The Download

New from CommonWealth Beacon QUABBIN QUANDRIES: Tensions are rising again for Quabbin Reservoir communities, as the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority makes its largest-ever request to expand its service area eastward. […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon ELECTIONS: As November’s general election approaches, Gateway Cities are grappling with how to improve voter turnout rates that have remained stubbornly lower than the state average, […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon AFFORDABILITY WOES: Heading into an election season in which “affordability” is the defining issue, a majority of Bay Staters agree that Massachusetts is a better place […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon UNEMPLOYMENT WOES: Problems within the state’s unemployment assistance system predated the upheaval that CommonWealth Beacon documented this year, according to a new report from Auditor Diana […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon SJC SETTLES IT: The state’s highest court, which already upheld the sweeping and controversial MBTA Communities multifamily housing law last year, waved away the second challenge […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon ON THE MARKET: Fall River’s waterfront is heading toward a major transformation, landing it in the middle of a debate over development and market-rate housing that […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: The Massachusetts Teachers Association is pushing hard against a ballot measure to repeal the state’s gun law, campaign finance quirks offer a misleading picture […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon UNDERSTANDING THE BALLOT: Your ballot will be jam-packed, and CommonWealth Beacon is here to help. We’ve launched a voter guide to the nine ballot questions stretching […]

The 9 Massachusetts ballot questions, explained September 15, 2026 In less than two months, Massachusetts voters will go to the polls not only to elect a governor, a senator, nine […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon ENERGY: Massachusetts utilities companies and a Canadian company responsible for delivering hydropower into New England are locked in a high-stakes legal battle with dueling lawsuits filed […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon DELICATE DANCE: Gov. Maura Healey has a preferred punching bag when it comes to high energy high costs: the utility companies. But that comes with tradeoffs […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon NEW CODCAST: It’s easy to think that Massachusetts has health care all figured out, but two recent maternity unit closures, on top of 13 since 2010, […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon AFTER THE BALLOT: If any of the nine ballot questions set to go before voters in November pass, the story doesn’t necessarily end there. Chris Lisinski […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon COURTS: The state’s highest court said the town of Nahant has the right to seize land owned by Northeastern University by using its eminent domain powers […]

US SENATE: US Sen. Ed Markey secured a decisive victory in the Democratic primary against US Rep. Seth Moulton. It marked the second consecutive race in which Markey turned back […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon THE CODCAST: We all need care as we age. Adam Scott leads New England’s largest nonprofit provider of senior care and living communities. He says demand […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon MAIL-IN MOVES: The back-and-forth in court over President Donald Trump’s attempts to change the delivery of mail ballots is causing confusion across the country, but its […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon NO DIVINE INTERVENTION: The state’s highest court ruled that the city of Quincy cannot install bronze statues of Catholic patron saints on the facade of its […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon ODD BEDFELLOWS: Both major parties, labor groups with significant political muscle, and groups that want to push state government to the left have all signaled opposition […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon COURTS: The Supreme Judicial Court rejected a challenge to Boston’s plan to transform White Stadium, paving the way for a new stadium to host the city’s […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon COURTS: The attorney general’s office has been on a tear prosecuting medical transportation companies for alleged MassHealth fraud. But the latest company in the crosshairs is […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon NEW CODCAST: Dive deeper into the fraught fight about the Quabbin Reservoir, whose host communities tend to the state’s largest drinking water source but cannot use […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Just a month after Gov. Maura Healey signed a $63.4 billion budget for fiscal year 2027, the quasi-public Massachusetts Clean Energy Center has laid […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon FORTUNE-TELLING: There’s no shortage of quirky state laws still on the books, including a measure requiring fortune tellers to be licensed after fulfilling a residency requirement […]