IN THE END, Hingham’s gonna Hingham. And so the tony town on Boston’s South Shore finds itself facing a bit of blowback following an effort to show that it wants […]
Economy
Posted inEconomy
Hotel workers hoping for pandemic job protections
MARYANN SILVA HAS worked for 19 years as a full-time banquet server at the Ritz-Carlton hotel on Boston Common. The 63-year-old Lynn resident sets up and serves food to guests for weddings, […]
Posted inEconomy
Justice demands that we strengthen eviction protections
BEFORE PASSING AWAY earlier this fall, Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph Gants was clear about what he saw as the largest civil rights and public health crisis in his […]
Posted inEconomy
Pandemic forcing exodus of women from workforce
LAUREN SONALKAR was working as a part-time science teacher in the Lincoln Public Schools before the pandemic. A week before school started this year, the district offered Sonalkar a job […]
Posted inEconomy
Despite pandemic, Baker proposes higher spending
Despite the pandemic-related recession and high unemployment rates, and an expected drop in state tax revenues, Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday released a budget proposal for the current fiscal year […]
Posted inEconomy
Lobbying begins on what to do next on budget
AS BEACON HILL on Wednesday began trying to find consensus on the budget challenges facing the state, key interest groups began jockeying on how best to respond. The Fund Our Future campaign, which successfully pressured Beacon Hill […]
Posted inEconomy
Economists offer dire projections for state revenues
STATE TAX REVENUES are likely to tank by between $1.2 and $3.6 billion this year compared to last year, amid significant uncertainty generated by the COVID-19 pandemic and by federal inaction, […]
Posted inEconomy
Mass. tax collections continue to roll along
DESPITE ALL THE gloom and doom among budget officials on Beacon Hill, Massachusetts tax collections continue to roll along surprisingly well. The state Department of Revenue said on Monday that […]
Posted inEconomy
Massachusetts ends fiscal 2020 with $700 million budget hole
MASSACHUSETTS ENDED 2020 with a nearly $700 million budget gap, Gov. Charlie Baker said Wednesday, as he filed a proposed closeout budget with the Legislature. Baker, in his filing letter, wrote […]
Posted inEnvironment
East Boston can learn from Seaport mistakes
EAST BOSTON’S WATERFRONT may be just a quick ferry ride from the Seaport District, but it might as well be a world away. While the Seaport has become an exclusive […]
Posted inOpinion
Let’s do away with real estate broker fees
FOR DECADES, the laws of supply and demand have weighed heavily toward landlords and the 3,000-plus real estate agents scattered across brokerage offices in Allston, Brighton, and Brookline. Historical market […]
Posted inEconomy
Baker plugs funds, restaurant dining
THE SITUATION at Bistro 5 in Medford didn’t look good in July. Owner Vittorio Ettore said he was getting just under 30 customers a week at the restaurant. One Friday […]
Posted inEconomy
SJC case questions enforceability of Uber rider agreement
HAVE YOU EVER scrolled past the terms and conditions when downloading a new app, then mindlessly clicked “done” without reading the fine print? Most of us have done that more […]
Posted inPolitics
Car manufacturers pool $25m to fight auto repair ballot question
THE NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE industry is ponying up huge sums of money to defeat a question on the Massachusetts ballot that would give independent auto repair shops the right to access […]
Posted inEconomy
Employers face huge hike in UI taxes
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH UNEMPLOYMENT SOARING, state lawmakers are considering ways to soften the blow from a major impending increase in the taxes employers pay toward the state’s unemployment […]
Posted inEconomy
State judge blocks attempt to end eviction moratorium
A SUFFOLK SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE on Wednesday rejected a request by two landlords to suspend the state’s moratorium on evictions, saying the ban is not an “unreasonable exercise” of power. […]
Posted inEconomy
Baker applying for Trump unemployment funds
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER doesn’t like the way President Trump’s $400 enhanced unemployment insurance benefit is funded, but he’s getting in line for the money with nothing else coming along from […]
Posted inEconomy
Almost half of Massachusetts businesses helped by federal aid
NEARLY HALF OF the state’s businesses and nonprofits received aid from a key federal loan program meant to keep people employed amid the coronavirus downturn, according to a new analysis by the […]
Posted inEconomy
Depoliticizing the development process in Boston
CALLS TO ABOLISH the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) go back almost to its creation. City Councilor Michelle Wu is the latest to take up the quest to rid […]
Posted inEconomy
Faneuil Hall tenants, landlord in standoff
THE LANDLORD AND TENANTS at Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston seem to be at a standoff, with the landlord refusing tenant demands for more modifications of the existing lease agreements […]
Posted inEconomy
Poll finds Latinos heavily impacted by coronavirus
FOOD INSECURITY, DEPRESSION, and unemployment are the top three issues impacting Latino residents in Massachusetts during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to a survey conducted by the MassINC Polling Group. Twenty percent of […]
Posted inOpinion
Minimum guaranteed income = solution to poverty
IN THE WEEKS leading up to his assassination in 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. launched a new chapter of his work, referred to as the “Poor People’s Campaign.” This […]
Posted inUncategorized
Landlords challenge constitutionality of eviction ban
TWO LANDLORDS from Randolph and Worcester are challenging the constitutionality of the ongoing eviction moratorium, arguing the state is allowing their tenants to basically take property without paying for it. The […]
Posted inThe Download
Landlords challenge constitutionality of eviction ban
Two landlords from Randolph and Worcester are challenging the constitutionality of the ongoing eviction moratorium, arguing the state is allowing their tenants to basically take property without paying for it. […]