Posts Tagged ‘legislature’

Minor party

05Dec25

I’m here to provide your periodic update on the effort to allow children to vote in local elections. The Wakefield Youth Council had planned to get an article on the Nov. 8 Regular Town Meeting warrant, but there “wasn’t enough time.” Too much homework, I guess. But after listening to a recent Youth Council meeting, […]


To be, or 40B

01Jun23

Let’s be clear. Something is going to be built at 119-135 Nahant St., the former location of Precision Honing. At this point, the only question is, ‘What?” Right now, it’s a blighted industrial site with a crumbling old factory building on it. Developer Jason Kearney’s new proposal to build a six-story, 120-unit, 40B affordable housing […]


When any person or group tells you that they want to “reform” the way we conduct elections to make voting more “fair” and increase voter “participation,” your BS detector should go off. Because when it comes to elections, one thing and only one thing matters: winning. When proposals are advanced to change how elections are […]


If you thought the local plastic bag ban passed by the town a couple of years ago was bad, take heart. It’s about to get a lot worse. The Massachusetts Legislature is considering a measure that would ban plastic bags statewide. The State Senate is now debating the legislation before it moves on to the […]


Marijuana has been back in the news lately, but really, when has it not been in the news over the last several years? The latest headlines have pot users in a panic – and not the kind that comes from ingesting one too many brownies. No, this time it’s like, real, man. The Feds are […]


Weeded out

11Aug17

The good news for the Cannabis Community is the Massachusetts Legislature finally finished tinkering with the law making recreational marijuana legal and Gov. Charlie Baker has signed it. The bad news is the first pot shops won’t open for another 324 days. But who’s counting.


Zoned out

20May17

I know some people don’t like me to write about marijuana, but the subject has been in the local news a lot lately and it’s kind of my job. So this constitutes a trigger warning for those delicate flowers of the Cannabis Community whose heads tend to explode when I write about pot. (Rest assured […]


By now you’ve received the red booklet, Massachusetts Information for Voters: 2014 Ballot Questions, published by William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth. This handy booklet provides you with all the information on the four ballot questions that you could possibly need when you go to vote on Nov. 4. All the information, that is, […]


Both candidates running for the 32nd Middlesex District seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives want to keep casino gambling in Massachusetts, but incumbent Rep. Paul Brodeur and his Republican challenger John Lock disagreed on most other issues as they debated last week at Wakefield’s WCAT studios. The 32nd Middlesex District includes all of Melrose […]