The Federal Transit Administration gave the MBTA a safety to-do list last week, with each task assigned its own timetable. CommonWealth Magazine · MBTA cuts service to deal with safety […]
Getting a handle on FTA’s to-do list for MBTA
Posted inTransportation
Getting a handle on FTA’s to-do list for MBTA
THE FEDERAL TRANSIT Administration gave the MBTA a safety to-do list last week, with each task assigned its own timetable. The MBTA had 48 hours to come up with a […]
Posted inEducation
Should we raise the passing bar for MCAS?
IT HAS STOOD for two decades as the centerpiece of the state’s embrace of the standards and accountability movement in education policy. Since 2003, public school students have been required […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Time to end discrimination in vocational school admissions
CAREER VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL education is a powerful tool that can provide students desiring to enter the workforce with a path to high-wage, high-skill professions and the knowledge, critical thinking, and transferable […]
Posted inOpinion
We’re playing catch-up on democracy in Mass.
EVERYWHERE WE TURN, America faces existential threats to our democracy. Voting rights. Economic downturn. Candidates for office from local municipalities to the highest in the land suggest that election results […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. residents deserve inflation relief
A FEW OF US Â are old enough to remember the last severe bout with inflation four decades ago. My first mortgage right out of college was a whopping 12 5/8 […]
Posted inOpinion
I want to live my life the way I want
I GOT MY KIDS off to school the other day. I made some deliveries with DoorDash. I ran some errands, made some more deliveries, went home for a bit, picked […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA cutting back service on subway lines
THE MBTA said on Friday that it intends to comply with a Federal Transit Administration directive on inadequate staffing levels in its operations center not by adding dispatchers but by […]
Posted inThe Download
Federal directives raise management, budget, oversight questions at MBTA
The Federal Transit Administration’s crackdown on safety issues at the MBTA is raising questions about the transit agency’s management, its budget, and its oversight going forward. On Wednesday, the FTA […]
Posted inTransportation
Federal directives raise management, budget, oversight questions at MBTA
THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION’S crackdown on safety issues at the MBTA is raising questions about the transit agency’s management, its budget, and its oversight going forward. On Wednesday, the FTA […]
Posted inOpinion
Children’s affiliation — and expansion — make a lot of sense
IN A recent opinion piece in Commonwealth, Paul Hattis expressed support for the proposed affiliation between Boston Children’s Hospital and Franciscan Children’s. At a time when behavioral health is in crisis, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Lawmakers in agreement on prison construction moratorium
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE LEGISLATURE and Gov. Charlie Baker appear headed for another showdown, this time over the next half-decade of facilities management decisions for the state’s prisons and […]
Posted inEducation
Massachusetts can lead in supporting LGBTQ+ youthÂ
RECENT LEGISLATIVE ACTION in Texas and Florida reminds us that LGBTQ+ youth continue to be targeted and criminalized for expressing their gender identity. Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law prohibits instruction […]
Posted inEconomy
Help for Boston taxi owners?Â
TAXI OWNERS HAVE been hit with a one-two punch in recent years. First, the explosion of the Uber and Lyft rideshare apps proved devastating to their business. The pandemic added […]
Posted inEconomy
Help for Boston taxi owners?Â
TAXI OWNERS HAVE been hit with a one-two punch in recent years. First, the explosion of the Uber and Lyft rideshare apps proved devastating to their business. The pandemic added […]
Posted inThe Download
Where does battle over app drivers go now?
Forget November 2022. It will likely be a long time before Uber and Lyft drivers get certainty about their employment status in Massachusetts. Today, drivers are considered independent contractors, but […]
Posted inHealth Care
House plans vote on mental health bill
THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE on Thursday plans to vote on a mental health bill that would improve access to mental health care, particularly for children, while ensuring that the health care […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Healing families of those killed by gun violence
OUTSIDE OF TRAUMA ROOMS in hospitals around the country, there is a place that those in the medical field call the “quiet room.” According to Dr. Cornelia Griggs and Dr. […]
Posted inHealth Care
SJC lets dental insurance question proceed to ballot
THE NOVEMBER BALLOT is coming into focus  as the Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday ruled that a question regulating dental insurance can proceed to the ballot.  The ballot question would […]
Posted inTransportation
FTA orders T to address “serious safety issues” immediately
THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION ordered the MBTA on Wednesday to immediately address a series of “serious safety issues” that couldn’t wait until a final report on safety problems at the […]
Posted inPolitics
Where does battle over app drivers go now?
FORGET NOVEMBER 2022. It will likely be a long time before Uber and Lyft drivers get certainty about their employment status in Massachusetts. Today, drivers are considered independent contractors, but […]
Posted inEconomy
It’s time to ensure everyone a seat at the table on public boards
NO DOUBT MANY of us watched with pride and emotion as Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s appointment to the US Supreme Court was recently confirmed by the Senate. At last, the […]
Posted inBallot Questions, Courts, Economy
SJC throws out Uber-Lyft ballot questionÂ
THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT on Tuesday threw out a ballot question that would classify ride-share drivers as independent contractors, putting a sudden end to what was primed to be an […]
Posted inPolitics
Auditor candidates both claiming to be outsiders
THE TWO DEMOCRATIC candidates for state auditor are both claiming to be the outsider in the race and insisting they have the edge heading toward the September primary. Chris Dempsey, […]