ICE DETAINEES being held at the Bristol County jail on Friday night resisted efforts to transport them as a group to be tested for COVID-19, but what happened next was […]
Violence at Bristol County jail over COVID-19 tests
Posted inHealth Care
Virus notes: Mass. takes step off COVID-19 plateau
MASSACHUSETTS STARTED to come down off its COVID-19 plateau on Friday, with overall virus hospitalizations and cases in intensive care both falling. It’s still too early to say the surge […]
Posted inTransportation
Baker issues new order on face coverings
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER issued an executive order on Friday directing Massachusetts residents to wear face masks in stores, on public transit, and in public places – anywhere it might be […]
Posted inEconomy
The ‘new normal’: A mask-wearing, young workforce?
A POWERFUL COALITION of Massachusetts business leaders has laid out an extensive roadmap for reopening the economy – but not, they warned, to return to what used to be considered […]
Posted inHealth Care
In Somerville, we’re keeping up the pressure on all fronts
DURING THE Great Depression’s darkest days, FDR said: “There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.” As we face a crisis rivaled in modern […]
Posted inHealth Care
In COVID era, medical interpreters in heightened demand
AS AN INTERPRETER at Massachusetts General Hospital, Laura Cantera enables physicians to do their jobs by allowing them to communicate with their Spanish-speaking patients. A native of Uruguay, the 47-year-old Cantera works at the hospital but because of […]
Posted inEconomy
A different kind of May Day
IN THE US, labor unions and progressive groups typically celebrate May Day, or International Workers Day, with rallies, while the rest of the general public leaves its commemoration of workers to […]
Posted inThe Download
A different kind of May Day
In the US, labor unions and progressive groups typically celebrate May Day, or International Workers Day, with rallies, while the rest of the general public leaves its commemoration of workers […]
Posted inEconomy
Markey owes a telecom fix
COVID-19 HAS HIGHLIGHTED deep divisions in this country, from who has access to health care to who can afford to stay at home to how we educate our children. At […]
Posted inHealth Care
Virus notes: Nursing home deaths pass 2,000
COVID-19 DEATHS in nursing homes and rest homes crossed the 2,000 threshold on Thursday, meaning roughly 5 percent of the residents at the 476 facilities have died of the virus. […]
Posted inUncategorized
House rules still stalled
HOUSE MINORITY LEADER Brad Jones on Thursday blocked consideration of emergency rules for the Massachusetts House for the second day, amid a debate that is throwing off efforts by Gov. […]
Posted inOpinion
To revive economy, think infrastructure
THAT WE LIVE in uncertain and unprecedented times is a fact that does not need to be impressed on anyone. Over the past six weeks, it’s been forced upon all […]
Posted inEconomy
25% of state workforce files jobless claims
NEARLY 900,000 MASSACHUSETTS workers, representing almost a quarter of the state’s entire labor force, have filed new claims for unemployment benefits since mid-March as the COVID-19 pandemic and the widespread […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker gets personal
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Thursday shared two things he’s been watching at home when he’s not dealing with COVID-19. “I’ve tried for three years to try to get my three […]
Posted inOpinion
Dr. Lee says COVID-19 patient counts down
This is the eighth 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 inUncategorized
What makes a COVID-19 hotspot?
IT’S NO SECRET that the coronavirus is not evenly spread across Massachusetts. New statistics released Wednesday confirmed that Chelsea remains a hotspot of the virus, with the most cases per capita. Brockton […]
Posted inThe Download
What makes a COVID-19 hotspot?
It’s no secret that the coronavirus is not evenly spread across Massachusetts. New statistics released Wednesday confirmed that Chelsea remains a hotspot of the virus, with the most cases per capita. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Mici: No need to release inmates due to COVID-19
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION’S top prison official told a state judge on Wednesday that she is satisfied with the way the system is responding to COVID-19 cases and sees no need […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Republicans allege power grab in rules debate
THE NORMALLY CONGENIAL dealings of the Massachusetts House of Representatives turned into a scene of vituperative charges and countercharges being hurled across the partisan divide on Wednesday as lawmakers struggled […]
Posted inUncategorized
Cannabis regulator Kay Doyle jumps to pharma
CANNABIS CONTROL COMMISSIONER Kay Doyle is leaving the state oversight panel to take a job as US director of public policy for Greenwich Biosciences, the first company to manufacture an […]
Posted inHealth Care
Life on the coronavirus plateau
MASSACHUSETTS OFFICIALS are starting to plan for a “new normal,” but the coronavirus is acting as if it’s not going away. Statistics released on Wednesday indicate the surge is now […]
Posted inUncategorized
Clean Energy Center’s financial woes continue to mount
THE MASSACHUSETTS CLEAN ENERGY CENTER paid two outside law firms $2.3 million to defend it in a lawsuit the agency eventually lost and ultimately settled for $20.8 million. Both the […]
Posted inArts and Culture
We’ve got to have art
THE IMPACT OF arts and cultural programs on our lives is not easily quantifiable. Whether we are in a museum, concert hall, or any other venue, enjoying art together is […]
Posted inOpinion
Examining COVID-19 gender differences
THE STATE’S DASHBOARD of COVID-19 statistics indicates that deaths from the virus are split evenly between men and women, which is surprising given that in most other states and countries […]