STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE AND FEDERAL regulators appear to have made a breakthrough to move forward with a voter-approved vehicle repair data law after legal battles and safety concerns […]
Feds downshift, say right to repair law can be implemented
Posted inEconomy, Energy, Government
Everett grid ‘insurance’ cost $536m over first 13 months
NEW ENGLAND electricity customers paid $536 million during the first year of a two-year contract to prop up a power plant and liquefied natural gas facility in Everett as a […]
Posted inThe Download
Everett grid ‘insurance’ cost $536m over first 13 months
NEW ENGLAND ELECTRICITY customers paid $536 million during the first year of a two-year contract to prop up a power plant and liquefied natural gas facility in Everett as a […]
Posted inOpinion
State’s investments in immigrants pay off
WHEN AIDA HABIBI and her family finally settled in the United States as refugees from Afghanistan last spring, they had concluded a difficult, six-year journey. Faced with threats from […]
Posted inTransportation
Healey offers few details on I-90 Allston financing
A clarification has been added to this story. THE HEALEY ADMINISTRATION filed a series of federal grant applications on Monday for four high-profile transportation initiatives, but withheld details about the […]
Posted inThe Codcast
After affirmative action blow, legacy preference draws focus
Oren Sellstrom is the litigation director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, which recently filed a complaint claiming that Harvard’s legacy and donor admissions preferences violate federal civil rights law. He joins CommonWealth’s Jennifer Smith to discuss the complaint, admissions preferences, affirmative action, and diversity in educational institutions.
Posted inGovernment, Politics
Wu backs challenger to Arroyo in Boston council race
IN A MAJOR blow to City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo’s already hobbled reelection bid, Mayor Michelle Wu is throwing her support behind one of his challengers, Enrique Pepén, a former City Hall […]
Posted inThe Download
After affirmative action blow, legacy preference draws focus
AFTER THE US Supreme Court ruled this spring to significantly scale back higher educational institutions’ use of affirmative action, advocacy and civil rights groups wound up for a counter-punch at […]
Posted inEducation
After affirmative action blow, legacy preference draws focus
AFTER THE US SUPREME COURT ruled this spring to significantly scale back higher educational institutions’ use of affirmative action, advocacy and civil rights groups wound up for a counter-punch at […]
Posted inCourts, Religion, State Government
Massachusetts cities and towns have spent millions restoring historic religious sites. They don’t know if it was constitutional.
FOR NEARLY two centuries, the Acton Congregational Church has stood serenely in the town’s main square, its pews offering a welcoming haven for spiritual renewal and quiet reflection. Starting in […]
Posted inEducation
Four big mistakes government makes in economic development — and how to avoid them
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT has launched its most ambitious investment in economic development since the Great Depression. With the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction […]
Posted inThe Download
For Lara, a lot of explaining
“If you’re explaining, you’re losing,” according to a quip credited to Ronald Reagan. For the Hollywood actor-turned-president, regarded as a master communicator, that meant delivering a straightforward message that voters […]
Posted inPolitics
For Lara, a lot of explaining
“IF YOU’RE EXPLAINING, you’re losing,” according to a quip credited to Ronald Reagan. For the Hollywood actor-turned-president, regarded as a master communicator, that meant delivering a straightforward message that voters […]
Posted inHousing, State Government, State House News Service
State tweaks MBTA Communities housing law
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE STATE ON Thursday gave more flexibility to cities and towns required to have at least one zone in which denser, multi-family housing is permitted, but […]
Posted inState Government
Will the Legislature have an appetite for overrides?
IT’S BEEN A WEEK and change since Gov. Maura Healey signed the $56 billion state budget for fiscal year 2024. The Democratic governor signed her first budget flanked by Democratic […]
Posted inThe Download
Will the Legislature have an appetite for overrides?
It’s been a week and change since Gov. Maura Healey signed the $56 billion state budget for fiscal year 2024. The Democratic governor signed her first budget flanked by Democratic […]
Posted inHealth Care
A game plan for turning Tufts Medicine around
Second of two parts. Read the first part here. IF TUFTS MEDICINE is going to turn around financially, clearly there are short-term issues for management focus, but there are also […]
Posted inEconomy, Government, Immigration
Campbell, other AGs join call for feds to speed migrant work approvals
ONE WEEK AFTER Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency regarding the migrant crisis, including a call for more expedited federal work authorizations, Attorney General Andrea Campbell and 18 […]
Posted inThe Download
UMass Dartmouth arts college exiting downtown New Bedford. Who’s to blame?
The abrupt announcement Monday that the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s College of Visual and Performing Arts would be immediately vacating a downtown New Bedford building, where it’s been housed for […]
Posted inEducation
UMass Dartmouth arts college exiting downtown New Bedford. Who’s to blame?
THE ABRUPT announcement Monday that the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s College of Visual and Performing Arts would be immediately vacating a downtown New Bedford building, where it’s been housed for […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service, Transportation
In pivot, Healey looks to feds for money to rebuild just one Cape bridge to start
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AFTER PREVIOUS EFFORTS to secure federal funding for replacement of both Cape Cod bridges stumbled, Gov. Maura Healey and her deputies will shift to a phased […]
Posted inGovernment, Opinion, Politics
Boston needs ranked choice voting
I RECENTLY VISITED a youth summer program organized by Ranked Choice Boston, a new coalition aiming to bring ranked choice voting to the City of Boston’s elections. The campaign officially […]
Posted inThe Download
Ballot face-off over gig workers looms
Two years ago, Massachusetts braced itself for what was expected to be the most expensive ballot measure campaign in the state’s history. That question, brought by ride-hailing companies to classify […]
Posted inPolitics
Ballot face-off over gig workers looms
TWO YEARS AGO, Massachusetts braced itself for what was expected to be the most expensive ballot measure campaign in the state’s history. That question, brought by ride-hailing companies to classify […]