When communities lose trust: One year after Steward Health’s bankruptcy and the death of two hospitals
By Hallie Claflin
One year after Steward Health Care’s demise, the Nashoba Valley and Dorchester communities are grappling with strained EMS services, diminished access to care, and trust that has been broken. Local leaders, hospital staff, and residents say they are a testament to the devastation that lingers after communities lose their critical infrastructure.
Mass. faces grim reality of fewer international students
By Jon Marcus
Massachusetts’s schools have recruited higher proportions of international students than colleges and universities almost anywhere else because of a demographic decline and the comparatively high cost of higher education here. But even before the second Trump administration, there were signs the bottom was falling out.
Boston housing permitting lags as residents express support for zoning changes
By Jennifer Smith
Eighty-one percent of Boston residents, according to a new Abundant Housing Massachusetts poll, support a goal of building 30,000 new homes in Boston – signaling broad agreement on the scale of the crisis, even as questions persist about whether such targets are achievable or even useful.
Senate Dems propose oversight council to counter ‘unsustainable’ spending growth by sheriffs
By Chris Lisinski
Reaching beyond the probe backed by the House, the Senate will vote Thursday on a bill that would create a “fiscal oversight council” that could force sheriffs to rein in their spending with muscular authority.
Four Supreme Judicial Court cases to watch in November
By Jennifer Smith
In November, the seven Supreme Judicial Court justices will wrestle with some disputes that are years or decades in the making. Others touch on current crises. And the Legislature’s action or inaction is often a factor.
The profit and price of October in Salem
This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Hallie Claflin talks with Dominick Pangallo, Mayor of Salem. Every year in October, Salem experiences a massive tourism boom as more than a million visitors flock to the site of the Salem Witch Trials for the spooky season. How does a small city of 45,000 manage the influx of tourists? How do Salem residents feel about the influx? And how lucrative is the tourism industry? Pangallo addresses these and encourages all to explore the great things Salem has to offer all year round.
Published by MassINC