THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION is attempting to deport Vietnamese immigrants and refugees who arrived in the US more than 20 years ago, ignoring a commitment honored by two previous presidents and […]
Trump’s Vietnamese policy is abhorrent
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Lawmaker salaries going up 5.9%
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE TWO YEARS AFTER legislators ignited an uproar by voting through a generous package of pay raises for themselves and other public officials, the salaries for top […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
New civics law should spur study of race and urban violence
THE STRENGTHENED MASSACHUSETTS civics standards for schools that was signed into law last month may well contain an unexpected benefit that will bolster the core of the state’s democracy: It […]
Posted inOpinion
The sorority defense doesn’t stand up
SEVERAL CURRENT and former Harvard sororities and fraternities recently sued Harvard in both state and federal courts, citing gender discrimination that violates Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 […]
Posted inOpinion
Broken transportation system needs new revenue
SINCE JANUARY, the segment of the Massachusetts civic community with an interest in transportation and climate change has been waiting for the report requested by Gov. Charlie Baker of his […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker in no rush on Grid bill
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER indicated on Monday that he doesn’t plan to immediately sign a bill extending the unemployment benefits of locked-out workers. As expected, the Legislature completed a few procedural […]
Posted inTransportation
A Transit Holiday Season
JIM ALOISI likes to write a holiday verse every year for CommonWealth, and this year he went all out. This year’s ditty is a clever take on linking the Red […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 130: For 2018, it’s a wrap
Republican Jenn Nassour and Democrat Jesse Mermell tee up a year-end conversation for the final 2018 installment of “Disagreeing Agreeably” on the Codcast. To help them, they brought in guests […]
Posted inOpinion
Boston’s congestion prompted me to move
I MOVED TO BOSTON from New London, Connecticut, in my early thirties, in 1994. The reasons were both professional and personal. As a still young-ish lawyer interested in real estate […]
Posted inEducation
Time to end food insecurity among Mass. children
WITH THE HOLIDAY season upon us, many of us find ourselves enjoying quality time with family and friends, often spoiled with delicious food. Yet, many of us can remember a […]
Posted inPolitics
House goes with Senate approach on Grid legislation
HOUSE LEADERSHIP spent all day thinking about it, but in the end decided to go with the Senate’s approach to extending unemployment benefits to locked-out steelworkers – most immediately to […]
Posted inNews Analysis
Census politics
THE LATEST CENSUS population figures are out, and Massachusetts is keeping pace with national population growth. The state’s population grew to nearly 7 million people at a rate of 0.6 […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: For 2018, it’s a wrap
Republican Jenn Nassour and Democrat Jesse Mermell tee up a year-end conversation for the final 2018 installment of “Disagreeing Agreeably” on the Codcast. To help them, they brought in guests […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Rollins brings mandate for change – and blunt style – to Suffolk DA’s job
RACHAEL ROLLINS DEFIED expectations when she rolled to a decisive victory this fall in the race for Suffolk County district attorney. She won a five-way Democratic primary, outpacing a field […]
Posted inPolitics
Lawmakers reach short-term rental agreement
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH THE CLOCK TICKING on the end of the two-year session, House and Senate leaders finalized a deal Thursday to tax and regulate short-term housing rentals […]
Posted inPolitics
House, Senate at odds on Grid legislation
THE SENATE APPROVED legislation on Thursday that would extend the unemployment benefits of 1,250 locked-out National Grid workers, but the measure, at least temporarily, stalled in the House, which passed […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Are Chinese rail cars a Trojan horse?
AS IF THE MBTA doesn’t have enough trouble keeping its aging fleet of trains going, a state lawmaker is warning that the cure may be worse than the disease. State […]
Posted inPolitics
Columbus on hot seat in Framingham
THE LIST OF EARLY-ADOPTER Massachusetts communities that have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day is about what you’d expect: Amherst, Northampton, Cambridge, Brookline, and Somerville. School committees in Mashpee […]
Posted inThe Download
Columbus on hot seat in Framingham
The list of early-adopter Massachusetts communities that have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day is about what you’d expect: Amherst, Northampton, Cambridge, Brookline, and Somerville. School committees in Mashpee […]
Posted inOpinion
Ex-lobbyist reveals how the House really works
AT THE MASSACHUSETTS State House, I stepped outside of a packed hearing on updating the state’s bottle bill to speak with a young reporter for a western Massachusetts weekly. I […]
Posted inOpinion
The state’s social contract with utilities
THE ONGOING LOCKOUT of about 1,250 workers by National Grid raises important conflicts between the provisions of labor law and the statutes governing the public service obligations of the state’s […]
Posted inEconomy
Baker backs more worker benefits if Grid lockout doesn’t end soon
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER acknowledged on Wednesday that extending the unemployment benefits of locked-out National Grid workers would be an “unusual precedent,” but he said he was willing to take that […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Trump the criminal justice reformer
EFFORTS TO REFORM the US criminal justice system have been characterized by an alliance of unlikely bedfellows, with liberal groups like the ACLU joining with Right on Crime, a conservative […]
Posted inThe Download
Trump the criminal justice reformer
Efforts to reform the US criminal justice system have been characterized by an alliance of unlikely bedfellows, with liberal groups like the ACLU joining with Right on Crime, a conservative […]