STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY funding issues, consensus-building across different interests, and navigating a system that balances campus autonomy with government leadership are among the pressure points state […]
Board interviews 4 candidates for higher ed job
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Raising MCAS bar was a move in the wrong direction
THE BOARD of Elementary and Secondary Education’s recent decision to raise the score high school student must reach to pass the MCAS and graduate from high school is yet another […]
Posted inEconomy
Massport official picked to head New Bedford Port Authority
GORDON CARR, the deputy director of real estate strategy and policy at the Massachusetts Port Authority, is going to work next month as the executive director of the New Bedford […]
Posted inPolitics, State Government
Edwards cuts an independent path
IN THE WEE HOURS of their final legislative session earlier this month, the state Senate took up a proposal from Gov. Charlie Baker to expand the list of charges under […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
A Freakanomics debate about free fares
FREAKANOMICS RADIO is out with an interesting podcast on whether public transit should be free – and, not surprisingly, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is the headliner for those who say […]
Posted inGovernment, Transportation
A Freakanomics debate about free fares
FREAKANOMICS RADIO is out with an interesting podcast on whether public transit should be free – and, not surprisingly, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is the headliner for those who say […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Mass. is losing its competitive edge
IT IS A WELL-ESTABLISHED fact that Massachusetts sits at the top of many lists which rank how we compare to other states – on healthcare, on education, on the economy […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Arroyo pushes back on sexual assault allegations
THE SUFFOLK DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S race is quickly turning into a low-level mash-up of “The West Wing” and “House of Cards,” complete with competing accusations of campaign skullduggery and sudden reversals […]
Posted inImmigration, Politics, Transportation
Diehl, through signature effort, finds an issue
REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL candidate Geoff Diehl, whose campaign has been searching for an issue to run on, apparently helped create one. Proponents of an initiative petition overturning a law allowing undocumented […]
Posted inTransportation
Reduced frequency on subways will continue through fall
THE MBTA, which had originally hoped to restore regular weekday service on the Red, Blue, and Orange lines by the end of the summer, is now planning to continue the […]
Posted inThe Download
New higher ed commissioner will face big challenges
THE STATE ANNOUNCED four finalists on Tuesday to become higher education commissioner, and whichever candidate gets the nod will take the reins at a moment of hope and also great […]
Posted inEconomy, Education
New higher ed commissioner will face big challenges
THE STATE ANNOUNCED four finalists on Tuesday to become higher education commissioner, and whichever candidate gets the nod will take the reins at a moment of hope and also great […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Baker vows full-court press for East-West rail
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FEDERAL AND STATE officials agreed Tuesday that Springfield can play an important role in the revitalization of passenger rail service in America, and Gov. Charlie Baker […]
Posted inGovernment, Opinion
State laws to blame for lack of minority contracting
IN THE EARLY DAYS of the pandemic, the Paycheck Protection Program offered a crucial lifeline for millions of suddenly desperate businesses. Yet as banks doled out nearly $1 trillion in […]
Posted inTransportation
Buses in Lawrence moving to 30-minute frequency
BUSES IN LAWRENCE will operate every 30 minutes all day long on weekdays starting September 6 in a bid to provide more consistency for riders and reflect changing usage patterns. […]
Posted inTransportation
‘Free’ getting another test during Orange Line shutdown
THE ONE-MONTH Orange Line shutdown is a big test of thinking big when it comes to subway maintenance work, but it is also providing the opportunity to experiment with another […]
Posted inThe Download
‘Free’ getting another test during Orange Line shutdown
THE ONE-MONTH Orange Line shutdown is a big test of thinking big when it comes to subway maintenance work, but it is also providing the opportunity to experiment with another […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. needs to be as bold on drought as it is on climate
WE CAN’T have climate action without drought action. Massachusetts is appropriately regarded as a leader when it comes to climate change and environmental policy. Just this month the Legislature passed, and […]
Posted inPolitics, Race/Racism
Healey regrets 2020 comment on ‘how forests grow’
ON JUNE 2, 2020, eight days after the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Attorney General Maura Healey gave a speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce […]
Posted inState Government
Bump dismisses claim of tax cap pressure on her office
STATE AUDITOR Suzanne Bump on Monday strongly denied suggestions that she was under any pressure to delay calculating how much money should be returned to taxpayers under the tax cap […]
Posted inThe Codcast
The non-race for Massachusetts governor
CommonWealth Magazine · The non-race for Massachusetts governor
Posted inThe Download
The non-race for Massachusetts governor
MASSACHUSETTS, A PLACE long associated with spirited political contests, is sleepwalking its way through the state’s first open race for governor in eight years. “It’s August and we pretty much […]
Posted inPolitics, State Government
The non-race for Massachusetts governor
MASSACHUSETTS, A PLACE long associated with spirited political contests, is sleepwalking its way through the state’s first open race for governor in eight years. “It’s August and we pretty much […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Housing
A new home for recently incarcerated transgender people
THE APARTMENT LOOKS like so many other Cambridge dwellings, occupying one floor of a slightly worn two-family house. It has two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen, living room, and small […]