A CITY MUST always protect its public assets. For Boston, these assets are largely embodied in our harbor and its waterfront. Foremost among our waterfront assets are the Harbor Walk and its potential focal point at the head of Boston Harbor in the Charlestown Navy Yard— the iconic Pier 5. The Boston Planning and Development […]
Municipal Government
Posted inPolitics
Call for big investments, but no new taxes, fees
THE CANDIDATES for mayor in Boston are calling for major investments in housing, transportation, climate resiliency, schools, and a host of other areas, but they don’t intend to hike taxes or fees of city residents to help pay for these investments. At a forum on Thursday sponsored by the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, A […]
Posted inUncategorized
Clean Energy Center offers help on Brayton Point
THE MASSACHUSETTS Clean Energy Center is putting up some grant money to help the town of Somerset build consensus around the development of offshore wind at Brayton Point, but the funding is not exactly the assistance the municipality was seeking from the Baker administration. Somerset is struggling to figure out what to do with Brayton […]
Posted inThe Download
In Kingston, dueling policies over masks
The Kingston Board of Health voted to require masks in schools last week and the following day the Kingston School Committee voted not to. The Board of Health has no mechanism to enforce its mandate, but health board chairman Joe Casna said if school officials ignore it, “they’re acting at their own peril.” Gov. Charlie […]
Posted inUncategorized
In Kingston, dueling policies over masks
THE KINGSTON BOARD of Health voted to require masks in schools last week and the following day the Kingston School Committee voted not to. The Board of Health has no mechanism to enforce its mandate, but health board chairman Joe Casna said if school officials ignore it, “they’re acting at their own peril.” Gov. Charlie […]
Posted inUncategorized
With federal aid, small towns keep it simple
This is the first in a three-part series on how municipalities are spending ARPA money. WHEN MICHELE GIARUSSO, the municipal assistant in the small town of Leyden, read the rules governing the distribution of federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, her response was: “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Officials in Leyden, a Franklin […]
Posted inUncategorized
Somerset officials press Baker to intervene at Brayton Point
THE SOMERSET Board of Selectmen voted Wednesday night to send a letter to Gov. Charlie Baker urging him to shut down a scrap metal export business that the board says is operating illegally on state-owned land at Brayton Point and in violation of Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. Although Baker said on Tuesday it’s not clear […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker unsure about state ownership of Brayton Point land
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER says he is not sure whether the state actually owns a key chunk of land at Brayton Point in Somerset, as several town officials have insisted. “We’re currently working through all of the various legal and administrative issues about who owns what,” Baker said during an interview after an event about summer […]
Posted inPolitics
Souza victory unites Somerset Select Board
KATHY SOUZA, a candidate for Select Board in Somerset, was asked at a recent debate how she would heal the division in town over a scrap metal export operation at Brayton Point, where a coal-fired power plant was torn down to make way for offshore wind development that has yet to arrive. Souza replied that […]
Posted inGuns
Insular thinking in Boston’s suburbs
AFTER AN EFFICIENT campaign by gun control proponents, the Newton City Council recently approved zoning changes to keep gun stores out of Newton. Yard signs that dotted lawns across the city have come down, Facebook posts have dwindled, and parents are resting easier knowing that their children won’t walk by a gun shop en route […]