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.
Reconsidering happy hour
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.
Posted inPolitics
Political Notebook: Flanagan may face challenge | No month off for task force
State regulators earlier this year accused Flanagan of repeatedly misleading them as they tried to find out who was behind a phony mailer sent to voters in 2022, before he confessed it was him.
Posted inOpinion
How my position, as a physician, on medical aid in dying changed
I was opposed to medical-aid-in-dying legislation — until I witnessed my parents’ painful deaths, despite help from hospice and palliative care.
Posted inMarijuana
Cannabis Commission unveils proposed leadership changes
“This is us first recognizing that we agree that there was a need for some clarity and this is our way of addressing some of that and providing clarity in terms of who does what,” said acting Commission chair Ava Callender Concepcion.
Posted inState Government
More consolidation of economic development agencies proposed
Senators are expected to vote Thursday on the $2.4 billion borrowing bill, which also includes $350 million in tax credits, a provision helping the prospects of a soccer stadium on the Mystic River waterfront in Everett, and the reauthorization of a long-running initiative boosting the state’s life sciences industry.
Posted inOpinion
Steward hospital crisis is opportunity to reclaim health care as public good
Our health care system is under-resourced and overburdened. Every hospital and emergency department in the state, from small community hospitals to large academic medical centers, is affected by the reality that Massachusetts simply does not have enough beds for the number of patients. It’s time for the Commonwealth to reclaim health care as a public good.
Posted inBallot Questions
Campbell explains why she settled Uber, Lyft case on eve of likely court victory
“A win in court might have given drivers restitution for pay they were owed in the past, but a successful ballot initiative would have wiped out its impact going forward,” Attorney General Andrea Campbell said
Posted inNews Analysis
On Biden future, Healey steps out
Gov. Maura Healey, a former two-term attorney general, has generally taken a cautious, lawyerly approach to politics, but she stepped out by becoming the first Democratic governor to suggest President Biden consider giving up his reelection run.
Posted inOpinion
Lawmakers should give worker-owned cooperatives a boost
Worker-owned cooperatives are emerging as a powerful force in the Massachusetts economy. The Legislature can help but
Posted inTransportation
MBTA contactless payment coming to subways, buses Aug. 1
Starting August 1, MBTA riders will be able to tap a credit card or mobile wallet to pass through subway gates or board above-ground trolleys and buses, officials announced Tuesday.
Posted inTransportation
MassDOT reverses course, includes $243m for I-90 Allston project in capital plan
The explanations left many observers scratching their heads, and some wondering whether the MassDOT staff simply forgot to include funding in the capital investment plan for one of the Healey administration’s highest transportation priorities.
Posted inEnergy
DPU unveils plan to speed up municipal electricity aggregation approvals
Municipal aggregation plans allow cities and towns to negotiate electricity rates on behalf of their residents. The plans have gained tremendous popularity as the cost of electricity has risen and the aggregation efforts have often yielded lower prices than the basic service provided by utilities and the rates of retail suppliers.
Posted inMarijuana
Legislators wary of ‘nuclear option’ with cannabis commission
“I want to underscore, as someone who has been in the government for a long time, that receivership is a really big deal,” said Rep. Rob Consalvo of Boston, one of the vice chairs of the Joint Committee on Public Policy.
Posted inEnergy
Barnstable at the center of offshore wind debate
Many in town are asking why a residential beach community has become the onshore epicenter of the offshore wind business in Massachusetts.
Posted inEconomy
Senate preps for economic developent debate, including Everett soccer stadium
The Senate’s bill authorizes $2.444 billion in borrowing, giving the executive branch flexibility to put as much of that amount into use as it determines is necessary and wise, and $350 million in tax credits mostly to be deployed in the climate technology sector.
Posted inOpinion
In the face of climate change, mitigation is no longer enough
The world is at a crossroads. Now is the time to meet our greatest global threat with renewed courage and new ways of thinking. We must work together and take local action on the ground.
Posted inPolitics
Marty Walsh, Biden’s former labor chief and ex-mayor, gets married
Walsh and Lorrie Higgins, who have been together for about two decades, quietly married in March, almost a year after he left public service for the private sector, according to their marriage certificate. A local justice of the peace performed the ceremony.