SHANE MURPHY, a resident of Springfield, was walking around Faneuil Hall with his date recently when he decided to visit the newly minted skating rink on Boston’s City Hall Plaza. Murphy said he enjoyed the festive atmosphere and the music, but he thought the ice skating fees were too high. The second “Boston Winter” festival […]
Natasha Ishak
Natasha Ishak is the editorial intern at CommonWealth magazine. Her duties include reporting and writing on the latest policy issues happening on Beacon Hill.
Before arriving at CommonWealth Magazine, she worked as a digital intern under NOVA/PBS at WGBH. She was a reporter in her hometown of Jakarta for four years, writing up stories at The Jakarta Post - Indonesia's oldest leading English-language daily, and as a production assistant on the popular news program, the Indonesia Morning Show.
Now in her second year pursuing a master's degree in journalism at Emerson College,
she hopes to shed light on marginalized communities through stories related to politics, immigration, social justice and the environment.
Posted inEnvironment
Belmont taking ‘baby step’ on trash
MASSACHUSETTS’S ONGOING TRASH DILEMMA – having too much of it, but nowhere to put it – is trickling down to the local level across the state. Belmont recently faced a decision many communities are struggling with – trying to decide how aggressive the town should be in reducing the amount of trash residents generate. Like […]
Posted inGambling
Plainridge pulling gambling money back to Mass.
NEARLY 60 PERCENT of the money collected by the Plainridge Park Casino during its first year of operation came from Massachusetts gamblers who previously would have been going out of state to place their bets. A team of researchers from the Donahue Institute at the UMass Amherst estimated on Thursday that $100 million of the […]
Posted inEconomy
Panera Cares, but for how long?
FOUR YEARS AFTER the Panera Cares community café opened at Center Plaza in Boston, it’s still in business. But the restaurant’s unorthodox approach to addressing hunger isn’t working out exactly as planned. The concept is simple. Customers walk into the café, pick their food, and pay whatever they can afford. The hope is that enough […]
Posted inEconomy
Chinatown residents protest short-term rentals
RESIDENTS MARCHED through the streets of Chinatown to the Massachusetts State House on Thursday to protest a short-term rental industry that they say is squeezing out residents of the downtown community. Short-term rental services such as Airbnb have become increasingly popular among tourists in the city as an affordable lodging alternative to pricier hotels. But […]
Posted inThe Back Story
MBTA rolls out new transit ambassadors
THE MBTA IS STARTING to ramp up its new transit ambassador program, its latest bid to improve service using private contractors. Transit ambassadors, wearing bright red shirts emblazoned with the T logo and the words “Questions? Ask Me!” on the back, help riders with any problems they may have. The new ambassadors, who work […]
Posted inPolitics
Trump ends DACA; Markey says Congress will respond
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION on Tuesday ordered an end to an executive branch program shielding young undocumented immigrants from deportation, prompting an outpouring of opposition from top officials in Massachusetts. The Obama-era program, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, allows minors who entered the country illegally and were raised primarily in the United States to receive […]
Posted inPolitics
Some sanctuary city police chiefs back Baker ICE detainer bill
SOME MASSACHUSETTS POLICE CHIEFS appear to be staking out a different position than the communities they represent on how to handle detainer requests from the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association and the Massachusetts Major City Police Chiefs Association on Monday released an endorsement of legislation filed by Gov. […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA’s new GM likes to blog
NOT MUCH IS KNOWN about the MBTA’s new general manager, Luis Manuel Ramirez, but a blog he wrote at his Dallas business consulting firm TodoModo Group provides some clues. Most of his postings try to focus on the intersection between business and government, which seems innocent enough, and befitting for a businessman about to take […]
Posted inPolitics
Walsh, Baker condemn hatred, bigotry
BOSTON MAYOR MARTY WALSH delivered a stern message on Monday to “hate groups” who may be planning to come to Boston this weekend. “Boston does not welcome you here. Boston does not want you here. Boston rejects your message,” he said. “We reject racism. We reject white supremacy. We reject anti-Semitism. We reject the KKK. […]