Following numerous complaints about expanded outdoor dining in Boston’s North End not complying with COVID-19 guidelines, the city’s Licensing Board has decided to crack down with random inspections of new […]
COVID-19 crackdown coming for N. End restaurants
Posted inOpinion
Living wage needed for human service workers
THROUGHOUT THE CORONAVIRUS pandemic, we have heralded the selfless heroism of our health care workforce and first responders. The doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, EMTs, firefighters, and police continue to […]
Posted inNews Analysis
Parents divided over the coming school year
PARENTS ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS are sharply divided along racial lines on how they want the next school year to unfold and whether schools have the ability to operate safely, according to […]
Posted inPolitics
Boston councilors approve budget after charged debate
AFTER MORE THAN two hours of debate, Boston city councilors approved a $3.61 billion budget for 2021, averting a showdown with Mayor Marty Walsh that some councilors deemed […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Boston City Council bans use of facial recognition tech
THE BOSTON CITY COUNCIL voted unanimously on Wednesday to prohibit the police department and other city agencies from using facial recognition technology or information derived from face surveillance systems. The […]
Posted inHealth Care
Walsh is fall guy, but it goes way beyond him
IN HIS 174-PAGE REPORT on the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, Mark Pearlstein and his team paint a portrait of a long-term care facility for veterans that was managed poorly, overseen improperly, […]
Posted inHealth Care
What went wrong at Holyoke Soldiers’ Home
THE WORST DECISION made by the staff at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home was to combine some 40 residents of two locked dementia care units – some with COVID-19 and most not – into […]
Posted inUncategorized
Fireworks rattle cities, draw wild theories
THERE’S SO MUCHÂ about life over the last few months that was impossible to predict, even after the pandemic began to reshape nearly every facet of our daily existence. For residents […]
Posted inThe Download
Fireworks rattle cities, draw wild theories
There’s so much about life over the last few months that was impossible to predict, even after the pandemic began to reshape nearly facet of our daily existence. For residents […]
Posted inUncategorized
Veterans Secretary Francisco Urena resigns
SECRETARY OF VETERANS’ Services Francisco Urena has resigned in advance of the release of a report investigating the coronavirus outbreak at Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, according to multiple news reports. Urena […]
Posted inTransportation
Theoharides stirs outrage with Pike stance
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY Stephanie Pollack got a big assist from one of her colleagues in Gov. Charlie Baker’s cabinet on Monday in making the case for a status quo solution to […]
Posted inUncategorized
Walsh, council in budget showdown
THE BOSTON CITY COUNCIL and Mayor Marty Walsh are in a high-stakes budget standoff fueled by the pandemic, policing issues, and political positioning a year ahead of a mayoral election. […]
Posted inUncategorized
Trump suspends visa program bringing workers to US
PRESIDENT TRUMP on Monday extended existing restrictions on the issuance of new green cards and temporarily suspended new work visas that will bar hundreds of thousands of immigrants from coming […]
Posted inUncategorized
Auditor employees violated conflict of interest law
THE STATE ETHICS COMMISSION says a former employee and a former consultant of the state auditor’s office violated Massachusetts conflict of interest laws by forming a software company that attempted […]
Posted inPolitics
Race comments roil public sector workforce
MANY PUBLIC EMPLOYEES are learning the hard way: The right to free speech doesn’t extend to racist speech when you’re on a taxpayer-funded salary. Some of the recent examples are particularly […]
Posted inThe Download
Race comments roil public sector workforce
Many public employees are learning the hard way: The right to free speech doesn’t extend to racist speech when you’re on a taxpayer-funded salary. Some of the recent examples are […]
Posted inTransportation
Rideshares become ubiquitous in Mass.
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE GROWTH OF RIDESHARE trips taken in Massachusetts decelerated in 2019, but the roughly 91.1 million trips taken with services like Lyft and Uber generated more […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Control board says goodbye, offers advice
THE FUTURE OF MBTA oversight entered an uncertain period on Monday, as the Fiscal and Management Control Board held the last meeting of its five-year life with no clarity  from […]
Posted inTransportation
Pollack outlines yet another ‘throat’ option
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY STEPHANIE POLLACK on Monday proposed a modified rebuild of the existing Massachusetts Turnpike and other transportation infrastructure in the narrow 204-foot space between Boston University and the Charles […]
Posted inEconomy
Lawmakers move to pass one-month budget
LAWMAKERS ARE MAKING quick work of an interim budget filed by Gov. Charlie Baker that will fund state government through the end of July. Baker filed the $5.25 billion budget […]
Posted inThe Codcast
The new civil rights movement
MONICA CANNON-GRANT ORGANIZEDÂ the largest Boston demonstration to date against police brutality toward blacks, a march that drew tens of thousands of people to Franklin Park earlier this month. Nearly a […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker has spent $350m on personal protection equipment
LEGISLATIVE BUDGET WRITERS on Monday released a $1.1 billion supplemental budget bill, giving perhaps the clearest picture yet of the extraordinary amount of money government is spending on the coronavirus […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
The new civil rights movement
MONICA CANNON-GRANT ORGANIZEDÂ the largest Boston demonstration to date against police brutality toward blacks, a march that drew tens of thousands of people to Franklin Park earlier this month. Nearly a […]
Posted inThe Download
The new civil rights movement
Monica Cannon-Grant organized the largest Boston demonstration to date against police brutality toward blacks, a march that drew tens of thousands of people to Franklin Park earlier this month. Nearly […]