STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE REPS. ANGELO SCACCIA of Readville and Harold Naughton of Clinton announced they will not seek re-election this year, joining a large number of other lawmakers who […]
Scaccia, Naughton leaving the House
Posted inHealth Care
Deaths from COVID-19 rise 37%
THE NUMBER OF DEATHS in Massachusetts from COVID-19 shot up by 37 percent Tuesday, prompting questions about why some parts of the state are being impacted more severely than others. […]
Posted inEconomy
Virus notes: Budget roundtable tripped up by livestream failure
IT WAS AN inauspicious start to the effort to reckon with the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic on state revenue and the implications for the current fiscal year as […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker to funnel $800m to state health providers
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said the state intends to funnel $800 million to health providers across Massachusetts over the next few months to offset the losses they are incurring in dealing […]
Posted inOpinion
Baker’s reasoning on marijuana is incomprehensible
I AM TRYING, like everyone else affected by Gov. Charlie Baker’s shutdown of adult-use cannabis sales, to understand his reasoning. As a cannabis grower with two dispensaries and 90 employees, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Immigrant detainees on hunger strike in RI
OVER 60 IMMIGRANT detainees at a federal detention center in Rhode Island are on their fourth day of a hunger strike, demanding to be released due to concerns over the […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Eviction bill bounces back and forth on Beacon Hill
IT MAY BE the first test of the Legislature’s penchant for consensus on coronavirus-related bills. The Massachusetts House and Senate agree that there should be a pause on evictions and foreclosures […]
Posted inThe Download
Eviction bill bounces back and forth on Beacon Hill
It may be the first test of the Legislature’s penchant for consensus on coronavirus-related bills. The Massachusetts House and Senate agree that there should be a pause on evictions and […]
Posted inHealth Care
Virus notes: Baker cabinet secretary tests positive
THE STATE’S PUBLIC SAFETY SECRETARY has tested positive for COVID-19, he announced Monday night, and is working from home. “This weekend, after experiencing mild symptoms, I was screened for COVID-19 […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker says he plays the hand dealt him
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said on Monday that one of his guiding principles during the COVID-19 crisis is to play the cards he’s dealt, an acknowledgement of how much he and […]
Posted inEconomy
The coronavirus is expanding the safety net
LIKE MILLIONS OF other US workers, Charlie Burke and Mutwaly Hamid were used to getting up in the morning and putting in long days on the job. But when the […]
Posted inUncategorized
What happens when lawmakers disagree?
WHEN A BILL pausing foreclosures and evictions emerged from the Senate Ways and Means Committee, advocates for low-income individuals were unhappy with the details of the bill – and they […]
Posted inHealth Care
Foreign-trained medical professionals waiting to help
LAITH ALMATWARI has medical experience with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases that he thinks would be valuable in the fight against COVID-19, but bureaucratic red tape is preventing him from jumping into the […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Do we still need transportation legislation?
State lawmakers are starting over from scratch this week with the state budget, and many are wondering whether issues such as education and transportation that seemed so urgent just a […]
Posted inOpinion
Congress doing poor job addressing pandemic
“YOU NEVER WANT a serious crisis to go to waste.” That statement, made by incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel at the height of the 2008 financial crisis, […]
Posted inTransportation
Do we still need transportation legislation?
STATE LAWMAKERS ARE starting over from scratch this week with the state budget, and many are wondering whether issues such as education and transportation that seemed so urgent just a […]
Posted inThe Download
Do we still need transportation legislation?
State lawmakers are starting over from scratch this week with the state budget, and many are wondering whether issues such as education and transportation that seemed so urgent just a […]
Posted inThe Download
Do we still need transportation legislation?
State lawmakers are starting over from scratch this week with the state budget, and many are wondering whether issues such as education and transportation that seemed so urgent just a […]
Posted inHealth Care
Walsh urges face coverings, curfew
WITH AN EXPECTED SURGE in COVID-19 cases approaching, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is encouraging everyone to wear a covering over their mouth and nose when they go outside and to […]
Posted inHealth Care
Tyer rallies Pittsfield to ‘crush the curve’
PITTSFIELD MAYOR Linda Tyer said the first coronavirus death in her community on March 22 hit her hard. “That really felt like a moment when this COVID-19 disease had a […]
Posted inHealth Care
Virus notes: Baker calls new face mask guidance appropriate
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER didn’t wear a face mask at a press availability on Sunday, but he said new guidance from the federal government urging people to wear masks under certain […]
Posted inHealth Care
Rate of growth in COVID-19 cases slows
THE LATEST STATE FIGURES show a modest slowing of the growth in new COVID-19 cases, but troubling increases in deaths in Franklin, Berkshire, and Hampden counties. The number of positive […]
Posted inEconomy
Commonwealth’s COVID-19 response leaves too many behind
IT’S BEEN MORE than three weeks since Gov. Baker declared a state of emergency. Despite a number of efforts that have aimed to ensure that groups are not left behind […]
Posted inOpinion
Here’s how to steer a school through uncertain times
AS SCHOOL LEADERS, we prepare for shutdowns of two or three days due to extreme weather. We prepare for terrifying scenarios like school shootings. But not a single school leader […]