A roundup of recent articles from the Massachusetts independent press
Commentary: Moving commentary to my main column
I’ve decided to reactivate my long-running Apparent Horizon column to comment at length on issues of the day and just focus this column on its main purpose: Providing a regular roundup of the Mass indy press.
So read on for some of the best recent articles from local independent news outlets around the Bay State! (And thanks to my BINJ partner Chris Faraone for the neat new IndyMass banner!)
ARTS
Concert Review: Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival — Satisfaction for All
The Arts Fuse
The headliner “steals its own show.”
Pigs on Parade: An Abstract-to-Concrete Tour of Burlington
Burlington Buzz
A clever fundraiser for a sculpture park.
Asian American Ballet Project Dances to a Beat of Its Own
Sampan
“Here you don’t have to think about that, it’s exhausting being in a company and second guessing myself, ‘Am I getting cast because I’m Asian?”
Unique art installation highlights cultural identity on Boston’s basketball courts
The Bay State Banner
Local artist puts up “customized basketball nets adorned with the colors of Marcus Garvey’s Pan-African flag”
The New Bedford dressmaker who creates elegant gowns from Barbie dolls
The New Bedford Light
Spanish-language video interview with English subtitles
ENVIRONMENT
Hanscom jet emissions threaten air quality in Concord: report
The Concord Bridge
New environmental report provides ammo to community advocates fighting against expanding a local commercial airport.
Babson student’s Computers 4 People is bridging Digital Divide, promoting sustainability
The Swellesley Report
Keeping old computers out of landfills by donating them to people in need.
FOOD
The best local lemon and limeades
The Lexington Observer
Yum.
GOVERNMENT
This City Kills Children: Who’s really to blame for the social murder of a 13-year old girl?
Worcester Sucks and I Love It
“Stroads” kill people. Why does Worcester allow them?
Authority to return ARPA funds unless alternative found by Monday night
yourArlington.com
Here’s something you don’t see every day: A city department returning free money.
City Council delays maker-space zoning vote after parking dispute
Newton Beacon
Idiosyncratic parking zoning results from fight between businesses that don’t want parking requirements in zoning regulations and advocates who want them citywide.
GUNS
Zoning Board to Take a Crack at New Firearms Business Zoning Bylaw
Sudbury Weekly
If at first you don’t succeed, legislate, legislate again.
HOUSING
Affordable housing additions at Walden Square move forward with Planning Board misgivings
Cambridge Day
Another look at the ongoing war between NIMBYs, affordable housing advocates, bike activists, tree defenders, city government factions, and a typical developer.
City manager: Court ruling won’t change homelessness approach
Worcester Guardian
Worcester government says it won’t use SCOTUS ruling to roust homeless people. Yeeeeeeah.
LABOR
Library Staff Say Smith College Is Breaking Labor Law
The Shoestring
Contract negotiations get ugly at an elite institution.
Five months later, former employees of Plymouth man’s staffing company are still waiting for back pay
The Plymouth Independent
Having been a longtime temp worker then a temp labor activist myself, this piece really resonates with me. Even on the rare occasions such companies are slapped on the wrist for ripping off their workforce, they still try to wriggle out of fines and other penalties. In this case by shutting down the company.
POLICE
Command move at BPD draws fire from Campbell, local lawmakers
Dorchester Reporter
BPD commissioner’s demotion of a popular top cop angers the attorney general. Mayor stands behind the decision … for now.
Rowley to Join 911 Regional Dispatch Center
The Local News (Ipswich)
An example of the backflips municipalities are doing to make ends meet in a time of shrinking budgets.
TAXES
TAX TROUBLE: Report alleges property valuation process missed ‘clear red flag’
Marblehead Current
“The initial focus on adjusting land values significantly not only created potential inequity amongst various neighborhoods but required nonsensical adjustments to building cost …”
IndyMass is produced for HorizonMass, the independent, student-driven, news outlet of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, by Jason Pramas and is syndicated by BINJ’s MassWire news service. Copyright 2024 Jason Pramas.
Jason Pramas is executive director of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism and editor-in-chief of HorizonMass.
