IT’S NO SECRET that Boston’s liquor license market is antiquated and broken. This year, Boston’s liquor licenses have been selling for $625,000 on the private secondary market. That means that before a chef or owner invests one penny into a buildout, stocking the kitchen, or hiring staff, they must come up with a $625,000 loan […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Boston’s large nonprofits fall short once again
Since the PILOT program’s creation in 2010, the city has been shorted over $204 million. Imagine what the city could have done had those funds been collected.
Posted inOpinion
Let’s be honest about cost, challenges of electrification
Before asking constituents to dismantle gas stations, turn off natural gas-fired power plants, stop cooking with gas and propane, abandon a newly updated gas or oil furnace, or turn over their beloved car, policymakers need to be realistic about the timeframes associated with electrification.
Posted inOpinion
A Marine’s perspective on gun control
It’s clear now that there were many warning signs in the months leading up to the shooting in Lewiston, Maine that the shooter was a danger to the community and to himself, and many policy failures that allowed him to keep access to military-grade, semi-automatic rifles.
Posted inOpinion
Growing choice in education is a benefit, not a threat
AFTER DECADES OF progress, learning outcomes across US public education have stagnated and declined. Between 2011 and 2019, nearly two-thirds of states saw falling scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the standardized test often referred to as the nation’s report card. The pandemic only turbocharged the drop. In 2022, Massachusetts NAEP scores were […]
Posted inOpinion
Pharmacy benefit managers are engaging in thievery
Pharmacy benefit managers were created with the intention they would negotiate discounts and pass them on to patients. Instead, they’ve taken advantage of not being regulated using several tactics to reap profits, sometimes in the billions.
Posted inOpinion
Seeds of discontent with Massachusetts exceptionalism
Massachusetts residents rightly view the state as a leader on issues like education, civil rights, and health care. But that sense of Massachusetts exceptionalism is threatened by growing economic unease about the cost of living here.
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Restoring civic discourse by embracing complexity
Sometimes things are simpler than they seem. But other times, maybe most of the time, things actually are complicated, with at least two sides to every story.
Posted inOpinion
SJC can fuel spread of Brookline tobacco law
The Supreme Judicial Court hears a challenge to a Brookline law that restricts access to smoking products by birth date rather than age. By siding with Brookline, the SJC could boost anti-smoking efforts.
Posted inOpinion
A victory for toxic-free communities and cancer-free childhoods
After nearly 45 years, the US Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to ban trichloroethylene (TCE), the chemical linked to a cluster of childhood cancers in Woburn.