Devin Alexander, the co-founder of Rolling Releaf, and Chris Fevry, co-founder of Your Green Package, talk about the nascent marijuana delivery industry, and some of the controversy surrounding the drafting of state regulations. They argue a courier model won't work and push for delivery companies that buy their own marijuana wholesale and sell direct to consumers. Challenges ahead include getting licenses and signing municipal host agreements.
Nov 30, 2020•26 min
Retiring rep, rep-elect share insights on State House opacity by CommonWealth Beacon
Nov 23, 2020•26 min
With Gov. Charlie Baker pressuring schools to reopen in-person, no one is arguing that this is the best way for students to learn. Some union officials and parents are worried about sending their kids to school with community-based cases increasing, and have pushed back. But what metrics should districts be basing their reopening decisions off of, and how can communication improve between local decision-makers and the state? Mary Beth Miotto, Vice President of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Am...
Nov 16, 2020•38 min
Mass. Democratic Party chair showdown by CommonWealth Beacon
Nov 09, 2020•31 min
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Massachusetts allowed no-excuse mail-in voting for the first time this year as well as expanded early voting – and millions of voters took advantage. By Saturday evening, 2.28 million voters had cast their ballots, either by mail or in person – a number equivalent to more than two-thirds of all ballots cast in the 2016 election. For Pam Wilmot, vice president of state operations for Common Cause, said that is all the proof needed to retain no-excuse mail-in v...
Nov 02, 2020•23 min
Biden's lead has supporters....nervous by CommonWealth Beacon
Oct 26, 2020•35 min
Evan Falchuk, in favor of Question 2 calling for ranked choice voting, squares off with Nick Murray, a policy analyst at the Maine Policy Institute.
Oct 19, 2020•28 min
We talk to David Seltz, the executive director of the state’s Health Policy Commission, about how the coronavirus is changing health care.
Oct 12, 2020•44 min
We talk with Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell about her candidacy for mayor.
Oct 05, 2020•28 min
Michelle Wu is, by conventional standards, an unlikely figure to be challenging a sitting Boston mayor (though incumbent Mayor Marty Walsh has yet to declare his candidacy, he is widely expected to seek a third term next year). She is shy by temperament, and when she entered Harvard as an undergraduate in 2004, politics was so removed from Wu’s upbringing that she considered herself neither a Democrat nor a Republican. But our conversation with Wu on The Codcast, focused more on getting to know ...
Sep 28, 2020•34 min
Massachusetts voters will be asked in November whether to update the Right to Repair law -- but they may have a hard time wading through the complexities of a ballot question when supporters and opponents cannot even agree on the basics of what it will do. Tommy Hickey, director of the Right to Repair Coalition, and Conor Yunits, a spokesman for No on One, joined the Codcast to discuss the ballot question – and disagreed on even the most factual details of what the current law says and how the b...
Sep 21, 2020•25 min
I took a Red Line train last week that was crowded according to the MBTA’s COVID-19 crowding standards, but the consensus on this week’s Codcast was that I didn’t need to worry. Jim Aloisi, the former secretary of transportation and TransitMatters board member, called my story on the crowded train ride a mild over-reaction “Your article might have given people an impression that they should be fearful of a situation that I don’t think is any more or less risky than any of the other activities th...
Sep 14, 2020•26 min
With less than two weeks until school starts, parents from Somerville and Newton say they have yet to get any details on what classes will look like for their children and whether remote learning will be better than it was when schools suddenly shut down last spring amid COVID-19. “Families cannot live in a state of uncertainty,” said Keri Rodrigues of Somerville on The Codcast. “I am two weeks away from the first day of school in Somerville. I still don’t have a specific hour-by-hour schedule o...
Sep 07, 2020•32 min
The federal government allows states to recoup Medicaid costs after the deaths of patients who use the program. Estate recovery allows homes to be seized and sold to pay off expended Medicaid dollars, a move advocates decry as penalizing low-income families, and making Medicaid into a loan program. Some states take the federal rules a step further. “MassHealth has some of the strongest and most draconian state recovery rules in the country,” Somerville Rep. Christine Barber said on a new “Health...
Aug 31, 2020•30 min
Markey-Kennedy race in the homestretch by CommonWealth Beacon
Aug 24, 2020•25 min
Curtatone, Novick hit Baker reopening guidance by CommonWealth Beacon
Aug 17, 2020•29 min
Downing, Vennochi voice concerns on Baker by CommonWealth Beacon
Aug 10, 2020•28 min
Two opponents debate a ballot question in Maine with huge importance for Massachusetts.
Aug 03, 2020•32 min
As local news withers, we’re losing sense of identity by CommonWealth Beacon
Jul 26, 2020•18 min
Differences between AIM official and transportation advocate mirror the split on Beacon Hill.
Jul 20, 2020•29 min
Michael Curry: Waging a duel-front war on the pandemic and racism by CommonWealth Beacon
Jul 13, 2020•35 min
Contact tracing effort scaled way back by CommonWealth Beacon
Jul 06, 2020•32 min
Spilka makes a case for substance over process by CommonWealth Beacon
Jun 29, 2020•30 min
Black Lives Matter: Where do we go from here? by CommonWealth Beacon
Jun 22, 2020•31 min
Childcare provider: 'I'm scared for my business' by CommonWealth Beacon
Jun 15, 2020•23 min
6/7/20-- Rep. Russell Holmes and Segun Idowu, the Executive Director of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, discuss the impact of George Floyd's death and racial justice reform. Holmes is a sponsor of several bills, including one that would allow for decertification of officers for misconduct. Idowu addresses misconceptions about recent protests in Boston.
Jun 05, 2020•36 min
Time of reckoning for New England Aquarium, Museum of Science by CommonWealth Beacon
Jun 01, 2020•26 min
Mayor Marty Walsh takes stock of COVID-19 crisis by CommonWealth Beacon
May 25, 2020•34 min
Senator says nursing home industry collapsing by CommonWealth Beacon
May 18, 2020•32 min
Poftak wary of taking hard policy stances at T by CommonWealth Beacon
May 11, 2020•23 min
