This story was updated at 7 p.m. on June 27. RUNNING RAIL SERVICE from South Station to New Bedford and Fall River will take five years longer and cost $1 […]
South Coast Rail cost balloons $1b
Posted inThe Download
A question of mental illness
“Did they have a magic wand that somehow cured mental illness?’’ That poignant but simple question comes from state Sen. Kenneth Donnelly, a former Lexington firefighter, after the Boston Globe’s […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Long-term energy contracts make sense
The headline of a recent CommonWealth magazine story states, “Clean power will cost more.” Although presented as simple fact, the headline actually begs a more complicated question: “More than what?” […]
Posted inEnvironment
Senate’s ‘aggressive’ energy plan lets Cape Wind bid
THE SENATE UNVEILED an energy bill on Friday that is far more expansive than its House counterpart, increasing utility procurements for offshore wind and Canadian hydroelectricity, doubling the mandated growth […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Latin School leadership lessons
When the city moved to mayoral control of the Boston Public Schools more than two decades ago, it brought clarity to one central issue that has bedeviled struggling urban districts […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Clean power will cost more
The push to add clean power resources to the region’s energy mix is going to drive up electricity prices, at least in the short term. Clean energy advocates have hinted that the state […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
House GOP health care plan is an empty backpack
THIS WEEK, US House Speaker Paul Ryan released a long-promised plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. Most of the plan, “A Better Way: Health Care,” developed by a House […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 8: The Libertarian team of Johnson and Weld
Steve Koczela of the MassINC Polling Group offers a pollster’s perspective on the Libertarian candidates and Michael Jonas and Bruce Mohl of CommonWealth magazine dissected their CNN performance.
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The Codcast: The Libertarian team of Johnson and Weld
Bill Weld, the Libertarian candidate for vice president, showed he’s still got it during a CNN town hall Wednesday night. The former Massachusetts governor was clear, concise, and controversial. He […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Senate bill more Uber friendly
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE More than three months after the House passed legislation regulating ride-for-hire companies like Uber and Lyft, Senate leaders on Thursday will release a new version of […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Dukakis, Pollack agree on North-South rail link
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE With a final decision far off, the chief advocate for building a train tunnel beneath downtown Boston and the skeptic from the Baker administration agreed on […]
Posted inThe Download
Greenway’s history leaves it vulnerable
Back in the days of the typewriter, when an anonymous tip was passed onto newspapers, it was called “coming in over the transom,” a reference to the vent window above […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
New transmission lines, gas pipeline needed
Recent cancellations and delays of proposed large-scale energy infrastructure projects, and results from two regional surveys suggest energy policy and consumer and business concerns in New England are heading in […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Cities want renewable energy
ACCORDING TO THE United Nations, cities are responsible for 75 percent of carbon dioxide pollution. We believe this means cities have a special responsibility to act to reduce the emissions […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Mercurial candidate fires mercurial campaign manager
We don’t know whether Donald Trump’s dismissal of campaign manager Corey Lewandowski followed the script of his old reality TV show The Apprentice. We don’t know whether Trump uttered the […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
$20.4m Comm Ave reconstruction approved
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE TRANSPORTATION OVERSEERS on Monday gave the go-ahead for a $20.4 million reconstruction along Commonwealth Avenue between Brookline and Boston, which will include building cycle tracks […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
$14.8b transportation capital plan OK’d
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AMID CONCERNS about state borrowing levels, state transportation officials on Monday tacked on another roughly $500 million to the state’s five-year capital investment plan, approving a […]
Posted inTransportation
T board approves ‘unique’ union contract
THE MBTA’S OVERSIGHT BOARD on Monday approved a new contract with its largest management union, bringing to an end what some sources have described as an internal fight over T […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Peyser misses the mark on teacher licensing
THE STATE’S SECRETARY OF EDUCATION, James Peyser, recently set forth in CommonWealth his ideas on how he thinks the state’s teacher licensure system should be changed. He thinks we should […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
DeLeo seeks task force on integrity
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DELEO is mounting a push to create a Task Force on Integrity in State and Local Government, which would look at the laws […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Ride-sharing showdown looms
The Massachusetts Senate is slated to unveil its ride-sharing bill this week, which should provide a hint of how contentious the negotiations between the two branches will be as the […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Northern Pass is not a green answer
WELL-MEANING POLICYMAKERS in Massachusetts are looking north, seeing in Canadian hydropower a quick solution to the need for more green energy. But one state’s environmental solutions may be another state’s […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 7: The everyday terrorism of urban gun violence
Just over a week ago, 17-year-old Raekwon Brown was fatally gunned down just steps from Jeremiah Burke High School in Dorchester, where he was a student. Three others, including a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
The Codcast: The everyday terrorism of urban gun violence
Just over a week ago, 17-year-old Raekwon Brown was fatally gunned down just steps from Jeremiah Burke High School in Dorchester, where he was a student. Three others, including a […]