Springfield may be one of the Massachusetts cities with a “strong mayor” form of government, but the mayor’s extensive powers over city government are not unlimited powers. That was the […]
SJC says Springfield mayor’s powers on policing have limits
Posted inPolitics
Auditor says expanded voting hours will cost $2m
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE STATE WILL OWE cities and towns more than $2 million to keep polling places open for additional mandated voting hours during the September 2022 state […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker: Tax breaks affordable, needed to make state competitive
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER told lawmakers on Tuesday that Massachusetts can easily afford his package of $700 million in tax cuts, and the state needs some of the changes benefitting higher-income […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
We need to strengthen Mass. hate crimes law
FEBRUARY 23, 2020. On this date, two years ago, three men stalked and murdered Ahmaud Arbery because they didn’t think a Black man belonged in the neighborhood. This date resonates […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Defense lawyer dismisses Baker marijuana bill as ‘junk science’
Gov. Charlie Baker has been pushing for legislation he says would give “law enforcement more tools to keep our roads safe from impaired drivers.” CommonWealth Magazine · Defense lawyer […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Criminal justice goal should be eliminating ‘systemic racialization’
BOSTON IS APPROACHING an unusual opportunity to create a bold program of police reform: the leaders of police and prosecution will be coming into their new positions at about the […]
Posted inThe Download
Defense lawyer dismisses Baker marijuana bill as ‘junk science’
Gov. Charlie Baker has been pushing for legislation he says would give “law enforcement more tools to keep our roads safe from impaired drivers.” John Amabile, president of the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Defense lawyer dismisses Baker marijuana bill as ‘junk science’
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER has been pushing for legislation he says would give “law enforcement more tools to keep our roads safe from impaired drivers.” John Amabile, president of the […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Asian-American/Pacific Islander arts face unique challenges post-COVID
TWO YEARS AGO, Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi Academy had 200 students learning martial arts in Malden and Quincy. Its performance team was hired to perform lion and […]
Posted inUncategorized
Getting social mobility done during a pandemic
THIS ISN’T ANOTHER COVID think piece written by a college president. This is a story about upward mobility in the face of the most significant public health crisis of our […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
New link to improve access to SNAP benefits
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AN IMPENDING CHANGE to link MassHealth applicants to a food assistance program will serve as an “important step” toward removing barriers that limit hundreds of thousands […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Baker seeks to dole out extra state cash
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH TAX COLLECTIONS running nearly $1.5 billion ahead of expectations, Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday filed a spending bill that seeks to spend $1.6 billion in state funds […]
Posted inOpinion
Designing benefit plans for ‘platform workers’
THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY has seen significant growth in the “platform workforce:” workers who complete tasks via apps or platforms that allow them to control their own schedule. As of August, […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Fall River to offer free menstrual products in schools
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AS FALL RIVER plans to use a state grant to provide free menstrual products in the city’s middle and high schools, bills that similarly look to […]
Posted inOpinion
Lawmakers need to update outdated parentage laws
AS A PARENT, I’m pretty typical. I love my son deeply, and I do everything I can to protect him and to make sure he has everything he needs—unconditional love, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Hate crimes up slightly in Mass. in 2020
THE NUMBER of hate crimes in Massachusetts increased slightly in 2020, with a larger percentage related to racial and ethnic bias, according to a new report issued by the Executive […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Rollins reforms loom over Suffolk DA race
RACHAEL ROLLINS’S name won’t be on the ballot this year, but her approach to prosecution in Suffolk County may end up being front and center. Rollins – both by personality […]
Posted inThe Download
Rollins reforms loom over Suffolk DA race
RACHAEL ROLLINS’S name won’t be on the ballot this year, but her approach to prosecution in Suffolk County may end up being front and center. Rollins – both by personality […]
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts citizenship and the importance of state power
WHEN THE PANDEMIC BEGAN, and the federal government failed, we quickly learned how much it mattered that we all lived in Massachusetts. Two years of state-by-state comparisons in suffering, death, […]
Posted inEnvironment
Two soundings from Somerset
IT WAS FITTING that Rep. Patricia Haddad would take a bow at a gathering on Thursday in Somerset celebrating the purchase of 47 acres at Brayton Point by an Italian […]
Posted inTransportation
Baker not satisfied with immigrant license bill
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER wouldn’t say on Thursday whether he intends to veto an immigrant license bill if it reaches his desk, but he appeared to dispute a lead sponsor’s contention […]
Posted inUncategorized
A downpayment on Somerset’s offshore wind dream
THE DREAM of transforming Brayton Point in Somerset into a hub of the offshore wind industry took a major step forward on Thursday, as an Italian manufacturer of subsea cable […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
Compassionate response to 911 calls with social workers makes sense
IN OCTOBER OF 2016, Boston police officers shot and killed Terrence Coleman, a 31-year-old South End man who suffered from schizophrenia and paranoia, after Coleman’s mother called 911 to have […]
Posted inThe Download
Words matter, particularly with poll questions
Due to a reporting error, an earlier version of this story gave the incorrect date for the initial poll on the so-called millionaire tax. The two polls were a year […]