STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE RECENT CONTROVERSY over legislation that would allow local organizations to levy fees on property owners to improve their neighborhoods has led the leader of the House […]
Municipal Government
Posted inPolitics
Fifty shades of Rockland
THE SOUTH SHORE TOWN of Rockland seems to be in a sex-fueled political meltdown. The lurid saga first surfaced on May 23 when Boston 25 News reported that two town […]
Posted inOpinion
Second-home owners lose out in Airbnb regs
FOR MANY OF US, Boston is home. For others, our city is an exciting place to visit, full of rich history, beautiful neighborhoods, and fun things to do. Our welcoming […]
Posted inOpinion
The end of recycling?
CURBSIDE RECYCLING PROGRAMS are disappearing in Massachusetts. Our Commonwealth has made the absurd decision to dump thousands of tons of recyclable materials into landfills. Recycling infrastructure is approaching its breaking […]
Posted inOpinion
Local access channels getting tuned out
WE ARE IN a new age of news and media. It started with the 24 hour news cycle, it changed again with the advent of social media, and most recently […]
Posted inEconomy
City council puts restraints on Airbnb
THE BOSTON CITY COUNCIL overwhelmingly approved tough new restrictions on short-term rentals offered by companies such as Airbnb and HomeAway, eliminating investor-owned units from the marketplace while allowing owner-occupied, two- […]
Posted inOpinion
What’s in a name?
BOSTON RED SOX OWNER John Henry says he is “haunted” by the fact that a street that abuts Fenway Park, Yawkey Way, is named after a man many consider to […]
Posted inEnvironment
Tax that dirty water
LISA MURPHY DOESN’T have any control over how much rain or snow falls on her property in Milton, but she is nevertheless being charged a special fee for stormwater runoff. […]
Posted inEconomy
Senate goes light on short-term rental regs
THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE has passed its bill for short-term-rentals, a stripped-down version of the House measure that simplifies the tax on hosts and eliminates any tiered structure so that people […]
Posted inTransportation
Walsh wants to hike parking fines
BOSTON MAYOR MARTY WALSH will unveil a $5 million plan to improve the city’s transportation system, ranging from repaving roads and sidewalks to creating dedicated bus lanes, and plans to […]
Posted inPolitics
City stalls on Yawkey name change
A STANDING-ROOM ONLY crowd, including reclusive former Red Sox CEO John Harrington making an emotional plea to retain the street’s moniker, left disappointed after a Boston commission charged with overseeing […]
Posted inEconomy
Walsh pulls Airbnb proposal
JUST HOURS BEFORE the Boston City Council was set to vote – and likely reject – Mayor Marty Walsh’s proposed ordinance to regulate short-term rentals such as those listed on […]
Posted inOpinion
With more control, communities choose clean energy
ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS, COMMUNITIES are taking control over where their energy comes from. By leveraging local bulk purchasing power, more than 100 towns and cities in the Bay State have increased […]
Posted inEconomy
Rosenberg suggests House to blame for Airbnb inaction
SEN. STAN ROSENBERG chastised his fellow lawmakers on Thursday for dithering for years while the short-term rental industry embedded itself in the market and grew unencumbered by regulations and the lodging […]
Posted inEconomy
The Airbnb gold rush is on
Photographs by Ken Richardson AIRBNB, LIKE THE draw of ride-hailing apps to car owners, started with the premise that your home can make you a little extra money by renting […]
Posted inPolitics
Mayor of firsts
Photographs by Frank Curran YVONNE SPICER, like a lot of her fellow Framingham residents, freely admits that she voted against the charter question to make the state’s biggest town a […]
Posted inOpinion
Momentum for more housing choices in the state
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER joined the fight to promote housing last week—adding more push to the consensus that 2018 is the year to tackle the Commonwealth’s housing crisis head on. As […]
Posted inArts and Culture
City Hall skating fees raise some eyebrows
SHANE MURPHY, a resident of Springfield, was walking around Faneuil Hall with his date recently when he decided to visit the newly minted skating rink on Boston’s City Hall Plaza. […]
Posted inThe Back Story
West Station vs. Boston Landing
SOMETHING SEEMS AMISS with the state’s ridership numbers for the proposed West Station in Allston. The draft environmental impact report for the Allston Interchange forecasts 250 daily commuter riders and […]
Posted inThe Download
School start times zero sum game
One day after the Boston School Committee voted unanimously to change school start times next fall so teenaged students could get a little extra sleep, Boston Magazine published a story […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: Cashless T won’t leave people behind
There’s been a lot of talk about the MBTA’s plan to install a new fare collection system, most of it focused on the problems associated with going cashless. The concerns […]
Posted inOpinion
Changing of the guard in East Boston
IT SEEMS LIKE YESTERDAY to me, but it was a long time ago – 1983 – when I ran Bob Travaglini’s campaign for District 1 City Council. It was the […]
Posted inPolitics
Lowell’s single-issue election
ELECTIONS, as they say, have consequences. This is certainly the case in Lowell, where voters on Tuesday delivered a stunning rebuke to their elected officials and their decision to relocate […]
Posted inPolitics
Brockton candidate already a winner
WITH MAYORAL RACES in the gun lap around the state, most eyes are on what’s happening in Boston and then maybe on Lawrence and Framingham or Newton. But little attention […]