STATE PROGRAMS DESIGNED to boost home ownership by people of color are working, but more funding, outreach, and affordable homes are needed to significantly reduce the historical racial gap in home ownership, according to a new report put out by the research arm of the Boston Foundation. The Boston Indicators report says decades of explicit […]
State House News Service
Posted inTransportation
FTA issues new near-miss warning to MBTA
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FEDERAL REGULATORS once again ordered the MBTA to make immediate changes after a series of incidents in which employees narrowly avoided being struck by trains, a repeat of the same “near miss” issue that landed the T in the spotlight earlier this year. Warning that “a combination of unsafe conditions and […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Senate appealed to AG on DiZoglio’s legislative audit petition
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AUDITOR DIANA DIZOGLIO’S proposed ballot-box appeal to crack open the Legislature’s books for her inspection cleared a key hurdle last Wednesday. And it turns out that Attorney General Andrea Campbell, by certifying that the initiative passed legal muster, overruled a formal objection from the state Senate. DiZoglio served two terms in […]
Posted inMarijuana, State Government, State House News Service
Cannabis commission director pushes back at ‘crisis’ comment
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of the Cannabis Control Commission, Shawn Collins is in the driver’s seat of a newly empowered regulatory agency, one that oversees an industry that’s still finding its footing and provides regulators with a parade of heady issues to address. Collins told the News Service this week that he […]
Posted inHousing, State Government, State House News Service
Housing activists look to bond bill for funding, possible transfer fee
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IT’S NOW eight months into Gov. Maura Healey’s administration and the wait continues for major proposals from the Corner Office to address perhaps the governor’s signature issue: housing affordability and production. Some people in the advocacy world feel that’s going to change soon, and want the governor to “go big” to […]
Posted inHousing, Immigration, State House News Service
Healey calls in National Guard to aid shelter effort
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FACING A STEADY influx of migrants from other countries, Gov. Maura Healey on Thursday activated up to 250 National Guard members to provide basic services at emergency shelter hotels. Healey’s office announced the move Thursday afternoon, saying that her new executive order applies to locations that do not have a contracted […]
Posted inTransportation
Cape lawmakers push regular ‘non-tourist’ rail service
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE YOU’VE HEARD of the soon-to-launch South Coast Rail HD4555and the long-sought East-West Rail into the western reaches of the state. But how about what we’ll call the Cape Connector? A group of lawmakers from Cape Cod and the islands want to make their region the next hub for regular passenger rail […]
Posted inThe Download
UMass Dartmouth exit a tough blow for New Bedford
WHILE STUDENTS across the state descend on campuses for fall move-in day, Monday was move out day for Zeph Luck. With a backseat loaded with canvases, the 26-year-old grad student was making his third and last trip to clear all his paintings out of the downtown New Bedford studio where he’s been working for two […]
Posted inThe Download
Eng confident Chinese subway car manufacturer will meet its obligations
THE CHINESE COMPANY building Red and Orange line trains for the MBTA faces a bleak future in the US market, but T General Manager Phillip Eng appears fairly confident the company will live up to its obligations. At a hearing of the MBTA board on Thursday, Eng reported that he, T Deputy General Manager Jeffrey Gonneville, […]
Posted inHealth Care
Transit offered as mitigation for maternity ward closure
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE UMASS MEMORIAL Medical Center officials intend to work with transit officials to help redirect patients to other area hospitals, especially UMass Memorial Medical Center’s campus in Worcester, if they follow through with a Leominster maternity ward’s closure. The health care system on Tuesday submitted a 17-page letter with state regulators outlining steps it […]