Elected officials may be mindful of the coronavirus pandemic, but the horse race always continues in an emergency, one way or the other. Stephanie Murray at Politico reported on newly-released campaign finance reports from the beginning of the year through March 31, and says Rep. Joe Kennedy III holds a financial advantage over Sen. Ed […]
CommonWealth Staff
Posted inThe Download
Essential or non-essential, who decides?
Deciding which businesses are essential and which ones are nonessential during a pandemic can sometimes get tricky. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott on March 23 banned all medical procedures that are not “immediately medically necessary.” His order said nothing about abortions, but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, an outspoken opponent of abortions, ruled that the […]
Posted inThe Download
Rollins: Lock him up
Whether you call it a Nixon-goes-to-China moment or just an example of the shades of grey that color lots of criminal justice issues, Rachael Rollins is making news in a surprising way: The reform-minded Suffolk district attorney, who is part of a national wave of progressive prosecutors calling for a turn away from the tough-on-crime […]
Posted inThe Download
How will this end?
It’s the question everyone wants an answer to – but no one knows what the answer is. How will this end? Americans cannot remain holed up in their homes forever, but what circumstances will allow society to reopen safely, despite the coronavirus? In a fascinating and provocative piece in The Boston Globe’s Ideas section on […]
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We have a problem in aisle 5
Everyone knows what it’s like these days to be inside a supermarket, but few people know what it’s like to be in the shoes of the essential workers who keep those stores running. On the Codcast, Boston-based Stop and Shop employee Jose Lopes and Whole Foods worker Dan offered their assessment of the risks they […]
Posted inThe Download
We have a problem in aisle 5
Everyone knows what it’s like these days to be inside a supermarket, but few people know what it’s like to be in the shoes of the essential workers who keep those stores running. On the Codcast, Boston-based Stop and Shop employee Jose Lopes and Whole Foods worker Dan offered their assessment of the risks they […]
Posted inThe Download
Getting at the real Tom Brady
I learned more about Tom Brady listening to two hours of a Howard Stern interview than I did reading 20 years of Boston sports pages. I’ve watched Brady religiously season after season, fascinated by his drive to win and his knack at consistently pulling it off. But in all the interviews on WEEI, with the […]
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Lynn workers offer solution to ventilator search
As the coronavirus surge begins, it’s unclear how many more ventilators are coming from the federal stockpile, and when they will arrive. The Federal Emergency Management Agency sent Massachusetts only 100 of the more than 1,000 ventilators requested, Gov. Charlie Baker said Tuesday. Baker said Wednesday he is exploring his own strategies to obtain ventilators […]
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Coronavirus disproportionately hitting blacks and Latinos
It is both a shocking but also utterly predictable new chapter in the unfolding coronavirus saga. The pandemic sweeping the country appears to be exacting a particularly high toll in black and Latino communities, where both infection rates and deaths appear to be far out of proportion to the groups’ share of the overall population. […]
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Eviction bill bounces back and forth on Beacon Hill
It may be the first test of the Legislature’s penchant for consensus on coronavirus-related bills. The Massachusetts House and Senate agree that there should be a pause on evictions and foreclosures during the coronavirus pandemic. But what that should look like is raising thorny questions that have left the bill bouncing back and forth between […]