FORTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO, the world was a very different place for women. In 1972, sexual harassment was not considered to be a form of illegal discrimination; Title IX had not […]
The Equal Rights Amendment is expired
Posted inHealth Care
Campaigning in the coronavirus era
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE DOOR-TO-DOOR CANVASSING has been replaced with phone calls and tweeting. Local elections officials are weighing new ways to expand absentee ballot access for worried voters. Candidates […]
Posted inHealth Care
Federal immigration services offices to be shuttered
Updated Tuesday evening: Staffers and a spokesperson from US Citizenship and Immigration Services confirmed with CommonWealth that the agency is suspending “all face-to-face services” with applicants at all field and […]
Posted inPolitics
The rumor that won’t die — shelter in place
This story was updated Tuesday afternoon to include the governor’s latest denial and news that New York’s mayor is considering a shelter-in-place order. GOV. CHARLIE BAKER ON SUNDAY denied he was […]
Posted inThe Download
The rumor that won’t die — shelter in place
Gov. Charlie Baker on Sunday denied he was preparing to issue a 14-day shelter-in-place order, calling it “wild speculation.” On Monday, he dismissed the idea again, although he said he […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker defends Trump comment on respirators
WITH MASSACHUSETTS HOSPITALS struggling to obtain badly needed stockpiled equipment for their patients and frontline workers, Gov. Charlie Baker defended President Trump’s message to the nation’s governors on Monday that […]
Posted inArts and Culture
When the show does not go on
JADE SYLVAN, a graduate student at Harvard Divinity School, spent two years writing and producing a musical, “Beloved King,” a queer interpretation of the biblical story of King David. Sylvan […]
Posted inHealth Care
Virus notes: Boston construction grinds to halt
IN THE LATEST chapter in the near-total shutdown of the region, Mayor Marty Walsh announced that all construction projects in Boston would be halted as part of the all-out effort to […]
Posted inThe Codcast
A report from the frontlines at MGH
Dr. Jarone Lee, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, is very worried as predictions of infection rates run as high as 60 […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA ridership plummets, service being reduced
WITH RIDERSHIP PLUMMETING, the MBTA said it would reduce most subway and bus service to Saturday levels and eliminate ferries starting on Tuesday. “These changes are being made based on […]
Posted inHealth Care
A report from the frontlines at MGH
DR. JARONE LEE, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, is very worried as predictions of infection rates run as high as 60 percent […]
Posted inThe Download
A report from the frontlines at MGH
Dr. Jarone Lee, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, is very worried as predictions of infection rates run as high as 60 […]
Posted inTransportation
Virus notes: At Logan, no chaos, but uneven screening measures
THE SITUATION AT Logan International Airport’s Terminal E on Sunday stood in sharp contrast to the mayhem that unfolded at Chicago’s O’ Hare Airport and at New York City’s John […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker announces statewide school closing, other sweeping restrictions
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IN THE MOST dramatic escalation yet of the state’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, Gov. Charlie Baker on Sunday announced that all Massachusetts public schools must […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker applauds shutdown of Southie bars
State House News Service On a Sunday when many Bay Staters thought they’d be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, Gov. Charlie Baker was instead applauding Boston Mayor Marty Walsh for shutting […]
Posted inOpinion
Should the public buy Columbia Gas?
THE RECENTLY PROPOSED $1.1 billion sale of Columbia Gas to Eversource provides an important opportunity to consider how we, the people of Massachusetts, want our public utilities to be governed […]
Posted inHealth Care
Virus notes: Casinos closing; 1st Cape case, immigration changes
PRESIDENT TRUMP says he just took a COVID-19 test, there are 2,200 cases in the US with 50 deaths, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has relaxed its testing […]
Posted inOpinion
Union push hinders housing production
DEMANDING CONSTRUCTION of more affordable housing is the right thing to do. Getting it done is another thing entirely, which is why it’s fair to question practices that slow the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Only 475 tested for virus so far
THE STATE DEPARTMENT of Public Health as of Friday had tested only 475 individuals for COVID-19, but officials say the amount of testing should dramatically increase with new federal guidelines […]
Posted inUncategorized
Despite virus, business as usual at immigration courts
IMMIGRATION COURTS are full of people, often pressed together in tight quarters. But the Executive Office of Immigration Review, which runs all immigration courts, has refused to shut down courtrooms […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker bars gatherings of more than 250
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Friday issued an order prohibiting most gatherings of 250 or more people, but his administration stopped short of requiring all of the state’s K-12 schools to […]
Posted inHealth Care
Hospitals face mask shortages
AS HOSPITALS PREPARE to deal with a potential wave of coronavirus patients, hospital staff are already running short of the equipment they need to protect themselves from the contagious disease. […]
Posted inEducation
State to assert new oversight of Boston schools
STATE AND CITY leaders have agreed to an unusual plan for oversight of the long-struggling Boston public schools, one that keeps the district in local hands but will set firm […]
Posted inThe Download
Social distancing on a personal level
Now that just about everything is shutting down, it’s time to start thinking about social distancing at a personal level. The goal of social distancing is to reduce interactions between […]