The Download

New from CommonWealth Beacon QUABBIN: Gov. Maura Healey is calling on Greater Boston’s water provider to offer more robust support for struggling rural towns near the Quabbin Reservoir in central […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon JUVENILE JUSTICE: Senators once again want to use the biennial economic development legislation as the vehicle to increase the age of juvenile jurisdiction, a change that […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon NEW CODCAST: Gov. Maura Healey signed into law a wide range of protections designed to limit federal immigration overreach in Massachusetts, but the rhetoric she and […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon EPA CUTS: Parts of Fitchburg were banking on a $500,000 EPA grant to mitigate pollution from stormwater runoff and create green space for a local middle […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon FINANCIAL DROUGHT: Declining economic conditions and a contentious history are roiling the Quabbin Reservoir towns that protect the state’s largest source of drinking water. Jordan Wolman […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon NEW CODCAST: In a special bonus episode, CommonWealth Beacon reporters Jennifer Smith and Chris Lisinski unpack the Legislature’s end-of-session rush and why this July 31 felt […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon STUDENT DISCIPLINE: Nearly 15 years after lawmakers enacted student discipline reforms, out-of-school suspensions are dropping, but administrators have increasingly turned to a technique known as emergency […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon NEW CODCAST: Jordan Wolman sits down with Vamsi Chadalavada, who leads the region’s grid operator known as ISO New England. They discuss whether New England’s energy […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon ENERGY: Gov. Maura Healey is ramping up pressure on state lawmakers to get to “yes” on sweeping energy affordability legislation, but it remains unclear how soon […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon DJ DISCO DINO: Leominster’s Dean Mazzarella is the longest-serving mayor in Massachusetts, but he’s also so much more: an entrepreneur who runs a flagpole business and […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon ON SECOND THOUGHT: Legislative leaders have not been shy about their disdain for the surge in initiative petitions that’s put a record-tying number of major policy […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon HOUSING IMPACT: A new bipartisan law represents the first time the federal government is seriously tackling housing policy in decades, but experts think it will have […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon NEW CODCAST: On a special episode of the Health or Consequences series, Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute interviews his cohost John McDonough of the Harvard […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon STATE GOVERNMENT: Senate President Karen Spilka begins her ninth consecutive term leading the legislative body this week, becoming the modern Senate’s second-longest-serving president, behind only President […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon HOLDING BREATH: Low-income communities, including the state’s 26 Gateway Cities, are disproportionately impacted by air pollution and the detrimental health outcomes that accompany it. Yet 17 […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon HEALTH INSURANCE: Small businesses and other individuals who get health insurance through the “merged market” will need to shoulder double-digit premium increases next year, though the […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon SEA LEVELS: The US Army Corps of Engineers and the City of Boston are ready to outline 20 projects designed to protect the most flood-prone parts […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon NEW CODCAST: This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon editor Laura Colarusso discusses the impacts of news deserts on communities around the state with Javier Marin, […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon HOUSING: The Senate’s economic development bill, which lawmakers have teed up for a vote this week, includes a provision that would require municipalities to allow duplexes […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon HIGH ENERGY: Ratepayer advocates are concerned by provisions in the Massachusetts House and Senate energy affordability bills that would subject moderate-income customers in some of the […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon HEALTH CARE: The Trump administration’s cancellation of federal pollution and asthma prevention grants has hit some of the most vulnerable communities and residents in Massachusetts the […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon COURTS: The Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a decision by the central Massachusetts town of Petersham to block a solar project in the name of tree […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon NEW CODCAST: On this week’s episode of The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon senior report Jordan Wolman joins host Hallie Claflin to unpack his reporting about the 10 […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon TRICKY CALCULUS: In the coming weeks, Secretary of State William Galvin’s office will announce what number each of the big field of ballot questions will be […]