Laurel Paget-Seekins spent six years at the MBTA, rising through the ranks to assistant general manager for policy before she left at the end of last year to become a […]
An ex-staffer’s perspective on T governance
Posted inTransportation
An ex-staffer’s perspective on T governance
LAUREL PAGET-SEEKINS spent six years at the MBTA, rising through the ranks to assistant general manager for policy before she left at the end of last year to become a […]
Posted inPolitics
Census: Mass. population grows 7.4% over decade
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASSACHUSETTS GREW by enough people over the past decade to keep all nine US House seats as the state’s population climbed to more than 7 million […]
Posted inTransportation
T lays out bus electrification plan
MBTA OFFICIALS on Monday laid out a multi-billion-dollar plan for reducing the bus fleet’s carbon emissions to zero by annually rolling out a steady stream of hybrid electric-diesel and battery-electric […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker proposes new seatbelt, traffic camera law
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Monday proposed a slew of changes to improve road safety, including enhancing penalties for injuring someone while driving with a suspended license, letting municipalities install red light […]
Posted inArts and Culture
House follows Mariano’s lead on film tax credit
THE HOUSE, getting in line behind a high priority of Speaker Ron Mariano, unanimously passed a budget amendment on Monday that would do away with the planned sunset of the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker touts low rates of vaccine hesitancy in Massachusetts
AS SOME STATES are beginning to hit a “vaccine wall,” where everyone who wants a COVID-19 shot has gotten one and those left unvaccinated are uninterested, Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday that vaccine […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Danielle Allen: scholar of democracy with urge to fix it
Danielle Allen, a scholar of Athenian democracy with two PhDs, has decided she has something to offer to the practice of 21st century democracy in Massachusetts. In December, the Harvard […]
Posted inPolitics
Danielle Allen: a scholar of democracy with an urge to help fix it
DANIELLE ALLEN, a scholar of Athenian democracy with two PhDs, has decided she has something to offer to the practice of 21st century democracy in Massachusetts. In December, the Harvard […]
Posted inEnvironment
Throwing up roadblocks to Quebec hydroelectricity
OFFSHORE WIND appears to be slowly getting back on track, but Massachusetts’ other big bet on clean energy – hydroelectricity from Quebec – is far from a sure thing. A […]
Posted inOpinion
It’s time to scale up early college in Mass.
STUDENTS FROM FAMILIES with financial means are two and half times more likely to earn a college degree in Massachusetts than students who come from low-income families. This disparity isn’t […]
Posted inOpinion
College, sheriff team up to reduce recidivism
THE UNITED STATES puts more of our citizens in jail than any other country on the planet. While we have only 5 percent of the world’s total population, we have […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. sanctions against Iran could be tested
THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION may revive the “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” the 2015 agreement between the Obama administration and Iran that was discarded by former president Donald Trump. Diplomats recently […]
Posted inPolitics
Is Janey in violation of the city charter?
WHAT’S IN A TITLE? Acting Boston Mayor Kim Janey thinks a lot. Janey refers to herself as “Mayor Janey” in her bio and in the many press releases she puts […]
Posted inOpinion
Protect the waterfront as a public asset
ALL OF US who care about ensuring that the public – not just the wealthy, not just luxury condo owners, not just high-priced office tenants – have open access to […]
Posted inThe Download
Under federal law, it can pay to read your bills closely
The $2.6 million settlement the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary agreed to earlier this week with the US Justice Department started out with a single customer who believed he was […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Under federal law, it can pay to read your bills closely
THE $2.6 MILLION settlement the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary agreed to earlier this week with the US Justice Department started out with a single customer who believed he was […]
Posted inRace/Racism, State House News Service
Ex-commissioner sues Baker over firing
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE FORMER HEAD of the state’s Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is suing the Baker administration in federal court, claiming he was instructed […]
Posted inOpinion
It’s time for a Big Tech tea party
IN LIFE AND IN POLITICS, there are lines of behavior that, when crossed, an equilibrium previously tolerated now becomes insufferable. Once that line is broken, action must be taken to […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker: Feds should redeploy vaccines to Mass.
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said on Thursday that his administration is asking the federal government to adjust its vaccine shipments, lowering what’s sent to states that aren’t using all of their […]
Posted inUncategorized
Pharmacists blame middlemen for high drug costs
AMID growing attention being paid in Massachusetts to the high cost of prescription drugs, independent pharmacists are pointing a finger at a little known culprit: the middlemen who mediate between drug manufacturers, insurers, and pharmacies. […]
Posted inThe Download
Colleges are requiring COVID vaccines. What’s next?
Emerson College and Smith College on Wednesday became the latest Massachusetts colleges to announce that they would require all students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to campus this […]
Posted inEducation
Colleges are requiring COVID vaccines. What’s next?
Emerson College and Smith College on Wednesday became the latest Massachusetts colleges to announce that they would require all students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to campus this […]
Posted inOpinion
Bills offer a chance to stop running from history
EVERY WEEK, I receive e-mails from people from across the country with questions about the former state institutions for people with disabilities in Massachusetts. They are descendants of people who […]