BOSTON CITY COUNCILORS Julia Mejia and Ed Flynn held a hearing Friday focused on the language barriers non-native English speakers are facing during the coronavirus pandemic. Fittingly, the hearing was […]
Boston hearing focuses on language barriers
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Legislative panel backs 2 safe injection sites
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE endorsed a proposal to establish at least two locations in Massachusetts for supervised drug consumption, giving some momentum to a controversial idea that […]
Posted inHealth Care
Don’t expect ‘bold’ reopening report
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said his administration’s reopening report coming on Monday is a well-thought-out piece of work, describing it with words like cautious, careful, slow, and steady. “I absolutely know […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass General Brigham: COVID-19 costing us $400m a month
MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM said COVID-19 is costing the hospital system about $400 million a month in lost patient revenue, which contributed to an operating loss of $178 million for the […]
Posted inOpinion
Doctors for decarceration
IMAGINE YOU ARE TRAPPED in a room with 20 other people. You share one sink. You have limited access to soap and hand sanitizer. You can’t leave. Then, someone starts […]
Posted inEnvironment
Coronavirus risks: Know them, avoid them
IT SEEMS MANY people are breathing some relief, and I’m not sure why. An epidemic curve has a relatively predictable upslope and once the peak is reached, the back slope […]
Posted inHealth Care
Kids are getting sick, too
IF THERE HAS BEENÂ one bright spot with the dangerous COVID-19 disease, it had been that children were largely spared. Since the pandemic started, Massachusetts has reported 3,111 COVID-19 cases in […]
Posted inThe Download
Kids are getting sick, too
If there has been one bright spot with the dangerous COVID-19 disease, it had been that children were largely spared. Since the pandemic started, Massachusetts has reported 3,111 COVID-19 cases […]
Posted inHealth Care
Audits uncovering non-compliant nursing homes
AUDITS OF MORE THAN 350 skilled nursing homes across the state indicate a minority but significant number of the facilities are not in adherence with a 28-point checklist of infection […]
Posted inGambling
COVID-era casinos will feature temperature checks, masks
THE NEXT TIME patrons walk into a Massachusetts casino, they may have their temperature checked at the door and be handed a facemask. When a patron sits down at the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Courts to start reopening in phases this summer
MASSACHUSETTS COURTHOUSESÂ are tentatively planning to start reopening for in-person proceedings in phases at some point this summer with jury trials set to resume in September if schools reopen, according to […]
Posted inEconomy
Mass. should suspend lottery ticket sales
LAST MONTH, Massachusetts Lottery officials announced recent sales figures for lottery tickets. The numbers aren’t pretty. Sales from the week ended April 18 were down 33 percent compared to the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker wants to be world’s biggest COVID-19 tester
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER unveiled a COVID-19 testing initiative on Thursday that he said would make Massachusetts the biggest tester on a per capita basis in the world. Massachusetts is already […]
Posted inEducation
Class warfare: School status for the fall unclear
K-12 SCHOOL BOARD battles and faculty infighting in higher ed can often be as fierce as any street brawl. It’s only fitting, then, that education seems to be the issue that […]
Posted inThe Download
Class warfare: School status for the fall unclear
K-12 school board battles and faculty infighting in higher ed can often be as fierce as any street brawl. It’s only fitting, then, that education seems to be the issue […]
Posted inOpinion
At MGH, they worry about a second surge
This is the tenth conversation between Dr. Jarone Lee, a frontline critical care and emergency physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, and Dr. Paul […]
Posted inOpinion
We can’t accept status quo in public health any longer
LAST WEEK, Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law the State Action for Public Health Excellence Act, which is now Chapter 72 of the Acts of 2020. The bill was signed […]
Posted inEnvironment
Mass. emission strategies all up in air
THE COMPANY SELECTED by Massachusetts to build a power line delivering large amounts of hydro-electricity from Quebec into the regional power grid at Lewiston, Maine, is asking a judge to […]
Posted inEducation
Peyser: Remote learning could continue in fall
MASSACHUSETTS’S TOP EDUCATION officials warned on Wednesday that schools should not expect to return to completely normal activities this September. School will look different when it starts, and there is […]
Posted inEconomy
Congress must act on child care crisis
CHILD CARE IS an essential component of our national economic infrastructure, as fundamental as our roads and bridges. Just ask any parent performing essential services during the pandemic, or any […]
Posted inPolitics
Vote-by-mail a must for Massachusetts
THIS PANDEMIC CONTINUES to challenge our systems in ways that require new solutions. Last month in Wisconsin, without any clear guidance from their state leaders, millions of voters were forced […]
Posted inHealth Care
Telehealth is available, but no one’s calling
BRUCE WEINRAUB, who works as a primary care physician in Northampton, came down with COVID-19 earlier this spring. He recovered from the disease, but his practice hasn’t been so resilient. […]
Posted inThe Download
Coalition urges Baker to release prisoners
A coalition of advocacy groups pressured Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday to reduce the state’s prison population to limit the spread of COVID-19 in prisons. The community groups, led by […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Coalition urges Baker to release prisoners
A COALITION OF ADVOCACY groups pressured Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday to reduce the state’s prison population to limit the spread of COVID-19 in prisons.  The community groups, led by […]