Sixth-generation family farmers Dave and Steve Barstow have stretched the limits of what dairy farmers can do to stay afloat. They opened a store and bakery on their dairy farm at the foot of Mt. Holyoke in Hadley. They generate electricity from composted cow manure and food scraps. They even market a line of farm […]
Technology
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service
Airbnb wants to be taxed in Mass.
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL campaign in the rear-view mirror and the airwaves now free of political ads, Airbnb is taking advantage of the void to press its own campaign to get Massachusetts to regulate and tax its short-term rental industry. The San Francisco-based company last week launched a new TV ad in […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
South Station commuter rail accident unreported
A PREVIOUSLY UNREPORTED incident in which a commuter rail train that struck a bumper at South Station was similar to an accident in Hoboken, NJ, earlier in the fall that killed one person and injured 100 more, said the MBTA’s top safety official. Ronald Nickle, the T’s chief safety officer, said had the train been […]
Posted inTransportation
Business unusual at the T
IT’S A MANTRA spoken so often these days it could be a bumper sticker. “The MBTA is open for business,” Brian Shortsleeve, the agency’s chief administrator and acting general manager, said in talking about unsolicited proposals for third-party vendors to operate T services. Shortsleeve thinks it’s so important for people to know “the MBTA is open […]
Posted inUncategorized
The toughest mile
IN 2008, THE Patrick administration set out to wire 123 cities and towns in western Massachusetts for broadband. But eight years, 1,200 miles of fiber-optic cable, and nearly $100 million later, the effort has stalled with 44 communities still without high-speed internet. The towns that remain essentially disconnected—or, in the words of state officials, “unserved”—represent […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
MassDOT looks to trash records
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IF YOU USED an old Fastlane transponder on the Massachusetts Turnpike 18 years ago, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation likely has a record of that trip. MassDOT on Wednesday sought approval of a new records retention schedule as it plans to convert to all-electronic tolling Oct. 28, and plans to request […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Study: Storage could deliver 600 MW in 10 years
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH THE RIGHT amount of encouragement, energy storage technology – a field that can range from batteries to more novel contraptions – could account for 600 megawatts of energy in Massachusetts by 2025, providing more than $800 million in savings and reducing greenhouse gases by the equivalent of removing 73,000 cars […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Baker inks long-sought energy law
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER sat in the sun on the State House lawn Monday afternoon, relishing a victory for his administration and some in the Legislature. With the stroke of his pen, Baker signed into law an energy bill that aims to diversify the state’s energy portfolio, spur the development of an […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service, Transportation
Baker hails Uber bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Friday afternoon signed into law what he described as the strongest regulatory framework in the country for app-based ride-for-hire services like Uber and Lyft. “I want to start by thanking the Legislature for pushing this one through,” Baker said after signing the bill in his office. “There […]
Posted inTransportation
T to pay $400 million for mandated safety system
MBTA OFFICIALS SAY a mandatory $460 million system to ensure rail safety is on track to be installed by 2020 but though they claim it’s an 80-20 split with the federal government for funding, the cash-strapped authority will end up picking up 87 percent of the cost because the bulk of the money from Washington […]