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Oct 6, 2024 | 
commonwealthbeacon.org | Colman M. Herman
JUST LIKE EMPLOYERS in the private sector, the state’s constitutional officers have different stances on hybrid work schedules. The governor and the secretary of the Commonwealth for the most part don’t allow employees to work from home, while the attorney general, the treasurer, and the auditor all do.
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Sep 15, 2024 | 
commonwealthbeacon.org | Colman M. Herman
Commission may require periodic physical, mental health checksIN MASSACHUSETTS, individuals intraining to become municipal police officers must pass a battery ofphysical and psychological tests. But once they become active duty police officers, the testing stops. The Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission is thinking of changing that.
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Aug 16, 2024 | 
commonwealthbeacon.org | Gintautas Dumcius |Colman M. Herman
SUPER PACS slammed into Boston politics like a hurricane in 2013, throwing millions of dollars into the race to replace Mayor Tom Menino. Unions, in particular, funneled money toward placing Marty Walsh, the longtime state representative and labor leader, inside City Hall.
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Aug 13, 2024 | 
commonwealthbeacon.org | Colman M. Herman
THE BOSTON COMMON is the oldest public park in the nation and a crossroads for tourists, residents, and workers, yet the park’s lone restaurant is closing after years of unprofitability.
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Jun 16, 2024 | 
commonwealthbeacon.org | Colman M. Herman
A SUPERIOR COURT judge has ordered state Auditor Diana DiZoglio to remove redactions from audits her office released last year involving medical care and inmate deaths in jails operated by two sheriffs’ departments. DiZoglio’s office had invoked an exemption from the state public records law in redacting passages in the reports, claiming their release could jeopardize public safety or cybersecurity, but Suffolk Superior Court Judge Michael Pineault ruled that the redactions were not justified.
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Jun 16, 2024 | 
newsfromthestates.com | Colman M. Herman
A SUPERIOR COURT judge has ordered state Auditor Diana DiZoglio to remove redactions from audits her office released last year involving medical care and inmate deaths in jails operated by two sheriffs’ departments. DiZoglio’s office had invoked an exemption from the state public records law in redacting passages in the reports, claiming their release could jeopardize public safety or cybersecurity, but Suffolk Superior Court Judge Michael Pineault ruled that the redactions were not justified.
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May 11, 2024 | 
commonwealthbeacon.org | Colman M. Herman
BOSTON MAYOR Michelle Wu last month followed through on her 2019 campaign pledge and signed into law an ordinance transferring the Boston Planning and Development Agency over to city control. But the agency’s very strong civil service-like protections for many of its employees will not go with them. Instead, they are being pared back significantly.
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Feb 19, 2024 | 
commonwealthbeacon.org | Colman M. Herman
GINA FIANDACA abruptly stepped down as Gov. Maura Healey’s secretary of transportation in September 2023, but was kept on for an additional four months and paid $55,915 to “provide assistance, advice, and counsel” during the transition to her successor. There’s no evidence, however, that Fiandaca did anything to earn the money. Officials at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation have been very tight-lipped about Fiandaca’s departure.
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Feb 19, 2024 | 
newsfromthestates.com | Colman M. Herman
Gina Fiandaca abruptly stepped down as Gov. Maura Healey’s secretary of transportation in September 2023, but was kept on for an additional four months and paid $55,915 to “provide assistance, advice, and counsel” during the transition to her successor. There’s no evidence, however, that Fiandaca did anything to earn the money. Officials at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation have been very tight-lipped about Fiandaca’s departure.
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Jan 25, 2024 | 
commonwealthbeacon.org | Colman M. Herman
ACADEMIC MEDICAL CENTERS in Massachusetts are often ranked among the best in the nation, but data gathered by the Lown Institute of Needham suggests they lag behind their peers nationally in several key categories.
