This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith is joined by Juliette Kayyem, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and former Assistant Secretary in the Department of Homeland Security, to discuss the ongoing student protests around Israel and Gaza. They touch on the character of the protests, different university responses, what an effective response to protest looks like, and how to balance free speech and safety concerns.
Safety and free speech at campus protests
Posted inHealth Care
Steward stays open as it seeks bankruptcy protection
The company, which operates eight hospitals in Massachusetts and has been sinking under a pile of debt to vendors and its de facto landlord, said it does not expect any interruption to day-to-day operations.
Posted inArts and Culture
Not easy turning artists into a political force on Beacon Hill
Paradoxically, the reason that artists need state support so desperately is the same reason they are often missing in political mobilizing: they are strapped for time and money.
Posted inOpinion
Getting to yes on siting energy projects
Our studies suggest that the key is carefully structured negotiations that lead to enforceable agreement. At the project level, this is accomplished through enforceable community benefit agreements, or CBAs.
Posted inOpinion
Answering the call to treat the hidden epidemic of loneliness
A rich network of community organizations is key to combatting the epidemic of loneliness that the country is facing.
Posted inState Government
April tax collections surpass target by $1b
Collections of $6.324 billion last month exceeded the Healey administration’s monthly benchmark of $5.291 billion by $1.034 billion, or 19.5 percent. But officials said much of that overage came in the form of capital gains tax revenue and income surtax revenue, money that is to be set aside for specifically mandated purposes.
Posted inState Government
Political Notebook: Healey’s no-new-taxes talk | Rollins pay adjustment | Who is Jeanne Louise?
Asked by reporters afterwards about a timeframe for the no-taxes talk, Gov. Healey said, “That’s how I see it now and for the foreseeable future. Yeah, no taxes. I’ve been focused on trying to lower taxes.”
Posted inGovernment
Watchdog says Boston should look to reserve funds, spending cuts before hiking commercial taxes
The Boston Municipal Research Bureau threw cold water on a city plan to hike tax rates on commercial property, urging the city to instead look to reserve funds and spending cuts, among other approaches, to address a budget crunch.
Posted inOpinion
What to do about our worrisome outmigration problem
Based on most current government data, outmigration cost the state $4.3 billion in adjusted gross income (AGI) and $213.7 million in lost tax revenue in 2021. That year alone, Florida, New Hampshire, and Maine captured $1.77 billion, $1.1 billion, and $393 million, respectively, of AGI from those exiting Massachusetts.
Posted inOpinion
Frances Perkins belongs in the State House
FRANCES PERKINS, born in Boston in 1880 was, among other things, an architect of the New Deal, a series of programs, reforms, and laws that directly impact all Americans today. […]
Posted inPolitics
New Hampshire robocalls stir up new firestorm over artificial intelligence
New Hampshire Democrats received calls before their January primary asking them not to vote until the November general election – the caller purportedly President Joe Biden himself. It wasn’t a human impersonator on the other line, but an AI-generated voice that sounded like the president.
Posted inGovernment
Cape Cod DA pays $5,000 ethics fine
Both infractions of the conflict of interest law date to February 2023, the commission said, and Wednesday’s announcement concluded an inquiry into District Attorney Robert Galibois II that began last May.
Posted inOpinion
EVs are safer except for drivers of other vehicles
While real-world data analysis on vehicle fires involving EVs is limited, it appears that media and social media scrutiny of EV fire hazard is blown out of proportion.
Posted inState Government
Lawmakers have no love for ballot questions, particularly the one calling for audit of Legislature
Most of the reports recounted familiar arguments and laid out the committee’s position on the issue. The report dealing with state Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s bid for the power to audit the Legislature was more pointed and personal, calling out the auditor for allegedly making misleading statements and showing bias.
Posted inEducation
Mass. higher ed sector facing stiff headwinds
The state’s fortunes are more tied to the health of the higher ed sector here than in any other state, and that means some big challenges for Massachusetts in the coming years.
Posted inPolitics
Milton ousts Select Board chair who backed rezoning plan
Keohane’s election to the Select Board suggests opposition to the MBTA Communities Act in Milton is not dissipating in the community just south of Boston. The vote would appear to give opponents of the state’s rezoning law narrow control of the Select Board as the town prepares for a court fight with Attorney General Andrea Campbell, who is asking the Supreme Judicial Court to force the town to come into compliance.
Posted inBallot Questions
DiZoglio targets Uber, Lyft with supercharged hypothetical audit
The analysis estimated the on-demand ride platforms would have owed the state about $266 million in combined workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, and the paid family and medical leave payments over the past decade if their tens of thousands of drivers were treated as full employees.
Posted inPolitics
GOP seeks challenger to Rep. Flanagan after campaign finance violations
If someone is able to garner 150 votes and they accept the Republican nomination, they can appear on the November ballot with Flanagan.
Posted inOpinion
Greed of PBMs needs to be reined in at state and federal level
A lack of oversight and regulation of PBMs has allowed them to act under the radar. They have made the drug distribution channel exceedingly opaque and have directly caused drug prices to rise.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Hayden says no charges will be filed in case of four frozen babies
All of the babies were full term, which means they were determined to be between 37 and 40 weeks of gestational age. All four had their umbilical cords attached and the two females had their placentas attached.
DNA tests concluded that the babies were full siblings.