CONCERNED ABOUT the lack of local news coverage in New Bedford, a group of people in and near the city, some of them with strong newspaper backgrounds, are preparing to launch a nonprofit, digital news website called the New Bedford Light. The fledgling enterprise has a board of directors, a founding editor and publisher, a […]
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Partisan battle brewing over vote-by-mail
A PARTISAN BATTLE is brewing in the Legislature over vote-by-mail – with the first salvo coming on a seemingly innocuous bill to extend municipal voting by mail for another three months. Since the state let citizens vote by mail for any reason in the 2020 elections due to the COVID-19 pandemic, advocates have been calling […]
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State tax collections remain on a roll
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE TAX COLLECTIONS exceeded the Baker administration’s expectations by $372 million in February and surpassed the total of collections in February 2020, a development that positions the state to end this budget year having collected more tax revenue than it did last year. The Department of Revenue said it collected $1.874 billion […]
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Warren seeks 2% tax on those worth $50m
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ARGUING THAT THE wealth of billionaires has grown over the course of the pandemic, US Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Monday introduced legislation in Congress to tax the extremely wealthy, pitching a plan that became a calling card of her campaign for president. The Cambridge Democrat wants to impose a 2 percent […]
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House crushes transparency rules amendment
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE LAWMAKERS spent over an hour locked in a tense debate Wednesday afternoon on an unsuccessful transparency amendment to the Legislature’s 2021-2022 joint rules before ultimately adopting a rules package to govern interactions between the two branches that strips a few elements of the Senate’s proposed reforms. The House approved a rules […]
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Could in-person sports viewing be coming?
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FANS WILL GET to watch the Boston Bruins play in person for the first time since pre-pandemic days on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, but it’s unlikely that many of them will be Bruins fans. As of Tuesday, New York is allowing teams to fill their arena seating bowls to a maximum […]
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Newsroom strife at Times poses bigger questions for journalism
THE NEW YORK TIMES is increasingly beholden to the views of its left-leaning subscribers. It sounds like the sort of scorched-earth screed you might hear on Fox News — or perhaps on OAN or another right-wing outlet now that Fox’s full Trumpist credentials are in question. But the claim didn’t come from any of the […]
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House, Senate announce leadership appointments
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE AND SENATE Democrats ratified their committee assignments for the two-year session Friday, approving the leadership and committee structure that includes new posts meant to boost oversight of the state’s COVID-19 response, federal stimulus funds, and the US Census and redistricting process, and to weigh the myriad issues that await Massachusetts […]
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Legislature slowly restarts with rules, new committees
THE COVID-19 pandemic may have increased the urgency of business before the state Legislature, but the 2021 legislative session has started at its usual slow pace. Lawmakers quickly passed a climate change bill – basically a holdover from last session when they passed the bill too late to override a gubernatorial veto. Otherwise, a month […]
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State tax collections continue to surprise
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE JANUARY TAX COLLECTIONS obliterated the Baker administration’s expectations, coming in almost a half-billion dollars above the Department of Revenue’s already-upgraded monthly benchmark and helping to brighten the state’s financial picture heading into a fresh round of budget deliberations. DOR collected $3.347 billion from taxpayers last month, which is $392 million, or […]