The Massachusetts Department of Correction on Thursday made a surprising announcement: MCI-Cedar Junction in Walpole will stop housing prisoners over the next two years. The reason the department gave was […]
Changing incarceration trends lead to prison closure
Posted inCriminal Justice
Changing incarceration trends lead to prison closure
THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT of Correction on Thursday made a surprising announcement: MCI-Cedar Junction in Walpole will stop housing prisoners over the next two years. The reason the department gave was […]
Posted inOpinion
Senate plan puts too much emphasis on electric vehicles
THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE on Thursday rolled out Senate Bill 2819, “An Act Driving Climate Policy Forward.” The bill was apparently meant to showcase the Senate as leading the way for […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
State preparing to close down Walpole prison
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE OFFICIALS plan to wind down operations at MCI-Cedar Junction in Walpole, one of the state’s oldest correctional facilities. The Department of Correction on Thursday announced […]
Posted inUncategorized
Senate passes a marijuana equity bill
THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE on Thursday passed a bill that takes significant steps toward helping minority entrepreneurs and those affected by prior enforcement of drug laws break into the legal marijuana […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Holocaust museum planned for downtown Boston
TWO BOSTON AREA philanthropists have purchased an $11.5 million building on the Freedom Trail with the ambitious goal of creating a Holocaust museum in downtown Boston. “We’ve been all around […]
Posted inOpinion
Dealing with crowding on the Minuteman Bikeway
ON A WEEKEND in early March, the weather broke; the temperature was in the high 50s and New Englanders were out en masse walking, running, and cycling while we all […]
Posted inEnvironment
Senate climate bill goes granular, ups electric vehicle rebates
SENATE LEADERSHIP unveiled a very prescriptive $250 million climate change bill on Thursday that would direct Gov. Charlie Baker and his successor to boost rebates for zero emission vehicles, allow […]
Posted inThe Download
Bump says auditor cannot audit Legislature
Back in 2010, the last time the state auditor’s job was up for grabs, CommonWealth went out on the hustings to see what the candidates were talking about. It turned […]
Posted inPolitics
Bump says auditor cannot audit Legislature
BACK IN 2010, the last time the state auditor’s job was up for grabs, CommonWealth went out on the hustings to see what the candidates were talking about. It turned […]
Posted inEnvironment
Wu wants to test electric school buses
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE BOSTON WILL ROLL in a small number of electric school buses next school year in a pilot program geared toward fully electrifying the city’s fleet in […]
Posted inOpinion
Moving the needle on climate change by not eating
WE HAD PROTESTED. We had lobbied, called, emailed, and written. We had marched, rallied, and chanted. We had sat in, blocked, disrupted, and gotten arrested. None of it had stopped the insanity. […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Republican accuses Dems of flipflopping on staff unionization
DURING A DEBATE on House rules in January 2019, Rep. Shawn Dooley, a Norfolk Republican, introduced an amendment that would allow House employees to unionize. The amendment was overwhelmingly rejected, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Chicopee school superintendent arrested for lying about threatening messages
THE CHICOPEE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT was arrested Wednesday for sending threatening messages to a candidate for the Chicopee police chief position then lying about it to FBI investigators. Lynn Clark, 51, […]
Posted inEducation
State takeover of school districts no ‘silver bullet’
A YEAR AGO this month, the state board of education took up a proposal to temporarily suspend annual performance reviews of Massachusetts school districts because the MCAS test they would […]
Posted inThe Download
A bump in State House press presence
THERE’S AT LEAST some good news about the news business for a change. According to a new report from the Pew Research Center, the total number of statehouse reporters nationwide […]
Posted inUncategorized
A bump in State House press presence
THERE’S AT LEAST some good news about the news business for a change. According to a new report from the Pew Research Center, the total number of statehouse reporters nationwide […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Mass. receives $525m under opioid settlement
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 […]
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 […]