The problem is not that the public lacks crucial information about its government; it’s that its government lacks crucial information about the public -- and has little motivation to care about that.

The Federal Transit Administration officially closed its safety management inspection of the Department of Public Utilities' safety oversight management of the MBTA.

The administration is working across state agencies and with workforce partners to remove obstacles that prevent people from entering—and staying in—the workforce.

As most cities and towns got into compliance with the housing law — eagerly or dragging their feet along the way — some holdouts were hoping that the state’s high court would rule that they did not have rezone. It was a longshot bid, after the SJC already upheld the law as enforceable by the attorney general’s office in early 2025.

The House and Senate each tucked a version of the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, or TOPA, into its economic development bond bill this summer. A six-member conference committee is now negotiating a single version of the omnibus bill to send to Gov. Maura Healey.

Roughly 50,000 fewer MassHealth members are predicted to be impacted by Medicaid work and education requirements.

The South Coast community is on track to see its 20-acre waterfront transformed by a massive mixed-use development consisting of up to 1,500 new housing units, all of which the city has indicated should be market rate. The move has angered affordable housing advocates and sparked a familiar debate, where pro-development and pro-affordability ideals seem to be at odds.

One of the most consequential recommendations in the state graduation council's report is its emphasis on postsecondary planning and the implementation of My Career and Academic Plan, or MyCAP.

Like the Red Sox season, the health care picture in the state this year has been marked by big ups and downs.

The report recommends advancing planned projects, restoring, and expanding bus lanes, headway management to keep buses evenly spaces, and rolling out automated enforcement to address vehicles blocking bus lanes and bus stops.

Gov. Maura Healey is all-in on artificial intelligence, but she's also trying to get a handle on soaring energy costs and a growing backlash to the very structures supporting the AI boom — data centers. This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporters Jennifer Smith and Jordan Wolman discuss the governor's new executive order trying to make data centers greener and more responsive to community feedback, and the paradox of pushing for expanded AI usage as communities revolt against its infrastructure.

The state's largest teachers union is now the single biggest financial backer of keeping a 2024 gun control law on the books.

Rhode Island archery deer hunters started the season two weeks earlier in a larger portion of the state on Tuesday, a change supported by new data on the size of the deer population. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) divides the Ocean State into four deer management zones for hunters. Archery season in […]

GOV. HEALEY took an important step last week to protect Massachusetts communities from the unchecked growth of data centers. Her new executive order will require large data centers to meet […]

Pacheco claimed a 14-vote win with 2,493 votes to Medeiros' 2,479 after the recount, according to results from the secretary of state's office.

Why Massachusetts parties are allowing the slow-moving self-destruction to continue is anyone’s guess.

Lawmakers this year could move forward with changes to how initiative petitions get on the ballot. Now, other voices are also starting to weigh in, amid a particularly active election cycle for citizen-led petitions.

The insurance challenge for coastal states like Massachusetts has been a vexing one. Inflation and tariffs are scrambling rebuilding costs, and the rise in climate-driven natural disasters has contributed to a recent increase in private insurers not renewing policies and the state’s insurer-of-last-resort seeing a growth in the number of enrollees.

The results conclude a nail-biting primary race for the Suffolk and Middlesex District, which became a proxy war over voter dissatisfaction with the Beacon Hill status quo and a test of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu's political prowess.

The unfolding legal drama marks a major pivot point for a project intended to provide 20 percent of Massachusetts’s electricity — and exposes just how fragile and volatile the state’s energy mix continues to be.

Newly filed financial reports shed light on this election’s battle lines, which will pit business groups against unions, the marijuana industry against an out-of-state opponent, and transparency advocates against Beacon Hill itself.

We are asking more of our students than ever before. Now we need to build the pipeline of teachers who can get them there.

The results of this week's recount will settle who wins the district – a longtime incumbent and the third-most powerful Democrat in the Senate, or a challenger with the backing of political rival Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. 

Healey can cast the utility companies as a critical partner when it’s advantageous for her to do so — or turn them into a political punching bag and convenient foil when it benefits her.

EARLIER THIS YEAR, Governor Healey’s Anti-Hunger Task Force released its final report. I read it closely. Much of it is right, fortunately, since 40 percent of households in Massachusetts are […]