WITH HIGH-PROFILE MISHAPS and equipment failures in recent months, the MBTA is under unprecedented scrutiny for its recent safety record. The Federal Transit Administration’s Safety Management Inspection (SMI) report released […]
Digging into safety oversight options for MBTA
Posted inPolitics
In-person Election Day voting boosted turnout to 2.5m
THERE WERE 2.5 million Massachusetts residents who cast ballots in the November 8 midterm election, and despite the availability of vote-by-mail, more than half of them returned to the tried-and-true […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Dreyfus sounds alarm about health care costs
CommonWealth Magazine · Dreyfus sounds alarm about health care costs
Posted inThe Download
Dreyfus sounds alarm about health care costs
Andrew Dreyfus, who is winding up his 12 years as president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, says health care costs in the state are on the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Dreyfus sounds alarm about health care costs
ANDREW DREYFUS, who is winding up his 12 years as president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, says health care costs in the state are on the […]
Posted inOpinion
Cheap natural gas is a thing of the past
DEFENDERS OF THE fossil fuel status quo have long tied environmentalists to the whipping post of New England’s constrained natural gas pipeline network. And it’s arguably true that popular resistance from […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
Breathalyzer scandal could reopen 27,000 drunk driving cases
IN A CASE that has echoes of the notorious drug lab scandals, the state’s highest court will consider whether to make up to 27,000 defendants in drunk driving cases eligible for […]
Posted inOpinion
Time to come clean about COVID-19
RATES OF COVID-19 vaccination in this country are too low. Less than half of those over 65 have received a second booster and, among children under 5, the rate of […]
Posted inOpinion
Are nursing homes really in tough shape?
THE HEADLINE for a recent story iminously noted, “Massachusetts nursing home job vacancies hold at historic highs.” That isn’t news to anyone in government, the nursing home industry, or the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Urine trouble, said prosecutors. SJC flushes charges.
YOU DON’T NEED a good-manners manual to know that relieving yourself all over the floor is a breach of basic decorum, decency, and hygiene. But it’s apparently not criminal. At […]
Posted inOpinion
Five steps for turning the MBTA around
IN THE WAKE of safety concerns, the unprecedented complete shutdown of the Orange Line, opaque and untimely communications, and service delivery obstacles, the MBTA continues to make quasi-daily headlines for […]
Posted inOpinion
Getting our state parks back on track
On October 14, Massachusetts Conservation Voters convened a state virtual parks summit attended by more than 20 environmental organizations from across the Commonwealth. This open letter, signed by more than […]
Posted inThe Download
Regional transit authorities offer free bus service for holidays
THE PUSH TO lower or eliminate public transit fares is getting a holiday boost from the state, which has unwrapped a $2.5 grant that is allowing all 15 regional transit […]
Posted inTransportation
Regional transit authorities offer free bus service for holidays
THE PUSH TO lower or eliminate public transit fares is getting a holiday boost from the state, which has unwrapped a $2.5 grant that is allowing all 15 regional transit […]
Posted inPolitics
Two House races appear headed for recounts
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE CANDIDATES IN TWO Massachusetts House races, each apparently decided by only 10 votes, want elections officials to take another look at the thousands of ballots cast. […]
Posted inEducation
We’re in an education crisis. Are we doing anything about it?
MASSACHUSETTS GOT A double dose of bad news this fall with national and state barometers confirming that more than two years of interrupted learning has taken a toll on the […]
Posted inThe Download
GLX manager Dalton gets 6-month contract extension
The MBTA has extended until mid-2023 the contract of the manager overseeing the Green Line extension into Somerville and Medford. The move appears designed to keep John Dalton under contract […]
Posted inTransportation
GLX manager Dalton gets 6-month contract extension
THE MBTA has extended until mid-2023 the contract of the manager overseeing the Green Line extension into Somerville and Medford. The move appears designed to keep John Dalton under contract […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Legendary campaign footsoldier heading to the House
CommonWealth Magazine · After four decades as Democratic foot soldier, Kate Donaghue will be a first-term state rep
Posted inOpinion
Youth success is the key to ending violence
IT’S BEEN HAPPENING almost every week, usually in one of the city’s disadvantaged neighborhoods. Another young man, and sometimes a boy still years from manhood, is shot and often loses […]
Posted inThe Download
Legendary campaign footsoldier heading to the House
WHEN THE LEGISLATURE reconvenes in January, the 160-member House of Representatives will include 21 first-term lawmakers. One of them, however, will stand out from the crowd when it comes to […]
Posted inPolitics
Legendary campaign footsoldier heading to the House
WHEN THE LEGISLATURE reconvenes in January, the 160-member House of Representatives will include 21 first-term lawmakers. One of them, however, will stand out from the crowd when it comes to […]
Posted inHealth Care
Hoping to deliver at a Massachusetts birth center? Good luck.
KATHERINE RUSHFIRTH, who lives in Lynn, had her first child three years ago with care from the North Shore Birth Center in Beverly, cared for by the same midwives who […]
Posted inTransportation
Don’t break up the T, expand it statewide
FOR AT LEAST seven years, state Rep. William Straus has been shopping the idea that we should abolish the MBTA. Rep. Straus, who is chair of the Joint Committee on […]