Voters opted last month to scrap the state’s MCAS test as a high school graduation requirement. Exactly what will be required of students in its place in order to receive a diploma seems as clear as mud.Â
Where does MCAS ballot question leave the high school grad requirement? It’s far from clearÂ
Posted inOpinion
Putting the public back in public transit
We need a long-term plan to fix transportation in all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. And it’s going to cost money.
Posted inEnergy
State announces $3.5 million fund for stakeholders to intervene in the utility siting process
A new fund, expected to be up and running in March of 2026, aims to help balance the influence of utility companies and impacted communities – funding groups who would legally be able to participate or intervene in utility siting decisions but for the cost. Â
Posted inOpinion
White Stadium plan even more questionable now
Mayor Wu, a major cheerleader for the project, has dug in her heels (perhaps in quicksand), saying the city is committed to paying for half the project, “no matter what it costs.”
Posted inThe Codcast
Parking minimums are out in Somerville
This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon’s Jennifer Smith chats with Somerville City Council President Ben Ewen-Campen about Somerville’s zoning amendment to eliminate parking minimums for new development.
Posted inGovernment
Parking minimums topple in Somerville
In a Thursday night vote, the Somerville City Council passed a new zoning ordinance waving away baseline parking requirements for new construction. It is the second municipality in Massachusetts to do so citywide.
Posted inHousing
In Fall River, the scarcity and cost of housing helped turn a blue city red
FALL RIVER turned red in last month’s election, carried by the Republican presidential nominee for the first time in 100 years, shocking Democrats, and launching a search to find what […]
Posted inState Government
Political Notebook: When a governor blowtorched a fascist and other tales
Those tales and others are detailed in a new book from Josh Cutler, a former Democratic lawmaker from Duxbury who joined Gov. Maura Healey’s administration earlier this year.
Posted inTransportation
Gas tax third rail haunts transportation funding debates
The fate of the gas tax – a major source of transportation funding generated by people paying at the pump – in the electric car era looms over discussion of how to fund the state’s transit system. As the deadline nears for a task force to make recommendations on revenues, the gas tax is the elephant in the room.
Posted inOpinion
Good news about news in Waltham
The Waltham Times is the latest entry in an emerging sector of nonprofit local news outlets. Some two dozen Massachusetts communities are now home to citizen-led news enterprises aiming to fill the void left by the shuttering or hollowing out of community newspapers that once served as key pillars of the local civic infrastructure.
Posted inEducation
Community colleges are increasingly enrolling students with significant skill deficits, study findsÂ
Earning two-year community college degrees in health care or STEM fields can put young people on a solid course to better earnings in well-paid fields with high demand for workers in Massachusetts, but there are big gaps in those seeking these degrees between students from low-income and better-off households.Â
Posted inHealth
New law grants pathway for foreign-trained doctors to fill Massachusetts physician shortage
Foreign-trained doctors will soon be able to practice medicine again through a new law that will help the state address its severe primary care physician shortage.
Posted inTransportation
After high-level meeting, massive I-90 Allston project remains a work in progress
At a meeting this week of high-level state and city leaders, there were signs that elements of the I-90 Allston project are still fluid, and state officials are racing to lock in federal funding amid concerns that the incoming Republican administration may try to punish the heavily Democratic Bay State.
Posted inTransportation
Free bus rides help regional transit hit new highs
Ridership among regional transit authorities shot up to 2.345 million in June 2024, surpassing the pre-Covid level of 2.131 million rides in June 2019. RTA officials cheered the newly fare-free bus rides people are taking around the state.
Posted inEducation
US Supreme Court passes on Boston exam school challenge
For the second time this year, the US Supreme Court opted against weighing in on policies that use geographic proxies for race to allow more Black and Latino students to enroll in competitive high schools.
Posted inThe Codcast
Does AI interfere in our democracy?
This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon’s Jennifer Smith is joined by Bruce Schneier, fellow and lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and Nathan Sanders, fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. They discuss how AI has the power to strengthen civic engagement in elections and policymaking, the importance of transparency it its use, and how it can be developed to prioritize democratic values.
Posted inGovernment
Researchers find some worry, some hope for AI in democracy
The risks are serious, but focusing only on artificial intelligence misinformation threatens to overtake conversations about where AI has been most impactful as a mass communication tool.