THE NUMBER of communities considered high risk for COVID-19 increased from 13 to 17, while people younger than 39 led the way in infections, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all cases over the last two weeks. The weekly data released by the Baker administration on Wednesday showed those in the 20-29 age category had 1,207 […]
Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl oversees the production of content and edits reports, along with carrying out his own reporting with a particular focus on transportation, energy, and climate issues.
He previously worked at the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper.
Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Posted inTransportation
Poftak pushes feds for $32b for transit agencies
WITH FINANCIAL CHALLENGES mounting at the MBTA, General Manager Steve Poftak joined transportation officials from across the country on Tuesday to press Congress to pass a stimulus package containing $32 billion of financial aid for the nation’s transit authorities. The amount is more than the $25 billion the agencies received under the earlier CARES Act […]
Posted inPolitics
Wu launches grassroots mayoral campaign
BOSTON CITY COUNCILOR Michelle Wu formally launched her candidacy for mayor on Tuesday with a campaign that promises to be a distinctive grassroots effort. One example is her campaign website, which comes with a digital tool kit designed to help her supporters amplify her message on social media, on signs, and on apparel in six […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Battery buses not ready for primetime yet
MBTA OFFICIALS said on Monday that battery-powered buses are a promising technology that is still several years away from being ready for prime time, largely because a test of five vehicles indicated they take too long to charge and don’t live up to their mileage specifications, particularly during the winter. The MBTA purchased five battery-power, […]
Posted inTransportation
T gears up for rich-poor divide in service cuts
THE MBTA OVERSIGHT BOARD on Monday began formulating principles to follow as it prepares to cut the transit authority’s operating budget by $300 million to $600 million, with T officials recommending the preservation or enhancement of services that cater to minority and low-income customers without cars and a reduction in low-ridership services such as commuter […]
Posted inTransportation
No worries with ‘crowded’ Red Line train
I took a Red Line train last week that was crowded according to the MBTA’s COVID-19 crowding standards, but the consensus on this week’s Codcast was that I didn’t need to worry. My train car last Tuesday had about 65 people on it, one shy of the level the T says qualifies as crowded on […]
Posted inUncategorized
SJC seems wary of upending COVID-19 fight
SEVERAL MEMBERS of the Supreme Judicial Court seemed wary on Friday of upending the fight against COVID-19 during a hearing on a case challenging the sweeping powers Gov. Charlie Baker has exercised over the last seven months in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. The justices, meeting via a Zoom call, are being asked to declare […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker unveils nursing home aid package
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION on Thursday unveiled a support package for nursing homes that ties staffing and occupancy reforms to additional, stable long-term funding and short-term aid in the event COVID-19 infection rates begin to rise again this fall. Earlier this year, when COVID-19 deaths were surging at nursing homes, the Baker administration belatedly pumped emergency […]
Posted inUncategorized
Contact tracing ramping up hiring again
THE MASSACHUSETTS CONTACT tracing effort, which scaled back its workforce dramatically this summer as the spread of COVID-19 subsided, is ramping up again. The nonprofit Partners in Health, which works with local boards of health across the state to track down those who have been infected with the coronavirus and those they have come in […]
Posted inUncategorized
Communities at high-risk for COVID-19 grow
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER talked up the state’s progress in dealing with COVID-19 on Wednesday, but the latest data using the administration’s most closely watched metric showed the situation worsening on several fronts. The number of cases per 100,000 people statewide over the last two weeks continued to rise, going from 4.2 a week ago to 4.6 […]