“I HAVE SAID this before, and I will say it again – the vote is precious. It is almost sacred. It is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in […]
Obstacles vs. apathy in holding back turnout in communities of color
Posted inThe Codcast
Mail-in voting may be here to stay
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Massachusetts allowed no-excuse mail-in voting for the first time this year as well as expanded early voting – and millions of voters took advantage. CommonWealth […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
COVID-19 spike at MCI-Norfolk
THE NUMBER OF PRISONERS testing positive for COVID-19 at MCI-Norfolk rose from 2 to 26 after the Department of Correction ordered facility-wide testing last week. The prison, which houses more […]
Posted inNews Analysis
What does early-vote surge mean for ‘Election Day’?
WE’RE GOING TO have to come up with a better phrase than “Election Day,” given how many Americans have already voted this year. As of Monday, over 95 million votes […]
Posted inThe Download
Mail-in voting may be here to stay
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Massachusetts allowed no-excuse mail-in voting for the first time this year as well as expanded early voting – and millions of voters took advantage. By […]
Posted inPolitics
Mail-in voting may be here to stay
BECAUSE OF THE coronavirus pandemic, Massachusetts allowed no-excuse mail-in voting for the first time this year as well as expanded early voting – and millions of voters took advantage. By […]
Posted inTransportation
T budget and service cuts are unwise
FOR DECADES, the MBTA has suffered from a chronic lack of investment. The bottom fell out during the record-breaking winter storms of 2015. Since then, the MBTA has carried out […]
Posted inOpinion
We need to close digital divide in Boston
EVEN IN THE MIDST of an unprecedented crisis, our communities are strong. They are resilient. They are full of students, immigrants, small business owners, caregivers, working families, and seniors – […]
Posted inOpinion
Failing algorithms in the throes of a pandemic
FOR YEARS I worked within health systems that perpetuated the idea that I was non-essential. My simple presence in the various medical spaces where I practiced as an emergency physician […]
Posted inOpinion
Election highlights our collective responsibility
THIS ELECTION is unprecedented in many ways: our country is still in the grips of a pandemic; millions of Americans are voting early and by mail for the first time; […]
Posted inEconomy
Justice demands that we strengthen eviction protections
BEFORE PASSING AWAY earlier this fall, Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph Gants was clear about what he saw as the largest civil rights and public health crisis in his […]
Posted inOpinion
Voter expression is cause for optimism
MY OLD FRIEND and congressional colleague John S. McCain liked to joke that “it’s always darkest before it’s totally black” – wryly revising notions about it being darkest just before […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Weymouth settles compressor fight, collects $10m
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE TOWN OF WEYMOUTH will drop its ongoing legal fight against a controversial natural gas project, and energy giant Enbridge will pay the municipality $10 million […]
Posted inOpinion
Vote for climate and democracy
CLIMATE AND DEMOCRACY are on the ballot this fall for hundreds of thousands of voters across the Commonwealth. Voters in all or part of 44 communities (a complete list is […]
Posted inOpinion
Voc school admission guidelines racially unjust
DR. IBRAM X. KENDI, author of How to be an Antiracist, says racism is “like a metastatic disease that literally has spread to every part of the body politic.” What’s […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Prisoners try again for home confinement
ATTORNEYS FOR ILL and civilly committed prisoners are seeking an emergency court order requiring the head of the state’s prison system to implement a home confinement program amid growing COVID-19 […]
Posted inOpinion
Starting a corporate anti-racism movement
BY NOW, WE’VE all protested, cried, vented our outrage with our peers and urged our white friends and associates to join the cause of anti-racism. The question now is: What […]
Posted inUncategorized
Pioneer Institute letter
An open letter to Pioneer Institute and Charles Chieppo regarding your Attack on the Name of George Floyd FOR 32 YEARS, the Pioneer Institute has fought tooth and nail against […]
Posted inThe Download
Op-ed on union power decried as ‘racist’
A four-month-old opinion piece published in CommonWealth is igniting fresh controversy. On Friday, a group of minority, union, and liberal organizing groups – including the Boston chapter of the NAACP, […]
Posted inRace/Racism
Op-ed on union power decried as ‘racist’
A FOUR-MONTH-OLD opinion piece published in CommonWealth is igniting fresh controversy. On Friday, a group of minority, union, and liberal organizing groups – including the Boston chapter of the NAACP, Neighbor […]
Posted inUncategorized
A third of municipalities are now high-risk for COVID-19
THE NUMBER of Massachusetts communities considered high-risk for COVID-19 jumped 57 percent over the last week, with more than a third of the municipalities on the Baker administration’s color-coded map […]
Posted inEducation
COVID-19 cases in Mass. schools up sharply
STATE EDUCATION OFFICIALS reported a 41 percent increase in coronavirus cases identified in Massachusetts schools from October 22 to October 28 compared to the previous 7-day period. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education reported 286 new coronavirus […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker super PAC mixes up photo in mailer
WHEN YOU’RE sending out thousands and thousands of campaign mailers, mistakes can happen. A super PAC affiliated with Gov. Charlie Baker recently sent out a mailer plugging Republican Rep. Leonard […]
Posted inEnvironment
DPU orders gas utilities to rethink their future
THE MASSACHUSETTS Department of Public Utilities on Thursday ordered the state’s natural gas utilities to jointly hire consultants and come up with a way to dramatically phase down or eliminate […]