KEOLIS COMMUTER SERVICES said on Monday that its emerging fare verification initiative is spurring the sale of an average of 1,500 to 2,000 more electronic tickets a day for commuter […]
Fare verification spurs electronic ticket sales
Posted inHealth Care
Senate to unveil Medicaid legislation
THE SENATE IS PREPARING to unveil legislation designed to pare back the cost of health care and MassHealth by cobbling together ideas put forth by Gov. Charlie Baker, a commission […]
Posted inThe Download
The First Monday in October
While everyone’s focus is on President Trump’s battles with, well, everyone, one of the most important decisions he’s made so far will begin to show results today when the newly […]
Posted inOpinion
Airport workers need safety training
TRAVELERS HAVE AN expectation of safety and security, both in the air and during emergencies at America’s airports. Unfortunately, at many airports we are seeing that an integral group of […]
Posted inOpinion
Stopping climate change starts at home
AS OUR NATION RECOVERS from the damage of three devastating hurricanes and ravaging wildfires it is clear to most Americans that this increasingly severe weather is caused by a warming […]
Posted inEnvironment
Northern Pass hits another obstacle
THE TROUBLED NORTHERN PASS power line project was dealt another blow as the federal Environmental Protection Agency called for an additional 40-mile stretch of the transmission line to be buried […]
Posted inHealth Care
Time to get serious about health care cost control
THIS SUMMER, MASSACHUSETTS and the nation dodged a bullet when the Senate failed by one vote to repeal but not actually replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Had it passed, […]
Posted inThe Download
The great equalizer?
Public education is the great equalizer, the place where everyone gets the same chance to learn and develop to his or her full potential. Or so the mythology goes. In […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Forensic science commission is needed
LET’S TALK NUMBERS, specifically 23,595. As of June 1, 2017, that was the number of convictions that were vacated as a result of Annie Dookhan’s misconduct at the Hinton Drug […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
House, Senate poised to go separate ways on criminal justice bills
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE HOUSE AND SENATE appear poised to go their separate ways on the major issue of criminal justice reform, perhaps meeting in the middle at some […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
Rick Perry links pipelines, natural security
THERE WAS MORE NEWS out of Washington this week suggesting that the federal government could intervene to override local opposition to natural gas pipelines in order to protect national security. […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 68: Boston and Lawrence narrow mayoral fields
When it comes to the November match-ups for mayor in Boston and Lawrence, it looks like very different tales of two cities, one where a highly competitive race is now […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: Boston and Lawrence narrow mayoral fields
When it comes to the November match-ups for mayor in Boston and Lawrence, it looks like very different tales of two cities, one where a highly competitive race is now […]
Posted inTransportation
Polito promises transportation commission
LT. GOV. KARYN POLITO said the administration intends to follow the advice of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and sign an executive order creating a commission to examine the state’s transportation […]
Posted inTransportation
Business groups giving MBTA $500,000
A COALITION OF BUSINESS GROUPS plans to give the MBTA $500,000 on Monday to help pay for initiatives to recruit, train, and retrain workers. MBTA officials announced a series of […]
Posted inThe Download
Mixed messages on paying for transportation
These numbers from the 106-page report by a group of state senators on transportation in Massachusetts shouldn’t surprise anyone: 80 percent of respondents to a survey don’t think the transportation system […]
Posted inHealth Care
Graham-Cassidy would be devastating for Mass.
CHUCK IS A 58-YEAR-OLD MALE with multiple chronic physical and mental health conditions, including diabetes, congestive heart failure, kidney disease, and depression. On top of his urgent medical needs – […]
Posted inThe Download
Courting the PawSox
Two suitors are still wooing the Pawtucket Red Sox, and the style of courtship couldn’t be any different. Rhode Island’s approach is loud and raucous. The state’s Senate Finance Committee […]
Posted inOpinion
Make National Voter Registration Day worth celebrating
TODAY IS National Voter Registration Day. It also happens to be the day of Boston’s preliminary election. But there’s one way that Boston residents won’t be able to celebrate today’s […]
Posted inTransportation
Study raises transportation concerns, punts on solution
THE MASSACHUSETTS TAXPAYERS FOUNDATION released a report on Tuesday raising concerns about the state’s ability to maintain and improve its transportation infrastructure, but called for another study of the issues […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: RIDE call center consolidation delayed again
THE MBTA ON MONDAY said it is once again postponing the consolidation of all of its paratransit call centers under one roof, saying the company in charge of the operation […]
Posted inTransportation
T develops wish list for biz group funding
MBTA OFFICIALS, looking to one of the state’s business groups for help in hiring and retaining staff, unveiled a wish list of initiatives on Monday that could end up costing […]
Posted inThe Download
Knee pain
We should be focused on the destruction in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and other hard-hit places in the Caribbean. And on health care, as the Senate prepares to take […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Codfather’s day of reckoning is here
ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY, Federal District Court Judge William Young will sentence New Bedford-based fishing magnate Carlos Rafael for his extraordinary crimes. Sometimes referred to as “the Codfather,” Rafael pled […]