STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MBTA HAS sketched out a growing deficit within its transit system that would balloon to $427 million in four years, as expenses far outpace growth in ridership and revenue. News of the looming budget deficits arrived two years after the Democrat-controlled Legislature attempted to finance transportation through a 3-cent gas […]
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 inHealth Care, State House News Service
40 children in state care died in 2014
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE REPORTS OF ABUSE AND NEGLECT of children in Massachusetts rose in 2014, according to an annual report released Tuesday, which documents the deaths of 40 children receiving state services last year. The 40 deaths documented in “critical incident” reports last year is the highest amount since 2011 and up from 29 […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
MBTA’s ‘good repair’ cost rises to $7.3b
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE COST OF BRINGING the MBTA’s trains, stations, tracks and other assets into good working condition has only grown larger with closer scrutiny, rising to $7.3 billion, according to a presentation on Monday. That is $651 million larger than the $6.7 billion state-of-good-repair backlog Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack reported last winter. […]
Posted inGambling, State House News Service
Keno sales lag near slots parlor
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SEVERAL WEEKS AFTER the state’s first licensed slots parlor opened its doors, state Lottery sales are up, though there has been a noticeable lag in Keno activity around the area of Plainridge Park Casino, according to the head of the Lottery. “The sales themselves were up a healthy margin,” said Michael […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Green Line extension endangered
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE COST SET set by the Green Line Extension contractor for the first three stations is more than double the amount state and federal transit officials recently estimated, calling into question the full price tag of the new trolley line and whether the state can afford to build it. Recently estimated […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Murray’s defense fund grows with insider donations
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE TWO DAYS AFTER she left office, capping a 22-year career in the state Legislature, former Senate President Therese Murray in January established a legal defense fund that has since accrued $17,500 from a lobbying group, a former Senate colleague and a former advertising executive. There are no limits on contributions to such […]
Posted inGambling, State House News Service
Brockton mayor makes casino pitch
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE BROCKTON MAYOR BILL CARPENTER pitched his city as a strong contender for the state’s remaining casino license on Thursday, saying it would benefit from the jobs, infrastructure improvements, and revenues that would accompany the development. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission, which has already awarded two resort casino licenses, affirmed its plans to […]
Posted inPolitics
Warren calls Trump a ‘blowhard’
US SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN on Monday called Republican presidential contender Donald Trump a “blowhard” for his recent comments about U.S. Sen. John McCain and decried the partisan politics that she said are driving discussions around the new accord with Iran. After a roundtable discussion about an employee rights bill in Boston, the Cambridge Democrat […]
Posted inGambling, State House News Service
Springfield casino could be delayed a year
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A DELAY IN A SPRINGFIELD HIGHWAY PROJECT could push back the opening of MGM Springfield by a year, leading to an estimated $125 million in foregone state revenue and tens of millions of dollars in additional costs for MGM. MGM Springfield President Michael Mathis on Thursday asked the state Gaming Commission […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, State House News Service
Sheriff: War on drugs ‘joke’
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SAYING MANY OF THOSE incarcerated in his facilities belong elsewhere, Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins on Tuesday said the War on Drugs was a “joke” and a “disservice to our nation.” “I think the war on drugs was a flaming, dare I say joke, frankly,” Tompkins said at a criminal justice panel […]