A legislative conference committee trying to bridge a philosophical gap between the House and Senate on solar power is making progress, but some new stumbling blocks are emerging. Sources familiar […]
Inside the solar negotiations
Posted inGambling, The Download
Fantasy meet reality
Even the most casual sports fan and many non-fans know the term March Madness refers to the college basketball playoffs, now entering the second week of elimination games leading up […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, Opinion
What you can do to ease the opioid crisis
BY NOW, EVERYONE has seen or heard about the HBO documentary Heroin: Cape Cod, USA, and most have been bombarded with seemingly daily headlines highlighting the newest statistics or the […]
Posted inGambling, The Download
Casinos dangle funny money to lure customers
Think of it as the candy cigarettes of the casino industry. Players lose no actual money on the online games recently unveiled by Plainridge Park Casino. But they can still […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Police presence stepped up on T, at Logan
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said he and other state officials held a 2 p.m. conference call on Tuesday to discuss the terrorist attacks in Belgium and to deploy a greater law […]
Posted inEnvironment
Baker amenable to offshore wind
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said on Tuesday that he would support omnibus energy legislation that would spur the development of offshore wind, but he stopped short of backing a special carveout […]
Posted inPolitics
Not the usual faces in state Senate race
FOR DECADES, AN East Boston resident has held the state Senate seat representing the First Suffolk and Middlesex District, which extends north from the neighborhood to Revere and reaches west […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Warren’s end game
In a series of tweets and Facebook posts, US Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Monday pounded away at GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump. Borrowing a page from Trump’s rhetorical playbook, Warren […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Report documents community hospital woes
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE COMMUNITY HOSPITALS IN MASSACHUSETTS face a “self-reinforcing cycle of challenges” that makes their traditional business model unsustainable as more patients choose larger academic medical centers like […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
New Government Center T stop opens
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE OPENING ITS DOORS FOR THE FIRST TIME to the public Monday afternoon, the rebuilt Government Center MBTA station is newly accessible to people in wheelchairs, capping […]
Posted inPolitics
Lawrence city councilor slams Rivera
LAWRENCE CITY COUNCILORÂ Modesto Maldonado came down hard on Mayor Daniel Rivera on Monday for squandering taxpayer dollars on a losing war with the former landlord of the school department headquarters. […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 41: Goldberg wants to keep her sight on pot
State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg says when she talks to counterparts around the country, there is one aspect of her job that stops them in their tracks: Her office’s regulation of […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Grabauskas lands in familiar territory
In his time in Massachusetts, Dan Grabauskas earned a reputation as a Mr. Fix-It in Republican administrations. He was, at varying times, Registrar of Motor Vehicles, Secretary of Transportation, and […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Technology upends the utility business model
Second in a three-part series. The first part, on natural gas pipelines, can be found here. IN THE SHARING ECONOMY, new consumer technologies and business models are upending industries from […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
St. Pat’s Day brunch mostly ‘love-in’
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HEATHER HUMPHREYS, the Irish minister for arts, heritage and the Gaeltacht, Â won applause at Sunday morning’s St. Patrick’s Day breakfast when she said the Irish in […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Lift the cap on charter public schools
WHEN THE MASSACHUSETTS Board of Elementary and Secondary Education recently approved two new charter schools and the expansion of five others, it wasn’t acting on the basis of any ideological […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Legislature should commit to offshore wind power
THERE’S A CONVERSATION UNDERWAY right now on Beacon Hill that has the potential to unleash the next American energy revolution and create tens of thousands of jobs here in the […]
Posted inThe Download
The Times (and its paragraphs) they are a changin’
The New York Times took heat this week for tinkering with an online story about Bernie Sanders several hours after it was posted, turning a favorable report that the candidate […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Time to include social-emotional measures in assessments
BY MANY MEASURES, the Commonwealth is leading the pack when it comes to public education. Massachusetts students score higher on standardized tests than their peers across the nation and high […]
Posted inPolitics
Rosenberg lauds return of bills
(A correction has been added to this story.) SENATE PRESIDENT STANLEY ROSENBERG said on Thursday that he was pleased that a much larger proportion of the chamber’s bills than in […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Spotlight sends out a survey
The Boston Globe Spotlight Team earlier this month sent an email to nearly 200 private, independent schools in New England asking them to fill out an online survey documenting instances […]
Posted inThe Download
Aging judiciously
“The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour…” Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
DOT capital plan earmarks most money to improvements
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE STATE’S TRANSPORTATION department would devote 80 percent of its more than $14.3 billion capital dollars to system improvement and modernization with roughly equal investments in […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, Opinion
Tapping the gold mine of college talent
THIS IS A GOLDEN AGE for the Boston economy. We’re first by a mile in health care. The national leader in biotech. Surging in big data, robotics, fintech, data storage, […]