MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE ISLAND might lease electric locomotives to provide quicker, cleaner service along the MBTA commuter rail line connecting the two states. The potential small step towards electrification, for which there is no timetable, came up during a discussion at the National Governors Association in Boston on Tuesday, where Gov. Charlie Baker played host […]
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
Pressley steers clear of Kennedy-Markey questions
CONGRESSWOMAN AYANNA PRESSLEY shook up Massachusetts politics last year, but she isn’t weighing in on the potential juggernaut showdown between Congressman Joe Kennedy III and US Sen. Ed Markey. “As for my good colleagues, Congressman Kennedy and Senator Markey – I enjoy a productive and good relationship with the both of them,” Pressley told reporters […]
Posted inTransportation
Fire forces T to evacuate two trains
A FIRE ON the Orange Line prompted the MBTA to temporarily shut down service north of downtown on Friday afternoon and forced some passengers to walk along train tracks to safety. MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said a “small fire” was reported on the tracks between Wellington Station, in Medford, and Malden Center around 3:10 p.m. […]
Posted inPolitics
Kennedy to get back in public eye next week
CONGRESSMAN JOE KENNEDY III, who has turned the Massachusetts political world upside down merely by considering a run for the seat held by Sen. Ed Markey, will make an appearance in Worcester on Wednesday and may hold another public event earlier in the week. The Newton Democrat’s visit to the second largest city in Massachusetts […]
Posted inUncategorized
Boston’s congestion can be hazardous to your health
WHEN TRAFFIC IS at a standstill – as it is all too often in metro Boston these days – there are big-picture economic and environmental impacts. But congestion can also affect the health of the drivers caught in its throes. Philip Levendusky, director of the psychology department for McLean Hospital, where he is also co-director […]
Posted inPolitics
Tiptoeing through the Trump era
WHILE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER staycations in Gloucester, his former boss clued everyone in on one reason why the popular moderate Republican is sitting out the biggest fight in politics right now. Bill Weld, who served roughly 1.5 terms as governor of Massachusetts two-plus decades ago, is challenging President Donald Trump in the Republican presidential primary. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Feds: Ex-State Police union chief ran criminal enterprise
ACCUSED OF RUNNING the State Police union like a criminal organization, Dana Pullman was arrested by federal agents early Wednesday morning along with Anne Lynch, a Beacon Hill lobbyist. Together the two are accused of running an illegal kickback scheme that funneled state troopers’ money into both of their pockets, and defrauding unnamed companies trying […]
Posted inUncategorized
Bowes out at RMV’s Merit Rating Board
THOMAS BOWES was publicly fired Tuesday and jettisoned from an executive position within the Registry of Motor Vehicles where he had allowed thousands of infraction notifications to pile up unaddressed from out-of-state. Revelations about the immense backlog at the Merit Rating Board, where Bowes was director, came about during an internal review at the RMV, […]
Posted inTransportation
Red Line ridership hasn’t recovered
RED LINE RIDERSHIP has not fully recovered from the hit it took after a June 11 derailment, and the MBTA’s regular monthly survey of users suggests satisfaction with the agency remains near an all-time low. The T late Monday released data indicating Red Line ridership, which had been averaging more than 200,000 on weekdays the […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Accelerated work means more closures on T
RESPONDING TO Gov. Charlie Baker’s urging to accelerate repairs even if that means more weekend and overnight closures, the MBTA announced a plan to step up work on the Red, Green and Orange lines. The track replacement, debris removal, and station washing will require new weekend closures on the Orange Line from Tufts Medical to […]