Two of the state’s leading health care analysts say they aren’t sure whether creating a powerful alternative to Partners HealthCare will reduce health care costs in Massachusetts or increase them. […]
Episode 93: A devilish health care merger
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: A devilish health care merger
Two of the state’s leading health care analysts say they aren’t sure whether creating a powerful alternative to Partners HealthCare will reduce health care costs in Massachusetts or increase them. […]
Posted inOpinion
Unlikely partners protect contraceptive coverage
A YEAR AGO IN MASSACHUSETTS, reproductive freedom advocates and health insurance plans sat down for an unlikely meeting: to find a way to protect access to birth control in the […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. needs to move much faster on electric buses
MASSACHUSETTS HAS AN AIR POLLUTION problem, specifically a diesel pollution problem. Our state has the highest health risk from diesel soot in New England. The Environmental Protection Agency’s recent rollback […]
Posted inEnvironment
On climate action, do not hit snooze
MARK TWAIN’S WITTY aphorism that climate is what you expect and weather is what you get has been sorely tested in Boston and the northeast this past quarter. If the weather […]
Posted inOpinion
Human service workers woefully underpaid
PUBLIC SERVICE PAY has been in the news. From reports that the former UMass basketball coach was paid over $1 million to an audit that discovered some State Police troopers […]
Posted inOpinion
In the race for governor, I’m the only true progressive
OUR SUCCESS AS A DEMOCRACY depends on our ability to harness capitalism to establish a fair and sustainable society. Just over a century ago in the Progressive Era, Republican President […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Criminal justice bill reaches finish line
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER signed sweeping criminal justice legislation on Friday, capping several years of discussion on Beacon Hill and casting Massachusetts squarely in the national wave of rethinking tough-on-crime laws […]
Posted inOpinion
Too many municipal marijuana bottlenecks
APPLICATIONS FOR ADULT-USE MARIJUANA licenses have begun to pour into the state’s newly created Cannabis Control Commission with likely several hundred applications expected in 2018 alone. The commission has quickly […]
Posted inPolitics
Is Baker an honorary Democrat?
Democrats nationally may be united against the Republican in the White House, but here in Massachusetts the donkeys seem to think our Republican governor is one of their own. Members […]
Posted inThe Download
Is Baker an honorary Democrat?
Democrats nationally may be united against the Republican in the White House, but here in Massachusetts the donkeys seem to think our Republican governor is one of their own. Members […]
Posted inGambling
Steve Wynn’s residual influence
Steve Wynn is gone from the company that bears his name, but is his influence really gone? It’s a question the members of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission are starting to […]
Posted inPolitics
The Ryan reverberations
Wednesday was just another day in the nation’s capital. Which is to say that the president seemed increasingly unhinged and the chaos and fear that he has unleashed within his […]
Posted inThe Download
The Ryan reverberations
Wednesday was just another day in the nation’s capital. Which is to say that the president seemed increasingly unhinged and the chaos and fear that he has unleashed within his […]
Posted inUncategorized
Boston Herald editorial page editor riddle answered
THE MYSTERY OF the Boston Herald editorial page editor is over. Tom Shattuck, a former talk radio producer who has run the paper’s online radio station and written op-ed columns, […]
Posted inOpinion
What’s in a name?
BOSTON RED SOX OWNER John Henry says he is “haunted” by the fact that a street that abuts Fenway Park, Yawkey Way, is named after a man many consider to […]
Posted inPolitics
Ryan’s announcement reverberates in Mass.
HOUSE SPEAKER PAUL RYAN announced on Wednesday that he was stepping down at the end of this term to spend more time with his family, but US Rep. Michael Capuano […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
House budget proposes new re-entry spending
ONE WEEK AFTER the Legislature passed sweeping new criminal justice reform reforms aimed at turning the system away from incarceration and toward second chances and rehabilitation, the House is proposing […]
Posted inTransportation
Sanchez ups T appropriation by $27m
THE HOUSE’S BUDGET CHIEF on Wednesday rejected a provision sought by the MBTA and Gov. Charlie Baker that would have spared the transit authority from taking a $27 million hit […]
Posted inTransportation
Moulton, Baker to meet on N-S Rail Link
US Rep. Seth Moulton indicated his push for a rail link between North and South stations in Boston is picking up some momentum. He told a small group of business […]
Posted inThe Download
Moulton, Baker to meet on N-S Rail Link
US Rep. Seth Moulton indicated his push for a rail link between North and South stations in Boston is picking up some momentum. He told a small group of business […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
A first take from Suffolk DA hopefuls
THE FIRST candidate forum in the race for Suffolk County district attorney gave the five Democrats running a chance to lay out their vision for the office and, in one […]
Posted inHealth Care
Tufts CEO slams BI-Lahey merger
THE CEO OF TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER took issue with the stated rationale behind the proposed megamerger of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Lahey Health, and several other hospitals, saying the […]
Posted inUncategorized
CommonWealth’s Spring 2018 issue is out!
Here’s a rundown of what’s in our spring print issue, which is in the mail and available online. You may have heard something about infighting in Fall River between wunderkind […]