MIKE MEYERS, a 69-year-old resident of Andover, found a way to use town meeting to voice his displeasure with the way his community is being run. Meyers gathered enough signatures to call a special town meeting Tuesday night where he put forward six articles to rein in the power of town officials, particularly Town Manager […]
Municipal Government
Posted inPolitics
Somerset political infighting continues
VOTERS IN SOMERSET on Monday ousted from the Select Board a leader of the successful effort to shut down a controversial scrap metal export business at Brayton Point, a move suggesting the bitter political divisions within the community have not gone away. The scrap metal operation has dominated politics in the South Coast community for […]
Posted inThe Download
Should remote access to government continue?
Many byproducts of the pandemic cannot disappear too soon – the illness, the social isolation, the toll constant anxiety is taking on our collective mental health. Yet some societal changes have become a silver lining to the pandemic – the realization that some jobs can be done as efficiently at home, the convenience of telehealth, […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Should remote access to government continue?
MANY BYPRODUCTS of the pandemic cannot disappear too soon – the illness, the social isolation, the toll constant anxiety is taking on our collective mental health. Yet some societal changes have become a silver lining to the pandemic – the realization that some jobs can be done as efficiently at home, the convenience of telehealth, […]
Posted inEconomy
3 Walgreens in Roxbury, Mattapan closed for sanitary violations
THREE WALGREENS stores located in Roxbury and Mattapan were shut down for six days early in March because of extensive and long-running violations of the state sanitary code, but the pharmacies inside the stores were allowed to remain open. Two of the stores were in Roxbury, on Washington Street and Warren Street, and the third […]
Posted inUncategorized
Auditor flags 29 bills for impact on local budgets
WHEN THE LEGISLATURE implemented early voting by mail during the pandemic, the state paid for some staff time for local election workers and postage costs. But not all city and town costs were repaid, said Foxborough clerk Bob Cutler, president of the Massachusetts Town Clerks Association. “Some of that could be considered an unfunded mandate,” […]
Posted inUncategorized
Scrap metal operation shuts down in Somerset
AT AROUND 7 p.m. Monday night, the clanging sound of scrap metal being loaded onto a ship at Brayton Point in Somerset appeared to come to a halt. According to neighbors, Eastern Metal Recycling filled a waiting ship to the brim with scrap metal and then began to shut down the operation, complying with a […]
Posted inOpinion
PILOT payments should be standardized statewide
A correction has been added to this commentary, correcting the payment amount of Harvard University. “It’s about fairness. It’s about how do you want to participate in this city that you get city services from: police, fire, public works. I think you should share in those costs.” So spoke Boston’s late former mayor, Thomas Menino, […]
Posted inEnvironment
Brayton Point scrap metal business asks for more time
A clarification has been added to this story. THE BATTLE over the scrap metal heap at Brayton Point in Somerset looks like it’s going to go down to the wire. Land Court Judge Robert Foster on March 8 ordered the scrap metal export business operating at Brayton Point to shut down by March 21 because […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Wu proposes restricting ‘targeted residential picketing’
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE BOSTON MAYOR Michelle Wu, who has regularly encountered protesters outside her home, filed a proposed ordinance Monday to put new rules in place restricting demonstrations that target a particular residence. The proposal would address what the mayor’s office describes as targeted residential picketing, or “picketing, protesting, or demonstrating, with or without […]