Tracking Transportation/ Environment/ Transportation/ Opinion

The dirty secret about ‘clean’ electric vehicles

They still emit dangerous particulate matter

By James Aloisi Climate change, Transportation 0 Comments Apr 1, 2023

AUTOMOBILES EMIT tailpipe carbon emissions, we all know that, and these emissions in the aggregate are now the largest single source of carbon emissions in Massachusetts and many other states, surpassing the energy and building sectors. Efforts to reduce transportation sector emissions have rightly taken center stage as a matter of public policy, but the(...)

Government/ Opinion

ARPA is giving local officials the tools they need

Plan is helping addresss COVID and the future

By Jon Mitchell COVID-19, Growth and Development 0 Comments Apr 1, 2023

LIKE MANY MAYORS, I am often faced with the choice of investing taxpayer dollars to address immediate needs or to make investments whose benefits will be realized only in the long run. But when it came to the issue of childcare, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, I didn’t have to choose. Investing in more(...)

Economy/ Opinion

Unions are answer to state’s labor shortage

Good wages, training can help rebuild the workforce

By Frank Callahan Economy, Employment 0 Comments Apr 1, 2023

MASSACHUSETTS HAS a crisis on its hands. The Commonwealth faces an alarming labor shortage, with fewer people participating in the workforce and more of the Commonwealth’s residents choosing to move elsewhere. The cost of living is skyrocketing causing many to face hard economic decisions. We cannot afford to ignore this problem, but it’s also a(...)

The Download

MBTA subway ridership takes hit with slow zones

By CommonWealth Staff 0 Comments Mar 31, 2023

The bottom fell out of the public transit industry at the start of COVID, and it’s been a slow slog back for every agency – not just the MBTA. According to national subway data gathered by Chris Friend of the transit advocacy group TransitMatters, the MBTA for most of 2020, 2021, and the first half(...)

Tracking Transportation/ Transportation

MBTA subway ridership takes hit with slow zones

Until recently, T passenger levels kept pace with industry peers

By Bruce Mohl 0 Comments Mar 31, 2023

THE BOTTOM FELL out of the public transit industry at the start of COVID, and it’s been a slow slog back for every agency – not just the MBTA. According to national subway data gathered by Chris Friend of the transit advocacy group TransitMatters, the MBTA for most of 2020, 2021, and the first half(...)

Education/ Opinion

Striking shouldn’t be against the law for teachers

We need to bring balance to the collective bargaining process

By Steven Tolman and Max Page Elementary and Secondary Education, teacher strikes 0 Comments Mar 31, 2023

EARLIER THIS YEAR, Woburn educators, addressing the grossly unfair pay offered to highly valued paraprofessionals, won a 40 percent starting-pay increase for the district’s paras. The Woburn Teachers Association further took on the ever-growing problem of educator shortages by establishing a new minimum salary for classroom teachers that meets the goals of US Sen. Bernie(...)

Uncategorized

New Census numbers underscore competitiveness issues

Mass. population shrinks slightly while Texas, Florida gain

By Chris Lisinski Census 0 Comments Mar 31, 2023

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE POPULATION of Massachusetts shrunk by nearly 8,000 people between July 2021 and July 2022, a drop of about 0.1 percent, but the newest estimate released in fresh data from the US Census Bureau puts the state’s population ahead of its revised 2020 Census level. The bureau’s “Vintage 2022 estimates of(...)

Politics/ Opinion

King was idealist with an eye for political pragmatism

Boston activist leaves a legacy of tireless work for a fairer world

By Kevin Peterson 0 Comments Mar 30, 2023

MEL KING’S name surfaced in Marty Walsh’s kitchen very early on a sunny Wednesday morning, a day after a bruising preliminary election squabble for mayor of Boston. Walsh was one of two victors the night before, having vanquished, among others, Charlotte Golar Richie, who some in Boston’s Black community were hoping would become the city’s(...)

The Download

Markey in DC, moms in Mass. push anti-gun violence efforts

By CommonWealth Staff 0 Comments Mar 30, 2023

Another year, another mounting tally of mass shootings, and US Sen. Ed Markey was once again standing outside the Capitol arguing for funding to study gun violence. In 1996, a rider in a federal spending bill backed by the National Rifle Association blocked federally funded research that would “advocate or promote gun control,” which Markey(...)

Government/ Guns

Markey in DC, moms in Mass. push anti-gun violence efforts

Senator presses for funding to research gun violence

By Jennifer Smith 0 Comments Mar 30, 2023

ANOTHER YEAR, another mounting tally of mass shootings, and US Sen. Ed Markey was once again standing outside the Capitol arguing for funding to study gun violence. In 1996, a rider in a federal spending bill backed by the National Rifle Association blocked federally funded research that would “advocate or promote gun control,” which Markey(...)