ON MONDAY, MASSACHUSETTS entered Phase 3 of its reopening plan, which Gov. Baker’s people have code-named “Vigilant.” It includes movie theaters, gyms, entertainment venues, casinos, and larger gatherings. This is […]
Massachusetts Phase 3 reopening plan is hardly ‘Vigilant’
Posted inHealth Care
COVID database filled with holes despite law
PASSING A LAW is one thing. Implementing it is another. On June 7, Gov. Charlie Baker signed a law requiring the Department of Public Health to publish more transparent data about the […]
Posted inThe Download
COVID database filled with holes despite law
Passing a law is one thing. Implementing it is another. On June 7, Gov. Charlie Baker signed a law requiring the Department of Public Health to publish more transparent data about […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Senate deliberations on policing reform bill stall
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A FAR-REACHING proposal to enhance oversight of police officers and ban the use of certain types of force hit a bump on Thursday when Senate Republicans […]
Posted inUncategorized
Marijuana companies hid illegal pesticide use
THE STATE Cannabis Control Commission on Thursday unanimously approved hefty fines against two marijuana companies for illegally using pesticides on their products, then trying to hide it. Garden Remedies […]
Posted inEducation
Mass. teachers union has become a reckless voice
GORE VIDAL SAID “the four best words in the English language are ‘I told you so.’” Forecasting reckless leadership during a recession does not qualify for that distinction. But as […]
Posted inEducation
Trump threatens funding cuts if schools don’t reopen
IT SEEMED LIKE there were at least the beginnings of a path forward. The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released its initial coronavirus guidelines for how schools could reopen […]
Posted inThe Download
Trump threatens funding cuts if schools don’t reopen
It seemed like there were at least the beginnings of a path forward. The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released its initial coronavirus guidelines for how schools could […]
Posted inUncategorized
House wants more transparency in foster care system
A BILL THAT the Massachusetts House is set to vote on Thursday would bring more transparency to the state’s troubled foster care system – but would not bring in the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker targets 8 communities with COVID-19 testing
This story was updated Wednesday evening at 9:30 with information supplied by the Baker administration. GOV. CHARLIE BAKER is launching a “stop the spread” testing initiative on Friday in eight […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker has mastered art of biting his tongue
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER demonstrated his skill at biting his tongue on Wednesday. At a State House press conference, Baker found a way to disagree in a fairly agreeable way with […]
Posted inGuns
While Black Lives Matter rises, gang gunfire keeps claiming more lives
IT’S BECOME THE untenable backdrop to a national movement demanding a reckoning with systematic racism and centuries of sanctioned brutality against black Americans: While thousands have taken to the streets to […]
Posted inThe Download
While Black Lives Matter rises, gang gunfire keeps claiming more lives
It’s become the untenable backdrop to a national movement demanding a reckoning with systematic racism and centuries of sanctioned brutality against black Americans: While thousands have taken to the streets […]
Posted inEducation
Harvard, MIT sue to block new international student policy
HARVARD UNIVERSITY and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit attempting to block the Trump administration’s new policy ordering international students to leave the country if […]
Posted inEducation, State House News Service
Mass. education officials slam ICE reversal
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A NEW FEDERAL IMMIGRATION policy ordering international students to leave the country if their colleges or universities offer online-only classes this fall has prompted an outcry […]
Posted inOpinion
Heroes don’t deserve layoffs, furloughs, pay cuts
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 inEnvironment
Mass. becomes dirty word in Maine referendum fight
CORPORATE SURROGATES for Massachusetts have spent close to $17 million so far battling a referendum question in Maine that seeks to block the importation of hydroelectricity from Quebec using a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Markey, Kennedy visit jail, address criminal justice concerns
BY THE TIME someone gets to jail, in many cases, there are myriad societal problems that led them there – and those need to be addressed. That was the premise […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Contact tracing effort scaled way back
DR. JOIA MUKHERJEE, the chief medical officer at Partners in Health, said the organization has drastically scaled back its contact tracing workforce amid a sharp decline in COVID-19 infections. On CommonWealth’s […]
Posted inHealth Care
Contact tracing effort scaled way back
DR JOIA MUKHERJEE, the chief medical officer at Partners in Health, said the organization has drastically scaled back its contact tracing workforce amid a sharp decline in COVID-19 infections. CommonWealth Magazine […]
Posted inThe Download
Contact tracing effort scaled way back
Dr. Joia Mukherjee, the chief medical officer at Partners in Health, said the organization has drastically scaled back its contact tracing workforce amid a sharp decline in COVID-19 infections. CommonWealth […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Senate prepping its own police reform bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE plans to vote Thursday on a wide-ranging police reform bill that would create a process for certifying and de-certifying officers and impose new […]
Posted inUncategorized
Here’s what you need to know about 2020 mail-in voting
DUE TO THE coronavirus pandemic, all Massachusetts residents who wish to do so will be allowed to vote by mail this year. Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday signed a […]
Posted inGambling
Las Vegas-style casinos face uncertain future
THE MASSACHUSETTS CASINO industry faces a long and steep climb back as it prepares to reopen over the coming week, with its opulent centerpiece, the $2.6 billion Encore Boston Harbor, […]