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 […]
Health care heroes deserve support
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, […]
Posted inOpinion
Our next plunge: Going big on wind
IT WAS A PLUNGE I’ll never forget – into the Charles River with Gov. Bill Weld in 1996 to celebrate the passage of the Massachusetts Rivers Act. Let’s just say […]
Posted inOpinion
Chelsea officials to Baker: Give us help
The following is a letter sent to Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday by elected officials and other groups in Chelsea. We are residents and supporters of Chelsea, including City Council […]
Posted inEnvironment
House climate change bill calls for roadmap
The House unveiled a climate change bill on Wednesday that directs the executive branch of government to create a roadmap for reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and includes […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
ICE seeks OK to resume courthouse arrests
THE IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS Enforcement agency on Wednesday asked an appellate court to lift a temporary injunction and allow agents to resume making civil arrests of undocumented individuals in and […]
Posted inHealth Care
Congressional hearing explores oversight of soldiers’ homes
AT A CONGRESSIONAL HEARING on Wednesday, the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home was held up as a model – a model of what can go wrong when an odd state-federal relationship leaves […]