The guardrails, which include expectations for securing tax breaks, stipulate that new data centers should directly procure or develop the energy resources to support their operations — without raising energy costs for ratepayers and straining the electric grid.

This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Hallie Claflin talks with Alecia McGregor, assistant professor of health policy and politics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Katie Murphy, president of the Massachusetts Nurses Association. They dig into the consequences of recent maternity unit closures in Springfield and Methuen, discuss where Massachusetts stands in terms of maternal health care access, and detail what power the state has, if any, to regulate health service closures and consolidations.

A new coalition filed paperwork seeking to suspend and ultimately repeal the measure in the 2028 election cycle.

It is easy to see how that storyline can spark the ire of voters and the scorn of opinion writers. But it is a fundamentally flawed reading of legislative productivity for reasons that are virtually never acknowledged amid the easy targeting of lawmakers.

Elections have come down to just a few votes in the high-profile showdown between 19-year legislator Sen. William Brownsberger and challenger Daniel Lander.

The test is simple: Are people safe, and do they feel safe, walking through downtown’s streets, stations, and parks? Judge our progress by that standard.

“In short, the town's stated purpose for the taking is a proper public purpose” that aligned with past actions by the town indicating interest in preserving the area, and not a bad faith ploy, wrote Justice Elizabeth Dewar for a unanimous court.

Tompkins and his attorneys argued prosecutors had not presented sufficient evidence of a quid pro quo or corrupt intent.

Shortsleeve and Oliver pitched themselves as the "only unified ticket in the Republican gubernatorial primary," but Oliver on Tuesday night spoke about aligning with Minogue as as part of the GOP's larger quest in the general election cycle.

On Beacon Hill, with a reputation for opacity and top-down leadership, swapping sitting senators for first-time progressives may have limited utility when it comes to vote count. But Tuesday sent the signal that local representatives perceived as unfriendly to the city’s goals should expect rockier roads in future primaries.

Koh will face Republican Micah Jones in November. If Koh wins, as he is heavily favored to do, he would be Massachusetts’s first Asian American congressperson.

Markey's sound win on Tuesday further signals that voters found him to be the unalloyed progressive.

Minogue will need to overcome heavy odds to unseat Healey, who starts the race widely favored to win reelection. 

The well-intended legislation was aimed at addressing persistent racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps, but what Beacon Hill perhaps didn’t foresee was the greater financial pressure it would place on municipal budgets as sluggish state aid growth that has not kept pace with inflation, strict limits on local tax increases, and rising costs continue to trap many local governments between a rock and a hard place.

Hampden Superior Court Judge David Hodge found there was "no legal or logical support" for allegations of conflict of interest tied to the $2 billion redevelopment of the courthouse in Springfield.

"No other institutional reform we know of—short of making voting compulsory—comes anywhere close to having this kind of impact on turnout,” says the University of Chicago's Center for Effective Government of aligning local and national elections.  

We all need care as we age. Adam Scott leads New England’s largest nonprofit provider of senior care and living communities. He says demand is rising as the Commonwealth’s average age continues to increase. This week on Health or Consequences, John McDonough of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute talk with Scott about how the broader health care crisis is impacting long-term care.

At precisely the age when young people are still figuring out who they are, an algorithm optimized for engagement should not be shaping the possibilities.

Massachusetts is "facing a behavioral health access crisis," says a May report from the Health Policy Commission's Behavioral Health Workforce Center.

Hoffer was chosen for the new position after holding several high-powered roles in climate policy, serving under then-AG Healey before working at the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency and then moving back to the Bay State to link up with Healey again under this newly crafted role.

“The bottom line is the issues before the United States Supreme Court would only affect the general [federal] election," said Secretary of State William Galvin.

Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll announced the second tranche of commercial conversion credits, established through the 2024 Affordable Homes Act.

If the evidence that he deserves a second term exists, Hayden should produce it. The jurors — Suffolk County voters — deserve to see it before they deliberate. 

A landmark agreement both reshapes Instagram and Facebook for teenagers, and adds fuel to legislative debate about permanent reforms.

Paulino faces eight counts of wire fraud and three counts of unlawful monetary transactions.