The law sets new strategies for combating so-called ghost guns, expanding the law that allows a court to take guns away from someone considered a threat to themselves or others, and adding schools, polling places, and government buildings to the list of areas where state law forbids people from carrying firearms.
Healey signs overhaul of state firearms law
Posted inPolitics
With session nearing end, Wu’s property tax shift bill on the move
The proposal cleared the Legislature’s Committee on Revenue a week after lawmakers raised questions about it at a hearing.
Posted inTransportation
T hires Keolis to electrify Fairmount commuter rail line
Service will be provided by trains capable of running off batteries as well as electric catenaries. The hybrid service will enable the trains to run through tunnels and other areas without needing to build overhead wires.
Posted inEnvironment
Will Mass. follow the lead of New York on climate change?
In 2019, New York set mandates calling for 70 percent of the state’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2040. New York lawmakers also approved the creation of a congestion pricing plan for New York City that would assess a toll of as much as $15 on vehicles entering Manhattan south of 60th Street.
Posted inEnergy
Debris from broken turbine getting harder to find
Roger Martella, chief sustainability officer for GE Vernona, the manufacture of the wind turbines, said the company is preparing to remove what remains of the broken turbine blade with the help of a company called Resolve Marine, whose employees are on site working out of New Bedford.
Posted inOpinion
Misguided amendment would give more power to Ticketmaster
The House passed its much larger economic development bill and included an amended version of the original legislation. This amended version could do more harm than good.
Posted inOpinion
Time for action on PFAS on Beacon Hill
The bill tackles PFAS at its source by banning PFAS in firefighting foam, firefighter personal protective equipment, and consumer products like food packaging, children’s products, personal care products, furniture, textiles, and cookware.
Posted inOlympics
20-20 hindsight on Boston 2024
Asked this week to reflect on the long-gone possibility of Boston hosting the 2024 Olympics, Senate President Karen Spilka didn’t hesitate. “I’m glad it’s in Paris,” she said. “That’s my quote.”
Posted inEnergy
GE suspects ‘manufacturing deviation’ with turbine blade
Scott Reese, the CEO of GE Vernova, said there is no indication of an engineering design flaw with the turbine blade. He said the company is re-inspecting all of the 150 blades that have been manufactured at a plant in Gaspe, Canada, to see if the problem occurred with other blades.
Posted inHealth Care
Each Steward hospital in Mass. has a bidder, Healey says
“We’ve received qualified bids. We are evaluating those now, and it’s currently with the parties right now in New York,” Gov. Maura Healey said.
Posted inOpinion
Some things our 248-year-old democracy and South Africa’s 30-year-young democracy might learn from one another
South Africa and the United States are both blessed with incredible natural and physical assets and resources, but also a still-unresolved, deeply troubled history with apartheid and slavery. Both have the capacity to thrive but are failing to deliver on their promise, largely due to ineffective, corrupt or dysfunctional government and poor governance.
Posted inImmigration
Healey keeps pulling up the emergency shelter system’s welcome mat
“Massachusetts is out of shelter space, and we simply cannot afford the current size of this system,” said Gov. Maura Healey.
Posted inEnergy
Holtec considers appeal to discharge water from Pilgrim plant
David Noyes of Holtec told the panel that there are “still avenues available to us, should we decide to pursue them, in order to be able to still consider the option of liquid discharge.”
Posted inHealth Care
3 long-term care facilities placed in receivership
Facilities owned by Blupoint Healthcare in South Hadley, Whitinsville, and Amesbury were experiencing financial difficulties, with workers complaining they weren’t being paid and even when they were paid the checks bounced.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts must address our maternal health crisis
Massachusetts is in a maternal health crisis, despite being a bastion of high-end medical care. Pending legislation could go a long way toward addressing the problems.
Posted inThe Codcast
Vineyard Offshore CEO: Time to go big
This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon’s Bruce Mohl is joined by Alicia Barton, CEO of Vineyard Offshore, to discuss the Vineyard Wind 1 and 2 projects, and the challenges facing offshore wind development more broadly.
Posted inEnergy
Should Mass. go big or small with upcoming offshore wind procurement?
Barton acknowledged supply chain concerns and ongoing economic uncertainty, but said the economics of offshore wind are unlikely to change any time soon and climate change dictates acting now and going big.
Posted inOpinion
Protect our patients, ban retail electricity suppliers
The bottom line is that third-party energy suppliers overprice a basic necessity for the poorest and sickest in our state while sowing confusion and mistrust about our urgent need for a clean, decarbonized economy.
Posted inPolitics
Biden drops out
Joe Biden scrambled the 2024 presidential race in a way without precedent by dropping out on Sunday. Read how Massachusetts political figures are reacting.
Posted inOpinion
Worrisome lack of progress at transportation task force
This pivotal moment cannot be squandered on yet another commission presenting policymakers with “transportation revenue options” or a mere “tool kit.” We know the available options, backed by countless reports outlining various revenue sources.