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.

With Beacon Hill on the cusp of a major crackdown on competitive electric suppliers, industry lobbying groups are throwi...
08/21/2026

With Beacon Hill on the cusp of a major crackdown on competitive electric suppliers, industry lobbying groups are throwing record spending into efforts to push back against proposed guardrails. https://buff.ly/ZXt7u2t

Efforts to stop Mayor Wu’s plans to transform White Stadium into a $325 million professional soccer stadium were blocked...
08/20/2026

Efforts to stop Mayor Wu’s plans to transform White Stadium into a $325 million professional soccer stadium were blocked by the state’s highest court. The project, which began as a proposed renovation of the historic stadium, remains controversial.

Nearby residents and the Emerald Necklace Conservancy sued in 2024, arguing that the city’s proposal violated the terms of the charitable trust that built the 77-year-old facility and still owns the stadium site. The stadium and its surrounding area, the lawsuit claimed, is protected public parkland, and not for private use.

But only the state AG or a trustee may sue to defend the trust’s terms, the Supreme Judicial Court said. And because of mid-20th century legislation, the stadium site itself is not protected parkland, the SJC concluded.

Massachusetts regulators adopted a proposal that would dramatically reduce solar connection costs for some homeowners, w...
08/19/2026

Massachusetts regulators adopted a proposal that would dramatically reduce solar connection costs for some homeowners, wiping away a steep barrier that has squeezed uptake of the clean energy source.

The change is a small win for Gov. Healey’s push to streamline new energy projects, and it comes at a time when electricity prices in the state are reaching double the national average, power demand is rising, and deadlines for climate commitments are creeping closer.

The developers of a private jet expansion at Hanscom Field airport have closed on a $40 million loan with Needham Bank t...
08/18/2026

The developers of a private jet expansion at Hanscom Field airport have closed on a $40 million loan with Needham Bank to retrofit one existing hangar, while progress on the larger project remains stalled. https://buff.ly/Z96N8zy

08/17/2026

Quabbin communities are facing a cruel irony: an extended drought despite being neighbors to one of the largest unfiltered water supplies in the U.S. Jordan Wolman dives into the dire conditions driving these Massachusetts towns to take their fight to the State House and what it means now that the governor is backing them.

Legislation that would repeal a 12-month residency requirement for fortune tellers has revived a long-asked question: Wh...
08/14/2026

Legislation that would repeal a 12-month residency requirement for fortune tellers has revived a long-asked question: Why are they required to be licensed anyway?

Small towns along the Quabbin Reservoir are seeking increased payments in lieu of taxes from the state, or PILOTs, as co...
08/13/2026

Small towns along the Quabbin Reservoir are seeking increased payments in lieu of taxes from the state, or PILOTs, as compensation for the state-owned land that bars economic development in the region. Gov. Healey threw her support behind the rural communities in a new letter Wednesday.

Five of the seven Quabbin “host communities” have received the same amount in PILOT payments in each of the past five fiscal years – essentially a decrease when adjusted for inflation – laying bare a sizable difference between what these towns earn per acre through state aid and what they generate per acre through property taxes on developed non-Quabbin land.

08/12/2026

At Longsjo Middle School, the students take recess in the gym. It’s the only public school in Fitchburg without any outdoor space. A federally funded project would have created greenspace near the middle school, until the grant was terminated last year by the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency.

Despite the setback, the school district intends to move forward with the project.

“The impact hasn’t changed,” says Cliff Simmonds, executive director of the Nashua River Watershed Association, a non-profit climate resilience organization representing 32 different towns throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

The Massachusetts Senate revived a push for criminal justice reforms that would allow many 18-year-olds accused of lower...
08/11/2026

The Massachusetts Senate revived a push for criminal justice reforms that would allow many 18-year-olds accused of lower-level crimes to be tried in Juvenile Court instead of in the adult system.

The Senate quietly added the juvenile justice reform language to its sweeping economic development bill, with state Sen. Brendan Crighton of Lynn noting, “we had already passed this multiple times in the Senate, and our position’s clear.”

Declining economic conditions and a contentious history are roiling the communities that protect the state's largest sou...
08/11/2026

Declining economic conditions and a contentious history are roiling the communities that protect the state's largest source of drinking water, the Quabbin Reservoir. A coalition of Quabbin towns is demanding higher PILOT payments (payments in lieu of taxes) from Beacon Hill to compensate communities for the land they lost. State lawmakers are considering reforms, but officials say meeting those demands would require tradeoffs.

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