IF A BLIND JUROR is called for jury duty, a judge must decide on a case-by-case basis whether that juror is capable of serving, according to a unanimous decision issued […]
SJC: Blind people can serve as jurors
Posted inEducation
Is Massachusetts failing its brightest kids?Â
FOR MORE THAN two decades, efforts to improve US public schools have set forth an ambitious goal. Leave No Child Behind. The Every Student Succeeds Act. The Student Opportunity Act. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
State Police overtime scandal keeps expanding
Reading about the Massachusetts State Police overtime scandal is like opening a Pandora’s box that can never be shut. This week, out of the box popped a lieutenant who allegedly […]
Posted inThe Download
State Police overtime scandal keeps expanding
Reading about the Massachusetts State Police overtime scandal is like opening a Pandora’s box that can never be shut. This week, out of the box popped a lieutenant who allegedly […]
Posted inPolitics
Commission documents flood of campaign cash
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE In the decade before the US Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United v. FEC decision, spending on Massachusetts elections and ballot initiatives totaled $260 million. In the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Seniors seek expansion of Medicare savings program
JOHN ROBINSON is very stringent about keeping track of his bills, especially when it comes to health care expenses. The 71-year-old retired Amtrak porter knows exactly how his $1,832 a month in income […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
New system lets survivors track rape kits
MASSACHUSETTS IS ROLLING out a new system that will allow survivors of sexual assault to track online the processing of evidence collected from them at hospitals following an assault. A […]
Posted inOpinion
Healey: Stop individual residential electricity sales
THE COMPETITIVE ELECTRIC SUPPLY INDUSTRY has overcharged Massachusetts consumers for far too long. We’ve all seen these companies in action. They go door-to-door, send letters in the mail, and call […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Suit says civilly committed man denied medical care
VERNON FERREIRA, JR. was 27 years old with a baby on the way when he decided it was time to finally kick the drug addiction that had plagued him for […]
Posted inThe Download
Rollins shows her mettle
For years, showdowns in the criminal justice system often followed a predictable storyline: A judge used his or her discretion to lean toward the side of compassion for a defendant […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Rollins shows her mettle
FOR YEARS, showdowns in the criminal justice system often followed a predictable storyline: A judge used his or her discretion to lean toward the side of compassion for a defendant […]
Posted inOpinion
Update on Mass. Citizens United commission
WE’VE REACHED the 10-year anniversary of the landmark Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission US Supreme Court decision. The decision overturned longstanding precedent prohibiting corporate funding of elections and unleashed […]
Posted inEducation
1 person put forward for UMass Boston job
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A SEARCH COMMITTEE named Marcelo Suarez-Orozco, a dean at the University of California Los Angeles, as its lone finalist Tuesday for the University of Massachusetts Boston […]
Posted inUncategorized
Bill would help vets get medical pot
AMID NEW RESEARCH on how veterans are using cannabis to treat pain and post-traumatic stress disorder, a Republican representative from Bellingham is pushing legislation that would make it easier for […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
SJC voids medical parole regulations
THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT issued a ruling Tuesday that will make it easier for Massachusetts prisoners to request medical parole, which is sometimes called compassionate release. The court held that […]
Posted inOpinion
Unpacking Riley’s teacher licensing proposal
THOUGH TOO TIMID BY FAR, a proposed alternative route to state teacher licensing is a hopeful crack in the armor of our destructive obsession with high-stakes testing. If you read […]
Posted inEducation
Northeastern heads north to Maine
WHENEVER PEOPLE IN Boston get nervous about the local economy, you often hear someone say that at least the bedrock of that economy — the colleges and hospitals — can’t […]
Posted inThe Download
Northeastern heads north to Maine
Whenever people in Boston get nervous about the local economy, you often hear someone say that at least the bedrock of that economy — the colleges and hospitals — can’t […]
Posted inTransportation
Senators, unions push back against more T privatization
MBTA UNIONS and their legislative supporters launched a full-court press at Monday’s meeting of the Fiscal and Management Control Board to block efforts by the transit authority to buy 60 […]
Posted inUncategorized
Supreme Court allows Trump wealth test for immigrants
THE SUPREME COURT cleared the way for the Trump administration to begin enforcing new limits on immigrants who are considered likely to become dependent on government benefit programs, or “public […]
Posted inTransportation
T off to slow start on commuter rail makeover
THE MBTA IS OFF to a slow start in developing a plan to transform the state’s commuter rail system so it can provide more subway-like service. At a November 4 […]
Posted inUncategorized
Ex-Fox News host joins State House battle on nondisclosure agreements
WHEN GRETCHEN CARLSON filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against former Fox News chairman Roger Ailes in a scandal that ultimately led to his firing, she said she had no idea […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Raising the alarm on housing
Tom O’Brien, one of the Boston-area’s leading developers, is raising the alarm about the region’s housing crisis. “One of the most important statistics that I’ve focused on in the last […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Fairmount Line getting 8 more daily trips
THE MBTA PLANS to launch new service along the Fairmount commuter rail line in May, testing whether four additional trips in each direction will boost ridership and how fare validators […]