After a more than two-year tenure in which she charted the state’s path through the tumultuous Steward Health Care collapse, Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh will step down.
HHS chief Walsh stepping down, Mahaniah named successor
Posted inOpinion
With convention center naming, Menino gets his due
Menino’s steadfast commitment to the convention center stands as an unparalleled success in the history of the city. With its naming in his honor, the lifelong Hyde Park resident, who for years was vexed by smoother-talking critics with prestigious pedigrees, will have his place in history cemented.
Posted inEnergy
Grid operator forecasting 11% increase in electricity consumption by 2034
The operator of the New England power grid released a study saying a 10-year downturn in consumption of electricity from the region’s generating plants is coming to an end and giving way to the need for more electricity production over the next decade.
Posted inEnergy
In enforcing new climate law, a dispute over the ‘obligation to serve’ natural gas customers
Massachusetts’ 2024 climate law aims to hasten the clean energy transition to meet the state’s climate goals, but a dispute over whether natural gas utility companies have an “obligation to serve” natural gas could stall the transition off of fossil-fuel infrastructure.
Posted inOpinion
Students need to learn the ‘durable skills’ crucial to the world they’re growing into
Too often, students from under-resourced communities are told to dream big but aren’t given the tools to make those dreams real.
Posted inHousing
Marblehead voters overturn multifamily housing zoning
Tuesday’s outcome places Marblehead among the 38 communities that have not yet achieved compliance with state law, risking loss of eligibility for competitive state grant programs potentially worth over $10 million.
Posted inHousing
A stormy season for short-term rentals on Nantucket
The wealthy enclave of Nantucket is, like its neighbors on the Cape, trying to chart a path forward as a community torn between the rental economy and a housing crunch.
Posted inOpinion
Americans deserve better than RFK Jr. and his panel of vaccine skeptics
My challenge for RFK and the vaccine panel is this: Listen to the science, consult doctors with different views and opinions, and treat the population as if they were your own family.
Posted inTransportation
Federal funding for I-90 Allston project in jeopardy
The massive package of tax and spending cuts President Trump signed into law on July 4 contains a provision that eliminates a federal transportation grant program that set aside $335 million last year for the nearly $2 billion I-90 Allston highway project in Boston.
Posted inThe Codcast
Keeping time with MBTA’s Phil Eng
More than 800,000 people ride the T everyday. This week on the Codcast, reporter Gin Dumcias is joined by Phil Eng, General Manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority or “the T” to talk about the state of the system and what lies down the track.
Posted inOpinion
Why the MBTA’s electric bus mandate is a bad idea
Massachusetts would do substantially more to reduce carbon emissions if it invested in an electric regional rail system with 15-30 minute frequencies that enabled more people to take the train rather than drive.
Posted inOpinion
The Founders would say fight for democracy
What would John Adams, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson say to the relentless attacks on our democracy from an administration that is focused on tearing down the pillars of our country?
Posted inEducation
As Holyoke schools exit state oversight, new scrutiny for receivership law
State takeovers have been employed during the recent era of education reform aimed at closing the achievement gap separating lower-income students and students of color from their better-off, white peers. But the evidence supporting the moves has been decidedly underwhelming.