BOSTON UNIVERSITY STATEHOUSE PROGRAM STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS in Massachusetts will receive $525 million to combat opioid abuse as part of a settlement with four of the nation’s largest drug […]
Mass. receives $525m under opioid settlement
Posted inTransportation
Quincy mayor skeptical on fare-free buses
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE LEADERS IN SEVERAL CITIES and towns around the region have been placing calls to explore their own fare-free bus options since Boston officials launched a high-profile […]
Posted inEconomy
Senate unionization bid could test pro-labor stance of Spilka
STAFFERS IN THE Massachusetts Senate – and soon the House – are pushing to unionize. But in an ironic twist, their ability to unionize is dependent on the agreement of […]
Posted inOpinion
DPH gets it right on Mass General Brigham
THE LONG-RUNNING power struggle between Mass General Brigham, the state’s largest health and hospital system, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts took a decisive turn this past week. Department of Public […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Man, 78, exonerated in decades-old arson case over juror anti-Semitism
A MAN CONVICTED of arson nearly 40 years ago for burning down his vacation home in the Berkshires has been exonerated, due partly to anti-Semitic comments made by jurors in […]
Posted inEnvironment
Grid operator urges slower transition on renewables
THE NEW ENGLAND power grid operator filed a proposal with federal regulators on Monday seeking more time to come up with a system for incorporating clean energy into the region’s […]
Posted inThe Download
Grid operator urges slower transition on renewables
The New England power grid operator filed a proposal with federal regulators on Monday seeking more time to come up with a system for incorporating clean energy into the region’s […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Mass. Senate staff seek to unionize
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE employees are hoping to become the second unionized state legislative staff in the country, announcing on Monday night their intent to unionize with Quincy-based […]
Posted inUncategorized
Globe refutes claims made by scientists in CommonWealth article
BOSTON GLOBE Media Partners produced emails and text messages on Monday contradicting the claims of a series of prominent scientists who claimed they were interviewed for Globe sponsored content without […]
Posted inOpinion
DiZoglio vows to audit the Legislature if elected auditor
I WAS DISAPPOINTED by Bruce Mohl’s recent post in CommonWealth magazine relative to the Massachusetts auditor’s race entitled, “Standing up campaign promises of auditor candidates.” A more fitting title might […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Public safety secretary responds to criminal justice reform concerns
AFTER THE CHAIRMAN of the House Judiciary Committee questioned Gov. Charlie Baker’s commitment to implementing the criminal justice and police reform laws, Baker officials defended their efforts in a detailed […]
Posted inUncategorized
Cocktails-to-go, outdoor dining will continue another year
RESTAURANTS WILL be allowed to sell cocktails-to-go for another year, under a bill Gov. Charlie Baker signed Friday. The Legislature and Baker agreed to extend the popular pandemic-era policy to […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Michelle Wu on the need for “bold, urgent” change
CommonWealth Magazine · Michelle Wu on the need for “bold, urgent” change — and responding directly to detractors
Posted inThe Download
Wu addresses need for ‘bold’ change – and why she tangles directly with critics
IF MICHELLE WU has moved quickly on lots of fronts as Boston’s new mayor, it’s because she has spent years thinking about the issues she now has the power to […]
Posted inPolitics
Wu addresses need for ‘bold’ change – and why she tangles directly with critics
IF MICHELLE WU has moved quickly on lots of fronts as Boston’s new mayor, it’s because she has spent years thinking about the issues she now has the power to […]
Posted inOpinion
The rush to tear families apart
WHO GAVE A DAMN about Harmony Montgomery? I don’t mean now, as governors and other politicians fall all over themselves expressing shock and outrage. I mean who gave a damn […]
Posted inOpinion
How Mass. can break the child abuse cycle
IT’S NOT REALLY that hard to fix a child welfare system: just listen to your gut instinct – and do the opposite. Gut instinct says: David Almond died a horrible death […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Small-town challenges and conflicts plague efforts to save historic inn
IN THE LATE 1800s, wealthy people would travel in the summer from Boston to the rural Worcester County town of Petersham for fresh air, tennis, croquet, and views of Mount […]
Posted inOpinion
Addressing the drinking water gap in Mass.
AMONG THE MANY progressive actions taken in Massachusetts, access to clean water was deemed a right guaranteed by Article 97 of the state Constitution in 1972, yet over half a […]
Posted inTransportation
Our legislation expands transit tax benefits
IN EXPLORING legislation to expand commuter transit benefits, we sought to save Massachusetts residents money and improve our environment. Then a global pandemic changed the entire transportation landscape. Presently, use […]
Posted inOpinion
Opioid overdose deaths remain stubbornly high
IT IS MY HOPE that one day this public health crisis will be nothing but a memory. It has sickened and killed far too many, torn families apart, and weakened […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass General Brigham withdraws suburban expansion plan
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM officials said Friday the hospital system has withdrawn its controversial proposal to build outpatient care centers in Woburn and Westborough and to expand […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
SJC places safeguards on use of cellphone ‘tower dumps’
THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT will allow the police to continue using “tower dumps,” requests for broad swaths of cellphone data, despite pleas from privacy activists to eliminate the practice. But […]
Posted inThe Download
Should remote access to government continue?
Many byproducts of the pandemic cannot disappear too soon – the illness, the social isolation, the toll constant anxiety is taking on our collective mental health. Yet some societal changes […]