GOV. CHARLIE BAKER and the current and future mayors of Somerville took a joy ride on a portion of the new Green Line extension on Thursday — a preview of […]
Baker goes on GLX joyride
Posted inOpinion
Why we need to identify Green Zones
PRESIDENT BIDEN has signed an infrastructure bill that includes $21 billion for environmental remediation and $150 billion to boost clean energy and promote “climate resilience.” This money presents a tremendous […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Michael Rodrigues takes up cause of restoring Azorean Jewish heritage
PICTURES OF THE old synagogue show a decrepit building with peeling paint, broken furniture, and rotting wood. Prayer books were ripped. There were water leaks, vermin, and structural damage. It […]
Posted inThe Download
CommonWealth’s 10 most-read news stories of 2021
As COVID-19 continued to dominate society in 2021, a story about the virus also topped CommonWealth’s most-read stories of the year. In early September, as the Delta variant was causing […]
Posted inUncategorized
CommonWealth’s 10 most-read news stories of 2021
AS COVID-19 continued to dominate society in 2021, a story about the virus also topped CommonWealth’s most-read stories of the year. In early September, as the Delta variant was causing […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Bodycam commission, slow to form, misses deadline
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MORE WIDESPREAD USE of body cameras ranks high among policing reform priorities, but a commission set up under the one-year-old reform law has missed its deadline […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t oversell ‘compassionate medicine’
IN A RECENT Commonwealth commentary, Douglas Brown, chief of UMass Memorial Community Hospitals and chief administrative officer, writes about the surgery he underwent at the hospital where he is an […]
Posted inEconomy
Is it time for the tipped minimum wage to go?
IN MOVING TESTIMONY at a legislative hearing in October, Western Massachusetts native Marie Billiel recounted the sexual harassment she experienced as a restaurant server. Billiel, who has worked in the […]
Posted inThe Download
CommonWealth’s 10 most-read commentary pieces of 2021 covered the waterfront
We are eager to have CommonWealth serve as a forum for healthy debate and the exchange of strongly argued points of view from a range of voices across the state. […]
Posted inArts and Culture
CommonWealth’s most-read commentary pieces of 2021 covered the waterfront
WE ARE EAGER to have CommonWealth serve as a forum for healthy debate and the exchange of strongly argued points of view from a range of voices across the state. […]
Posted inHealth Care
Report raises few concerns on MGB expansion
MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM’S controversial proposal to spend nearly $224 million on three ambulatory care centers in Westborough, Westwood, and Woburn would slightly reduce health care expenditures in the communities and […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Essex prosecutors will investigate claims of improper masking at Middleton jail
A PUBLIC DEFENDER in Essex County is asking that his client be released from the Middleton jail because correction officers are not properly masking. Andrew daMota, an attorney with the Committee […]
Posted inOpinion
With health care spending rising, 7 policy wishes for 2022
AS THE YEAR draws to a close, with COVID still raging, the sad reality is that the next weeks to a few months could be quite challenging. The hope here is […]
Posted inPolitics
Ben Downing ends run for governor
FORMER DEMOCRATIC state senator Ben Downing on Tuesday ended his campaign for governor, citing inadequate financial resources. “Unfortunately, we simply do not have the financial resources to continue,” Downing […]
Posted inThe Download
Most popular Codcast of 2021 is surprise
CommonWealth’s most popular Codcast of 2021 was recorded in 2018. The interview was with Fred Salvucci, the former secretary of transportation, who made the bold statement that the proposed West […]
Posted inMedia
Most popular Codcast of 2021 is surprise
COMMONWEALTH’S MOST POPULAR Codcast of 2021 was recorded in 2018. The interview was with Fred Salvucci, the former secretary of transportation, who made the bold statement that the proposed West […]
Posted inEducation
Investing in child care infrastructure can be transformative
CHILD CARE is vital to our economy. This has never been more apparent than over the past 18 months as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools and child care centers […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Mass. closing in on 1m total cases of COVID-19
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ANOTHER 12,983 people in Massachusetts were newly confirmed to have COVID-19 over the Christmas holiday weekend, the Department of Public Health reported Monday. With a total […]
Posted inUncategorized
Pilot program aims to prevent child welfare removals
AS AN ATTORNEY for Community Legal Aid in Springfield, child welfare attorney Madeline Weaver Blanchette is used to seeing families mid-catastrophe, after a child has been removed by child protective services. Last […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Auchincloss reflects on 1st year in Congress unlike most any other
Rep. Jake Auchincloss, the newest member of the state’s congressional delegation, is finishing his first year in the House. To say it’s been a tumultuous initiation to Congress would be […]
Posted inThe Download
Auchincloss reflects on a first year in Congress unlike most any other
REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS, the newest member of the state’s congressional delegation, is finishing his first year in the House. To say it’s been a tumultuous initiation to Congress would be […]
Posted inPolitics
Auchincloss reflects on a first year in Congress unlike most any other
REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS, the newest member of the state’s congressional delegation, is finishing his first year in the House. To say it’s been a tumultuous initiation to Congress would be […]
Posted inOpinion
Make those who don’t get vaccinated pay $500
MASSACHUSETTS IS AGAIN experiencing a COVID-19 surge and our hospitals are overwhelmed, mostly with unvaccinated patients. As a practicing physician who takes care of many high-risk diabetic patients, I ask […]
Posted inOpinion
Learning firsthand the value of compassionate medicine
TWO HOURS BEFORE my dad’s funeral in November, I fell down my garage stairs. I was carrying trays of sandwiches that would nourish my extended family after the burial. Words […]