IT’S A MANTRA spoken so often these days it could be a bumper sticker. “The MBTA is open for business,” Brian Shortsleeve, the agency’s chief administrator and acting general manager, said […]
Business unusual at the T
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
Outsider’s perspective on pot legalization
When you’re struggling with a decision, sometimes it’s helpful to get an outsider’s perspective. The CBS news magazine 60 Minutes on Sunday reported on marijuana legalization, which is on the […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Bridj offers MBTA late-night service
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A private transit company that already shuttles people around greater Boston during the daytime has proposed to do the same at night, in a partnership with […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
A vote for students
AT THE OUTSET, I make two admissions: I am not a fan of making public policy via ballot initiative and my children currently are enrolled in private, independent schools. I […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Situational awareness key to safe, self-driving cars
This is another in a series entitled The Future of Mobility, a joint project of CommonWealth and Meeting of the Minds, a San Francisco-based organization that seeks to build alliances […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Rearranging the electoral map
Last in a series MAPS ARE ONE OF THE OLDEST WAYS known to humankind to illustrate a location or make a point. Like the great Medieval stained glass windows depicting […]
Posted inTransportation
T officials: No new revenue needed now
MBTA OFFICIALS GATHERED in public on Friday to brainstorm a strategic plan for the future, and they quickly concluded that new revenue to fund capital improvements is not the answer […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 24: 2 pollsters talk shop
Americans love polls. Except when they don’t say what they want them to say. “I’m not sure the polls have changed,” says data expert John Johnson,CEO of Edgeworth Economics in […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
The Codcast: 2 pollsters talk shop
Americans love polls. Except when they don’t say what they want them to say. Donald Trump could not tout his poll numbers enough when he was winning the surveys and […]
Posted inEducation
Arne Duncan calls charter schools part of the Mass. solution
WADING INTO A battle that has become increasingly contentious and has divided Democrats like no other domestic policy issue, President Obama’s longtime education secretary, Arne Duncan, said allowing more charter […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
A wasted vote of conscience
IN THIS PERIOD of discontent with the Republican and Democratic nominees for president, many Massachusetts voters are talking about writing in their own candidate when they enter the voting booth […]
Posted inThe Download
Yes and no on Question 4
The reviews are in and it appears the view is near-universal – Question 4, as written, is a dumpster fire that would legalize having and using pot but not the ability to […]
Posted inEnvironment
Gas pipeline dealt possibly fatal blow
THE PUSH FOR A NEW PIPELINE into New England may have been dealt a fatal blow when Connecticut officials called off a process to procure more natural gas largely because […]
Posted inThe Download
Laboring forward?
There is no broad resurgence of the US labor movement. But when you’ve been pushed back on your heels as much as unions in this country have been, you’ll take […]
Posted inEnvironment
MA, CT, and RI to negotiate wind, solar deals
MASSACHUSETTS, CONNECTICUT, AND RHODE ISLAND announced on Tuesday that they intend to negotiate seven power purchase contracts with wind and solar developers selected through an unusual three-state bidding process. The […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Airbnb battle coming
Airbnb is running TV ads promoting the societal benefits of its short-term home rental business, the surest sign yet that a bruising battle over regulation of the company and others […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
Curtatone: Charter question goes way too far
$412 MILLION. That figure represents the amount of taxpayer money that was diverted from 243 local school districts across the Commonwealth and given to charter schools last year. If Ballot […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
Airbnb launches charm offensive
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH A POLICY BATTLE on the Beacon Hill horizon, the short-term rental company Airbnb has launched a TV advocacy campaign framing itself as a boon to […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
DeLeo open to changing pot law
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DELEO is poised in 2017 to make changes to a marijuana legalization proposal should voters adopt it in two weeks. “I will not […]
Posted inThe Download
Ma Bell reincarnated?
If anyone knows about the scrutiny of mega-corporations gobbling up competition, it should be AT&T, which will be under the microscope with its announced plan to merge with Time Warner in […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Measuring the impact of offshore wind, hydro
PURCHASES OF LARGE-SCALE hydroelectric and offshore wind resources as required by the recently passed energy law would reduce the state’s overall greenhouse gas emissions by 9 percent at a cost […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
State tracks pot plants with helicopters
MASSACHUSETTS DECRIMINALIZED MARIJUANA in 2008, legalized medical marijuana in 2012, and is about to vote on legalizing recreational marijuana, but that hasn’t stopped the State Police and the National Guard […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
US needs a mobility moonshot
Fourth in a series THERE WAS A BRIEF PERIOD, in muscular, post-war, auto-centric America, when the Democratic nominee for president would officially commence the general election campaign with a large […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Transportation investments needed one way or another
AS THE OLD saying goes, “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” But here in Massachusetts, despite a growing chorus of support for increasing investment in infrastructure, we are not demonstrating […]