rights groups sue Galvin over mail-in voting
VOTING RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS are asking the Supreme Judicial Court to force Secretary of State William Galvin to send out applications for mail-in ballots this week – even though Galvin says […]
Posted inHealth Care
COVID database filled with holes despite law
PASSING A LAW is one thing. Implementing it is another. On June 7, Gov. Charlie Baker signed a law requiring the Department of Public Health to publish more transparent data about the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Marijuana companies hid illegal pesticide use
THE STATE Cannabis Control Commission on Thursday unanimously approved hefty fines against two marijuana companies for illegally using pesticides on their products, then trying to hide it. Garden Remedies […]
Posted inUncategorized
House wants more transparency in foster care system
A BILL THAT the Massachusetts House is set to vote on Thursday would bring more transparency to the state’s troubled foster care system – but would not bring in the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Markey, Kennedy visit jail, address criminal justice concerns
BY THE TIME someone gets to jail, in many cases, there are myriad societal problems that led them there – and those need to be addressed. That was the premise […]
Posted inUncategorized
Here’s what you need to know about 2020 mail-in voting
DUE TO THE coronavirus pandemic, all Massachusetts residents who wish to do so will be allowed to vote by mail this year. Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday signed a […]
Posted inUncategorized
Gyms, museums, movie theaters can reopen Monday
MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENTS tired of being cooped up will have far more entertainment options come Monday, as gyms, museums, and movie theaters begin to reopen as the state moves into the […]
Posted inTransportation
No simple roundabout dispute
IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE a routine road safety project to add a roundabout and sidewalks at a dangerous intersection near a Northampton grocery store. Instead, the project by the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Under pressure, N. Brookfield selectmen postpone July 4 parade
IF BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTERS can march down the streets, why not a July 4 parade? That was the argument being made by selectmen in North Brookfield, a small Worcester-area town […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Substance use treatment changing at Plymouth prison
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION is removing correctional officers and expanding treatment programming at the troubled prison facility in Plymouth used to treat men civilly committed for substance use. The shift in […]
Posted inEducation
Education funding shortfall could spur new lawsuit
WHEN MASSACHUSETTS LAWMAKERS passed a landmark rewrite of the state’s school funding formula last year, it was done with a lawsuit hanging over their heads. Now, advocates are keeping a close eye on the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Veterans Secretary Francisco Urena resigns
SECRETARY OF VETERANS’ Services Francisco Urena has resigned in advance of the release of a report investigating the coronavirus outbreak at Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, according to multiple news reports. Urena […]