BIDs can play role in climate resiliency

We need to remember business funding has its strengths, limitations

By Richard Dimino business, Climate change 0 Comments Dec 9, 2018

THE OCTOBER ANNOUNCEMENT of the “Resilient Boston Harbor” proposal by Boston Mayor Martin Walsh united two critical public policy considerations: long-term adaptation response to climate change and increased access to open space. The mayor’s vision for the city’s 47-mile shoreline offers a much-needed framework to protect waterfront neighborhoods while increasing the public’s enjoyment of Boston’s(...)

Education/ The Upload/ Opinion

Mass. cities losing clout in ed funding fight

Shift in voting power to suburbs changes the political dynamic

By Lawrence S. DiCara and Michael Nicholson 0 Comments Dec 8, 2018

WE PREVIOUSLY CO-AUTHORED an article in CommonWealth detailing the increasing discrepancies in municipal finance between the “haves” and the “have-nots” among Massachusetts cities and towns. It should not be surprising, therefore, that we are concerned about antiquated funding formulas that create a similar divide when it comes to state aid to education in Massachusetts. The issue(...)

Education/ Opinion

Use pot revenue to expand afterschool programs

New sector could fill critical funding gap

By Ardith Wieworka 0 Comments Dec 8, 2018

IN A RECENT report on the importance of afterschool programs, the Legislature’s Afterschool and Out-Of-School Time Coordinating Council, chaired by Sen. Brendan Crighton and Rep. Jennifer Benson, reached a familiar conclusion, but offers a promising new solution. For years, chronic underfunding has left too many Massachusetts children without access to the invaluable afterschool and summer learning(...)

Economy/ Education/ Opinion

Poor role modeling in tech school renovation

Unlicensed workers undercut safety and quality message in classroom

By Bob Butler 0 Comments Dec 8, 2018

THE IRONY SHOULDN’T be lost on students and staff at Blue Hills Regional Technical School in Canton as they watch unlicensed construction workers perform the school’s $84 million renovation. As students inside Blue Hills learn about rigid construction industry standards and how to correctly and safely build a project, outside, unlicensed workers are risking their own lives and(...)

Health Care/ Opinion

A Partners take on BI-Lahey merger

There could be some interesting side-effects

By Paul A. Hattis Health Care 0 Comments Dec 8, 2018

I HAVE MIXED FEELINGS about the merger of Beth Israel Deaconess and Lahey Health, but now that it has received the conditioned approval of Attorney General Maura Healey I want it to succeed in putting competitive pressure on Partners HealthCare. Officials at Partners say they welcome the competition. That may be so, but I wonder(...)

News Analysis/ Politics

Seth Moulton and the shifting sands of polls

Polls have turned on Pelosi, leaving him outside looking in

By Maeve Duggan and Richard Parr Polling, Rep. Seth Moulton 0 Comments Dec 7, 2018

POLLING IS A SNAPSHOT in time. When times change, polls are a time capsule of the way it used to be. Perhaps no one better exemplifies the shifting sands of polls right now than Seth Moulton, who has led the apparently unsuccessful charge to block Nancy Pelosi from returning as Speaker of the House. The North(...)

Marijuana/ Opinion

Pot shop restriction a nonstarter

Proposal would bar stores near addiction treatment centers

By Jim Borghesani Marijuana 0 Comments Dec 7, 2018

ON TUESDAY, the Boston City Council will hold a hearing on a proposal by District 1 Councilor Lydia Edwards to prohibit cannabis facilities from operating within a half-mile of addiction treatment centers. Edwards introduced the measure after a cannabis company, OmniCann, announced its intent to open a retail shop on Porter Street in East Boston,(...)

Politics

Globe to Warren: Just say no

Is would-be White House run hitting the skids?

By Michael Jonas National Politics 0 Comments Dec 7, 2018

IF ELIZABETH WARREN wants some encouragement for what has seemed a likely presidential run, she’ll have to look beyond the dominant paper in her home state. The Boston Globe runs out an editorial pouring ice cold water on a would-be Warren campaign. It comes in the wake of former governor Deval Patrick’s announcement that he won’t(...)

Economy/ Politics/ State government

House, in informal session, passes Grid legislation

Confusion arises over who would pay unemployment benefits of locked-out workers

By Bruce Mohl business, Energy, Massachusetts Legislature 0 Comments Dec 6, 2018

THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE, in a sparsely attended informal session on Thursday, approved legislation that would extend unemployment assistance for the 1,250 locked-out workers of National Grid or any other utility that locks out its employees. Typically, only noncontroversial issues are taken up in informal sessions. But the Republicans in the House, who held the bill(...)

News Analysis/ Politics/ The Back Story

Grid hearing had one-sided feel

Lawmakers focused on utility, ignored union

By Bruce Mohl National Grid, Rep. James O’Day 0 Comments Dec 6, 2018

Legislative hearings are supposed to be fact-finding missions – a bill comes before a committee, proponents and opponents testify, and lawmakers ask questions to understand the implications of the proposed legislation. But hearings can also serve as the backdrop to rally support for a cause, more of a set-piece for impassioned political theater than an effort to understand complicated legislation. The latter role was very much(...)

Recent Stories