IT’S BECOME THE untenable backdrop to a national movement demanding a reckoning with systematic racism and centuries of sanctioned brutality against black Americans: While thousands have taken to the streets to […]
Michael Jonas
Michael Jonas works with Laura in overseeing CommonWealth Beacon coverage and editing the work of reporters. His own reporting has a particular focus on politics, education, and criminal justice reform.
Posted inPolitics
Boston councilors approve budget after charged debate
AFTER MORE THAN two hours of debate, Boston city councilors approved a $3.61 billion budget for 2021, averting a showdown with Mayor Marty Walsh that some councilors deemed […]
Posted inUncategorized
Fireworks rattle cities, draw wild theories
THERE’S SO MUCH about life over the last few months that was impossible to predict, even after the pandemic began to reshape nearly every facet of our daily existence. For residents […]
Posted inUncategorized
Walsh, council in budget showdown
THE BOSTON CITY COUNCIL and Mayor Marty Walsh are in a high-stakes budget standoff fueled by the pandemic, policing issues, and political positioning a year ahead of a mayoral election. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
The new civil rights movement
MONICA CANNON-GRANT ORGANIZED the largest Boston demonstration to date against police brutality toward blacks, a march that drew tens of thousands of people to Franklin Park earlier this month. Nearly a […]
Posted inEducation
Growing race, class gaps in college graduation rates
ACHIEVEMENT SCORES AND educational attainment levels for Massachusetts students of all backgrounds have improved since the early 2000s, but large gaps remain and those for college graduation rates have grown […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Feeling the moment after Floyd killing
WHERE DO WE GO with the outrage and window for a reckoning on matters of race in the country that’s been opened by the police killing of George Floyd? Two themes […]
Posted inEducation
Boston University faculty wary of return to classroom
WHILE COLLEGES AND universities are rolling out plans to welcome students back to campus this fall, some Boston University faculty members are giving their institution a failing grade, saying they’re […]
Posted inPolitics
Walsh goes from shoo-in to hot seat
IT WAS ONLY A FEW WEEKS AGO that Mayor Marty Walsh seemed to be the man for the moment. Holding regular briefings outside Boston City Hall on all things coronavirus, he […]
Posted inPolitics
Sparks fly in Markey-Kennedy debate
IT’S BEEN HARD to find much daylight on issues between Ed Markey and Joe Kennedy as the liberal lawmakers match each other measure for measure on one progressive platitude after […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Protesting the George Floyd killing: A moment or a movement?
THE BURST OF protests across the country following the death of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer are demanding dramatic reform of policing practices. But are […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Rollins, Boston police union clash
PROTESTS OVER THE police killing of George Floyd have exposed a deep divide in the country on race issues. That schism is now playing out within Boston’s law enforcement community. Suffolk […]
Posted inPolitics
Markey and Kennedy mix it up in Senate debate
SEN. ED MARKEY and Rep. Joe Kennedy tangled in their first debate since the coronavirus pandemic sidelined their US Senate campaign, with Markey pointing to a long record of accomplishments […]
Posted inPolitics
Pandemic turns Markey-Kennedy race into virtual showdown
THE US SENATE race between Ed Markey and Joe Kennedy, which was shaping up to be one of the most closely watched congressional primary contests in the country, now faces […]
Posted inTransportation
Virus upends commuting attitudes, plans
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC will hopefully come to an end or become successfully managed in the not too distant future, but some of the commuting practices it is ushering in may have […]
Posted inUncategorized
Walsh says governing has become about ‘life and death’
MARTY WALSH IS THE FIRST to admit that dealing with a global pandemic was never among the challenges he imagined facing as Boston mayor. “The last thought in my mind — […]
Posted inEducation
Higher ed leaders say resilience and change will be key
HIGHER EDUCATION, the lifeblood of the Boston area economy and identity, is being rocked by the coronavirus pandemic, but is poised to adapt and use the crisis as a bridge […]
Posted inPolitics
Mass. GOP takes a pounding
THE REPUBLICAN CAUCUS in the Massachusetts Senate, which was already down to six lawmakers, will now have just enough members to pop open a card table for a game of bridge. […]
Posted inNews Analysis
The man in the middle
THERE’S NOTHING IN the middle of the road but yellow lines and dead armadillos, rabble-rousing Texas politico Jim Hightower famously averred. Add to that popular Massachusetts governors. Gov. Charlie Baker, […]
Posted inEducation
Class warfare: School status for the fall unclear
K-12 SCHOOL BOARD battles and faculty infighting in higher ed can often be as fierce as any street brawl. It’s only fitting, then, that education seems to be the issue that […]
Posted inHealth Care
Study finds no benefit of anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine promoted by Trump
THE LARGEST STUDY to date of hydroxychloroquine, the antimalarial drug touted by President Trump as a potential “game-changer” in the treatment of coronavirus, found no evidence of a benefit in […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Mentoring kids — from a distance
EMMETT FOLGERT HAS gone with the flow for nearly 40 years at the Dorchester Youth Collaborative, a Fields Corner outpost that has helped generations of young people find a positive […]
Posted inEducation
Voc-tech woes continue at Boston’s Madison Park
AMIDST ALL THE TURMOIL and angst that has turned the world as we know it upside down, we long for signs of normal life, some sort of consistency that can be […]
Posted inHealth Care
Sweden’s coronavirus gamble
SWEDISH CULTURE AND the country’s national psyche are often described using the word lagom, which defies simple translation, but is defined variously as “just the right amount,” “in balance,” or […]