A clarification has been added to this story to more fully explain the nature of the party. THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSING Finance Agency has been through a rough patch when it […]
The Back Story
Posted inThe Back Story
Car-free development taking root
THE PROPOSAL FOR a five-story, 56-unit residential apartment building on Dorchester Avenue includes a lot of the amenities that are now standard features in new development projects: A ground-floor gym […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Shaw 54th: A disruptive work of art
AT A TIME when Civil War monuments across the country are coming under fire, the National Park Service, the city of Boston, and the Friends of the Public Garden are […]
Posted inHealth Care
Perfect storm led to healthy kidney removal
ANKUR PARIKH, a 37-year-old urologist, logged into the medical records system at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester and examined what he thought was a CT kidney scan that had […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Are Chinese rail cars a Trojan horse?
AS IF THE MBTA doesn’t have enough trouble keeping its aging fleet of trains going, a state lawmaker is warning that the cure may be worse than the disease. State […]
Posted inOpinion
Pharmacy middlemen manipulating the system
A RECENT FEDERAL LAW allows pharmacists to inform patients when the price of their medication is less than the copayment they would pay using their insurance. This is helpful to […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Grid hearing had one-sided feel Â
Legislative hearings are supposed to be fact-finding missions – a bill comes before a committee, proponents and opponents testify, and lawmakers ask questions to understand the implications of the proposed legislation.  But hearings can also serve as […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Swampscott agreement deals with gender fluidity
When Swampscott elementary school principal Thomas Shannon Daniels first came out as transgender in February, he indicated his gender was fluid. “For me, that means I identify as both a […]
Posted inThe Back Story
DCR hiring a debt collection agency
THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION and Recreation – the largest landowner in the state — is in the process of hiring a debt-collection company to go after tenants who owe […]
Posted inThe Back Story
‘Big Marijuana’ is actually a thing
DURING THE 2016 CAMPAIGN, and since the passage of the law legalizing the sale and adult use of marijuana in Massachusetts, opponents of legal pot have continually pointed to the […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Glynn calls for conversation on ride-hailing congestionÂ
THE OUTGOING CEO of Massport, which operates Logan International Airport, says it’s time for the state’s transportation leaders to come together to decide how to respond to the growing congestion being caused by ride-hailing […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Bump prods Baker on elder abuse reporting
STATE AUDITOR SUZANNE BUMP is prodding the Baker administration to do a better job of referring serious cases of elder abuse to district attorneys for possible prosecution, but state officials […]
Posted inHealth Care
On nurse ballot measure, Dems line up with labor
THE NOVEMBER BALLOT QUESTION that would mandate minimum nurse staffing levels at Massachusetts hospitals is a complicated issue. Health care experts offered views that were sharply at odds with each […]
Posted inEducation
Does Harvard have constitutional protection from Gonzalez tax?
THINGS LOOK TOUGH enough for Jay Gonzalez’s proposal to tax high-value university endowments, with lots of leading Democrats offering a less than enthusiastic embrace of the idea. But could the […]
Posted inThe Back Story
A stash of cash for troubled pols
EARLIER THIS YEAR, on April 13, the city of Fall River signed a host community agreement with Northeast Alternatives, which already operates a medical marijuana dispensary in the city, to open up a retail recreational pot operation in a strip […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Where will the money for S. Coast Rail come from?Â
STATE TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS plan to have South Coast Rail service up and running by November 2022, but they haven’t figured out a way to cover the $1 billion cost yet. About $200 million […]
Posted inOpinion
Why a Red-Blue pedestrian link won’t work
THERE HAS BEEN a recent renewed advocacy push to bring attention to the Blue Line’s failure to provide the necessary connectivity any good rapid transit line must. This focus on […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Lobbyists shower DeLeo, Sanchez with donations
LOBBYISTS POURED MONEY into the campaign coffers of House Speaker Robert DeLeo and one of his top lieutenants, House Ways and Means chair Jeffrey Sanchez, during the first part of […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Anatomy of a smear
SECRETARY OF STATE William Galvin has not survived 43 years in the rough and tumble arena of Massachusetts politics by being meek. So when there’s a threat to his fiefdom, […]
Posted inHealth Care
State sees huge growth of urgent care centers and retail clinics
RETAIL MEDICAL CLINICS and emergency care centers are growing at breakneck speed in Massachusetts, a trend that suggests strong demand for the lower-cost alternatives to standard outpatient and hospital emergency […]
Posted inThe Back Story
DCR, carousel negotiations go round and round
ONE DAY LAST SUMMER Leo Roy, the commissioner of the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation, showed up at the Paragon Carousel across from Nantasket Beach in Hull with some […]
Posted inThe Back Story
US Attorney carries Trump’s message on immigrants
WHEN PRESIDENT TRUMP took office 19 months ago, the US Attorney’s office in Massachusetts started issuing more and more press releases about cases where the defendants were identified by their […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Sanchez in hot seat on immigration measure
WHEN STATE REP. Jeffrey Sanchez was tapped last July to be the new chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, it put a veteran liberal lawmaker from one of […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Restarting the transportation funding debate
WITH THE MILLIONAIRE TAX ballot question shot down by the Supreme Judicial Court, the debate over state transportation funding is slowly starting to shift gears on Beacon Hill. Rep. William […]