features Archives

AFTER THE STRIKE

How Did Comm Ave Starbucks Workers Make Out After 2 Months Of Striking? We Asked Them … “Seeing the outpouring of support from people all over the Boston area has renewed a lot of our faith in the community.” Magnus, who asked that we not share his real name for

JOSH HALPERN October 3, 2022

PAYING TO PLAY

How Rideshare and Delivery Companies Raised $43 Million and Bought Influence In Mass What can $43 million buy? If you’re an alliance of rideshare giants and delivery app companies, it can buy millions of dollars in TV ads, high-powered consultants, and campaign workers who cross over with your biggest opponent.

DAN ATKINSON September 29, 2022

HACKS, FACTS & CONTRACTS: FOIA FOLLOW-UP

Photo of Gov. Baker surveying Orange Line track work in 2019 by Joshua Qualls/Governor’s Press Office Internal Emails Show How MBTA Sought To Market “Safe,” “Good” Trains As System Failed Starting today, the MBTA shut down the entire Orange Line for a month for massive maintenance and repair work. Riders

DAN ATKINSON August 19, 2022

CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER CRISIS

A crowd gathered in front of the Massachusetts State House on May 3 to protest the leaked Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. (Olivia Deng) The “industry is a sophisticated global network led by anti-abortion organizations.” In Mass, they outnumber actual abortion clinics 3 to 1 Kaylee started

OLIVIA DENG July 18, 2022

MORALE VIOLATION

Whistle-blowers report culture of “retaliation” and “nepotism” at Mass parole agency Over the past three months, seven staff members from the Massachusetts Parole Board have come to this reporter with harsh critiques of the agency. They are quoted throughout this article. The Commonwealth has a seven-member Parole Board that decides

JEAN TROUNSTINE May 23, 2022

PHONE CHECK

Mass is still gouging the families of prisoners on phone fees. Will lawmakers finally change that? For the past 10 years, Beverly Ross has spent hundreds of dollars a month on a middle-school teacher’s salary to ensure that her son knows his father, who is incarcerated in a Massachusetts

ASHLEY PETTUS April 11, 2022

A NEW AMERICAN PROJECT

In the nationwide bipartisan blitz to privatize public housing, Boston’s giving billions worth of benefits to some of America’s largest developers, financiers, and property management firms. Politicians are applauding, but for many residents caught in the transition, their housing future is unclear BY CHRIS FARAONE with research and reporting by

CHRIS FARAONE February 1, 2022

SPECIAL SEQUEL: DESACRALIZED

As another historic Black Boston institution is gentrified, a congregation displaced by condos reflects on this trend and what it means BY CLAIRE SADAR AND ALYSSA MALDONADO-ESTRADA [Read the first installment of this series] City churches were designed to be walkable and serve their immediate neighborhoods, but as historically working-class

CLAIRE SADAR AND ALYSSA MALDONADO-ESTRADA January 6, 2022

NATIVE AMERICANS, QUINCY EXTEND “OLIVE BRANCH” TO BOSTON

Photo by Doc Searls Mayor Wu’s promise of halting the construction of the Long Island Bridge generates cautious optimism Following a tumultuous and historic election, Boston’s new Mayor Michelle Wu will start off her term facing innumerable challenges as well as opportunities. With political fervor receding, anticipation is growing over

DYLAN J. HEARN November 17, 2021

SPECIAL FEATURE: GREATER BOSTON’S CHURCH TO CONDO PIPELINE

As more and more former Boston churches are being converted into luxury housing, is the city missing out on potential arts and community spaces?

CLAIRE SADAR AND ALYSSA MALDONADO-ESTRADA October 1, 2021