MONTHS INTO THE coronavirus pandemic, cities and towns are taking reopening plans into their own hands, including in Gov. Charlie Baker’s own backyard. The Select and Health Boards of Swampscott, where […]
Municipal Government
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Municipalities tweak Baker’s reopening plans
Months into the coronavirus pandemic, cities and towns are taking reopening plans into their own hands, including in Gov. Charlie Baker’s own backyard. The Select and Health Boards of Swampscott, […]
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 inHealth Care
Are face mask fines the way to go?
FOUR WEEKS AGO we were debating whether face masks were necessary or not. Now we’re starting to fine people if they fail to wear masks in any public place, inside or outside. […]
Posted inThe Download
Are face mask fines the way to go?
Four weeks ago we were debating whether face masks were necessary or not. Now we’re starting to fine people if they fail to wear masks in any public place, inside or […]
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 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
Holyoke’s Alex Morse adapts to the curveballs
First in a series about mayors across Massachusetts and how they’re contending with the COVID-19 pandemic. DON’T ASK HOLYOKE MAYOR Alex Morse about his typical day right now – there […]
Posted inThe Download
Arroyo: Racism is public health crisis in Boston
Race has long created a divide between what should be and what is. In Boston, that has translated into a struggle to achieve racial parity in exam schools. It has […]
Posted inUncategorized
Arroyo: Racism is public health crisis in Boston
RACE HAS LONG CREATED a divide between what should be and what is. In Boston, that has translated into a struggle to achieve racial parity in exam schools. It has […]
Posted inUncategorized
At Boston.gov, you don’t always get an answer
Boston.gov, the city of Boston’s official website, has the potential to make it quick and easy for citizens to get answers to questions, file complaints, and make requests for help […]
Posted inEnvironment, Health
‘Nip’ ban having an impact in Chelsea
CHELSEA’S BAN on “nip” liquor bottles – the only one of its kind in the state — appears to be having the desired effect. In the year since the city banned […]
Posted inPolitics
Columbus on hot seat in Framingham
THE LIST OF EARLY-ADOPTER Massachusetts communities that have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day is about what you’d expect: Amherst, Northampton, Cambridge, Brookline, and Somerville. School committees in Mashpee […]
Posted inOpinion
New Bedford charter expansion ‘mind-boggling’
CHARTER SCHOOLS STARTED as a hopeful experiment in public education. But as is possible with any experiment, this one has failed. It’s time to move beyond the charter school debate […]
Posted inOpinion
Pot legalization exposes generation gap in local government
MORE THAN TWO YEARS after voters passed Question 4 to legalize adult-use cannabis, retail sales are about to finally begin. It promises to be a remarkable moment but also a […]
Posted inEconomy
Airbnb sues Boston to halt regs
AIRBNB FILED SUIT against the city of Boston Tuesday seeking to block officials from implementing new regulations on short-term rentals set to take effect January 1, claiming the rules illegally […]
Posted inOpinion
How do you license a fortune teller?
IT’S ONLY NATURAL this time of year that we turn our attention to ghouls and ghosts and things that go bump in the night. Jack-o-lanterns, trick or treaters, funny costumes, […]
Posted inPolitics
From boy wonder mayor to defendant
JASIEL CORREIA was in full performance mode earlier this year when he was interviewed by CommonWealth contributor Ted Seifer for this profile in the magazine’s spring issue. The mayor of Fall […]
Posted inThe Download
From boy wonder mayor to defendant
Jasiel Correia was in full performance mode earlier this year when he was interviewed by CommonWealth contributor Ted Seifer for this profile in the magazine’s spring issue. The mayor of […]
Posted inEconomy
A new Quincy
QUINCY MAYOR THOMAS KOCH calls the MBTA’s Red Line the “spine” of his aging city. With four stops in North Quincy, Wollaston, Quincy Center, and Quincy Adams, the T’s Red […]
Posted inUncategorized
AG: Towns can’t ban medical pot
IN A STARTLING TURNAROUND, Attorney General Maura Healey has reversed her office’s decision that allowed communities to ban medical marijuana dispensaries after opening the door earlier this summer for cities […]
Posted inEconomy
Club to pay $36m toward $86m stadium
THE CITY OF WORCESTER is building a new $86 million stadium for the Boston Red Sox Triple-A affiliate and charging the team roughly $36 million – two separate $3 million […]
Posted inOpinion
Cities can clean up the transportation sector
TRANSPORTATION IS THE largest source of carbon pollution in the Commonwealth, producing 40 percent of climate-disrupting greenhouse gas emissions. Cities and towns can play an important role in leading the […]
Posted inPolitics
Another twist for legal pot
THE STATE’S MARIJUANA oversight board wants to put a halt to communities demanding payments from legal pot businesses in excess of what’s allowed by law but the panel’s decision could […]