Every policy has both upsides and downsides, and isolation policy is no exception. At this stage, the scales are tilted far more to the harms of the policy than the benefits.
Moving on from COVID, last mitigation measure is gone
Posted inOpinion
Cruel practice of declawing cats should be illegal
Onychectomy, the declawing procedure, is the surgical amputation of all or part of a cat’s third phalanges (toe bones) and the attached claws. Owners typically declaw their cats to prevent the scratching of both furniture and people.
Posted inPolitics
Political Notebook: Worcester envy turns to relief | Another Mariano missile | Doughty off to Argentina
Fifteen years ago, Worcester looked at Boston with jealousy as cranes dotted the capital city’s skyline, adding new office towers. But now, with more and more people working from home post-pandemic, jealousy has given way to relief.
Posted inOpinion
Mass. is facing a literacy crisis — but there is real potential for improvement
The majority of Massachusetts elementary and middle school students are not reading at grade level, but we can change that by embracing evidence-based instruction that we know will make a difference.
Posted inHealth Care
Health Policy Commission wary of Steward-Optum deal
“I think the underpinning piece is what happens to patients, and what happens to the small community hospitals out there in terms of their ability to stay viable and to provide care,” said commissioner Barbara Blakeney. “The impact of this is just mind-bogglingly complex and potentially harmful.”
Posted inTransportation
Healey, House at odds on low-income fare cost
The MBTA says it needs between $27 million and $30 million to give low-income riders a half-off fare discount, but the House budget plan, despite throwing a record amount of money the T’s way, ponies up only $20 million.
Posted inBy The Numbers
Mass. residents conflicted on MBTA Communities Act
The poll seems to show a version of “NIMBY” thinking among residents, with most people supporting the broad goal of creating more housing, but a significant number of responders wary of having that housing forced on individual communities.
Posted inState Government
Despite flat tax collections, House budget plan would boost spending 3.3%
The House plan does not call for any major tax hikes or draw from the state’s long-term “rainy day” savings account, whose balance could surpass $9 billion by July 2025 under the House’s latest projection.
Posted inOpinion
Senate needs to get in line with House, Healey on transit funding
In brief, the House takes Gov. Maura Healey’s budget and, in several ways, improves it.
Posted inImmigration
Mariano patience running thin on emergency shelter funding
Mariano and his budget chief, Rep. Aaron Michlewitz of Boston, acknowledged the House’s proposed funding for the coming fiscal year is probably about half what is needed, but they indicated they wanted to force a reevaluation of the situation after roughly six months.
Posted inEconomy
Amid talk of hiking commercial tax rates, should Boston also be tightening its belt?
Boston is seeking state approval to raise tax rates on commercial property, the assessed values of which are expected to drop. Some say the city should also rein in spending if it’s going to ask more of property owners who already struggling with high vacancy rates.
Posted inOpinion
Transmission study reaches some hopeful conclusions
ISO New England’s 2050 Transmission Study, finalized last month, is the first the regional grid operator has undertaken examining the region’s transmission system in detail beyond the traditional 10-year planning horizon.
Posted inPolitics
Mass. poll finds likely voters lean more to Biden, echoing national trends
Joe Biden has a big lead over Donald Trump among voters in heavily Democratic-leaning Massachusetts, but results of a new statewide poll also show some intriguing other trends that mirror national surveys and could shape the outcome of the 2024 presidential contest.
Posted inBallot Questions
Audit-the-Legislature ballot effort sees slim majority support
A slim majority of Massachusetts residents support a potential ballot question that would grant state Auditor Diana DiZoglio the power to probe the inner workings of her former colleagues in the Massachusetts Legislature, according to a CommonWeath Beacon/GBH News poll.
Posted inEnergy
Magical eclipse created temporary solar power void
Officials at ISO New England estimate roughly 4,000 megawatts of electricity, or about a third of total electricity demand at the time, was being generated by solar just prior to the eclipse.
Posted inTransportation
House budget plan seeks major boost in MBTA funding
The House budget is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, but a sneak-preview released Tuesday morning suggests the chamber’s leaders want to pour $738 million into the MBTA and the regional transit authorities — $281 million from the state’s general fund and $457 million from money collected from a 4 percent surcharge on income above $1 million.
Posted inBy The Numbers
Poll indicates young people aren’t betting on sports as much as feared
One year into legalized sports gambling and growing concern about its impact on the young, a new CommonWealth Beacon/GBH News poll doesn’t paint a clear-cut apocalyptic picture.
Posted inOpinion
Ringling Bros. back, this time with no wild animals
The circus has changed, now passage of legislation is needed
Posted inHousing
MBTA Communities panel splits over state vs. local control
“I think of the folks who were in the Mass. Legislature more than 100 years ago, who said we’re going to go out and we’re going to create the Quabbin Reservoir and flood four towns, and make sure that we had enough water for the Boston metro area,” he said. “That was a hard decision… They made a decision about what they thought was best for the Commonwealth. And so did we.”
Posted inThe Codcast
MBTA Communities panel splits over state vs. local control
This week on the Codcast, we’re bringing you a recording of a recent discussion on the MBTA Communities Act, moderated by CommonWealth Beacon’s Gin Dumcius. The panelists are Andrea Harris-Long of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, State Rep. Russell Holmes, and Quincy City Council President Ian Cain.