State House News Service and CommonWealth A PANEL REVIEWING the physical integrity and safety of the state’s natural gas distribution system found a gap exists between the way gas utilities […]
Report raises gas utility safety issues
Posted inOpinion
What Joe McCarthy and Donald Trump have in common
McCarthy: Power Feeds on Fear is a new documentary nationally available from PBS. The film details Joe McCarthy’s rise in the late 1940s from political obscurity in Wisconsin to become […]
Posted inOpinion
Picking apart Rep. Kearney’s fishy argument
YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED a fishy odor from a recent CommonWealth article. It was the smell of red herring, served in an opinion piece by state Rep. Patrick Kearney. On […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
7 takes on Senate climate change debate
IN BUSINESS-LIKE FASHION, the Senate passed a sweeping package of climate change legislation on Thursday night that sets a net-zero target for greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, creates an independent […]
Posted inGun ownership
Gun control redux
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. And again, and again. US Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat running for president, and US Rep. Hank Johnson, a Georgia […]
Posted inThe Download
Gun control redux
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. And again, and again. US Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat running for president, and US Rep. Hank Johnson, a Georgia […]
Posted inUncategorized
Mass. father, son tied to Ghosn escape
MICHAEL TAYLOR, a 59-year-old former Green Beret from Massachusetts who has worked as a private security contractor and has ties to government agencies, seems to have a knack for popping […]
Posted inUncategorized
SJC: Blind people can serve as jurors
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 […]
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 […]