Was Healey hedging on Question 1?
During the years-long run-up to getting the so-called Fair Share or Millionaires’ Tax on the ballot, Attorney General Maura Healey has been supportive of the effort. But yesterday Healey -- now a candidate for governor -- offered a nuanced view of Question 1, the proposed constitutional amendment that would add a 4 percent surtax to household income above $1 million.
Greg Reibman
Newton had a bigger share of these than most US cities
Close to half of all working Newton residents --a whopping 43.9 percent -- worked remotely last year. That's nearly twice the state rate, where 23.7% of Massachusetts workers primarily worked from home in 2021. And the Bay State had one of the highest work-from-home rates in the nation, writes the Globe’s, Dana Gerber.
Greg Reibman
Making less than before
Yet another survey confirmed this week what most business owners already know: Inflation, supply chain, and hiring remain back breakers, But then there was this disheartening statistic from the MassINC Polling group survey: More than half (53%) of small businesses in Massachusetts are making less revenue than they did before the pandemic, including 23% that say revenue is down by 25% or more.
Greg Reibman
This gateway deserves an exclamation point
Malls are dying. Retail is fading, right? That's what makes the transformation at Arsenal Yards all the more remarkable. It was just nine years ago when Boylston Properties and the Wilder Cos. paid $70.5 million for the long past its prime Arsenal Mall and the adjacent Harvard Vanguard building in Watertown. And it’s been less than five years since the companies started what’s become a head-turning retail transformation which will ultimately feature 50 carefully curated retail and restaurants, a hotel, plus
Greg Reibman
And on the 46th day we saw daylight
Forty-six days after our Legislature split for vacation without completing a critical Economic Development Bill, leaders signaled that they’re ready to cobble together some form of the shelved bill. The logjam was loosened yesterday after State Auditor Suzanne Bump certified the state does indeed have to return $2.94 billion to us, taxpayers, due to record tax collections and a 1986 voter-passed law that lawmakers apparently forgot about until the folks at CommonWealth magazine reminded them about it.
Greg Reibman
An extra year of bumpety, bumpety, bump
The roughly two-mile-long renovation -- from Webster Street in Needham to Route 9 in Newton -- will widen sidewalks, improve intersections, add raised bikes lanes and synchronized signals and rehabilitate the bridge over the Charles River. These are much-needed, welcome improvements. But we’re now looking at the fall of 2024 before completion.
Greg Reibman
Remembering those we've lost
As has become our tradition, today we remember 23 individuals who died 21 years ago today as a result of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks who are known to have had a Newton, Needham or Wellesley connection. (We're not aware of anyone from Watertown who perished from the attacks.)
Greg Reibman
The contest we're not going to get
By choosing Trump-backed legislator Geoff Diehl over Wrentham businessman Chris Doughty for governor, Republican primary voters likely made Maura Healey’s path to the corner office easier than it was already going to be. They also likely eliminated any opportunity to have a substantive debate about economic issues, sustainability, and other matters.
Greg Reibman
Another way we can be good restaurant customers
By now most of us have become sensitive to just how hard it is to operate or work at a restaurant these days. As customers, that means exercising patience for our food to arrive from potentially short-staffed kitchens; expecting to pay more to cover increased food and labor costs; and becoming more generous tippers.
Greg Reibman
Ready for some good news about the MBTA?
Ready for some good news about the MBTA? The T's is moving forward with plans to invest $811 million to replace the 1980s-vintage, two-car Green Line trains with 102 new vehicles.
Greg Reibman
