REMEMBER THE DAYS of crazy bidding wars and waived inspections, with homebuyers desperate to close a sale? It’s looking like those days are over, with a rapidly cooling Massachusetts housing market. But does that mean it’s easy to buy a home now? Absolutely not, experts say. October numbers released this week by real estate data […]
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 inCriminal Justice
Mass. police surveillance case could go to Supreme Court
THE ACLU is asking the US Supreme Court to consider a Massachusetts case that could set limits on the police’s ability to conduct long-term camera surveillance without obtaining a search warrant. The case, Moore v. United States, stems from an investigation into a Springfield woman for drug and firearm crimes. According to facts laid out […]
Posted inMarijuana
Congress starts considering marijuana legalization
IN EARLY OCTOBER, President Biden called for a review of whether marijuana should continue to be classified federally among the most dangerous drugs. That review heightened calls for Congress to decriminalize marijuana. Advocates argue that the continuing criminalization of marijuana is nonsensical since 37 states and Washington, DC allow medical marijuana and 19 states and […]
Posted inState Government
Baker again clashes with lawmakers on abortion-related law
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Thursday signed a $3.76 billion economic development bill. But Baker, a Republican, once again entered into a controversy with the Democratic-led Legislature over reproductive rights by vetoing an education campaign about crisis pregnancy centers. Crisis pregnancy centers are organizations, often faith-based, that provide resources to pregnant women and counsel them about […]
Posted inGovernment, State Government
Baker, Healey pledge smooth transition of power
REPUBLICAN GOV. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito on Wednesday stood side by side in the governor’s office with Democratic Gov.-elect Maura Healey and Lt. Gov.-elect Kim Driscoll and pledged a smooth transition of power between administrations. Over the next couple of months, Baker said to Healey, “We’ll be working to make sure your […]
Posted inNews Analysis
Election winners and losers
GO TO CommonWealth’s homepage for stories on the big races, including Maura Healey’s historic victory in the race for governor. What else did we learn from Tuesday’s election about the big winners and losers? SMASHING THE CEILING Women were big winners in Massachusetts, as Healey led a statewide Democratic ticket to victory that will result […]
Posted inPolitics
Healey elected first female, gay Massachusetts governor
MAURA HEALEY shattered a glass ceiling on Tuesday in a landslide, becoming the first woman ever elected governor in Massachusetts. She topped a Democratic ticket that elected three new women to statewide office, including the first Black woman to hold a statewide position, and extend Democratic control to every single constitutional office. Healey, who […]
Posted inCourts, State Government
Lawsuit seeks to recoup stolen food benefits
PUBLIC ASSISTANCE RECIPIENTS who have had their food benefits stolen filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to require the state to repay the lost aid money. The suit filed by the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute against the Department of Transitional Assistance tries to help an estimated thousands of Massachusetts families who had food stamp benefits stolen by […]
Posted inPolitics
Galvin predicts low turnout in low-intensity election
SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH Bill Galvin on Monday predicted low turnout in what he described as a low-intensity election this Tuesday, with voters more motivated by the ballot questions than by any of the candidates in the top statewide races. “It doesn’t seem at this point there’s tremendous enthusiasm to this election,” Galvin said at […]
Posted inPolitics
Healey says tax relief a priority on ‘day one’
WHEN LEGISLATIVE LEADERS this week pushed discussions of tax breaks from this year into next, one reason they gave was so the discussion “will be informed by the views of a newly elected Legislature and governor.” Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and the Democratic-led Legislature had agreed in concept (with some differences in details) to increase […]