Someday soon, perhaps even today, Supreme Court Justice Frank Graziano will sign an order dismissing charges against about 8,000 drug defendants whose cases were caught up in the misconduct by state […]
The cost of the drug war
Posted inHealth Care
GIC health premiums will fall or stay flat
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ABOUT HALF THE MORE than 430,000 people covered by Group Insurance Commission plans will see a decrease in their premiums in fiscal 2019 and on average […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Special elections ready-made for insiders
THE CANDIDATES ARE off and running in the short sprint to the April 3 special election primary to fill the state Senate seat vacated in late January by Linda Forry. […]
Posted inThe Download
State pot bank a long shot
The chairman of the  Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission floated the idea of opening a state-run bank to serve marijuana businesses, but the idea faces a lot of hurdles. Steve Hoffman, […]
Posted inOpinion
The T is failing before our very eyes
IT WAS déjà vu all over again. Wednesday’s Red Line meltdown didn’t happen because of harsh winter weather. Ironically, it happened during a gloriously warm day in February, a day […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
McAuliffe says she’ll be the ‘progressive change candidate’ for DA
SHANNON MCAULIFFE may have to shift gears from a campaign that was preparing to challenge a 16-year incumbent to what is now a wide-open race for Suffolk County district attorney, […]
Posted inTransportation
Derailment at Andrew Station snarls commute
A NORTHBOUND RED LINE TRAIN derailed Wednesday morning at 9:20 a.m. as it approached Andrew Station, damaging about 300 feet of the electrified third rail and severely disrupting the morning […]
Posted inThe Download
The kids are all right
It’s always hard to know a particular moment in time is the turning point in a debate. In hindsight, marking the point is easy but in the midst of a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Conley won’t seek reelection as Suffolk DA
SUFFOLK COUNTY District Attorney Daniel Conley shook up the legal landscape on Tuesday with word that he won’t seek reelection this fall. The news came as a longtime Boston defense […]
Posted inEnvironment
Eversource to seek Northern Pass reconsideration
EVERSOURCE ENERGY, which is facing a March 27 deadline to get its Northern Pass project back on track, is planning to ask a New Hampshire regulatory board to reconsider its […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 85: Outsourcing works at other transit agencies
On this week’s Codcast, Josh Fairchild and Jim Aloisi of TransitMatters interview David Bragdon, the executive director of TransitCenter in New York City, and Neil Smith, the executive director of […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: Outsourcing works at other transit agencies
This week’s Codcast suggests Massachusetts has a lot of work to do when it comes to farming out government work to private contractors. The Legislature granted the MBTA a three-year […]
Posted inOpinion
With more control, communities choose clean energy
ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS, COMMUNITIES are taking control over where their energy comes from. By leveraging local bulk purchasing power, more than 100 towns and cities in the Bay State have increased […]
Posted inGambling
A campaign that may be all about nuance
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ON THEÂ BANKS of the Mystic River, workers have been building a structure envisioned by Steve Wynn, the casino magnate who recently relinquished control of his […]
Posted inOpinion
He brought Boston back from the brink
FOR THOSE WHO REMEMBER Boston television news in the pre-cable days, Jack Hynes was a powerful media presence for decades. He anchored the news with a gravitas that made you […]
Posted inOpinion
Millionaire tax wrong way to play Robin Hood
THE MILLIONAIRE TAX is a brilliantly marketed bad idea. It’s hard not to find appeal in the concept of higher taxes on top earners when income disparity has grown dramatically […]
Posted inEnvironment
Baker selects backup for Northern Pass
THE MASSACHUSETTS CLEAN ENERGY PROCUREMENT took another odd turn on Friday as officials entered into contract negotiations with a second transmission company with ties to Hydro-Quebec while giving Northern Pass […]
Posted inOpinion
Winter costs make region cold for business
TO SAY THAT this has been a tough winter is an understatement. Already, we’ve seen record cold snaps, soaring energy bills and story after story about how Massachusetts has burned […]
Posted inOpinion
Storage, not new pipelines, is the answer
MASSACHUSETTS POLICYMAKERS face a serious choice in 2018: do they meet impending reliability challenges with 20th Century technologies that require interminable and inevitable battles over infrastructure siting, or do they […]
Posted inThe Download
Death spiral in Worcester?
In Worcester, officials are worried that their transit agency may be in the midst of a death spiral. With state funding trending downward the last four years, the Worcester Regional […]
Posted inEnvironment
Healey unveils new renewable energy targets
ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY on Thursday said Massachusetts should meet 50 percent or more of its electric power needs with renewable energy by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050. She […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Find Mass. money – and then waitÂ
If you have unclaimed property listed with the state treasurer’s office, don’t make plans to spend it – or even get it – any time soon.  After years of urging people to […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. Fiscal Alliance’s hollow defense of dark money
THE DARK MONEY political operation Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance has been mounting a campaign against regulatory changes proposed by the Office of Campaign and Political Finance to enhance disclosure of money […]
Posted inThe Download
Radio sensitivity
Radio, like all aspects of the media not created or controlled by the internet, is feeling the pressure to show results. Nowhere is that more apparent than talk radio and […]