FOR 40 YEARS, Massachusetts has had a right-to-shelter law, which requires the state to provide shelter to families with children as well as pregnant women. The law is attracting a […]
Right to shelter: Is it a migrant magnet?
Posted inGovernment, Immigration, Politics
Right to shelter: Is it a migrant magnet?
FOR 40 YEARS, Massachusetts has had a right-to-shelter law, which requires the state to provide shelter to families with children as well as pregnant women. The law is attracting a […]
Posted inEnvironment
A sea change on managed retreat?
As waters rise, coastal residents are increasingly facing a difficult choice: try to relocate in a difficult housing market and take losses on their homes, or get comfortable with a future where there may be multiple feet of water in their living rooms.
Posted inGovernment, Opinion, Politics
Democracy faces test with 2024 election
FIFTY YEARS AGO, I was first elected to Congress, a beneficiary of voter backlash against the chaos of the previous decade that had included an unpopular war, widespread protests, multiple assassinations, […]
Posted inThe Download
Eng confident Chinese subway car manufacturer will meet its obligations
THE CHINESE COMPANY building Red and Orange line trains for the MBTA faces a bleak future in the US market, but T General Manager Phillip Eng appears fairly confident the company […]
Posted inState Government, Transportation
Eng confident Chinese subway car manufacturer will meet its obligations
THE CHINESE COMPANY building Red and Orange line trains for the MBTA faces a bleak future in the US market, but T General Manager Phillip Eng appears fairly confident the […]
Posted inOpinion
Bill filed by Neal would devastate life sciences
THE BIOTECHNOLOGY and pharmaceutical sector in the Boston area is about to hit some rough water. According to the Brussels-based consulting firm Vital Transformation, the prescription drug price controls in […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA to shut down portion of Red Line for 16 days
WITH SLOW ZONES continuing to expand across the MBTA subway system, the authority is preparing to shut down a troubled section of the Red Line for 16 days in October […]
Posted inThe Download
A religious wrinkle in the rent control debate
A correction has been added to this newsletter. Opponents of a potential ballot initiative allowing for a local rent control option are covering all their bases in urging Attorney General […]
Posted inPolitics
A religious wrinkle in the rent control debate
OPPONENTS OF a potential ballot initiative allowing for a local rent control option are covering all their bases in urging Attorney General Andrea Campbell not to certify it. In between […]
Posted inOpinion
I celebrate the opportunity to be a queer educator
AS OUR PRESCHOOL year comes to a close this August, the children are taking turns leading their peer group during project time. One child orchestrated a Beyoncé dance party, another […]
Posted inEnergy
DPU approves termination of offshore wind contract
THE MASSACHUSETTS Department of Public Utilities on Wednesday approved without comment the termination of an offshore wind power purchase agreement negotiated between Eversource and Commonwealth Wind and approved by the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Transit offered as mitigation for maternity ward closure
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE UMASS MEMORIAL Medical Center officials intend to work with transit officials to help redirect patients to other area hospitals, especially UMass Memorial Medical Center’s campus in […]
Posted inEconomy
Boston, Harvard, BU pledge $300m for I-90 Allston project
THE CITY OF BOSTON, Harvard, and Boston University are pledging $300 million toward the development of the $1.9 billion I-90 Allston multimodal project, which would pave the way for development […]
Posted inThe Download
Boston launches coordinated plan to curb gun violence
Isaac Yablo, Mayor Michelle Wu’s senior advisor for community safety, says a shortcoming of efforts to rein in those responsible for gun violence in Boston has been that “we gave […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Boston launches coordinated plan to curb gun violence
ISAAC YABLO, Mayor Michelle Wu’s senior advisor for community safety, says a shortcoming of efforts to rein in those responsible for gun violence in Boston has been that “we gave […]
Posted inOpinion
Three steps for turning the power grid around
THE UTTER DEVASTATION of summer flooding in New England and New York and the Canadian wildfire smoke that shrouded the Northeast in an orange haze in June shouts an inescapable […]
Posted inUncategorized
Feds downshift, say right to repair law can be implemented
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 […]
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 […]