Editions

Gov. Maura Healey came face-to-face with climate protesters interrupting her Nantucket fundraiser over concerns the state is already off track to meeting looming emissions reduction goals. And the group of young activists behind recent high-profile disruptions at political events say they will continue to escalate — just like climate change. “Big updates imminent. We are cranking […]

The state that was first to legalize same-sex marriage and now seen as ground zero in the fight to expand LGBTQ rights is being sued over an agency decision to bar a devout Catholic couple from becoming foster parents. The suit centers on the couple’s refusal to offer gender-affirming medical care for youth in their […]

In an appeal to anyone with “an extra room or suite” to spare, Gov. Maura Healey asked Bay Staters to consider hosting a family in need of shelter as huge numbers of incoming migrants and needy families overwhelm state resources. It’s a strategy affordable housing advocates say could be deployed on a larger scale in a […]

Unrelenting storms amid an unusually rainy New England summer have brought the pain of floodwaters typically experienced in coastal neighborhoods on the edge of rising seas into Massachusetts’ interior. Flash flooding in recent weeks has wreaked havoc from Western Massachusetts to Merrimack Valley and as the water levels recede, Beacon Hill leaders are scrambling to support […]

In Massachusetts, home-rule petition shapes the local law of the land — a system that leaves cities and towns at the mercy of the Legislature when it comes to enacting everything from the mundane to major policy changes.  Local petitions can address a range of complex issues, such as whether a town should implement ranked-choice voting or […]

When the spread for the neighborhood barbecue is left up to the simple majority, Ed Shoemaker says everyone winds up eating raisins in their potato salad.  The punch line in his analogy explaining the benefits of ranked-choice voting is meant to convey that more people win when weight is given to second- and third-choice candidates.   Three years […]

State officials today will ceremoniously turn the page on a dark chapter for Massachusetts veterans and their families, celebrating the groundbreaking of a long-needed new dormitory at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home where 76 veterans died in a COVID outbreak fueled in part by poor infection control at the aging facility. Family of the service members who […]

Homeless advocates are accusing Gov. Maura Healey of robbing Peter to pay Paul after she cut a “critical” $2.5 million for support services in the $55.98 billion annual budget she signed earlier this week. The shelter crisis spurred an emergency declaration this week with taxpayers currently spending more than $1 million a day — roughly $45 million per […]

Whether a campaign trail pledge from Gov. Maura Healey to break with the tradition of her predecessors, promising to follow public records law and bring more transparency to the office “than ever before” has been realized, depends on whom you ask.  By many accounts, Gov. Maura Healey has been selective in which public records requests she’s […]

Massachusetts is spending $45 million per month in a scramble to shelter 5,500 families — including thousands of new migrants — in need of support. To reduce the outlays, housing advocates say the state needs to put a lid on evictions that have roughly doubled since last year. For the reality is, migrants are only part […]