MASSACHUSETTS WILL TAKE another significant reopening step on Monday, with the Baker administration allowing restaurants to offer indoor dining, retailers to open dressing rooms by appointment only, nail salons to […]
COVID-19
Posted inHealth Care
Despite positive trends, Baker stays course on tracing, testing
DESPITE VERY POSITIVE NEWS on the COVID-19 front, Gov. Charlie Baker said on Friday that he has no plans to stand down or curb his aggressive contact tracing effort or […]
Posted inEducation
3 priorities for schools in the COVID-19 era
REOPENING SCHOOLS PRESENTS a lot of unknowns. Budgets, class sizes, and health protocols are up in the air. But one matter is settled: Whether education happens in person or online, […]
Posted inPolitics
Senate OKs bill expanding voting options
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE SENATE PASSED expanded vote-by-mail legislation Tuesday that would allow voters to avoid the polls, but still participate, during the upcoming primaries and general election if […]
Posted inEconomy
Childcare provider: ‘I’m scared for my business’
AS SHE LOOKS TOWARD REOPENING, Tammy Inman, the owner and director of Little Kids childcare center in North Falmouth is scared. “I’m really scared for my business, I’m scared for my […]
Posted inThe Download
Childcare provider: ‘I’m scared for my business’
As she looks toward reopening, Tammy Inman, the owner and director of Little Kids childcare center in North Falmouth is scared. “I’m really scared for my business, I’m scared for […]
Posted inEconomy
Many businesses closed by COVID are not coming back
THE GREEN BEAN in Northampton was the type of breakfast and lunch place where people would visit daily, hold work meetings, meet their future spouse, or break up with a […]
Posted inOpinion
Challenge to Baker emergency powers likely to fail
A GROUP OF MASSACHUSETTS entrepreneurs, pastors, and an educator has mounted a court challenge to Gov. Charlie Baker’s authority to issue emergency orders to address the novel coronavirus in the […]
Posted inUncategorized
COVID-19 sends food assistance demand soaring
PUBLIC OFFICIALS are racing to address the skyrocketing number of people relying on food assistance. Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito announced the launch of a $36 million […]
Posted inHealth Care
Despite pandemic, health care jobs may be lost
IN THE MIDST OF A PANDEMIC that has narrowed the focus of the state’s health care system, use of the system overall is down and many physician practices are warning […]
Posted inPolitics
Walsh goes from shoo-in to hot seat
IT WAS ONLY A FEW WEEKS AGOÂ that Mayor Marty Walsh seemed to be the man for the moment. Holding regular briefings outside Boston City Hall on all things coronavirus, he […]
Posted inThe Download
Walsh goes from shoo-in to hot seat
It was only a few weeks ago that Mayor Marty Walsh seemed to be the man for the moment. Holding regular briefings outside Boston City Hall on all things coronavirus, […]
Posted inNews Analysis
A new housing crisis for Massachusetts?
FACED WITH COMPOUNDING economic challenges, many renters in Massachusetts are struggling to keep up with monthly rent payments, raising the specter of a spike in evictions when the moratorium expires […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker bill mandates COVID reporting by labs, health providers
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER is seeking legislative permission to fine health care providers and labs up to $2,000 a day if they do not give the state complete demographic data about […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Why a COVID-19 vaccine will be no easy feat
VACCINES HAVE HAD a greater impact on human health than any medical intervention in history. We are all hoping an effective vaccine against COVID-19 will soon join the ranks of […]
Posted inEducation
Guidance calls for much smaller class sizes in schools
STATE OFFICIALS are signaling that student-teacher ratios across the state may be far lower when schools reopen in the fall to deal with the coronavirus. In a preliminary guidance, the […]
Posted inHealth Care
New law requires more COVID-19 data-gathering
THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH will need to publish more transparent data about the number of COVID-19 cases in individual long-term care facilities, and will also need to publish […]
Posted inUncategorized
Racial impact of COVID may be less than thought
ONE OF THE BIG TAKEAWAYS from the coronavirus pandemic so far has been that the virus has exposed racial inequities in society, with the impact falling hardest on blacks and […]
Posted inUncategorized
Report: Undocumented immigrants at risk of losing work, pay
NEARLY HALF OF the undocumented immigrants employed in the state, an estimated 55,000 workers, were at risk of losing their job or losing pay because their workplace had to close during the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker greenlights phase two for Monday
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said the state will move into the second phase of its four-phase approach to reopening on Monday, allowing retail stores, lodgings, child care facilities, day camps, amateur […]
Posted inEducation
Petition seeks changes in child-care standards
WHEN IT COMES TOÂ caring for children, what is safe and what is realistic may be two different things. That conflict is growing as daycares consider whether and how to reopen […]
Posted inUncategorized
DCR cancels all state campground reservations
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION canceled all existing reservations at state campgrounds on Thursday and said new reservations can be made starting later this month for stays beginning on July 1. The […]
Posted inHealth Care
42% of nursing home residents test positive
NEW DATA RELEASED on Wednesday indicate 42 percent of the state’s nursing home residents have tested positive for COVID-19 and nearly 14 percent of the facilities where they reside are […]
Posted inEconomy
House votes to cap food delivery fees
THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE on Wednesday passed a bill that would temporarily cap the fees that delivery services can charge restaurants during the coronavirus pandemic. The provision was part of a […]