ONE-QUARTER OF the entire MBTA subway system will still be subject to more-sluggish-than-usual travel once the agency lifts end-to-end speed restrictions on the Green Line. More than a week after […]
For now, slow zones on the T the new normal
Posted inThe Download
Will Healey go inside or outside for State Police and MBTA hires?
IF LEADERSHIP IS key to righting a listing state agency, nothing Gov. Maura Healey does in the coming weeks may be as important as her selection of new leaders to […]
Posted inTransportation
Will Healey go inside or outside for State Police and MBTA hires?
IF LEADERSHIP IS key to righting a listing state agency, nothing Gov. Maura Healey does in the coming weeks may be as important as her selection of new leaders to […]
Posted inEnergy
Electricity prices falling, but remain high
NATIONAL GRID said its price for basic service will plummet starting May 1 but still remain above levels from a year ago. Basic service is electricity National Grid buys on […]
Posted inMedia
New reporter at CommonWealth
ATTENTIVE READERS may have noticed a new byline in CommonWealth over the last month. Jennifer Smith has joined the magazine as a staff reporter, replacing Shira Schoenberg, who left CommonWealth […]
Posted inOpinion
What Gateway Cities need is more market-rate housing
SIXTEEN GATEWAY CITY mayors and managers recently penned an opinion piece in The Boston Globe urging the Legislature to scale up the successful Housing Development Incentive Program, a tool designed […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA moving slowly in lifting universal speed restrictions
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MBTA lifted an end-to-end speed restriction on the Mattapan Line trolley early Thursday morning, but there’s still no official timeline for ending mandatory slowdowns across […]
Posted inThe Download
Mass., California moving in different directions on gig worker issue
Massachusetts and California for now are on very different tracks when it comes to classifying gig workers as independent contractors or employees. Whether the question is tangled in west coast […]
Posted inEconomy
Mass., California moving in different directions on gig worker issue
MASSACHUSETTS AND CALIFORNIA for now are on very different tracks when it comes to classifying gig workers as independent contractors or employees. Whether the question is tangled in west coast courts […]
Posted inEnvironment
Troubling environmental pattern emerging again in New Bedford
MASSACHUSETTS IS TAKING significant steps to address climate change. From the release of the Clean Energy and Climate Plan to the creation of the climate chief position, there are signs […]
Posted inOpinion
Digital access remains a problem
MORE THAN 1 MILLION people in Massachusetts don’t have a fixed broadband internet connection. More than 600,000 don’t have a desktop, laptop, or any computer at home. And many lack […]
Posted inHealth, State Government, State House News Service
Healey walking back vaccine mandate for state workers
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SOME OF THE LAST vestiges of the COVID-19 emergency declaration will end in May when Gov. Maura Healey will lift the modified public health emergency and […]
Posted inTransportation
More second-guessing of state’s I-90 Allston work
A correction has been added to this story. STATE TRANSPORTATION officials on Wednesday moved forward with a plan to spend nearly $86 million shoring up a crumbling elevated section of […]
Posted inThe Download
Healey retaining Craven as education board chair
GOV. MAURA HEALEY, who vowed last year in her campaign launch to “continue with what’s working and fix what’s not” if elected, has decided the existing leadership of the state […]
Posted inEducation
Healey retaining Craven as education board chair
GOV. MAURA HEALEY, who vowed last year in her campaign launch to “continue with what’s working and fix what’s not” if elected, has decided the existing leadership of the state […]
Posted inHousing, State Government
Campbell warns municipalities MBTA zoning law not optional
MASSACHUSSETTS ATTORNEY General Andrea Campbell is wading into the MBTA communities dust-up, releasing an advisory Wednesday morning emphasizing that participating in the transit-oriented housing policy is not optional and raising the prospect […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment, State Government
New DPU chair hails from West Virginia
TWO NEW COMMISSIONERS were appointed on Wednesday to the state Department of Public Utilities, one a West Virginia University law professor who wrote a book last year critical of that […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t make Drinks to Go permanent
THIS WEEK’S debate at the State House puts the spotlight on our drinking problem in Massachusetts. “Drinks to Go,” originally intended as a temporary measure to help local restaurants through […]
Posted inGambling
Sports betting opens with big bang
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MORE THAN 400,000 mobile sports betting accounts were active during the first three days online was available in Massachusetts and more than 8 million transactions took place, […]
Posted inPolitics
How to win the campaign for rent control
NOW THAT Mayor Michelle Wu’s rent control proposal has passed the Boston City Council, the real test begins. The plan to dramatically reshape regulation of Boston housing must win over […]
Posted inThe Download
SouthCoast Wind keeps hedging on its viability
IS SOUTHCOAST WIND, the proposed wind farm off the Massachusetts coast previously known as MayFlower Wind, fully committed to the power purchase contract it agreed to with the state’s utilities? […]
Posted inEnergy
SouthCoast Wind keeps hedging on its viability
IS SOUTHCOAST WIND, the proposed wind farm off the Massachusetts coast previously known as MayFlower Wind, fully committed to the power purchase contract it agreed to with the state’s utilities? […]
Posted inEducation, Government, Opinion
Strengthening democracy takes compromise, consensus, and learning
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY is being tested every day. Now more than ever we need Americans to understand that democracy takes work. To strengthen our democracy we need every generation to develop […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass. health care expenditures rise sharply
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A NEW REPORT estimates that per capita health care expenditures in Massachusetts shot up 9 percent in 2021 after having dropped 2.3 percent in 2020, giving […]