The Boston City Council is considering a proposal to ban single-use plastic bags, those ubiquitous film-thin carriers used in grocery and convenience stores. If the council passes it, it could trigger […]
Banning plastics is a mixed bag
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Polito: Pot question could curb state aid to cities
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE FUNDING FOR SCHOOLS and local aid could take a hit if voters approve a marijuana legalization ballot question in November, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said […]
Posted inHealth Care
Hospital pricing deliberations begin
THE 22 MEMBERS OF THE SPECIAL COMMISSION set up to address unwarranted price variation among the state’s health care providers held their first meeting on Tuesday, with one of the […]
Posted inThe Download
Worcester nixes sanctioned homeless camp
Worcester City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. on Monday ruled out any type of sanctioned camp for homeless people in the city, saying the issue “does not lend itself to one-size-fits-all […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA to double capital spending
MBTA OFFICIALS SAY they want to overhaul the process and change the culture at the agency to ramp up spending on capital projects after once again finishing the year without […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
T deficit cut to $86M
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MBTA FINISHED fiscal year 2016 with a structural deficit of $86 million, a roughly 28 percent decrease from the previous year in the difference between […]
Posted inTransportation
Union protests T privatizing
HUNDREDS OF ORANGE-CLAD MBTA union workers and supporters crammed the Fiscal and Management Control Board meeting Monday to loudly — and, in some cases, profanely – protest the administration’s efforts […]
Posted inThe Download
Clinton stumbles
Hillary Clinton didn’t look very presidential on Sunday, as a video posted on Twitter showed her teetering on a sidewalk and then nearly collapsing as she was helped into a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Judge says body camera pilot can move forward
A JUDGE HAS sided with Boston Police Commissioner William Evans and ruled that he has authority to assign officers to a body-worn camera pilot project over the objections of the […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 18: The Globe v. Joyce
CommonWealth’s Jack Sullivan and Bruce Mohl discuss the Boston Globe’s extensive coverage of Sen. Brian Joyce, and particularly the story last month suggesting the Milton lawmaker expanded his house without […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: The Globe v. Joyce
CommonWealth’s Jack Sullivan and Bruce Mohl discuss the Boston Globe’s extensive coverage of Sen. Brian Joyce, and particularly the story last month suggesting the Milton lawmaker expanded his house without […]
Posted inTransportation
T terminating parking contract early
THE MBTA IS PREPARING to terminate early its contract with its existing parking lot operator and sign a new deal that is expected to grow the $40 million business and […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Abysmal voter turnout a sad statement
A VANISHINGLY SMALL number of voters will be visiting the polls for today’s Massachusetts state primary. And you know what? It’s our fault. In our dreams, election days are supposed […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
Putting body cameras to the test
There is a certain irony to the drama over body-worn cameras now playing out in court in Boston. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Douglas Wilkins vowed to issue a decision by […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics, Transportation
Being smart is not enough
This is the third 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 around […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Mass. health care spending up 3.9%
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Spending on health care in Massachusetts rose to $57.2 billion in 2015, growing more slowly than in 2014 but for the second straight year outpacing the […]
Posted inThe Download
A finger on the trigger warning
College campuses, often held up as the ideal locales for free-flowing discussions, are circling the wagons around students some say are too sensitive to hear discussions on issues that could […]
Posted inPolitics
Joyce absolved of wrongdoing
SEN. BRIAN JOYCE obtained all the required permits to renovate his home, according to a report by the Milton Town Administrator that rebuts questions raised in a newspaper article over whether the lawmaker clandestinely […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
Boston police unions overstate case for “long guns”
BOSTON POLICE UNIONS got quite a bit of attention last month when the presidents of three unions cosigned a letter to Mayor Martin Walsh and Police Commissioner William Evans demanding more patrol […]
Posted inEnvironment
Offshore wind firms eye New Bedford
STATE OFFICIALS ON TUESDAY signed a non-binding letter of intent with three companies who all agreed to use the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal as a staging area if they […]
Posted inThe Download
Johnson-Weld ticket in danger
The first presidential debate is just 20 days away and right now it appears Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump will have the stage all to themselves. Libertarian candidate […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion, Politics
Labor is the backbone of democracy
THIS LABOR DAY, if you want a close up view of our nation’s widening chasm between the rich and the rest of us, all you have to do is take […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Top Baker aides on party guest list
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE LIST OF GUESTS invited to the July 3 bash thrown by two top Department of Conservation and Recreation officials using state resources is a veritable […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Blacks need to be savvier political players
LATELY, DONALD TRUMP has been making appeals to black voters. His argument to African-Americans is that the Democratic Party relies on black voters, but has failed to improve their economic […]