Erin Tiernan

The biggest missing persons mysteries facing police departments in Massachusetts and across the nation have to do with their own officers. Staffing shortages have reached “crisis levels,” taxing departments and driving up overtime budgets. Joe Gamaldi, a Houston, Texas police sergeant and national vice president for the Fraternal Order of Police, said the United States […]

Kids are kicking butts and they’re taking the fight to the halls of the State House. Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to outright ban the sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol vapes and cigarettes when its law took effect on June 1, 2020. Lawmakers’ goal was to slash tobacco use, particularly rates of […]

Democratic leaders in Washington and here in Massachusetts will get to work on Wednesday pressing for stricter gun control measures. One day after a gunman killed six people, including three children, at a school in Nashville, Tennessee, President Joe Biden told reporters, he’s already pushed the limits of his authority. “I have gone the full extent of […]

Keller at Large Conservatives can’t stand her and liberals say she’s not left enough, but that’s not stopping U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren from running for a third term in office. WBZ political analyst Jon Keller writes that the Senate’s foremost consumer advocate has local approval languishing in the low 40s. MASSterList Today’s News If you read […]

Beacon Hill gets busy for Gov. Maura Healey this week where lawmakers finally get down to business vetting three of her biggest policy proposals yet. She could also put pen to paper to sign her first major measure into law.  A $1.1 billion bill addressing “time-sensitive” needs hit her desk last Thursday after the House and Senate […]

With no end in sight for the slow zones that have left more than a quarter of MBTA’s subway system slugging along, it’s safe to say Boston-area commuters are stuck on ‘T’ time. Gov. Maura Healey appears to be taking her time, too, when it comes to installing new leadership. From falling concrete to mounting delays, a […]

Massachusetts families sliding down the slope of a “hunger cliff” might catch a bit of rope this week. Lawmakers appear ready to take up a supplemental budget that includes time-sensitive benefits for families struggling to put food on the table as federal pandemic-era benefits dry up and inflation pushes up the price of groceries.  A $282 million spending […]

For those looking to Beacon Hill for action on issues from the high cost of housing to the MBTA — don’t hold your breath. A little over two months into the current session, lawmakers appear to be dragging their feet even as growing frustrations over a lack of affordability in the Bay State and worsening transit matters — […]

If you’re one of the 2.3 million Bay Staters currently receiving MassHealth benefits, be on the lookout for a blue envelope in your mailbox. It’s time for the “eligibility churn.” For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state-run Medicaid program will redetermine the eligibility of every member.  Federal law suspended […]

Much like a lobster roll, revenge is a dish best served cold. Ocean conservationists, however, would like to see the summertime staple come off menus altogether, a move that’s prompted lobstermen in Maine and Massachusetts to serve up a dish of their own. Commercial lobstermen in both states have filed separate lawsuits claiming defamation and seeking […]