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.
The long road to topless equality
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.
Posted inPolitics
Political Notebook: Super PAC shower in SJC clerk race | Healey’s departure bonus
In filings with state campaign finance regulators, Chinese Progressive Political Action (CPPA) and Ironworkers Local 7’s super PAC reported spending $4,000 and $3,000 on their respective candidates of choice. CPPA, which has money to spend thanks to a $10,000 donation from the health care workers union SEIU 1199, is backing attorney Allison Cartwright, while the South Boston-based ironworkers union is supporting Boston Councilor Erin Murphy.
Posted inEnergy
Healey all in on offshore wind, but what about Trump?
“We’ve heard a little bit about setbacks lately in this space and we’ve certainly heard people try to knock this industry,” the governor told a crowd at the groundbreaking. “But make no mistake about it. We are not going backward. We are going forward and Massachusetts is going to lead.”
Posted inOpinion
The compelling case for Massachusetts legislative reform
What’s the one thing businesses, climate advocates, and lobbyists can agree on? The need to overhaul the state’s broken legislative process. Here are six ideas to get the conversation started.
Posted inMarijuana
Cannabis commission, 2 members down, squabbles over who should lead
Three votes are needed to appoint an acting chair, but the three commissioners – Nurys Camargo, Bruce Stebbins, and Kimberly Roy – couldn’t agree on who it should be.
Posted inHealth
House, Senate come to terms on maternal health
The conference committee accord, which lead House negotiator Rep. Marjorie Decker filed just after 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, is the first big piece of legislation to emerge from closed-door talks after lawmakers ended formal sessions this month with major loose ends.
Posted inState Government
Proposals would boost cost of parking, package delivery, rideshares
One of the initiatives would raise fees on rideshares; the other two would impose a new sales tax on privately owned parking spaces and assess a new fee on all retail deliveries.
Posted inOpinion
On Beacon Hill, rules seem made to be twisted, if not broken
The pile-up that occurred at the end of the Legislature’s two-year session, with a frenzy of action extending well past the supposed deadline at midnight on July 31, shows that Beacon Hill’s rules seem made to be broken.
Posted inCriminal Justice
ShotSpotter honchos fire back
The ShotSpotter gun detection technology used in Boston and other cities has come under fire from critics who say it generates lots of false alerts and leads to harmful “over-policing” of minority neighborhoods. Company CEO Ralph Clark and board member William Bratton say the criticism is off the mark and call the system a vital tool that helps police track the prevalence and patterns of gun violence in communities.
Posted inOpinion
Vote no on Question 2
The single biggest issue I hear from our 2,100 member businesses and organizations on a daily basis is the need for employees with high educational levels and problem solving skills.
Posted inEnergy
Suit in works over National Grid methane gas leaks
The Conservation Law Foundation said its lawsuit will be based on data submitted by National Grid to state regulators and the foundation’s own field work testing methane levels in the Boston area.
Posted inHousing
AG issues ‘friendly’ warning on MBTA rezoning
“A few reminders from your friendly Attorney General: 1) The MBTA Communities law is a critical tool in solving our state’s housing crisis. 2) Compliance with our laws isn’t optional. 3) The majority of communities are taking steps to come into compliance.”
Posted inEconomy
Boston Common restaurant closing, city seeks new tenant
After spending $1 million in 2013 to transform a long-closed, octagon-shaped bathroom called a “comfort station” into a restaurant and then incurring total losses of $2.2 million over the past 11 years, the Florida-based Earl of Sandwich chain asked the city of Boston to allow it to shut down its Boston Common location at the end of next month, four years before its 15-year lease was due to expire.