UNIONS AND LIBERAL-LEANING groups are spearheading the campaign to keep in place the state’s new law granting driver’s licenses to immigrants without legal status, while a repeal effort is being led by the conservative-leaning Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance and its founder Rick Green, with support from individual donors. The first campaign finance reports shedding light on […]
Shira Schoenberg
Shira Schoenberg is a reporter at CommonWealth magazine. Shira previously worked for more than seven years at the Springfield Republican/MassLive.com where she covered state politics and elections, covering topics as diverse as the launch of the legal marijuana industry, problems with the state's foster care system and the elections of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Gov. Charlie Baker. Shira won the Massachusetts Bar Association's 2018 award for Excellence in Legal Journalism and has had several stories win awards from the New England Newspaper and Press Association. Shira covered the 2012 New Hampshire presidential primary for the Boston Globe. Before that, she worked for the Concord (N.H.) Monitor, where she wrote about state government, City Hall and Barack Obama's 2008 New Hampshire primary campaign. Shira holds a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
Posted inEducation
White House says 813,000 in Mass. eligible for student debt relief
AN ESTIMATED 813,000 student loan borrowers in Massachusetts will qualify for debt relief under President Biden’s student debt relief plan, according to data released by the White House Tuesday. As a pandemic-era pause on student loan repayments ends in December, Biden announced a plan last month to provide permanent relief for some borrowers. Biden’s plan […]
Posted inHealth Care
How much is Massachusetts spending on primary, behavioral health care?
ONE OF GOV. Charlie Baker’s biggest initiatives that he attempted, but failed, to pass would have reoriented health care spending so a greater portion of health care spending went toward primary and behavioral health care, rather than specialty care. Legislation that Baker sponsored would have required health care providers and payers to increase spending on […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Innovative court program helps people navigate addiction services
CAPE COD DEFENSE attorney Susan Wenzel had a client with mental health and substance use issues who needed help handling both problems and had no health insurance. His criminal case was still in progress, so he had no access to court-ordered therapy. Wenzel called Rick Palingo, a recovery support navigator who works in Barnstable area […]
Posted inPolitics
Barnstable commissioner candidate minimizes ties to Oath Keepers
RON BEATY, a Republican candidate for Barnstable County commissioner, said Monday that he made a small donation to the right-wing group Oath Keepers in 2014 but has not been involved in the group since then. CommonWealth reported earlier this month that the Anti-Defamation League analyzed a leaked database of members of the Oath Keepers, which […]
Posted inMarijuana
Marijuana delivery companies seek repeal of two-driver rule
EVEN BEFORE Chris Fevry launched Your Green Package, one of the first licensed marijuana courier companies in Massachusetts, he was worried about whether the business model was financially viable. Could a company act as an Uber Eats for marijuana, delivering products from a retailer to a customer, and earn enough from delivery fees to profit? […]
Posted inImmigration, Politics
Why are migrants being flown to Martha’s Vineyard?
Why is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis flying immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard? It appears to be mainly a move made for political gain. DeSantis appears to have flown two planeloads of immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard from another state – Texas – with no warning or coordination with officials in Massachusetts. News reports indicate the two flights […]
Posted inPolitics
Mail-in voting didn’t boost primary turnout
WHEN LAWMAKERS passed permanent no-excuse mail-in voting earlier this year, advocates billed it as a way to increase voter participation. “This is a historic bill that is going to have more people participate, and when more people participate, democracy wins,” said Sen. Barry Finegold, an Andover Democrat and the lead Senate negotiator on the bill, […]
Posted inHealth
Demand picking up a bit for new Omicron booster shots
NOW THAT THE federal government has authorized Omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccines, some Massachusetts residents are running to get them – but far from the furious rush that accompanied the initial vaccines. The Department of Public Health’s weekly vaccination data from Wednesday provides the first insight into how much demand there is in the state for the […]
Posted inPolitics
Federal judge won’t intervene in Tran prosecution
A FEDERAL JUDGE has declined to intervene to stop Attorney General Maura Healey’s prosecution of congressional candidate Dean Tran. Tran, a Republican former state senator who is challenging Democratic US Rep. Lori Trahan in the 3rd District, was indicted on six counts related to his alleged attempt to steal guns that had belonged to an […]