STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE US REP. NIKI TSONGAS, who has served in Congress since 2007, will not seek reelection in 2018. Tsongas, who is the widow of the late Sen. […]
Tsongas not seeking reelection
Posted inOpinion
States must step up on public corruption
IF YOU BLINKED, you likely missed the recent release of the report of the Massachusetts Task Force on Integrity in State and Local Government, which was established by state law […]
Posted inEnvironment
Pricing hints on Hydro-Quebec power
A LEAKED POWER CONTRACT between Hydro-Quebec and the province of Ontario may offer some insight into what kind of deal the utility is currently offering Massachusetts for hydro-electricity. The proposed […]
Posted inEducation
Lowell, UMass Lowell sign master agreement
UMass Lowell and the city of Lowell signed a historic master agreement that spells out the financial relationship between the municipality and its largest tax-exempt landholder. The deal commits the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Healey outlines criminal justice vision
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY sent a letter to two key lawmakers this week outlining her vision for criminal justice reform, including an overhaul of bail and […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Cambridge votes home-sharing regs
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IN THE ABSENCE OF A STATE STRATEGY to regulate short-term housing rentals, the Cambridge City Council voted Monday night to require hosts to live in the […]
Posted inPolitics
Rep. Straus’s idea is a really bad one
AUGUST. That lazy, hazy month without an official vacation day because, well, everyone is either on vacation or slowing down because everyone else is on vacation. Like that bewitching period […]
Posted inThe Download
Cracking the code on sexism
Tech giant Google is still grappling with the aftermath of a male employee’s sexist manifesto that went viral last week and got him fired on Monday. The brouhaha came only […]
Posted inTransportation
Getting inside the T’s union talks
IN APRIL, THE MBTA’S Fiscal and Management Control Board passed a budget that called for $8 million in savings from the authority’s bus maintenance operations during the current fiscal year, […]
Posted inThe Download
NYC subway system looks to Boston
In case you missed it, the New York City subway system is in crisis mode, and officials in the Big Apple are looking to Boston for some answers. At the […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Pick up the pace on clean energy
LOOK AND LISTEN, and you’ll see progress. Solar and wind power farms are cropping up across the landscape. Private sector investments are following good public policy, speeding the transition of […]
Posted inOpinion
Nixon legacy lives on through Trump
THE MEDIA AND VARIOUS JOURNALS are overflowing with comparisons of Donald Trump to many political figures past and present. A recent Harvard Political Review article compared Trump to Maine Governor […]
Posted inPolitics
Warren calls Baker detainer bill ‘un-American’
NEWTON MAYOR and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Setti Warren doubled-down on his criticism of Gov. Charlie Baker’s ICE detainer legislation on Friday, calling the governor’s proposal “un-American.” Baker’s bill seeks to […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 60: YIMBYs take on NIMBYs
While “not in my backyard” has become the default response to development proposals in many communities, in a few places NIMBY is starting to meet its match. YIMBY — which […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: YIMBYs take on NIMBYs
It has become almost axiomatic that communities will resist new housing development projects. They will generate unbearable traffic! There isn’t enough parking here! They’ll hurt property values! The developer wants […]
Posted inOpinion
Fenway is about more than baseball
“WHAT DOES GLORIA STEINEM have to do with baseball?” an annoyed Larry Lucchino wanted to know. Lucchino, who was the Red Sox president at the time, was responding to my […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker, Warren not far apart on ICE detainers
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE NEWTON MAYOR SETTI WARREN unleashed a blistering attack on Gov. Charlie Baker this week in response to the governor’s filing of legislation that would allow police, […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Does web browsing leave a public record?
THE STATE’S SUPERVISOR of public records says a state employee’s web browsing history is a public record, and has asked Attorney General Maura Healey to order the Baker administration to […]
Posted inTransportation
Mapping the T’s monopoles
Below is an interactive map developed by the MBTA showing the proposed locations of the 74-foot monopoles scheduled to go up along commuter rail lines to improve WiFi service on […]
Posted inThe Download
4 takeaways from sales tax moves
You could actually see an industry in transition on Wednesday. Amazon held a giant job fair at nearly a dozen of its US warehouses, including the one in Fall River, […]
Posted inOpinion
Escaping the news Thunderdome
FOLLOWING THE NEWS has become exhausting. We hardly know what to believe anymore. In response, many people now feel the need to curate reality, by pre-selecting news sources on their […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker makes last-minute sales tax holiday pitch
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Gov. Charlie Baker is mounting a late bid to return the popular sales tax holiday this year, formally asking lawmakers who have already begun their summer […]
Posted inThe Download
Here’s the Diehl
Geoff Diehl made it official last night by formally announcing his Republican run against US Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Somebody pass Charlie Baker the antacids. The Whitman state rep mixed his […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker bill seeks some immigration detainer cooperation
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A PUSH FROM THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION to respond to a Supreme Judicial Court ruling and reinstate a policy allowing state and local police to cooperate, on […]