TWO VERY DIFFERENT strategies are beginning to emerge as three offshore wind companies prepare to vie for up to 1,600 megawatts of contracts with the state of Massachusetts. The powerhouse […]
Competing strategies emerge on offshore wind
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Party like it’s 1999
It would be fair to say the organizers of the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in South Boston made a Wacko decision. As in the late John “Wacko” Hurley, the longtime […]
Posted inTransportation
Baker leaves door cracked on Pacheco Law suspension
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said on Wednesday that he has no current plans to seek a longer suspension of the Pacheco Law on behalf of the MBTA, but indicated his thinking […]
Posted inPolitics
Emotional Baker nixes walking in St. Pat’s parade
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER indicated on Wednesday that he will probably not march in the Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade because OUTVETS, a group of gay veterans, is not being allowed […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
GOP dog catches the health-care car
The Republicans have finally rolled out their replacement for the Affordable Care Act, but the long-awaited health care fix may need some immediate resuscitation efforts. Opposition from conservative Republicans in […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Trump’s puzzling clean energy stance
Celebrate or despise his politics, it is hard not to acknowledge the brilliance of President Trump as a competitive opportunist. His business and political success is a long history of […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Health panel finds some common ground
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AFTER SIX MONTHS OF SEEKING WAYS to address the variation in prices charged by Massachusetts medical providers, officials plan to recommend a host of solutions including […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Sparks fly on electric vehicle provision
A FIGHT IS BREWING on Beacon Hill over how far the state should go in promoting the adoption of zero emission vehicles. Environmental advocates and many state lawmakers want new […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Panel badly split on health care pricing
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE DIFFERENCES AMONG MEMBERS of a 23-person commission examining health care pricing variations were on full display Tuesday on the 21st floor of One Ashburton Place. Commission […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Four takes on the human condition
Today’s Boston Globe includes several random articles that illuminate some of the ways we interact — or fail to interact — with each other in these troubled times. Story No. […]
Posted inTransportation
Baker taking pass on Pacheco Law
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION is showing no signs it will push the Legislature for an extension of the MBTA’s three-year exemption from the Pacheco Law, which regulates how state agencies can […]
Posted inTransportation
Keolis plans to put up fare gates at 3 stations
THE MBTA’S COMMUTER RAIL OPERATOR received the green light on Monday to launch a five-year campaign to cut down on fare evasion and increase ridership, with the $9 million-a-year cost […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
A welcome boost for Boston Medical Center
A $25 million donation to Boston Medical Center has, in the words of the hospital’s CEO, Kate Walsh, brought “addiction medicine out of the philanthropic shadows.” The gift, from billionaire investor […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
The dissonance of zoning and immigration
NEWTON RECENTLY BECAME a sanctuary city. I was proud to co-sponsor the ordinance and gratified by the legion of residents who rallied at City Hall in support of their immigrant […]
Posted inPolitics
Senators leave money on the table
PUBLIC PRESSURE APPEARS to have won out as no Massachusetts state senator opted to receive three stipends for leadership positions as they could have under the rules and three Democratic lawmakers […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics, Transportation
No place for ‘personal attack’ on Bump
I AM A FAN of MassINC and CommonWealth magazine, and a regular listener to the podcasts you produce. But I want to express in the strongest terms possible my outrage […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 38: Why is our infrastructure always crumbling?
Most transportation advocates focus on the need for more money, but Chuck Marohn comes from a different starting point, asking why the system needs more money in the first place. […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
The Codcast: Why is our infrastructure always crumbling?
Most transportation advocates focus on the need for more money, but Chuck Marohn comes from a different starting point, asking why the system needs more money in the first place. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Drug Addiction, Opinion
Sununu, Rivera vow to work together on drugs
Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire and Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera talked by phone on Thursday after Sununu had claimed that most of the drugs flowing into the Granite State […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Getting everyone on same team in Northampton
Jody Kasper, chief of the Northampton Police Department, is always looking for ways for her officers to better connect with the community they serve. She launched a program called High […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Trump’s working class appeal
The narrative explaining Donald Trump’s surprise victory in November has been anchored by the undercurrent of white working class anxiety and discontent that he tapped. It helped flip three […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
MA transportation system is falling behind
ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH, our infrastructure is in desperate need of modernization and expansion, from our roads to bridges, to trains and buses, to subway and rail stations, to bike paths […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Presidential climate change
About an hour-and-a-half before President Trump delivered his most presidential speech to date, Greater Boston host Jim Braude offered viewers a prediction based on New England weather. “If you don’t like […]
Posted inTransportation
T expands Uber, Lyft paratransit options
THE MBTA SAID ON TUESDAY it is expanding its paratransit relationship with the ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft in a bid to offer customers of The Ride more convenience and […]