AFTER ADVOCATES FOR people with disabilities raised concerns about a proposal to broaden a public records exemption related to abuse investigations, which was included in a bill voted on Thursday in the state Senate, senators appear to have resolved those concerns. CommonWealth reported that a bill focused on disability-related terminology also included a provision limiting […]
Shira Schoenberg
Shira Schoenberg is a reporter at CommonWealth magazine. Shira previously worked for more than seven years at the Springfield Republican/MassLive.com where she covered state politics and elections, covering topics as diverse as the launch of the legal marijuana industry, problems with the state's foster care system and the elections of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Gov. Charlie Baker. Shira won the Massachusetts Bar Association's 2018 award for Excellence in Legal Journalism and has had several stories win awards from the New England Newspaper and Press Association. Shira covered the 2012 New Hampshire presidential primary for the Boston Globe. Before that, she worked for the Concord (N.H.) Monitor, where she wrote about state government, City Hall and Barack Obama's 2008 New Hampshire primary campaign. Shira holds a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
Posted inEconomy
Goodbye, Columbia Gas
LEONEL RONDON, THE 18-YEAR-OLD KILLED in the Merrimack Valley gas explosions, can never be brought back, but other customers of Columbia Gas say they will rest more safely with the news that the company will no longer be doing business in Massachusetts. The US Attorney’s office announced Wednesday that Columbia Gas of Massachusetts agreed to plead […]
Posted inTransportation
Five takeaways on transportation bill
LEADERS IN THE Massachusetts House on Wednesday unveiled an approximately $600 million transportation revenue bill. The bill will raise the gas tax, increase the minimum corporate tax paid by large corporations, increase fees on ride-hailing services, and force rental car companies to pay sales tax on the cars they buy. Lawmakers say new money is […]
Posted inTransportation
House unveils $600m transportation revenue bill
DRIVERS, BUSINESS, SOME RIDE-HAILING CUSTOMERS and car rental companies will all pay more to improve the state’s ailing transportation system under a bill Massachusetts House leaders released Wednesday. The long-awaited transportation revenue bill is expected to raise an additional $522 million to $612 million annually. The money will go toward a range of transit needs, […]
Posted inPolitics
Raimondo makes the pitch for Bloomberg
IS A WEALTHY businessman from New York the right presidential candidate to defeat another wealthy businessman from New York? In the eyes of Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, national co-chair of former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Democratic presidential campaign, the answer is yes. She says Bloomberg is the man to beat Donald Trump. […]
Posted inUncategorized
Advocates sound alarm over proposed limits on abuse reports
UNCOVERING ABUSE AGAINST people with disabilities may become more difficult, advocates worry, under a provision tucked into a seemingly innocuous bill slated for a vote in the state Senate on Thursday. The bill, sponsored by Sen. John Keenan, modernizes language about people with disabilities in state law. But it also contains a section that limits […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Lelling plugs fed role on corruption probes
US ATTORNEY Andrew Lelling stood on a podium at Moakley Courthouse on Tuesday announcing federal charges against Democratic State Rep. David Nangle for misusing campaign funds. But for a few minutes, it seemed like the Republican Lelling – who the conservative New Boston Post speculated could be a potential GOP candidate for governor – had another […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
What you need to know about new hands-free driving law
IT’S TIME TO stop reading those emails while traffic is crawling on the Southeast Expressway. Massachusetts’s ban on handheld cellphone use while driving goes into effect Sunday. Gov. Charlie Baker said at a press conference Thursday that the new law will save lives. “Distracted driving is a tremendous risk for the driver, for the passengers […]
Posted inGambling
DeLeo calls Nangle allegations ‘serious and troubling’
HOUSE SPEAKER Robert DeLeo said Tuesday that the allegations against Rep. David Nangle, a member of his Democratic leadership team, are “serious and troubling and, if true, represent a significant betrayal of the public trust.” But DeLeo did not say what, if any, steps the House would take regarding Nangle. Nangle was arrested by federal […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Lowell rep arrested for misusing $70,000 in campaign funds
STATE REP. DAVID NANGLE, a Lowell Democrat and member of the Legislature’s Ethics Committee, was arrested Tuesday and charged with using his campaign account to pay for more than $70,000 in personal expenses, from golf club dues to rental cars that he used to travel to casinos. The indictment by a federal grand jury says […]