FRIGID LOW TEMPERATURES are pushing up energy demand across New England, sending the price of natural gas soaring and prompting many of the region’s power generators to switch from gas […]
Frigid weather causing spike in natural gas prices
Posted inThe Back Story
How John Henry ended up buying the Globe for nothing
IT TOOK A LITTLE LONGER than he planned, but John Henry managed to purchase the Boston Globe and a new printing facility in Taunton for nothing. Henry, a billionaire who […]
Posted inPolitics
Crighton only name on ballot for Senate seat
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN, but Rep. Brendan Crighton of Lynn is poised to become the newest senator on the North Shore. Crighton will walk uncontested on the […]
Posted inArts and Culture
City Hall skating fees raise some eyebrows
SHANE MURPHY, a resident of Springfield, was walking around Faneuil Hall with his date recently when he decided to visit the newly minted skating rink on Boston’s City Hall Plaza. […]
Posted inOpinion
Fiscal irresponsibility from Mass Fiscal Alliance
IN DECEMBER, when you open your mailbox, you’re used to the usual flow of holiday cards from relatives and old friends, as well as end-of-year fundraising solicitations. However, residents of […]
Posted inEducation
Pool teachers not unwanted, just underutilized
I’VE BEEN AN EDUCATOR IN BOSTON public schools for more than 30 years. I am a high school biology teacher, who holds a graduate degree from Harvard. I spent three […]
Posted inOpinion
Francis Appleton, a man on autopilot
Author’s Note: This story will disappoint you if you approach it expecting a Christmas ghost story. No eerie images appear on doorknockers, no apparitions escort our protagonist to ancient graveyards. […]
Posted inOpinion
Notes from the ACA front lines
THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT is still the law of the land after a series of failed attacks in Congress. Still, in many states, the time frame for enrolling in the […]
Posted inThe Download
The name game
The Boston Globe finally published the name of the political reporter who was forced to resign after inappropriate advances to a colleague and two women outside the company. But that’s not […]
Posted inUncategorized
O’Sullivan apologizes, McGrory says mistake not to name him
On Thursday evening, CommonWealth received the statement below from former Boston Globe reporter Jim O’Sullivan shortly after the Globe posted online a note to readers from editor Brian McGrory in […]
Posted inThe Back Story
West Station vs. Boston Landing
SOMETHING SEEMS AMISS with the state’s ridership numbers for the proposed West Station in Allston. The draft environmental impact report for the Allston Interchange forecasts 250 daily commuter riders and […]
Posted inThe Download
Did GOP strengthen Affordable Care Act?
Along with celebrating a major revamp of tax rates — which will generate a windfall for lots of companies and wealthy individuals like himself — President Trump is crowing about […]
Posted inEnvironment
Offshore wind: Start big or small?
THE THREE COMPANIES VYING to build the first major offshore wind farm in the United States filed their proposals on Wednesday with Massachusetts officials. Each of the firms kept their […]
Posted inOpinion
Tax cut’s silver linings playbook
A CORE TENET of behavioral economics is that most of us are biased toward optimism. I plead guilty. Today’s Exhibit A of my optimism bias is the Republican federal tax […]
Posted inThe Download
Cardinal sins
Celebrations of someone’s death are saved for the most heinous and reviled among the human population, but it is safe to say those who are sad about the passing of […]
Posted inThe Download
Are PawSox gearing up for a move?
If the Pawtucket Red Sox move to Worcester, would they be called the WorSox? Questions like that are beginning to surface as headlines suggest the Red Sox farm team may […]
Posted inPolitics
Lawyers hired to investigate Rosenberg
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A TEAM OF LAWYERS, including a former federal prosecutor who helped put one-time House Speaker Sal DiMasi in prison for public corruption, has been retained by […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Bus lanes do save time
MBTA OFFICIALS ON MONDAY said initial results from two experiments in Boston and Somerville showed dedicated bus lanes could dramatically cut route times. Jeffrey Gonneville, the T’s deputy general manager, […]
Posted inTransportation
More hurdles for bus maintenance outsourcing
THE MBTA’S POLITICALLY CONTROVERSIAL PLAN to outsource three bus maintenance garages encountered more obstacles on Monday as the agency grappled with negative fallout from two past privatization efforts and learned […]
Posted inTransportation
Worcester Line performance improves dramatically
T OFFICIALS SAY A NEW APPROACH to dealing with commuter rail delays improved performance dramatically on the Worcester Line, which in November had its best month in terms of on-time […]
Posted inUncategorized
Sources: Beacon Hill encounters cost Globe reporter his job
A PROMINENT BOSTON GLOBE State House reporter, who was the subject of an internal sexual harassment complaint, was forced out last month after reporters and editors at the paper learned […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 78: The case for West Station now
In this week’s Codcast, the folks from TransitMatters (Josh Fairchild and James Aloisi) sit down with Jessica Robertson and Ari Ofsevit, two members of the Allston Interchange Task Force (Ofsevit […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: The case for West Station now
The fight over the proposed West Station in Allston is shaping up as an epic transportation struggle. Harvard University is planning to build a new neighborhood in Allston and the […]
Posted inOpinion
Testing isn’t punishment, it’s a matter of social justice
LAST YEAR WHILE CASUALLY asking my son about taking his first MCAS exam as a third grader, he responded with an adverse physical reaction at the mere mention of the […]