The Quabbin’s new friend and four more stories: The Saturday Send – August 15, 2026

by CommonWealth Beacon staff August 15, 2026August 14, 2026

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The Quabbin’s new friend and four more stories: The Saturday Send – August 15, 2026

by CommonWealth Beacon staff, CommonWealth Beacon
August 15, 2026

<h1>The Quabbin’s new friend and four more stories: The Saturday Send – August 15, 2026</h1>
<p class="byline">by CommonWealth Beacon staff, CommonWealth Beacon <br />August 15, 2026</p>

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<p>Welcome back to the Saturday Send, a weekly digest of stories from <em>CommonWealth Beacon</em> that you may have missed. </p>
<p>This week, Gov. Healey waded into an escalating battle between towns along the Quabbin Reservoir and Greater Boston’s water provider when she urged the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to “more fully recognize” those small, rural communities. Her letter to the agency comes on the heels of a<em> </em><a href="https://commonwealthbeacon.org/environment/its-like-the-hunger-games-quabbin-reservoir-towns-take-funding-fight-to-beacon-hill-amid-extended-drought/" data-type="link" data-id="https://commonwealthbeacon.org/environment/its-like-the-hunger-games-quabbin-reservoir-towns-take-funding-fight-to-beacon-hill-amid-extended-drought/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>CommonWealth Beacon </em>report</a> that chronicled the tensions bubbling between state officials and Quabbin communities. Jordan Wolman <a href="https://commonwealthbeacon.org/government/state-government/healey-in-new-letter-urges-mwra-to-meet-the-pressing-needs-of-quabbin-reservoir-communities/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">follows the story</a>.</p>
<p>Plus, Massachusetts is ramping up legislative efforts to increase housing supply across the state – except in <a href="https://commonwealthbeacon.org/housing/beacon-hill-housing-moves-swish-past-boston/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Boston</a>, where an independent zoning code makes it an outlier in the Commonwealth; the Senate is relaunching its push to allow many <a href="https://commonwealthbeacon.org/criminal-justice/senate-quietly-launches-another-push-for-juvenile-justice-reforms/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">18-year-olds</a> to be tried in the youth justice system, not adult courts; in Massachusetts, <a href="https://commonwealthbeacon.org/economy/seeing-the-future-massachusetts-wants-to-see-your-license/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">predicting the future</a> comes with paperwork, and the supernaturally inclined don’t seem to mind; and <a href="https://commonwealthbeacon.org/politics/political-notebook-layoffs-the-latest-sign-of-trouble-for-clean-energy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">layoffs</a> have hit the state agency aimed at turbocharging its green economy. </p>
<p>Check out those stories below, and, as always, thanks for reading.</p>
<p>— The <em>CommonWealth Beacon</em> team</p>
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The Quabbin’s new friend and four more stories: The Saturday Send – August 15, 2026

CommonWealth Beacon staff, CommonWealth Beacon
August 15, 2026

The Saturday Send

Welcome back to the Saturday Send, a weekly digest of stories from CommonWealth Beacon that you may have missed. 

This week, Gov. Healey waded into an escalating battle between towns along the Quabbin Reservoir and Greater Boston’s water provider when she urged the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to “more fully recognize” those small, rural communities. Her letter to the agency comes on the heels of a CommonWealth Beacon report that chronicled the tensions bubbling between state officials and Quabbin communities. Jordan Wolman follows the story.

Plus, Massachusetts is ramping up legislative efforts to increase housing supply across the state – except in Boston, where an independent zoning code makes it an outlier in the Commonwealth; the Senate is relaunching its push to allow many 18-year-olds to be tried in the youth justice system, not adult courts; in Massachusetts, predicting the future comes with paperwork, and the supernaturally inclined don’t seem to mind; and layoffs have hit the state agency aimed at turbocharging its green economy. 

Check out those stories below, and, as always, thanks for reading.

— The CommonWealth Beacon team

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This article first appeared on CommonWealth Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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The Saturday Send

Welcome back to the Saturday Send, a weekly digest of stories from CommonWealth Beacon that you may have missed.

This week, Gov. Healey waded into an escalating battle between towns along the Quabbin Reservoir and Greater Boston’s water provider when she urged the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to “more fully recognize” those small, rural communities. Her letter to the agency comes on the heels of a CommonWealth Beacon report that chronicled the tensions bubbling between state officials and Quabbin communities. Jordan Wolman follows the story.

Plus, Massachusetts is ramping up legislative efforts to increase housing supply across the state – except in Boston, where an independent zoning code makes it an outlier in the Commonwealth; the Senate is relaunching its push to allow many 18-year-olds to be tried in the youth justice system, not adult courts; in Massachusetts, predicting the future comes with paperwork, and the supernaturally inclined don’t seem to mind; and layoffs have hit the state agency aimed at turbocharging its green economy.

Check out those stories below, and, as always, thanks for reading.

— The CommonWealth Beacon team

Gov. Maura Healey fields questions from reporters during a crowded scrum on July 15, 2026. (Chris Lisinski/CommonWealth Beacon) (Chris Lisinski/CommonWealth Beacon)

Healey, in new letter, urges MWRA to meet the ‘pressing needs’ of Quabbin Reservoir communities

By Jordan Wolman

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.

Beacon Hill housing moves swish past Boston

By Jennifer Smith

None of the big housing reforms passed recently on Beacon Hill apply to Boston, which is covered by its own state-authorized zoning code, not the code directly changed by legislation, which covers every other municipality in Massachusetts.

Senate quietly launches another push for juvenile justice reforms

By Chris Lisinski

House and Senate negotiators hashing out a final deal on a sweeping jobs and business support package need to decide whether the measure should also embrace a major criminal justice reform: allowing many 18-year-olds to be tried in the youth justice system, not adult courts.

Seeing the future? Massachusetts wants to see your license

By Hallie Claflin

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.

Political Notebook: Layoffs the latest sign of trouble for clean energy

By Jordan Wolman and Chris Lisinski

The state agency tasked with turbocharging the state’s green economy laid off 11 employees, citing a “challenging funding landscape” amid federal headwinds.

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When it comes to rebuking federal immigration actions, states’ options are limited. This week on The Codcast, Jennifer Smith and Iván Espinoza-Madrigal of Lawyers for Civil Rights discussed the PROTECT Act’s new limits on ICE enforcement, the fallout from the Temporary Protected Status termination for Haiti, and the federal lawsuit challenging the state’s in-state tuition law for immigrant students — and what, if anything, Massachusetts can actually do about any of it.

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The Quabbin’s new friend and four more stories: The Saturday Send – August 15, 2026

Healey, in new letter, urges MWRA to meet the ‘pressing needs’ of Quabbin Reservoir communities

By Jordan Wolman

Beacon Hill housing moves swish past Boston

By Jennifer Smith

Senate quietly launches another push for juvenile justice reforms

By Chris Lisinski

Seeing the future? Massachusetts wants to see your license

By Hallie Claflin

Political Notebook: Layoffs the latest sign of trouble for clean energy

By Jordan Wolman and Chris Lisinski

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