As the House prepares to debate new funding sources for transportation, Massachusetts Republicans find themselves in an awkward situation. They generally oppose raising taxes, particularly the gas tax, but the […]
Upcoming tax debate awkward for GOP
Posted inThe Download
Upcoming tax debate awkward for GOP
As the House prepares to debate new funding sources for transportation, Massachusetts Republicans find themselves in an awkward situation. They generally oppose raising taxes, particularly the gas tax, but the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Overall state workforce increased slightly in FY19
THE SIZE OF THE STATE’S workforce is increasing, but it’s still below the level it was at prior to the election of Gov. Charlie Baker. According to a financial report […]
Posted inUncategorized
Immigrants in Mass. more likely to have attorneys
CLAD IN A GREEN JUMPSUIT and chained at the hands and the feet, Ismail Garces Avila is sitting in immigration Judge John Furlong’s windowless courtroom, waiting for his bond and asylum hearings. […]
Posted inThe Download
Advocates call for T control board extension
Some of the state’s leading transit advocates are calling for extending the life of the existing MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board for six months to a year and making […]
Posted inTransportation
Advocates call for T control board extension
SOME OF THE STATE’SÂ Â leading transit advocates are calling for extending the life of the existing MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board for six months to a year and making buses […]
Posted inOpinion
A New Year’s resolution for the Mass. House
THERE WAS SOMETHING different about the start of this legislative session in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. It wasn’t the composition: Yes, Democrats did manage to flip two seats, but […]
Posted inOpinion
TransitMatters rebuts Brownsberger
METRO BOSTON enters 2020 in the firm grip of a transportation crisis. That crisis manifests itself as a combination of the worst traffic congestion in the nation, an unreliable inner-core […]
Posted inEducation
Can ‘pay for success’ boost post-secondary outcomes?
FOR THOSE EAGER to see the student achievement gap closed, it was great news when Gov. Charlie Baker recently signed legislation calling for a $1.5 billion increase in K-12 education […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Parity for renewables is key to energy tax policy
THE CLIMATE CRISIS is the most pressing issue of our time — and increasingly it’s an intractable one. Nowhere is this borne out more in Massachusetts than on Cape Cod, […]
Posted inUncategorized
Activists block coal-carrying train for hours
CLIMATE ACTIVISTS USED AN UNUSUAL METHOD Thursday night to stop a delivery to the largest coal-fired plant in New England — erecting scaffolding directly on the tracks. A group of […]
Posted inThe Download
U-Haul won’t hire smokers in Mass., 20 other states
Police and fire departments across Massachusetts stopped hiring smokers in 1997 as part of a pension system overhaul. In 2011, the Massachusetts Hospital Association implemented the same policy for its […]
Posted inUncategorized
U-Haul won’t hire smokers in Mass., 20 other states
POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS across Massachusetts stopped hiring smokers in 1997 as part of a pension system overhaul. In 2011, the Massachusetts Hospital Association implemented the same policy for its […]
Posted inOpinion
Add homes at train stops, reduce traffic
HIGH HOME PRICES and soaring rents. Countless hours spent sitting in traffic. This is all par for the course for Massachusetts residents, but it doesn’t have to be. Allowing modest […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Limpy the Turkey’s run ends on New Year’s Day
FOR READING’S BELOVED WILD FOWL, New Year’s Day brought great tragedy.   Limpy the Turkey had gained celebrity as he waddled around town for months, inspiring art, tee shirts, magnets, fundraisers in his name — […]
Posted inThe Download
MassDOT contractor facing heat after fatal collision
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is starting the new year reviewing a contract it has with a highway safety company after one of the firm’s employees was allegedly driving drunk […]
Posted inTransportation
MassDOT contractor facing heat after fatal collision
THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION is starting the new year reviewing a contract it has with a highway safety company after one of the firm’s employees was allegedly driving drunk during […]
Posted inTransportation
The big squeeze at Big Dig 2
THE MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE PROJECT that some are starting to call Big Dig 2 is struggling to squeeze 12 lanes, four railroad tracks, park land, a pedestrian path, and two bike […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
The folly of Baker’s drug price control plan
WHEN THE Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) selected Charlie Baker as Governor of the Year in 2018, the group may have misjudged Baker’s understanding of the industry. Baker recently offered legislation that […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Should private colleges open libraries to public?
LOCAL PRIVATE COLLEGES are divided on whether to open or close their libraries to the public. Harvard University, Northeastern University, and Emerson College don’t allow members of the public to […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Couple turns old mill into sprawling arts complex
VITEK KRUTA, a professional painter, sculptor, and conservator, originally went looking more than a decade ago for a larger studio space in Holyoke. Instead, he and his life partner, Lori […]
Posted inOpinion
The cost of insulin is skyrocketing
WITH MORE THAN 30 MILLION Americans living with diabetes, the chances are that you personally know someone with the disease. Here in New England, over 1.4 million individuals have diabetes […]
Posted inTransportation
Keolis crews get more training on switches
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MBTA AND KEOLIS will expand training programs for commuter rail personnel after an initial investigation determined that human error in switch usage caused a derailment […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Partners vowing to end surprise billing
Partners HealthCare is moving to eliminate surprise billing, where consumers receive large, unexpected hospital bills after unknowingly being treated by a doctor who doesn’t accept their insurance. The Partners policy […]