Many of the biggest eye-catchers in the deal would commit significant funds toward reducing or eliminating costs Massachusetts residents face, including another year of free school meals, tuition-free community college, no-charge rides on the state’s 15 regional transit authorities, and making permanent a pandemic-era Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) grant program that launched with federal dollars.
Budget deal includes free community college and bus rides plus online lottery
Posted inNews Analysis
Polls can’t really tell us whether Biden has a better chance than anyone else
Democrats must choose a course based on a map that really only shows where they are now and a blurry, half erased outline of what might be the path if Biden stays in. People can make strong cases that he should stay — or go. None are necessarily wrong, but none are clearly right.
Posted inEnergy
Most of the rest of damaged turbine blade falls into ocean
Nantucket residents, who turned out in force at a Select Board meeting Wednesday evening, some of them describing the initial blade damage and resulting debris as an environmental disaster, knew more bad news was likely coming.
Posted inImmigration
Report says visa caps, red tape stifling immigrant entrepreneurship
A new report says visa restrictions and bureaucratic red tape are holding back entrepreneurship from international students in the US that could lead to billions of dollars in economic activity and the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the US.
Posted inOpinion
Working toward a new model for emergency care
Last month, Boston Medical Center convened a coalition of national emergency department leaders for the second straight year to recommend solutions to strengthen existing care models and develop achievable solutions that will help patients thrive beyond emergency care.
Posted inState Government
Budget, gun control bills near finish line
Lawmakers would need to ship the final budget to Healey by Sunday to guarantee their ability to push through any spending or policy ideas over the governor’s objection.
Posted inPolitics
Mass. delegates explain why they’re backing Biden in new survey
While President Biden faces unprecedented calls from within his party to step down as the Democratic nominee, members of the Massachusetts delegation who are headed to the national convention in Chicago appear largely supportive of Biden staying at the top of the ticket, according to a new survey.
Posted inGovernment
Wu tells lawmakers potential residential tax spike ‘keeps me up at night’
City Hall is seeking to keep that 60-40 balance and mitigate an increase next year in homeowner tax bills that could come as valuations for commercial property fall, driven by the downtown still seeing less foot traffic, on top of office vacancies and some continuing to work from home in Covid pandemic’s aftermath.
Posted inEnergy
House, Senate far apart on clean energy procurements
In other key areas the bills differ quite dramatically, which could complicate efforts to reach a deal between the House and Senate before the legislative session ends on July 31. Less than two weeks remain.
Posted inEnergy
Most of turbine blade left hanging; wind farm shut down
Some larger pieces of the blade fell into the water and were retrieved. A lot of smaller pieces of foam and fiberglass were washing ashore on Nantucket on Tuesday.
Posted inHousing
BlueHub court battle shifts to Legislature
The legislative push comes as the legal battle in Suffolk Superior Court appears to be nearing a resolution, with both sides seeking summary judgments that they are in the right. Both sides can point to customers on their side, some saying they were ripped off and others who insist BlueHub helped save their house.
Posted inOpinion
Renaissance taking place in downtown Brockton
Anyone who has been to the “City of Champions” recently has seen an incredible re-imagining of our downtown focused on long-term sustainability and economic growth.
Posted inState Government
O’Brien has pocketed nearly $170,000 while suspended
O‘Brien was suspended in September 2023. The calculation of what she has been paid since being suspended is based on her $181,722 salary in 2023 ($15,143 a month) and her pay of $108,608 through the first six months of this year.
Posted inEnergy
Vineyard Wind 1 turbine experiences undisclosed damage
The developers provided few details about what happened. The incident is the second involving the new GE Haliade-X 13-megawatt turbines, which are some of the largest in the world.
Posted inCourts
Failure to put down dying dog is not crime, SJC rules
“Our opinion should not be read to condone the conduct alleged in the complaint or take a position one way or the other regarding ‘complicated’ and ‘heartbreaking’ end-of-life decisions,” Justice Frank Gaziano wrote for the court. “Instead, we hold, on these facts, that the defendant committed no crime.”
Posted inPolitics
Raise a glass or pour one out? Happy hour back on legislative menu
“We’re the Athens in the United States, and how many of those people leave, and why are they leaving?” asked Sen. Julian Cyr. “They’re leaving because they can’t afford to live here. And because there’s just not a lot to do and it’s not a lot of fun.”
Posted inThe Codcast
Reconsidering happy hour
This week on The Codcast, Sen. Julian Cyr joins CommonWealth Beacon’s Jennifer Smith to discuss a provision in the Mass. Senate’s economic development bill that would allow cities and towns more control over whether and what kinds of drinks specials they allow, in place of the current statewide ban. In addition to the pros and cons of the provision, they discuss the broader question of the commonwealth’s attractiveness to young people.
Posted inEconomy
The ‘Codfather’ is back in business
Three years after his release from prison, fishing mogul Carlos Rafael, banned from owning fishing vessels, has embarked on a different business venture: a multimillion-dollar real estate financing operation sprawling across New Bedford and its suburbs.
Posted inOpinion
Should Massachusetts establish a reparations commission?
There is a compelling case for reparations for descendants of enslaved people in the US, but there are strong countervailing arguments that the reparations conversation is a distraction from more grounded efforts to close racial gaps.
Posted inTransportation
Feds give $1b more for Cape bridge replacement work
The replacement of the Sagamore Bridge, which carries Route 6 over the canal close to its eastern end, is the first step in the state’s broader plan to replace both Cape Cod bridges.