GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Wednesday urged the state’s colleges and high schools to cancel all organized trips abroad, as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expands its travel […]
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
Biden surge swamps Warren in her home state
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN lost her home state of Massachusetts in Tuesday’s presidential primary to former vice president Joe Biden, in a surprise victory for Biden and a devastating blow to […]
Posted inPolitics
Warren downplays ‘do or die’ Super Tuesday
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN knows that Super Tuesday is “a big deal” with the large number of delegates at stake in the Democratic presidential race, but she declined to say whether […]
Posted inPolitics
Beacon Hill’s secretive committee voting process
IT TOOK A couple days of calling, but the House Ways and Means Committee eventually disclosed how committee members voted last week on a major transportation bill containing hefty tax […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Court: State not liable for assault at DYS facility
A STATE APPEALS COURT agreed to dismiss a case against the state’s Department of Youth Services for an assault that occurred at a now-shuttered facility for youth in state custody, […]
Posted inTransportation
Traffic camera debate derailed in Senate
A SPIRITED DEBATE about the use of automated traffic cameras was abruptly derailed in the state Senate Thursday evening after a Republican senator moved to table the bill. Under Senate […]
Posted inUncategorized
Senate tweaks disability bill to preserve records access
AFTER ADVOCATES FOR people with disabilities raised concerns about a proposal to broaden a public records exemption related to abuse investigations, which was included in a bill voted on Thursday […]
Posted inEconomy
Goodbye, Columbia Gas
LEONEL RONDON, THE 18-YEAR-OLD KILLED in the Merrimack Valley gas explosions, can never be brought back, but other customers of Columbia Gas say they will rest more safely with the news […]
Posted inTransportation
Five takeaways on transportation bill
LEADERS IN THE Massachusetts House on Wednesday unveiled an approximately $600 million transportation revenue bill. The bill will raise the gas tax, increase the minimum corporate tax paid by large […]
Posted inTransportation
House unveils $600m transportation revenue bill
DRIVERS, BUSINESS, SOME RIDE-HAILING CUSTOMERS and car rental companies will all pay more to improve the state’s ailing transportation system under a bill Massachusetts House leaders released Wednesday. The long-awaited […]
Posted inPolitics
Raimondo makes the pitch for Bloomberg
IS A WEALTHY businessman from New York the right presidential candidate to defeat another wealthy businessman from New York? In the eyes of Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, national co-chair […]
Posted inUncategorized
Advocates sound alarm over proposed limits on abuse reports
UNCOVERING ABUSE AGAINST people with disabilities may become more difficult, advocates worry, under a provision tucked into a seemingly innocuous bill slated for a vote in the state Senate on […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Lelling plugs fed role on corruption probes
US ATTORNEY Andrew Lelling stood on a podium at Moakley Courthouse on Tuesday announcing federal charges against Democratic State Rep. David Nangle for misusing campaign funds. But for a few minutes, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
What you need to know about new hands-free driving law
IT’S TIME TO stop reading those emails while traffic is crawling on the Southeast Expressway. Massachusetts’s ban on handheld cellphone use while driving goes into effect Sunday. Gov. Charlie Baker […]
Posted inGambling
DeLeo calls Nangle allegations ‘serious and troubling’
HOUSE SPEAKER Robert DeLeo said Tuesday that the allegations against Rep. David Nangle, a member of his Democratic leadership team, are “serious and troubling and, if true, represent a significant […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Lowell rep arrested for misusing $70,000 in campaign funds
STATE REP. DAVID NANGLE, a Lowell Democrat and member of the Legislature’s Ethics Committee, was arrested Tuesday and charged with using his campaign account to pay for more than $70,000 […]
Posted inUncategorized
State suspending farm food benefits program
AT A MONTHLY WINTER FARMERS market run by Roots Rising in Pittsfield, shoppers can buy apples, canned tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, onions, and winter squash. A shopper using SNAP benefits can […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker signs law creating caregiver abuse registry
NICKY CHAN was attending a day program for people with intellectual disabilities when he was beaten by a caregiver. The caregiver was found not guilty in court, and there was […]
Posted inHealth Care
Senate passes mental health bill
SEN. JULIAN CYR has struggled with anxiety and depression since childhood. As a boy who was gay, he was bullied in school, had panic attacks and developed an eating disorder. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
2 Walsh aides cleared of federal charges
When two Boston City Hall aides were found guilty on federal charges for pressuring officials at the Boston Calling music festival to hire union labor, critics pointed to the trial […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Healey sues JUUL for creating youth vaping epidemic
MASSACHUSETTS ATTORNEY GENERAL Maura Healey on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the e-cigarette giant JUUL Labs, alleging that the company intentionally created the epidemic of youth vaping by marketing and […]
Posted inEducation
Ed coalition urges focus on students with greatest need
THE NEWLY OVERHAULED state education funding formula has been touted as a way to improve the persistent gap in educational achievement between groups of students – poor students compared to […]
Posted inEducation
How pro should college athletes go?
WHEN CHRIS WEBBER was a top basketball player for the University of Michigan in the early 1990s, paraphernalia with his name was being sold nationwide, but Webber could not receive […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
House jumps back into pot policy
It’s been five months since House Speaker Robert DeLeo said he was unaware of any legislation filed by the Cannabis Control Commission seeking to change state laws around agreements between marijuana […]