STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE University of Massachusetts students working this summer to pay for college could face a higher financial mountain to climb in the fall. After freezing tuition for […]
UMass cost could rise 5-8%
Posted inThe Download
If you build it, students will come
It is a vexing conundrum: On the one hand, Massachusetts proudly highlights its place in drawing hundreds of thousands of students to the state every year to enroll in our […]
Posted inEnvironment
Court: 2 Cape Wind approvals flawed
A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that the US Department of Interior erred twice in granting a key environmental approval for Cape Wind, but the judges decided not to […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
T cash handling mismanaged, report says
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MISMANAGEMENT OF THE MBTA’S cash handling operation in Charlestown left employees and assets vulnerable to intrusion, coercion, physical danger, and theft, according to a consultant’s review […]
Posted inThe Download
Globe throws Cape Wind under bus
The newspaper that once championed Cape Wind threw the project under the bus on Tuesday in an editorial that seemed like it was written by the Baker administration. The Boston […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
What Independence Day is all about
WE APPROACH INDEPENDENCE DAY 2016 at a time of great economic change and uncertainty, when most of the western democracies are struggling to deal responsibly with an unprecedented flood of […]
Posted inBallot Questions, Education, State House News Service
Common Core ballot question rejected
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A CITIZENS-BACKED INITIATIVE PETITION that sought to end the state’s use of Common Core learning standards was improperly certified by Attorney General Maura Healey and is […]
Posted inBallot Questions, Education
Anti-Common Core question tossed off ballot
DERAILING EFFORTS TO repeal use of the Common Core education standards in Massachusetts schools, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a question that would have jettisoned the curriculum frameworks cannot […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Senate sends budget to Baker
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH JUST HOURS REMAINING in the current fiscal year, the state Senate on Thursday evening voted 38-1 to send a fiscal 2017 budget to Gov. Charlie […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Senate approves energy legislation
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AN ENERGY BILL PASSED 30-0 by the Senate Thursday evening would require the solicitation of long-term contracts for at least 2,000 megawatts of offshore wind by […]
Posted inEnvironment
Natural gas falls out of favor on Beacon Hill
AS THE LEGISLATURE RUSHES to embrace offshore wind and Canadian hydroelectricity, the Senate on Thursday voted 39-0 to cut off the chief means of financing new natural gas pipelines coming […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 9: Walsh’s Woes
CommonWealth’s Michael Jonas talks with Gin Dumcius of MassLive.com and Kyle Clauss of Boston magazine about the string of problems in the administration of Mayor Marty Walsh, capped most recently […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
The Codcast: Walsh’s woes
These are not the happy days of summer for Boston’s mayor Marty Walsh. The city’s first-term mayor is reeling from one crisis to another, whether it’s the botched IndyCar race […]
Posted inOpinion
Stop poking the Bear
The Boston Globe recently ran an opinion piece about Russia by a former diplomat that was anything but diplomatic. The piece was witty and terse – and mean. Perfect for […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Guiding principles for transportation
This is the first 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 […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
Lawmakers speed leaner budget along
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Responding to instability in the stock market that has shredded revenue estimates for next year, House and Senate leaders on Thursday will seek passage of a […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, Transportation
Fingerprints fail in Senate Uber bill
AFTER AN EXHAUSTIVE debate that dragged on for nearly five hours, the state Senate passed Uber-friendly regulations for the runaway ride-hailing industry but not before beating back an impassioned plea […]
Posted inEnvironment
Senate energy debate could get heated
THE HOUSE PRECLUDED MOST DEBATE on its energy bill, but the more free-wheeling Senate looks as if it will take on some major policy issues in its deliberations on Thursday. […]
Posted inThe Download
In emergency, break glass, remove Contompasis
Boston Schools Superintendent Tommy Chang made the announcement about the new interim headmaster for the embattled Boston Latin School, but if you look closely, you can see Mayor Marty Walsh’s hand […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Time to put a price on carbon
MASSACHUSETTS HAS BEEN A CASE STUDY for the positive relationship between economic growth, renewable energy procurement, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction. As a leading state on climate change policy, […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Build the Middleboro line now
THE FALL RIVER Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently testified before the Fiscal and Management Control Board at MassDOT in support of a Middleboro rail extension to Fall River […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Boston Latin turmoil also moment of opportunity
THE RESIGNATION OF Boston Latin School headmaster Lynne Mooney Teta last week punctuates a tragedy that we all must feel compelled to address. Teta appeared to have ignored pleas from […]
Posted inThe Download
Supreme Court leashes prosecutors
In an 8-0 ruling, the US Supreme Court dramatically scaled back the power of federal prosecutors to charge politicians with corruption. The ruling overturned the bribery conviction of former Virginia […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Carmen’s union offers $24m savings plan
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A MAJOR LABOR GROUP representing MBTA workers proposed a plan on Monday that it said would net $24 million in savings over four years for the […]