WITH THE PANDEMIC shutdown wreaking havoc on hundreds of businesses across Boston, city officials are stepping up to provide relief to one group of enterprises with a direct tie to […]
Government
Posted inUncategorized
Here’s what you need to know about 2020 mail-in voting
DUE TO THE coronavirus pandemic, all Massachusetts residents who wish to do so will be allowed to vote by mail this year. Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday signed a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Substance use treatment changing at Plymouth prison
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION is removing correctional officers and expanding treatment programming at the troubled prison facility in Plymouth used to treat men civilly committed for substance use. The shift in […]
Posted inPolitics
Boston councilors approve budget after charged debate
AFTER MORE THAN two hours of debate, Boston city councilors approved a $3.61 billion budget for 2021, averting a showdown with Mayor Marty Walsh that some councilors deemed […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Protesting the George Floyd killing: A moment or a movement?
THE BURST OF protests across the country following the death of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer are demanding dramatic reform of policing practices. But are […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Healey seeks more power to investigate police misconduct
ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY and her colleagues in 17 other states are urging Congress to give them greater authority to investigate practices of patterned unconstitutional policing and bring enforcement actions […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker slams Trump’s lack of leadership
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER missed the call the nation’s governors had with President Trump on Monday, but that didn’t stop him from criticizing the president in what were harsh terms for […]
Posted inUncategorized
Mail-in voting debate heats up with help from Trump
AS MORE STATES consider mail-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic, the issue was thrust into the national spotlight when President Trump took to Twitter earlier this week to warn of widespread […]
Posted inThe Download
Mail-in voting debate heats up with help from Trump
As more states consider mail-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic, the issue was thrust into the national spotlight when President Trump took to Twitter earlier this week to warn of […]
Posted inUncategorized
Walsh says governing has become about ‘life and death’
MARTY WALSH IS THE FIRST to admit that dealing with a global pandemic was never among the challenges he imagined facing as Boston mayor. “The last thought in my mind — […]
Posted inThe Download
Walsh says governing has become about ‘life and death’
Marty Walsh is the first to admit that dealing with a global pandemic was never among the challenges he imagined facing as Boston mayor. “The last thought in my mind […]
Posted inOpinion
Science isn’t liberal or conservative, red or blue
THE WORLD’S RESPONSE to COVID is the story of medicine and science – and of selfless individuals standing up to do their jobs. I’m lucky enough to be a small […]
Posted inUncategorized
Boston hearing focuses on language barriers
BOSTON CITY COUNCILORS Julia Mejia and Ed Flynn held a hearing Friday focused on the language barriers non-native English speakers are facing during the coronavirus pandemic. Fittingly, the hearing was […]
Posted inUncategorized
Northampton mayor has personal experience with COVID-19
Sixth in a series on municipal leaders across Massachusetts and how they’re contending with the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are previous stories on Chelsea City Manager Tom Ambrosino, Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse, a second […]
Posted inEconomy
Developing a playbook for reopening
LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, Senate President Karen Spilka is trying to wrap her head around the idea of reopening the state’s comatose economy. In a speech delivered virtually to the Greater […]
Posted inEconomy
No relief: Baker extends shutdown until May 18
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER announced on Tuesday that he is extending until May 18 the state’s closure of non-essential businesses, his stay-at-home advisory and his ban on gatherings of more than […]
Posted inHealth Care
Morse calls for state takeover of nursing homes
Fifth in a series on municipal leaders across Massachusetts and how they’re contending with the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are previous stories on Chelsea City Manager Tom Ambrosino, Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse, Pittsfield Mayor […]
Posted inEconomy
City and town budgets hit hard
AS COVID-19 RAVAGES local economies, cities and towns are falling into a sea of red ink – and trying to figure out how to deal with it. While the public […]
Posted inHealth Care
Curtatone stresses boldness in addressing COVID-19
Third in a series about mayors across Massachusetts and how they’re contending with the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are stories on Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse and Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer. FOR SOMERVILLE […]
Posted inOpinion
The cost of abandoning norms
FOR OVER THREE YEARS we have watched as President Trump flouted norms of policy, civility, decency, and rule of law. Unlike any president before him, Republican or Democrat, he ignores […]
Posted inEconomy
The coronavirus is expanding the safety net
LIKE MILLIONS OF other US workers, Charlie Burke and Mutwaly Hamid were used to getting up in the morning and putting in long days on the job. But when the […]
Posted inOpinion
Congress doing poor job addressing pandemic
“YOU NEVER WANT a serious crisis to go to waste.” That statement, made by incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel at the height of the 2008 financial crisis, […]
Posted inHealth Care
Tyer rallies Pittsfield to ‘crush the curve’
PITTSFIELD MAYOR Linda Tyer said the first coronavirus death in her community on March 22 hit her hard. “That really felt like a moment when this COVID-19 disease had a […]
Posted inUncategorized
For Trump, cameras leave no room for social distancing
Practice what I preach, not what I do. That’s the only takeaway message one can glean from what have now become daily televised briefings by President Trump from the White […]