FOOD INSECURITY, DEPRESSION, and unemployment are the top three issues impacting Latino residents in Massachusetts during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to a survey conducted by the MassINC Polling Group. Twenty percent of […]
Poll finds Latinos heavily impacted by coronavirus
Posted inPolitics
2 revealing exchanges in Kennedy-Markey debate
FOR TWO CANDIDATES who are perceived to be in sync on most issues, Ed Markey and Joe Kennedy III couldn’t seem to agree on much of anything during a televised […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker opposes Trump’s stimulus alternative
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said he opposes President Trump’s stimulus alternative because it relies for funding on money Massachusetts and other states are counting on to cover COVID-19 costs and related […]
Posted inEducation
Baker says most kids can return to in-person learning
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said a key COVID-19 metric currently indicates children in nearly 91 percent of the state’s cities and towns can safely return to school this fall for in-person […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
State begins targeting COVID-19 spread in 33 communities
A CLUSTER of working-class cities remain the most hard-hit by COVID-19 in Massachusetts, as Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday announced new state assistance for virus hotspots. Although state officials have […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker sees positives in July revenue numbers
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER saw some positive signs in the state’s tax haul in July, but he cautioned that the fiscal challenges Massachusetts is facing right now are not going away. […]
Posted inEducation
When schools aren’t delivering, state has duty to intervene
I’VE OFTEN, and recently, heard arguments that state intervention in school districts is an assault on democracy, even racist. I disagree. Access to literacy is a fundamental right and foundation […]
Posted inThe Download
Will the shows go on in Pittsfield?
THE OLD ADAGE that the show must go on is facing a real test out in the Berkshires. The story begins in mid-March, when the coronavirus shut down the stage […]
Posted inPolitics
Globe ed page editor grills House candidate the paper endorsed
THE INTERVIEW Boston Globe editorial page editor Bina Venkataraman conducted with Jake Auchincloss had all the feel of a standard quizzing of a candidate as a newspaper weighs an endorsement, as […]
Posted inUncategorized
Surprise! July state tax revenues increase
STATE OFFICIALS are scratching their heads in astonishment over the July tax revenue numbers released last week. Even though the state’s unemployment rate is in the stratosphere and many businesses […]
Posted inOpinion
Cape and Islands DA officials take umbrage
Below are two columns submitted separately to CommonWealth in response to an op-ed written by Ricardo Brandon Rios on Joseph Kennedy III. The first is by Michael Kelley and the […]
Posted inEducation
What is a ‘hybrid’ education plan?
HUGE NUMBERS of Massachusetts students this fall will be returning to school on a “hybrid” plan – some mix of in-person and remote learning. Like so much of the post-pandemic […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Downing, Vennochi voice concerns on Baker
MASSACHUSETTS VOTERS GIVE Gov. Charlie Baker very high marks in general and for his handling of the COVID-19 crisis, but two guests on the CommonWealth Codcast criticized him for failing to […]
Posted inPolitics
Downing, Vennochi voice concerns on Baker
MASSACHUSETTS VOTERS GIVE Gov. Charlie Baker very high marks in general and for his handling of the COVID-19 crisis, but two guests on the CommonWealth Codcast criticized him for failing to […]
Posted inThe Download
Downing, Vennochi voice concerns on Baker
Massachusetts voters give Gov. Charlie Baker very high marks in general and for his handling of the COVID-19 crisis, but two guests on the CommonWealth Codcast criticized him for failing […]
Posted inOpinion
We need to do more to support the elderly
MASSACHUSETTS NEEDS to clearly demonstrate that it values older Massachusetts residents and is committed to building an age-friendly Commonwealth so that all residents of Massachusetts can age with dignity and […]
Posted inEducation
Parents turning to ‘pandemic pods’ and ‘microschools’
WHEN NORTH ANDOVER SCHOOLS closed in March, Jennifer Quadrozzi’s family formed a quarantine pod with three other neighborhood families. Quadrozzi’s seven-year-old daughter now had eight other children, ages two to nine, to play with. The kids would learn at their […]
Posted inOpinion
Grit alone is no longer enough
I DROPPED OUT of high school at the age of 17 after immigrating to Massachusetts from the Dominican Republic. School was just too hard for me, and there was not […]
Posted inOpinion
We must address black, brown mistrust of COVID-19 vaccine
MASSACHUSETTS IS IN DANGER of failing communities of color, once again, if we do not start preparing for a COVID-19 vaccine now. Black Americans, in particular, are both more susceptible […]
Posted inOpinion
Schools need to sign up now for fed food program
REGARDLESS OF HOW schools approach reopening in the fall, many Massachusetts schools face a choice right now that could affect nutrition and local economic stimulus in 2021 and beyond. That […]
Posted inTransportation
How do we avoid a transportation relapse?
FOR MANY US CITIES, the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic provided a remarkable if temporary glimpse of an urban environment with dramatically less car travel and air pollution. On […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker pauses reopening; cracks down on gatherings
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER is hitting the pause button on the state’s reopening efforts and ramping up enforcement of coronavirus prevention measures in an effort to limit community transmissions. At a […]
Posted inUncategorized
Frustrated Globe union to protest at Fenway
THE UNION REPRESENTING Boston Globe editorial workers, which has accused management of employing “hardball” union-busting tactics, is coming inside with a high hard one of its own. Members of the Globe union are taking a contract battle to […]
Posted inEducation
Baker backs in-person learning in most towns
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Friday strongly pushed back against the notion that it’s not safe to open schools this fall with some form of in-person learning, saying most communities in […]