STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE NEW STATE PROJECTIONS indicate a passenger rail expansion to western Massachusetts could attract 278,000 to 469,000 riders per year at a cost ranging between $2.4 billion […]
Cost-benefit analysis of East-West rail grim
Posted inOpinion
Mohegan slots tops in New England
SLOT MACHINES at the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut are going gang-busters. In August, the casino’s slot revenue was nearly $45.6 million, just $2 million shy of the $47.5 million […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Number of high-risk communities rises sharply
THE NUMBER of communities considered high risk for COVID-19 increased sharply on Wednesday, with Boston, Lowell, Haverhill, North Andover, and Springfield joining the group for the first time; Nantucket cementing […]
Posted inEconomy
Massachusetts ends fiscal 2020 with $700 million budget hole
MASSACHUSETTS ENDED 2020 with a nearly $700 million budget gap, Gov. Charlie Baker said Wednesday, as he filed a proposed closeout budget with the Legislature. Baker, in his filing letter, wrote […]
Posted inEducation
Pilot program will offer early morning childcare in Boston
CHRISTINA MORRIS AND her partner, Boston residents who are both union carpenters, are raising four children ages two to 10. On the days they have to be at work by 7 […]
Posted inThe Download
Debate is the latest norm Trump shatters
It was the real mistake by the lake. Donald Trump and Joe Biden did everything but bolt from the debate hall and go roll in the mud on the banks […]
Posted inPolitics
Debate is the latest norm Trump shatters
IT WAS the real mistake by the lake. Donald Trump and Joe Biden did everything but bolt from the debate hall and go roll in the mud on the banks […]
Posted inEducation
Riley: No break from MCAS exams next spring
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASSACHUSETTS STUDENTS should expect to take their MCAS exams next spring, Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeff Riley said Tuesday. In spring of this year, after […]
Posted inHealth Care
COVID notes: New rapid tests to go to schools
MASSACHUSETTS EXPECTS to receive a limited number of new, rapid COVID-19 tests from the federal government, which state officials will use to support school reopenings, Gov. Charlie Baker said Tuesday. […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker all-in on COVID-19 community approach
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION on Tuesday went all-in on its community-by-community approach to COVID-19, allowing lower-risk municipalities to move forward with reopening plans while putting cities and towns considered high risk […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Rollins’s ‘Brady List’ not factoring in Boston police reform report
MEMBERS OF A TASK FORCE charged with recommending reforms for the Boston Police Department say that a list of names of law enforcement officers accused or found guilty of misconduct will not factor in their […]
Posted inUncategorized
Despite infection concerns, Baker reopens more venues
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER will allow more indoor performance and entertainment spaces to open on Monday, but only in communities deemed low-risk for transmission of COVID-19. His decision to continue with […]
Posted inThe Download
COVID-19 crimes may be tough to prove
“Utterly baffling” was how Mark Pearlstein, the attorney retained by Gov. Charlie Baker to investigate what went wrong at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, described the decision to combine 42 veterans […]
Posted inHealth Care
COVID-19 crimes may be tough to prove
“UTTERLY BAFFLING” was how Mark Pearlstein, the attorney retained by Gov. Charlie Baker to investigate what went wrong at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, described the decision to combine 42 veterans […]
Posted inUncategorized
Blacks, Latinos migrating from Boston to Gateway Cities
BLACKS AND LATINOS in search of lower-cost housing are migrating from Boston to the state’s 26 Gateway Cities, according to mortgage origination data analyzed by MassINC researchers. In 2007, according […]
Posted inPolitics
Legislative candidates seek election do-overs
DOING THE SAME thing again and expecting a different result may be the definition of insanity, as the saying goes, but some legislative candidates are doing it anyway. This November, […]
Posted inEnvironment
East Boston can learn from Seaport mistakes
EAST BOSTON’S WATERFRONT may be just a quick ferry ride from the Seaport District, but it might as well be a world away. While the Seaport has become an exclusive […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Michelle Wu’s personal path to politics
Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu confirmed earlier this month what had been widely speculated for more than a year — she will run for mayor next year. CommonWealth Magazine · […]
Posted inThe Download
Michelle Wu’s personal path to politics
Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu confirmed earlier this month what had been widely speculated for more than a year — she will run for mayor next year. Wu has, in […]
Posted inPolitics
Michelle Wu’s personal path to politics
BOSTON CITY COUNCILOR Michelle Wu confirmed earlier this month what had been widely speculated for more than a year — she will run for mayor next year. Wu has, in […]
Posted inHealth Care
Critics say Holyoke Soldiers’ Home chronically underfunded
THE OUTCOME OF COVID-19 at the state-run Holyoke and Chelsea soldiers’ homes could not have been more different. The Holyoke home was the site of a massive outbreak in which 76 veterans died, […]
Posted inOpinion
We need truth and reconciliation
MASSACHUSETTS IS NOT IMMUNE from the pandemic of systemic racism. Recent reports document that racial and ethnic disparities persist at every level of our juvenile and criminal systems. In November […]
Posted inOpinion
Let’s do away with real estate broker fees
FOR DECADES, the laws of supply and demand have weighed heavily toward landlords and the 3,000-plus real estate agents scattered across brokerage offices in Allston, Brighton, and Brookline. Historical market […]
Posted inOpinion
Climate policy update needed on Beacon Hill
THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE has a chance to get the Commonwealth on to a better track with climate change. Massachusetts is regularly ranked first in the nation in energy efficiency programs and […]