MASSACHUSETTS IS MOVING into the very top tier of states doing testing for COVID-19. As of Sunday evening, the state had conducted 39,066 tests, placing it fifth among the states […]
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 inUncategorized
Holyoke’s Alex Morse adapts to the curveballs
First in a series about mayors across Massachusetts and how they’re contending with the COVID-19 pandemic. DON’T ASK HOLYOKE MAYOR Alex Morse about his typical day right now – there […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Virus notes: Frustrated Baker almost says God-damned
IN A SIGN of his growing frustration with the challenges associated with acquiring personal protective equipment for frontline medical workers, Gov. Charlie Baker almost said “God damned” at a televised […]
Posted inPolitics
Senate strips Tran of his leadership position
THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE on Thursday stripped Fitchburg Republican Sen. Dean Tran of his leadership position and ordered him physically separated from his staff after the Senate Ethics Committee found that […]
Posted inEconomy
Congress poised to pass historic aid package
THE REPUBLICAN-LED US SENATE Wednesday night passed a $2.2 trillion aid package to help blunt the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the largest economic relief bill in US history. The […]
Posted inEducation
Baker closes Mass. schools through May 4
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Wednesday ordered all schools and non-emergency childcares closed through May 4, extending the current three-week suspension by an additional month in order to slow the spread […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Arts shutdown cost $58 million
THE SHUTTERING OF the arts in Massachusetts due to COVID-19 has affected an estimated 8,000 jobs so far and cost arts-related nonprofits $55.7 million and individual artists $2.8 million, according […]
Posted inPolitics
Virus notes: Finding purpose
HOW DOES ONE find purpose in sitting at home? Speaking to reporters Monday, Gov. Charlie Baker acknowledged the emotional struggles that so many around Massachusetts and the nation are facing […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker orders non-essential businesses shuttered
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER is ordering all non-essential businesses in Massachusetts to shut their physical operations as of noon on Tuesday. The order will remain in effect through April 7 at […]
Posted inHealth Care
Hospitals crowdsource protective equipment
HOSPITALS ARE ASKING the public to donate protective face masks. Construction workers are handing over supplies from building sites to medical personnel. Emergency room doctors are asking their friends to […]
Posted inUncategorized
Working from home, with kids
IN 2017, a video went viral of a little girl walking in on her dad as he tried to conduct a live interview with the BBC. How many parents had a […]
Posted inHealth Care
Processing 3,500 virus tests/day target for next week
STATE OFFICIALS said Thursday that labs expect to have the ability to process 3,500 coronavirus tests a day for Massachusetts residents by early next week. “We believe over the next […]
Posted inHealth Care
Virus notes: Baker orders child care shift
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Wednesday moved to address the childcare needs of those on the frontlines of the COVID-19 outbreak, ordering all existing early education and childcare centers to shut […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Legislative work on ice
TWO WEEKS AGO, the biggest question facing the state Legislature was what the Senate would do with the House’s $600 million transportation revenue package. The House was developing its version […]
Posted inArts and Culture
When the show does not go on
JADE SYLVAN, a graduate student at Harvard Divinity School, spent two years writing and producing a musical, “Beloved King,” a queer interpretation of the biblical story of King David. Sylvan […]
Posted inHealth Care
Virus notes: Boston construction grinds to halt
IN THE LATEST chapter in the near-total shutdown of the region, Mayor Marty Walsh announced that all construction projects in Boston would be halted as part of the all-out effort to […]
Posted inTransportation
Virus notes: At Logan, no chaos, but uneven screening measures
THE SITUATION AT Logan International Airport’s Terminal E on Sunday stood in sharp contrast to the mayhem that unfolded at Chicago’s O’ Hare Airport and at New York City’s John […]
Posted inHealth Care
Hospitals face mask shortages
AS HOSPITALS PREPARE to deal with a potential wave of coronavirus patients, hospital staff are already running short of the equipment they need to protect themselves from the contagious disease. […]
Posted inHealth Care
What’s behind the COVID-19 testing bottleneck
DOUG QUATTROCHI traveled to New York as the coronavirus outbreak was beginning there, then came home to Worcester and developed a fever and shortness of breath. His doctors ruled out […]
Posted inUncategorized
Advocates: No evictions during pandemic
YOU FEEL SICK. But you could get evicted from your home if you don’t show up in court. What do you do? Boston-area activists are mounting a campaign to end evictions during […]
Posted inEconomy
Advocates push for boost in welfare payments
FOR EIGHT YEARS, April Jennison was on and off welfare benefits, receiving a $491 grant each month to sustain herself and her daughter while living in Wareham, a small town […]
Posted inUncategorized
Should state finance marijuana businesses?
AS FANTASTICAL as the idea sounds, a bill that would establish a state-backed loan fund to help marijuana businesses was reported favorably out of a legislative policy committee this week. […]
Posted inPolitics
Warren ends campaign, declines to endorse for now
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN ended her presidential campaign Thursday, after devastating losses at the ballot box on Super Tuesday, but declined to endorse either of the remaining candidates. Warren, speaking to […]
Posted inUncategorized
Farm food benefits program revived
AFTER A NEARLY two-week hiatus, Massachusetts plans to use $2 million in new state funds to restart a program that lets SNAP recipients receive additional money to buy fresh produce. […]