Gov. Charlie Baker ushered in a new era of road rules on Monday, signing into law a new ban on practically all forms of handheld cellphone use by drivers. For well over a decade, some lawmakers have sought to crack down on the use of cellphones by drivers, and Rep. Joseph Wagner of Chicopee, the […]
Andy Metzger
Andy Metzger is currently studying law at Temple University in Philadelphia. Previously, he joined CommonWealth Magazine as a reporter in January 2019. He has covered news in Massachusetts since 2007. For more than six years starting in May 2012 he wrote about state politics and government for the State House News Service. At the News Service, he followed three criminal trials from opening statements to verdicts, tracked bills through the flumes and eddies of the Legislature, and sounded out the governor’s point of view on a host of issues – from the proposed Olympics bid to federal politics.
Before that, Metzger worked at the Chelmsford Independent, The Arlington Advocate, the Somerville Journal and the Cambridge Chronicle, weekly community newspapers that cover an array of local topics. Metzger graduated from UMass Boston in 2006. In addition to his written journalism, Metzger produced a work of illustrated journalism about Gov. Charlie Baker’s record regarding the MBTA. He lives in Somerville and commutes mainly by bicycle.
Posted inPolitics
Lawmakers botch budget bill negotiations
BY FAILING TO reach agreement on a major spending bill before the winter break, legislative leaders have squandered much of their control over what goes into it, and they have courted more federal scrutiny of the state’s election process. In the wee hours of early Thursday morning, the House and Senate essentially threw in the […]
Posted inTransportation
Traffic at your fingertips
YOU DON’T NEED to drive a car or own a parking garage to add to Boston’s traffic woes. Thanks to modern technology, you can do all that from the comfort of your home on your smart phone. In the third and final installment of its data-laden survey of the region’s brake-light-hued congestion problem, the Boston […]
Posted inTransportation
Concerns on police bias linger after distracted driving vote
OVERWHELMING VOTES IN the House and Senate to enact driver safety legislation belie enduring disagreements within the Legislature over how best to monitor and tamp down racial bias by police. The bill that was sent to Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday is now virtually guaranteed to become law, but the legislation was formed in an […]
Posted inTransportation
House to vote on distracted driving bill Tuesday
IN THE FINAL days of major lawmaking before the winter break, the Massachusetts House and Senate are poised to send the governor legislation to ban drivers from handheld cellphone use. The bill has sought to balance the goal of stricter traffic laws to curb a road hazard that has led to deaths in Massachusetts with […]
Posted inPolitics
What prompted Patrick’s longshot bid?
DEVAL PATRICK’S late entry into the presidential race is a compelling story for the same reason that Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels have drawn in readers over the decades. There is mystery at the heart of it. The 63-year-old, two-term Democratic governor has given the broad outlines of his policy positions and the pitch he will make […]
Posted inPolitics
Senate ousts Brady from chairmanship
This story was updated to reflect the vote Thursday night of the full Senate. THE SENATE OUSTED Sen. Michael Brady from his position as chairman of the Public Service Committee Thursday because of his behavior during a night of drinking and driving more than a year ago. The ouster was adopted by a voice vote […]
Posted inTransportation
DeLeo calls off transpo tax debate – for now
HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DELEO is putting off a debate over tax legislation to fund transportation improvements until next year, throwing into doubt whether anything will happen in an area that advocates and business groups say is in desperate need of more funding. After expressing some uncertainty Wednesday about his plans to take up the tax […]
Posted inPolitics
Kaufman: ‘No diversity of opinion’ in DeLeo’s inner circle
FORMER REP. JAY KAUFMAN continued his recent lambasting of House Speaker Robert DeLeo during a panel discussion Wednesday about the lack of racial and gender diversity in Massachusetts government. The Lexington Democrat, who spent roughly a decade as DeLeo’s Revenue Committee chairman until last year when he declined to seek re-election, said the leadership ranks […]
Posted inTransportation
DeLeo unsure about tax bill timeline
HOUSE SPEAKER Robert DeLeo expressed some uncertainty Wednesday afternoon about whether the House will be able to advance a tax package before the end of the year. “Right now we’re still working on it. It’s still something that we’re working on,” DeLeo said after a Democratic caucus. “I would advise you to stay tuned in […]