Andy Metzger
CW Magazine
Somerville, MA, United States
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Past articles by Andy:
DeLeo laying groundwork for tax talk
WITHIN the shavings on the floor of the closeout budget conference negotiations lies a lever that House Democrats could lean on to help their case for more transportation revenue, but it would be a tricky maneuver. Even though the House and Senate had both earlier agreed on giving Gov. Charlie Baker the $50 million he(...) → Read More
Cracking the climate code
AN ARCANE STATE BOARD, known to few outside the world of design and construction, is the setting of a furious clash the outcome of which could influence the amount of climate-curdling emissions that pour out of chimneys, as well as the future supply of housing in Massachusetts, where affordable homes are already scarce. The Board(...) → Read More
Lawmakers botch budget bill negotiations
BY FAILING TO reach agreement on a major spending bill before the winter break, legislative leaders have squandered much of their control over what goes into it, and they have courted more federal scrutiny of the state’s election process. In the wee hours of early Thursday morning, the House and Senate essentially threw in the(...) → Read More
Senate chair knocks House handling of tax break
AT A STANDSTILL over a corporate tax break, the Legislature on Thursday recessed for the remainder of the week without completing work on a bill wrapping up budgetary matters for the fiscal year that ended in June. An arcane tax policy has become a divisive policy issue, in part because of the potential cost of(...) → Read More
Former rep backs up Kaufman’s account
FORMER STATE REP Cleon Turner remembers it well. Jay Kaufman was in an aisle of the House chamber in 2013 venting about how Speaker Robert DeLeo had told him that if he didn’t vote for a controversial tax proposal, he would lose his chairmanship of the Revenue Committee. Get the Daily Download Our news roundup(...) → Read More
East Coast states outline carbon pricing plan
OFFICIALS FROM MASSACHUSETTS and Maryland on Tuesday laid out in broad strokes their plans for a forthcoming program across the East Coast to reduce harmful tailpipe emissions and fund greener transportation alternatives by pricing the carbon contained in gas and diesel fuels. The proposal would mimic a gasoline tax from the perspective of consumers, but(...) → Read More
Kerry: Republicans shouldn’t rush to president’s defense
JOHN KERRY ISN’T just another Democrat inveighing against President Trump’s suspected crimes. While his political leanings are clear, Kerry also has unique experience in the diplomatic arena in which Trump appears to have transgressed as well as the legislative body that might ultimately determine his fate. Get the Daily Download Our news roundup delivered every(...) → Read More
Following the money through City Hall
THERE ARE several loose threads spilling out from the case of John Lynch, who pled guilty in September and is currently scheduled to be sentenced in January for accepting bribes. A longtime City Hall aide who worked at the Boston Planning and Development Agency, Lynch pocketed $50,000, allegedly from developer Steven Turner, to influence the(...) → Read More
Poll: Voters back subway-like commuter rail
RESIDENTS AROUND THE state want more frequent, reliable, and electrified commuter rail service, but they are more divided over how to pay for such improvements. A majority of the 1,430 voters surveyed online in August strongly support switching from diesel to electric power on the commuter rail system, prioritizing running the trains more frequently throughout(...) → Read More
RMV board asks for watchdog’s help
THE QUASI-INDEPENDENT board tasked with overseeing the state’s driver’s license database asked for a little help from the inspector general on Wednesday, and took some steps towards hiring a new permanent director. Get the Daily Download Our news roundup delivered every weekday.Email* It was only the second meeting of the Merit Rating Board in(...) → Read More
At last: Red Line back to normal
ONE HUNDRED AND SIX days after a Red Line train derailed and smashed into signal equipment, the MBTA announced Wednesday afternoon that it has finally restored service to normal on the transit authority’s busiest subway line. The crash forced the T to shift to a manual signal system, where workers located at each station communicating(...) → Read More
Industry sets stage for film tax credit fight
THE STATE’S CONTROVERSIAL film tax credit is due to expire on December 31, 2022, and that would mean curtains for several job-creating local businesses that have sprung up around the celluloid gravy train. The film tax credit debate should be interesting. It’s a maxim on Beacon Hill that it’s easier to block legislation from passing(...) → Read More
Orr statue now front and center at TD Garden
THE STATUE OF BRUINS GREAT Bobby Orr has a new home right in the middle of the new entrance to TD Garden dubbed The Hub. It’s a prominent spot for the sculpture of the defenseman depicted in mid-celebratory-dive after scoring the goal that clinched the Stanley Cup in 1970. Get the Daily Download Our news(...) → Read More
A stark view from inside MCI-Framingham
In 2013, Lee Unitt was sentenced to four consecutive two-year terms in prison and up to 20 years of probation, but according to an ongoing lawsuit, the real punishment she received was far worse than that. At the state’s women’s prison in Framingham where she was incarcerated for six years, Unitt claims she was confined(...) → Read More
MassGOP rips Reps. Omar and Tlaib
THE MASSACHUSETTS REPUBLICAN PARTY took aim at the only two Muslim women in Congress, officially condemning Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib for alleged anti-Semitism in a resolution that passed overwhelmingly Tuesday night, according to one of its sponsors. The resolution was inspired by a similar resolution passed by the Alabama Republican party, according to(...) → Read More
The Hub: An impressive front door to Garden, N. Station
NOT LONG AGO, attending a game at TD Garden or taking a train out of North Station meant you would need to come and go through a nondescript side door. There was no real front entrance, and little besides the sheer size of the two facilities to distinguish the sports arena and transit center from(...) → Read More
MBTA: Weakened steel ring led to June derailment
A BRITTLE STEEL AXLE on the front of the third car of a 50-year-old Red Line train snapped on June 11, according to engineers who on Monday disclosed their findings about the cause of the subsequent derailment that has led to months of sub-par service. The reason that axle broke appears to be a unique(...) → Read More
Warren targeted by former donor
ED RENDELL got his money’s worth. The former Pennsylvania governor co-chaired a couple fundraisers for Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s 2018 re-election bid, and also donated a total of $4,500 to her campaign. Get the Daily Download Our news roundup delivered every weekday.Email* While those sums hardly let Rendell call the shots, they add some crucial attention-grabbing heft(...) → Read More
Hefner pleads guilty to indecent assault
BRYON HEFNER SPARED his estranged husband the embarrassment of a public trial, and offered the victims of his sexual predation an apology as he pleaded guilty to three criminal counts in Suffolk Superior Court on Tuesday afternoon. The 32-year-old committed the crimes of indecent assault and battery and illicit dissemination of a nude photo while(...) → Read More
Baker rides the T
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER boarded a southbound Red Line train on Monday morning, putting behind him years of refusal to ride the transit system he oversees. The visit from Park Street to the newly revamped Wollaston Station in Quincy, where he participated in a press conference, was uneventful, but it represented a symbolic break from the(...) → Read More