A healthy regulatory environment — one in which the state and utilities are open to honest discussion about balancing long-term projects and consumer costs — attracts capital investment that fuels infrastructure development. Thus far, Massachusetts is sending a positive signal to the market that stands in contrast to its neighbors.
Look around, barriers to clean energy development not hard to find
Posted inMarijuana
Cannabis commissioner pushing for forensic audit of agency
Forensic audits typically examine an organization’s financial records and look for fraud, misconduct, or irregularities
Posted inTransportation
MBTA board, but not Tibbits-Nutt, talks new revenue
Monica Tibbits-Nutt, the secretary of transportation, a member of the MBTA board, and the co-chair of the transportation revenue task force, said nothing during the T board’s discussion about new revenues.
Posted inHealth Care
St. Elizabeth’s landlords reject Healey low-ball eminent domain offer
“Steward and Apollo need to stop playing games with people’s health care. We are moving forward with plans to take St. Elizabeth’s by eminent domain,” a Healey spokesperson said Wednesday afternoon in response to the offer rejection.
Posted inOpinion
Not all screen time is created equal
Doom scrolling is vastly different from creating Pinterest boards, watching history videos on YouTube, or solving the daily Wordle.
Posted inCourts
SJC to decide who gets $70,000 ring after engagement called off
The question before the high court, according to a request for amicus briefs, is whether Massachusetts courts should continue applying a “fault-based approach” in determining whether an engagement ring must be returned to the giver after a broken engagement. If not, the court asks, what’s the better rule?
Posted inBy The Numbers
Sports betting is soaking ‘financially constrained’ households
The study linked sports betting to “a large decrease” in deposits to brokerage accounts, accompanied by “decreased credit availability, increased credit card debt, and a higher incidence rate of overdrawing bank accounts.”
Posted inOpinion
Should we require voters to produce an ID before casting a ballot?
Massachusetts residents do not have to show an ID to vote, but some think we should join the 36 states that have that requirement.
Posted inState Government
With chance she could be acting governor, DiZoglio drafted order on non-disclosure agreements
“I do not feel that that would have been a way to make meaningful and positive change, positioning the administration to come home to a signed executive order,” she said. “It’s my intention to partner with this administration.”
Posted inHousing
Milton makes interesting case on MBTA Communities Act
“This is a case about the separation of powers and the rule of law—about who sets the rules that govern the Commonwealth and how they do so,” says the Milton brief.
Posted inOpinion
Leave none of the Steward hospitals behind
We have been told that the state lacks the means to intervene in the closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center. If true, the state must do everything else it can invest in the health of the community and not just to put a temporary Band-Aid on the situation.
Posted inState Government
DiZoglio audit finds ‘unlawful practices’ at convention center authority
Most of the issues cited in the report occurred on the watch of a management team headed by David Gibbons and a board dominated by appointees of former governor Charlie Baker.
Posted inOpinion
What courage means to me
For 32 years, middle school students in Boston and beyond have written essays as part of a curriculum on courage launched by Stephanie and Jonathan Warburg in memory of their son Max, who died in 1991, at age 11, of leukemia. These 3 essays are from the 2024 anthology of the MAXCourage curriculum.
Posted inThe Codcast
The long road to topless equality
This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith talks to Nadine Gary and Kasyo Perrier of Go Topless about the case for changing the law to allow women to be topless anywhere a man can be. She also visits a topless equality rally on Beacon Hill.
Posted inState Government
A naked call to free breasts and minds
Organizers with the cheekily named “Equalititty” and GoTopless groups walked about with a simple proposition: In 2024, there isn’t a particularly good reason to bar women from taking their shirts off entirely in the summer heat wherever men are allowed to do the same.
Posted inEnergy
Nantucket Select Board no fan of federal wind farm regulator
“Those who say there are no risks posed by industrialization of ocean viewsheds to heritage-tourism and our sense of place have no reliable data to back their claims,” the board said.
Posted inOpinion
What higher ed leaders could learn from Project 2025
If we’re honest with ourselves, even those who find most of the ideas advanced in Project 2025 repugnant should agree that there are also ideas in the report worth paying attention to.
Posted inOpinion
Overall, we think the Steward outcome is pretty good
The faster Apollo is out the door the better. Though Apollo will certainly contest the Commonwealth’s $4.5 million fair market valuation for St. Elizabeth’s, state officials seem determined that any fight over money will not interrupt plans for an immediate seizure of the Brighton land and buildings.
Posted inOpinion
Boston’s White Stadium plan makes sense
I am skeptical of government spending on sports stadiums and arenas. But having studied the details of the proposal for a public-private partnership to revitalize White Stadium in Boston’s Franklin Park, I came to a conclusion you might not expect: This plan makes sense for Boston.
Posted inHealth Care
New owners lined up for Steward hospitals in Mass., Healey says
The sweeping transition and health care market restructuring plan that Healey announced Friday is expected to require significant involvement from the Legislature. The governor’s office said it has been working with lawmakers on “a fiscally responsible financing plan that includes cash advances, capital support, and maximizing federal matches” to support the transition to new operators.