A KEY BAROMETER of the state’s fight against COVID-19 rose sharply on Sunday. The positive test rate (positive tests as a percentage of total tests) jumped to 2.65 percent, its […]
Key COVID barometer takes jump
Posted inOpinion
Free the COVID-19 vaccine
AS THE SCOURGE of COVID-19 continues to grip the world, we are all hoping that science can give us both vaccines that protect us from COVID-19 infection, as well as […]
Posted inOpinion
Minimum guaranteed income = solution to poverty
IN THE WEEKS leading up to his assassination in 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. launched a new chapter of his work, referred to as the “Poor People’s Campaign.” This […]
Posted inOpinion
Me and Roger Stone
I’ve “known” Roger Stone, whose prison sentence recently was commuted by President Trump, for 47 years, but only learned of it last year. Here’s how we met. IT WAS, by […]
Posted inOpinion
Public has interest in Pan Am Railways sale
ON JUNE 29, Trains Magazine reported that Pan Am Railways, the dominant freight carrier in northern New England, is for sale. Pan Am is perhaps best known to the public […]
Posted inHealth Care
Health care heroes deserve support
THEY’VE BEEN RIGHTFULLY hailed as heroes on homemade signs and honored with Blue Angel flyovers, but the same health care workers who are saving untold lives during the COVID crisis […]
Posted inUncategorized
Long list of unfinished business for Legislature
THE TRADITIONAL END-OF-SESSION legislative crush got a little less intense this year as both branches agreed to extendformal sessions past July 31 due to the coronavirus outbreak. The extended session […]
Posted inOpinion
Starting to reimagine cities post-COVID
FROM THE OUTSET, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus drew the world’s attention to the need to quell the pandemic, while the implementation of various shelter-in-place orders became a phenomenon […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker cites cluster ‘lapses in judgment’
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Friday tried to use a carrot and stick approach to rein in what he called “lapses in judgment” that are causing clusters of COVID-19 cases to […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Tsarnaev death sentence vacated
A US APPEALS COURT on Friday vacated the death sentence of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the latest chapter in a years-long legal saga resulting from a horrific crime that […]
Posted inBy The Numbers
Survey shows impact of pandemic on immigrant households
A NEW STUDY demonstrates that immigrant families in the state are facing the same toll from the coronavirus disruption of the economy as most working-class Americans — but their problems are exacerbated by exclusion from […]
Posted inUncategorized
Landlords challenge constitutionality of eviction ban
TWO LANDLORDS from Randolph and Worcester are challenging the constitutionality of the ongoing eviction moratorium, arguing the state is allowing their tenants to basically take property without paying for it. The […]
Posted inThe Download
Landlords challenge constitutionality of eviction ban
Two landlords from Randolph and Worcester are challenging the constitutionality of the ongoing eviction moratorium, arguing the state is allowing their tenants to basically take property without paying for it. […]
Posted inEducation
State school aid level-funded
IT WAS SUPPOSED to be the first year of a new school funding formula that was going to vastly increase public school spending. Instead, amid a global pandemic, the state […]
Posted inPolitics
Senate agrees to extend legislative session
THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE on Thursday officially voted to extend the legislative session. In a unanimous vote on the Senate floor, senators went along with a decision made by the House […]
Posted inPolitics
Anonymous email stirs emotions in Senate race
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ON A TUESDAY EVENING two weeks ago, a lengthy email landed in the inboxes of Democratic Party officials around the state from someone claiming to be […]
Posted inUncategorized
Senate votes to ban government non-disclosure agreements
THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE on Thursday approved an amendment to an economic development bill that would ban taxpayer-funded non-disclosure agreements across state government. “This is a huge win for employees to […]
Posted inOpinion
This is the wrong time to cut arts education
IN TIMES of great financial strain and uncertainty, arts education is often the first thing cut from the school curriculum. Indeed, several school districts across the Commonwealth have already laid […]
Posted inOpinion
Healey’s kitchen-sink Exxon-Mobil lawsuit
MASSACHUSETTS ATTORNEY GENERAL Maura Healy’s complaint against ExxonMobil rests on the exotic claim that the company’s advertising and public financial reporting purposefully misled shareholders and customers about the effects of […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker blames careless individuals for COVID runup
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said on Thursday that the recent runup in Massachusetts COVID-19 cases is occurring not because the state is reopening too quickly but because some individuals are becoming […]
Posted inRace/Racism
Black staffers urge Beacon Hill to look inward
THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE has touted the importance of racial equity as lawmakers passed bills related to police reform, maternal health disparities, demographic reporting on COVID-19, and commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr.’s […]
Posted inThe Download
Black staffers urge Beacon Hill to look inward
The Massachusetts Legislature has touted the importance of racial equity as lawmakers passed bills related to police reform, maternal health disparities, demographic reporting on COVID-19, and commemorating Martin Luther King, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Here’s the police reform bill the ACLU wants
ACROSS THE COUNTRY, people have been taking to the streets to protest against police brutality and systemic racism. In some states, their calls for change have been met by even […]
Posted inRace/Racism
Black State House staffers raise voices
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE POINTING TO RACISM they have faced during their work on Beacon Hill, a coalition of black state legislative employees urged Democratic leaders to reform hiring practices, […]