MASSACHUSETTS SHIFTED GEARS on its multi-billion-dollar clean energy procurement Wednesday, dropping Northern Pass because of the project’s failure to obtain one last, key permit from the state of New Hampshire […]
Next up, Central Maine Power
Posted inOpinion
The Boston climate trial that might have been
“THE IDEA THAT natural gas combats climate change is a sleight of hand,” writes Bill McKibben in a recent essay that pulls no punches. “No one wants to hear this,” […]
Posted inThe Download
Three takes on Lottery move
There are three ways to look at the Massachusetts Lottery’s decision to move its headquarters from Braintree to Dorchester. From an economic perspective, the move is expected to hike costs. […]
Posted inGambling
Lottery leaving Braintree for Dorchester
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MASSACHUSETTS LOTTERY plans to try a change of scenery, moving its administrative staff from its longtime headquarters in Braintree a few miles north to Dorchester. […]
Posted inEnvironment
No decision yet on clean energy procurement
THE STATE’S THREE UTILITIES apparently have decided that a Tuesday deadline means they have until midnight, so there was no word as of Tuesday evening on the winner of the […]
Posted inOpinion
New England’s largest battery
Editor’s note: An op-ed critical of Northfield written by Karl Meyer was published on March 17. AS THE LARGEST BATTERY in New England, FirstLight Power’s Northfield Mountain pumped-hydro storage facility […]
Posted inEnvironment
Deepwater Wind commits to local foundation facility
DEEPWATER WIND said on Tuesday that it would assemble its turbine foundations in Massachusetts if it is awarded a state-authorized contract to build a wind farm off the coast of […]
Posted inThe Download
A nuclear dinosaur
What do you do with an aging nuclear power plant that is going to be closed anyway in a little more than a year? As the shutdown date for the Pilgrim […]
Posted inOpinion
Buses, not gondolas, are the answer
Second of two parts WHILE A GONDOLA WON’T FLY at South Station, there’s a simple solution to the mobility issues confronting the Seaport District and the basic infrastructure is already […]
Posted inTransportation
T eyeing congestion pricing for parking
THE MBTA APPEARS TO BE considering a form of congestion pricing for its parking garages. Congestion pricing has become a hot topic in transportation circles lately as advocates push for […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 90: Time to talk about buses
We spend a lot of time talking about gondolas and autonomous vehicles, but not enough time talking about buses. Yeah, buses. A report issued this month by the Livable Streets […]
Posted inTransportation
Time to talk about buses
We spend a lot of time talking about gondolas and autonomous vehicles, but not enough time talking about buses. Yeah, buses. A report issued this month by the Livable Streets Alliance […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: Time to talk about buses
We spend a lot of time talking about gondolas and autonomous vehicles, but not enough time talking about buses. Yeah, buses. A report issued this month by the Livable Streets Alliance […]
Posted inOpinion
Forget the gondola, there’s nowhere to put it
Unlike Elon Musk’s latest foray in to urban transportation, which involves several as yet non-existent technologies, the idea for a Summer Street gondola is something which at least has been […]
Posted inOpinion
Why free speech must be defended
ON SATURDAY – and earlier this month – students around the country organized marches and staged a nationwide walkout to honor the lives of the 17 people killed at Marjory […]
Posted inPolitics
‘A child shall lead them’
ONE OF US (LSD) is a Democrat. The other (PR) is a Republican. We disagree on many issues, but on the issue of access to assault rifles, we are in […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Compromise criminal justice bill unveiled
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A HANDFUL OF MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES for drug offenses would be repealed and the state’s approach to juvenile offenders overhauled in a sweeping criminal justice bill […]
Posted inOpinion
Down-ballot races heating up in Mass.
2018 WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE YEAR of blockbuster matchups in Massachusetts. The de facto leaders of both parties are running for reelection, offering the prospect of bruising contests for […]
Posted inOpinion
Two takes on the Yawkey Way controversy
PHILLIPS: A COMPROMISE WAY FORWARD There is a simple but equitable solution to the current controversy over the name Yawkey Way, the little street that runs alongside Fenway Park that […]
Posted inThe Download
State Police shield is tarnished
The Massachusetts State Police, long viewed as a model professional law enforcement agency with funny-looking uniforms, is going through one of the toughest times in its 153-year history and there are […]
Posted inPolitics
House passes new tax on short-term rentals
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE TRYING TO BRING STATE LAW in line with the new ways in which people rent short-term lodging, the Massachusetts House on Thursday passed legislation to regulate […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Spilka followed Rosenberg playbook
Sen. Karen Spilka of Ashland appears to have followed the playbook of the former Senate president, Stan Rosenberg, in pulling together the votes she needed to become the chamber’s next […]
Posted inThe Download
Social media maelstrom
Facebook’s billionaire founder Mark Zuckerberg finally stepped out yesterday to try to stanch the bleeding that has his empire under full-scale assault after revelations that information on 50 million users […]
Posted inPolitics
Spilka secures votes for Senate president
SENATE WAYS AND MEANS Committee chairwoman Karen Spilka has secured the votes to become the next Senate president, according to State House sources. Spilka, an Ashland Democrat, was one of four […]