Summer plans

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CommonWealth Beacon Download. Politics, Ideas, & Civic Life in Massachusetts.

New from CommonWealth Beacon

HOLYOKE LESSONS: As the Holyoke public schools exit state receivership after a decade of state oversight, the failure of the intervention to boost student achievement is prompting fresh scrutiny of the 2010 law allowing state takeover of struggling districts. Michael Jonas has more.

SURTAX SPENDING: The state’s fiscal 2026 budget includes an increase over last year of $496 million in Chapter 70 funding for schools, paid for by the tax on incomes over $1 million not general state revenues. Sam Drysdale of State House News Service explains why this is giving some budget watchers pause.

Hello Reader,

In the eight months since I joined CommonWealth Beacon, I’ve had the opportunity to go back through the print magazine archives and reread some of my favorite CommonWealth stories. It’s been a real pleasure leafing through the hard copies, revisiting Jack Sullivan’s 2010 piece on the broken promises of Title IX for female athletes and our very first cover story – published in the spring of 1996 – about how hard it is to make it in the middle class in Massachusetts to name just a couple of examples.

Next year we – along with our parent organization MassINC – will celebrate our 30th anniversary. As we prepare to mark the occasion, we’re taking a look back at the issues we’ve highlighted, the people affected by them, and how our reporting has served communities across the state. And we want to share that process with you. Starting next week, the Download will feature a story from our archives each Friday throughout the summer.

We will be off tomorrow for July 4, but we will be back in your inbox on Monday. In the meantime, the CommonWealth Beacon team wishes you a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend.

With gratitude,

Laura Colarusso

Editor, CommonWealth Beacon

National Grid. We're here with solutions to help manage your summer energy bills. Lean more.

More from CommonWealth Beacon

MASS. IMPACT: How will the Senate version of President Trump’s tax and spending bill affect Massachusetts? Abigail Pritchard of The New Bedford Light explains the five key takeaways.

WOOD-BURNING WORRIES: Health advocates in Springfield are speaking out against a wood-burning power plant that recently received court approval, warning that it would worsen the city’s already high asthma rates. Bhaamati Borkhetaria has the details.

OPINION: JD Chesloff, CEO of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, and Lisa Murray, Massachusetts president of Citizens, write that addressing housing costs and making smart use of AI are among the top priorities in an annual survey of Massachusetts business leaders.

The Codcast: The introvert’s guide to being mayor

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu joins The Codcast to chat about her start in politics, being both an introvert and a politician, why she’s a Democrat, the super PACs crowding this year’s election, and her media diet.

LISTEN NOW

What We're Reading

BUDGET MATH: Massachusetts’s fiscal 2026 budget includes more than $1 million for Worcester programs, including those that support veterans, the city’s police department, legal aid for children, and zoo operations. (The Worcester Guardian)

IMMIGRATION: US Rep. Seth Moulton said he filed an amendment to the sweeping federal tax and spending bill to address the conditions in which the government is holding immigrant detainees, including measures like preventing overnight stays in ICE field offices not designed for detention. (WBUR)

REAL ESTATE: Despite the uncertainty surrounding the federal budget, tariffs, and other economic factors, luxury home sales on the Cape continue to chug along thanks, in part, to homebuyers from other states looking to scoop up properties. (The Boston Globe – paywall)

MUNICIPAL MATTERS: Pittsfield Mayor Peter Marchetti has expressed openness to revising his proposal to ban camping, which would allow for homeless people to be charged with criminal penalties, after city council members on the Ordinances and Rules subcommittee agreed unanimously that the criminal penalties should be removed. (The Berkshire Eagle – paywall)

JOB GROWTH: The health care sector accounts for a third of last year’s nationwide job growth, but that growth is at risk if Republicans pass President Trump’s sprawling tax bill, the Senate version of which would cut Medicaid by a trillion dollars over the next decade. (The New York Times – paywall)