HIGHER EDUCATION FUNDING and the cost of attending the University of Massachusetts generated significant controversy in the budget just passed by the Massachusetts Legislature and signed by Gov. Charlie Baker. […]
Legislature should look to private donations to fund UMass
Posted inHealth Care
Harvard Pilgrim, Tufts to pursue merger
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE TWO OF THE state’s largest health insurers on Wednesday announced plans to merge into a new, combined organization that Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health […]
Posted inGuns
Gun violence prevention program needs to engage community
LAST YEAR, when the National Rifle Association told physicians advocating for increased gun control to “stay in their lane,” the move backfired for the organization by inspiring emergency room doctors […]
Posted inEnvironment
Mass. beaches get tough water quality grade
It’s a great line in a throwback Boston-themed tune, but no one is eager to make “love that dirty water” a Massachusetts-wide phrase. A study released Tuesday says waters of […]
Posted inThe Download
Mass. beaches get tough water quality grade
It’s a great line in a throwback Boston-themed tune, but no one is eager to make “love that dirty water” a Massachusetts-wide phrase. A study released Tuesday says waters of […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Vineyard Wind review could extend into 2020
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH A CRITICAL permit for the Vineyard Wind project on hold so the federal government can launch a new study of the burgeoning offshore wind industry and […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Police group blasts Warren over Ferguson comments
ELIZABETH WARREN IS IN HOT WATER over a comment marking the fifth anniversary of the Ferguson, Missouri, police shooting of Michael Brown. Warren tweeted that Officer Darren Wilson “murdered” the 18-year-old black man […]
Posted inTransportation
Getting MBTA capital spending on track
THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE must free the MBTA from overly restrictive procurement methods and the T must dramatically increase its project and contract management capacity if it is to reach aggressive […]
Posted inGambling
Brawls at Everett casino? You bet
WERE THE BRAWLS that became the main attraction at Encore Boston Harbor early Monday morning an unfortunate aberration, or is this just the cost of doing casino business? We’ll know […]
Posted inThe Download
Brawls at Everett casino? You bet.
Were the brawls that became the main attraction at Encore Boston Harbor early Monday morning an unfortunate aberration, or is this just the cost of doing casino business? We’ll know […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Vineyard Wind vows to move forward despite fed hold-up
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE VINEYARD WIND ON Monday vowed that it will move forward with its $2.8 billion, 84-turbine wind farm project despite a new delay caused by the federal […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Accelerated work means more closures on T
RESPONDING TO Gov. Charlie Baker’s urging to accelerate repairs even if that means more weekend and overnight closures, the MBTA announced a plan to step up work on the Red, […]
Posted inPolitics
New rule could deny more immigrants green cards
AN ESTIMATED 500,000 immigrant households in Massachusetts could see their path to permanent residency cut off by a new immigration policy put forward by the Trump administration. US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on Monday that […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Breaking down “Operation Clean Sweep”
How do you balance public safety and neighborhood quality of life concerns with support for the most marginalized people in a community? Those issues exploded into public view with the […]
Posted inTransportation
Now arriving: First new Orange Line cars in almost 40 years
SIX NEW MBTA Orange Line cars will enter service Wednesday, the first new cars in what will eventually be a complete replacement of the fleet that entered service around 1980. […]
Posted inUncategorized
Breaking down “Operation Clean Sweep”
How do you balance public safety and neighborhood quality of life concerns with support for the most marginalized people in a community? Those issues exploded into public view with the […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: Breaking down “Operation Clean Sweep”
How do you balance public safety and neighborhood quality of life concerns with support for the most marginalized people in a community? Those issues exploded into public view with the […]
Posted inEnvironment
Vineyard Wind layout tough issue for regulators
VINEYARD WIND’S TURBINE LAYOUT is likely one of the sticking points that prompted federal regulators late last week to expand their environmental review of the wind farm to include an analysis […]
Posted inOpinion
SE Mass. deserves casino gambling discussion
THE ROAD TO CASINO gaming in Massachusetts has been long and winding, but nowhere as much as the place where it began – southeastern Massachusetts. It’s been nearly eight years […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
The complicated legacy of ‘broken windows’ policing
DRAWING ON LESSONS he learned as a seminarian, social worker, and then probation officer, George Kelling became a major thinker on law enforcement, envisioning a new approach to policing that […]
Posted inOpinion
Mayors of Salem, Holyoke call for carbon fee
WE ARE THE MAYORS of Salem and Holyoke, two medium-sized Gateway Cities. Our communities are more than 100 miles apart, but both are feeling the impacts of climate change. We […]
Posted inTransportation
T completes some Red Line signal improvements
THE MBTA SAYS it has restored automated signal systems between the JFK/UMass and Broadway stations that were damaged in the June 11 derailment, eliminating the need for manual signaling on […]
Posted inEnvironment
Feds call for more study on Vineyard Wind
IN A DECISION that could derail Vineyard Wind, federal regulators on Friday put their review of the project on hold temporarily while they seek to better understand the cumulative impact […]
Posted inNews Analysis
Did Liss-Riordan overstep on Second Amendment?
FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS about American’s constitutional right to bear arms are roiling the Massachusetts Democratic primary for US Senate. After mass shootings, a distressingly occurrence in American politics, the debate typically […]