CommonWealth Beacon

CommonWealth Beacon The trusted source for in-depth news & original reporting on policy, politics, & civic life in MA.

CommonWealth Beacon is the trusted source for in-depth news, analysis, and original reporting on policy, politics, and civic life in Massachusetts. We are nonprofit, non-partisan, and make our work available for free to all, with no paywall.

ICYMI: Boston council urges city to join federal program offering flood insurance discounts
11/08/2025

ICYMI: Boston council urges city to join federal program offering flood insurance discounts

CommonWealth Beacon reported last week that Boston missed a 2021 self-imposed deadline to join FEMA’s Community Rating System program, which has cost residents and businesses at least $785,000 in total...

📈 POPULAR NOW- ‘We will fill the Statehouse’: Climate advocates gird for a showdown over House plan to dial back climate...
11/08/2025

📈 POPULAR NOW

- ‘We will fill the Statehouse’: Climate advocates gird for a showdown over House plan to dial back climate commitments http://commonwealthbeacon.org/energy/we-will-fill-the-statehouse-climate-advocates-gird-for-a-showdown-over-house-plan-to-dial-back-climate-commitments/
- Unions: Buyout talks could affect 2,000+ state workers http://commonwealthbeacon.org/government/state-government/unions-buyout-talks-could-affect-2000-state-workers/
- Half of Holyoke’s middle school students started the year at a new school. The other half were ‘left behind.’ http://commonwealthbeacon.org/education/half-of-holyokes-middle-school-students-started-the-year-at-a-new-school-the-other-half-were-left-behind/

In 2019, Holyoke set out to build two new middle schools. But after months of heated debate, the ballot measure to fund the project was voted down by the community. Some say the outcome is a testament...

ICYMI: After a Prop 2 ½ defeat last year, Melrose passes $13.5 million override
11/08/2025

ICYMI: After a Prop 2 ½ defeat last year, Melrose passes $13.5 million override

As a suburban city with many commuters working in Boston, Melrose does not have a strong industrial base, meaning the vast majority of its revenue comes from property taxes.

OPINION: We shouldn’t force a one-size-fits-all approach to reading instruction
11/08/2025

OPINION: We shouldn’t force a one-size-fits-all approach to reading instruction

Lawmakers must resist the misleading call to mandate ‘evidence-based’ literacy curriculum

OPINION: Lawmakers must resist the misleading call to mandate ‘evidence-based’ literacy curriculum
11/08/2025

OPINION: Lawmakers must resist the misleading call to mandate ‘evidence-based’ literacy curriculum

Lawmakers must resist the misleading call to mandate ‘evidence-based’ literacy curriculum

ICYMI: Bar advocate work stoppage becomes an SJC separation-of-powers conundrum
11/07/2025

ICYMI: Bar advocate work stoppage becomes an SJC separation-of-powers conundrum

Over the course of 70 minutes of arguments by the two sides, and pointed questioning from the justices, none of the Supreme Judicial Court’s seven judges appeared eager to sn**ch the power of the purse...

ICYMI: Unions: Buyout talks could affect 2,000+ state workers
11/07/2025

ICYMI: Unions: Buyout talks could affect 2,000+ state workers

Labor leaders say the Healey administration approached them to begin conversations about a buyout program that could reduce the state workforce by roughly 2,000 positions, the latest attempt at belt-tightening...

NEW: ‘We will fill the Statehouse’: Climate advocates gird for a showdown over House plan to dial back climate commitmen...
11/07/2025

NEW: ‘We will fill the Statehouse’: Climate advocates gird for a showdown over House plan to dial back climate commitments

The effort is bound to divide the Democratic supermajority on Beacon Hill and test officials’ willingness to defend the state’s climate policies just as winter hits and Healey mounts a reelection...

ICYMI: DTA: Some food aid recipients will see benefits drop to ‘zero’
11/07/2025

ICYMI: DTA: Some food aid recipients will see benefits drop to ‘zero’

"I'm trying to do the best I can to manage the situation," Healey said. She added, "No state can come forward and replace what the federal government has taken away."

NEW: Social pot consumption vote could come by Christmas
11/07/2025

NEW: Social pot consumption vote could come by Christmas

Chair Shannon O'Brien offered the latest timeline at the end of a meeting on Friday, as commissioners also learned that a new member, Carrie Benedon, is joining the commission.

NEW: New state coastal resilience plan proposes voluntary buyout program
11/07/2025

NEW: New state coastal resilience plan proposes voluntary buyout program

The state’s final ResilientCoasts plan, unveiled on Thursday, calls for such a program to be stood up within three to five years, once a study currently underway is completed.

COURTS: Over the course of 70 minutes of arguments by the two sides, and pointed questioning from the justices, none of ...
11/07/2025

COURTS: Over the course of 70 minutes of arguments by the two sides, and pointed questioning from the justices, none of the Supreme Judicial Court’s seven judges appeared eager to sn**ch the power of the purse from Beacon Hill lawmakers.

Over the course of 70 minutes of arguments by the two sides, and pointed questioning from the justices, none of the Supreme Judicial Court’s seven judges appeared eager to sn**ch the power of the purse...

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