THE MBTA’S INTERIM GENERAL MANAGER on Monday laid out the benefits of a controversial WiFi commuter rail contract that calls for 74-foot towers along the tracks, but he acknowledged the […]
Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl oversees the production of content and edits reports, along with carrying out his own reporting with a particular focus on transportation, energy, and climate issues.
He previously worked at the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper.
Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Posted inEnvironment
Offshore wind farm bids against hydro, onshore wind firms
DEEPWATER WIND, one of a handful of companies expected to bid on an upcoming offshore wind power contract, revealed on Monday that it has also submitted three bids on a […]
Posted inTransportation
Healey collects $1.1m from T parking lot operator
ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY’S office reached a settlement on Monday with the MBTA’s former parking lot operator, requiring LAZ Parking to pay the state $1.1 million to resolve allegations that its […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
Hydro-Quebec partners up
HYDRO-QUEBEC, a utility giant that fashions itself the electric battery of the Northeast, is partnering with three different transmission companies in competing for a massive clean energy contract with Massachusetts. […]
Posted inGambling
Lawmakers kick the can on horse racing
THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE on Wednesday extended the existing simulcasting system for horse and dog racing for another year, essentially kicking the can down the road on proposals to revamp the […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA to get $4.5m in parking theft settlement
THE MBTA IS EXPECTED TO COLLECT $4.5 million as part of a legal settlement with its former parking lot operator, whose employees allegedly stole money from the T over a […]
Posted inPolitics
Healey to DPU: Cut Eversource rates
ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY is pushing state regulators to reject a bid by Eversource for a $96 million increase in electricity rates and instead order the utility to cut its […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Tired of waiting, Dempsey exits House for lobbying firm
THE PERCEIVED HEIR APPARENT to House Speaker Robert DeLeo said on Thursday that he is stepping down to take a top job at the high-powered lobbying firm ML Strategies, a […]
Posted inGambling
Are thoroughbreds a good bet for the state?
TEN HORSES SHOOT OUT of the gate with Simply Mas moving quickly to take the lead. The pack bunches up at the first turn, with Worth the Worry moving up […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Picking winners and losers
IN THIS ISSUE OF CommonWealth, we by happenstance ended up with three features that take an in-depth look at three forms of government intervention in the state economy. All of […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Dempsey pitches higher pot tax
THE HOUSE’S TOP BUDGET OFFICIAL on Friday made a pitch for a higher tax rate on recreational marijuana during a press conference unveiling the Legislature’s fiscal 2018 budget proposal. Rep. […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Authorities offer financial help to state
Gov. Charlie Baker is asking some of the state’s independent authorities for help in balancing the fiscal 2017 budget, but it appears only three have stepped forward. The Massachusetts Development […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA WiFi project put on 30-day hold
THE MBTA SAID ON FRIDAY that it is putting its $140 million commuter rail WiFi project on hold for 30 days while it gathers feedback from customers, residents, and appointed […]
Posted inEnvironment
Access Northeast pipeline put on indefinite hold
THE COMPANIES BEHIND the $3 billion Access Northeast natural gas pipeline said on Thursday that they are putting the project on hold indefinitely. The project faced long odds in Massachusetts […]
Posted inTransportation
T laying 2 cables along same route
THE MBTA’S OVERSIGHT BOARD raised a lot of questions on Monday about the planned installation of more than 300, 75-foot towers to improve WiFi and cell phone service on commuter […]
Posted inTransportation
T spending $2.2m on replacement bus service
THE MBTA SAID ON MONDAY it intends to spend roughly $2.2 million on heavily subsidized station-to-station bus service for commuter rail customers who are left without train rides on weekends […]
Posted inTransportation
T commuter rail WiFi plan under fire
LOCAL OPPOSITION appears to be growing to the MBTA’s plan to install more than 300, 75-foot poles along the commuter rail system to provide WiFi service to people riding trains. […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker taps MassDevelopment for $17.5m
IT’S UNCLEAR whether it qualifies as a nip or a tuck, but the Baker administration is tapping an independent authority for $17.5 million to help balance this year’s budget. A […]
Posted inTransportation
Interim T chief to be paid $260,000
STEVE POFTAK, who will be taking over as interim general manager of the MBTA on July 1, signed a contract with the authority that calls for him to be paid […]
Posted inTransportation
Pollack: Faster pace needed on climate change
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY STEPHANIE POLLACK said on Tuesday that the mindset of the state bureaucracy needs to change and change fast if Massachusetts is going to have any chance of responding […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Politics, Transportation
New funding agreement for Greenway Conservancy
A NEW FUNDING AGREEMENT for the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy was unveiled on Monday that requires a smaller amount of taxpayer money from the state along with new contributions […]
Posted inTransportation
Paratransit advocates report call center problems
PARATRANSIT ADVOCATES said on Monday that the MBTA’s new centralized call center is off to a rocky start, and agency officials acknowledged some glitches as the service has been rolled […]
Posted inTransportation
Old locomotives getting $27m overhaul
THE MBTA’S FISCAL AND MANAGEMENT Control Board voted on Monday to spend $26.9 million overhauling 10 commuter rail locomotives that are already about 30 years old. Joseph Aiello, chairman of […]
Posted inPolitics
Millionaire’s tax heads toward voters
THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE on Wednesday cleared the way for voters to decide whether to raise more than $2 billion in annual revenue through an income tax surcharge on people earning […]