JUST OVER A YEAR after Gov. Charlie Baker signed “An Act Creating a Next-Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy,” which contained protections for environmental justice populations, the state has found itself roiled in controversy for sacrificing the health and well-being of those very same, protected populations. Investigative reporting revealed that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation […]
Charlie Baker
Posted inBook Review
Opportunity lost
The second of two takes on the new book by the state’s governor and his former chief of staff. Read the first one here, by Republican activist Ed Lyons. ALMOST 50 YEARS AGO, Harvard Business School professor Abraham Zaleznik published a ground-breaking article whose title posed a question that scholars and practitioners have been debating […]
Posted inPolitics
A balancing act from front-runner Healey
MAURA HEALEY, who launched her campaign for governor in January with a modulated message vowing to continue what’s working and change what isn’t, swept the Massachusetts Democratic Party’s convention endorsement, vowing to be a champion for those left behind or left out. The two-term attorney general won the Democratic Party endorsement by a wide margin […]
Posted inBook Review
The Book of Baker
The first of two takes on the new book by the state’s governor and his former chief of staff. Here is the second, a look at the Baker playbook from Bob Massie, a former Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor and candidate for governor. IT IS QUITE rare for a governor to write a book while […]
Posted inThe Download
Climate change brain drain in Baker administration
Gov. Charlie Baker lost another key aide on the climate change front, as Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides said she is leaving the administration next week. Theoharides has been an emerging star in the Baker administration, the face of its efforts to build out the offshore wind industry and address climate change. She […]
Posted inTransportation
W. Mass. showing clout on East-West rail
WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS, with the help of US Rep. Richard Neal, is starting to flex some muscle on the region’s holy grail of transportation — East-West rail. At a meeting in Springfield on Tuesday, officials from western Massachusetts secured Gov. Charlie Baker’s support for a long-sought rail connection running from Pittsfield to Springfield to Worcester, where […]
Posted inTransportation
Neal, Baker strike deal on East-West rail
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FEDERAL AND STATE officials on Tuesday agreed on a path forward to extend passenger rail service west of Worcester to the cities of Springfield and Pittsfield, an effort designed to finally connect the eastern and western parts of the state by rail. Speaking with reporters after a meeting at Springfield’s Union […]
Posted inEconomy
Climate, downtowns, housing focus of Baker spending bill
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Wednesday filed a $3.5 billion economic development bill that focuses on climate-related projects, downtown revitalization, and housing. The bill is chock-full of specific local projects, a strategy likely aimed at getting the support of individual lawmakers – and getting municipal officials to lobby their lawmakers to pass it. The bill relies […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
William Allen granted parole after 28 years in jail
THE PAROLD BOARD on Wednesday granted parole to William Allen, one of two men to have his first-degree murder sentence commuted by Gov. Charlie Baker earlier this year. After spending 28 years in jail, this is the final procedural step that will let Allen go free. “The board is of the opinion that Mr. Allen […]
Posted inState House News Service
Baker administration offers UI overpayment relief
THE STATE’S DEPARTMENT of Unemployment Assistance will be in touch with Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Unemployment Insurance claimants in the coming days to detail state and federal relief options that the Baker administration said Thursday would resolve about $1.6 billion or roughly 71 percent of overpayments. There are about 353,000 outstanding cases of workers who […]