It would be easy to assume that most psychics, tarot card readers, and mediums want to do away with the red tape, but that isn’t necessarily the case. Salem licenses more fortune tellers than any other community in the state, and many say although the archaic statute may have been rooted in distrust and prejudice, there are tangible benefits of the law today.
Local Government
Posted inOpinion
A Cambridge turf battle offers broader lessons on citizen involvement
The Ahern Field saga is a reminder that when all stakeholders—parents, neighbors, young people, and taxpayers— show up together, they can move government.
Posted inState Government
Healey, in new letter, urges MWRA to meet the ‘pressing needs’ of Quabbin Reservoir communities
Healey, through her letter to the head of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, is wading into an escalating battle between small towns along the Quabbin and the quasi-public agency that uses that water to serve 2.7 million residents in 61 communities mostly in and around Boston.
Posted inEnvironment
‘It’s like the Hunger Games’: Quabbin Reservoir towns take funding fight to Beacon Hill amid extended drought
A perfect storm of long-held resentments, the well-known story of the financial crunch squeezing small towns across the state, and an act of blameless chance — weather — is raising the stakes and stoking new tensions between these sparse towns and the powers that be in state government.
Posted inOpinion
Towns surrounding the Quabbin Reservoir protect the water for 2.7 million people in Eastern Mass. They’re getting financially starved in the process.
The state’s payments in lieu of taxes system treats Quabbin land as nearly worthless. In reality, it’s the most valuable land in Massachusetts: Without it, more than 2.7 million people across Eastern Massachusetts — 40 percent of the state’s population — would have no water.
Posted inOpinion
SJC ruling shouldn’t be the last word on rent control
State lawmakers must take action to uphold the will of Bay Staters by lifting the ban on rent control and allowing local jurisdictions to pass the rent stabilization ordinances that work best for their communities.
Posted inEnvironment
Wu, feds unveil plan to tackle sea level rise in Boston
The draft plan is set to act as a roadmap for how New England’s largest city can navigate the more than four feet of sea level rise the Army Corps projects will hit Boston by 2090.
Posted inOpinion
A new high school or housing? Here’s how Boston could have both.
Facing shortages of housing and open land in our densest cities, we should not construct a police station, a fire station, a library, or a school without providing opportunities for housing to be constructed above.
Posted inOpinion
Ending the requirement that legal ads be published by news outlets would harm democracy and journalism
Legal ads are one leg of a three-legged stool — along with public-records laws and open meetings — ensuring government transparency.
Posted inEnvironment
Controversial private jet expansion proposal at Hanscom faces setbacks as developers look to move project ahead
The proposed hangar expansion has roiled activists and officials alike. Critics fear that a spike in air traffic will bring extra noise and emissions, as private flights are widely considered to be the most polluting source of transportation.
Posted inHousing
Local complexity stymies ADU push
The report argues the permitting gap doesn’t reflect a lack of homeowner interest, but rather a regulatory system that was never designed to handle an influx of development of the small housing units across 351 cities and towns with their own set of permitting rules.
Posted inEducation
As school districts cut budgets, DEI work may be first to go
Brookline’s school district is one of at least four in Massachusetts that have cut DEI initiatives or positions despite community support, citing shrinking student enrollments and rollbacks in federal funding that threaten school budgets.
Posted inOpinion
I want statues of saints at my church, not at my police station
Installing two larger-than-life Christian saints to loom over the entrance of our public safety building sends a clear message to non-Christians.
Posted inEnvironment
Lowell residents sue data center, state over air quality permit
The legal challenge, filed in Middlesex County Superior Court, comes at a time of heightened scrutiny over data centers and their role in powering artificial intelligence both around the country and within the Bay State.
Posted inEnvironment
Boston, in new climate plan, opens up possibility of delaying flood insurance discounts
Increasingly severe floods are threatening to put more financial strain on Massachusetts residents’ pockets.
Posted inLocal Government
Political Notebook: South Hadley voters reject controversial Proposition 2½ override
The proposals sparked a heated local debate as sluggish state aid growth and strict limits on local tax increases continue to trap many local governments in a difficult position with few options to manage rising costs.
Posted inCourts
Should a community be able to reject a solar project to protect its trees? The SJC wades into the controversy in central Mass.
The justices appeared to be grappling with the genuine desire of a community to protect its character with the limited authority of localities to stall development.
Posted inEnvironment
Climate reckoning: Mass. communities stare down the prospect — and complications — of a retreat from rising waters
Massachusetts is right now engaging in the most robust dialogue in state history around the concept of relocating people, homes, and communities away from places prone to flooding.
Posted inCourts
Was a vote to seize Northeastern University land for conservation in ‘bad faith’?
The justices grappled with when it might be necessary for them to probe the intentions of a town meeting, in this case by digging into whether Nahant is trying to make legitimate use of eminent domain power to preserve coastal land for public use or engaged in a cynical attempt to block future development.
Posted inOpinion
The MBTA Communities law was a good start. But it won’t deliver transit-oriented development – or solve our housing shortage.
The MBTA Communities law is better understood as a leveling up exercise, or a fair-share zoning law.
Posted inHousing
Researchers find MBTA housing law benefits ‘modest’ so far
According to the report, 34 municipalities have projects in the pipeline, ranging in size from two to more than 500 units.
Posted inLocal Government
Everett’s new mayor inherits major development projects
Few cities have experienced the kind of growth Everett has seen in the last seven years. Now, further transformation of the city’s once-blighted Lower Broadway district will be overseen by newly elected mayor Robert Van Campen, who was inaugurated on January 5.
Posted inGovernment
Boston tax relief response, ballot question reform emerge for Senate action
As political fallout from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s ill-fated property tax plan continues, the Senate prepares to vote on a relief plan of its own, plus a measure to impose new scrutiny on ballot question electioneering.
