WHEN IT COMES to the debate over marijuana legalization in Massachusetts, the horse has left the barn. Voters legalized recreational marijuana sales via a 2016 statewide ballot question, and pot […]
Proposed Roxbury pot shop stirs debateÂ
Posted inHealth Care
Health insurance premiums to rise 8% next year
HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMSÂ for Massachusetts residents will rise by an average of 7.9 percent at the beginning of next year, despite insurers having profited from declining health care costs during the […]
Posted inTransportation
Poftak pushes feds for $32b for transit agencies
WITH FINANCIAL CHALLENGES mounting at the MBTA, General Manager Steve Poftak joined transportation officials from across the country on Tuesday to press Congress to pass a stimulus package containing $32 […]
Posted inUncategorized
Appeals court backs Trump on immigrant program
A FEDERAL APPEALS COURT has ruled the Trump administration can end humanitarian protections that have allowed more than 300,000 people from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan to remain in the United States, including thousands in […]
Posted inEducation
Agencies scramble to offer school-day childcareÂ
THOUSANDS OF MASSACHUSETTS students are starting school remotely this fall. Many of their parents are working. Where will those kids go during the day? The question is one that myriad […]
Posted inThe Codcast
No worries with ‘crowded’ Red Line train
I took a Red Line train last week that was crowded according to the MBTA’s COVID-19 crowding standards, but the consensus on this week’s Codcast was that I didn’t need to worry. […]
Posted inThe Download
Wu launches grassroots mayoral campaignÂ
BOSTON CITY COUNCILOR Michelle Wu formally launched her candidacy for mayor on Tuesday with a campaign that promises to be a distinctive grassroots effort. One example is her campaign website, […]
Posted inPolitics
Wu launches grassroots mayoral campaignÂ
BOSTON CITY COUNCILOR Michelle Wu formally launched her candidacy for mayor on Tuesday with a campaign that promises to be a distinctive grassroots effort. One example is her campaign website, […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Battery buses not ready for primetime yet
MBTA OFFICIALS said on Monday that battery-powered buses are a promising technology that is still several years away from being ready for prime time, largely because a test of five […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
SJC Chief Justice Ralph Gants dies Â
ONLY 10 DAYS after being hospitalized with a heart attack, Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph Gants spent Monday morning on the phone from his home talking to attorneys and advocates about the state’s eviction moratorium and pending eviction […]
Posted inTransportation
T gears up for rich-poor divide in service cuts
THE MBTA OVERSIGHT BOARD on Monday began formulating principles to follow as it prepares to cut the transit authority’s operating budget by $300 million to $600 million, with T officials […]
Posted inThe Download
No worries with ‘crowded’ Red Line train
I took a Red Line train last week that was crowded according to the MBTA’s COVID-19 crowding standards, but the consensus on this week’s Codcast was that I didn’t need […]
Posted inTransportation
No worries with ‘crowded’ Red Line train
I took a Red Line train last week that was crowded according to the MBTA’s COVID-19 crowding standards, but the consensus on this week’s Codcast was that I didn’t need […]
Posted inEducation
Report says $500 million in state education funding goes to most affluent communities
LESS THAN A year after Massachusetts enacted sweeping legislation to revamp its school funding formula to steer millions of dollars in new aid to low-income districts, a new report suggests […]
Posted inTransportation
Doubling down on the past
THIS IS A TALE of two transportation issues – a window on how we may be losing the opportunity moment provided by a generationally disruptive pattern break. The pattern break, […]
Posted inEducation
Attack resumes on racial diversity in higher ed
ON WEDNESDAY, the First Circuit Court of Appeals will begin hearing arguments in Students for Fair Admissions vs. Harvard College. This case against Harvard’s use of holistic admissions – including […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
National mayors group calls for change in policing
ANY REFORM OF police policies and practices in the US will happen municipality by municipality. It’s in the nature of locally-controlled police governance in our country. So when the leading […]
Posted inUncategorized
SJC seems wary of upending COVID-19 fight
SEVERAL MEMBERS of the Supreme Judicial Court seemed wary on Friday of upending the fight against COVID-19 during a hearing on a case challenging the sweeping powers Gov. Charlie Baker […]
Posted inThe Download
Baker looks to leverage bail controversyÂ
Criminal justice reform supporters have been pushing to draw attention to the role played by bail in the legal system. Whether this will end up being a case of “be […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker looks to leverage bail controversy
CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM supporters have been pushing to draw attention to the role played by bail in the legal system. Whether this will end up being a case of “be […]
Posted inUncategorized
Federal judge refuses to lift eviction ban
US DISTRICT COURT Judge Mark Wolf on Thursday refused to order an end to the state’s temporary ban on most evictions and foreclosures, but he indicated the pandemic is not […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker unveils nursing home aid package
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION on Thursday unveiled a support package for nursing homes that ties staffing and occupancy reforms to additional, stable long-term funding and short-term aid in the event COVID-19 […]
Posted inUncategorized
Contact tracing ramping up hiring again
THE MASSACHUSETTS CONTACT tracing effort, which scaled back its workforce dramatically this summer as the spread of COVID-19 subsided, is ramping up again. The nonprofit Partners in Health, which works […]
Posted inEconomy
Baker plugs funds, restaurant dining
THE SITUATION at Bistro 5 in Medford didn’t look good in July. Owner Vittorio Ettore said he was getting just under 30 customers a week at the restaurant. One Friday […]