Category: National
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Report: Tougher Drug Laws Don’t Reduce Overdose Deaths
A new nationwide study finds that putting more people in jail for drug offenses doesn’t reduce drug use or overdose deaths. On Monday, President Donald Trump called for harsher sentences– including the death penalty for drug traffickers– to combat the opioid epidemic. Jake Horowitz, director of research and policy at Pew Charitable Trusts’ Public Safety…
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Boston Takes to the Streets to Show Solidarity With Student Led ‘March For Our Lives’
On March 24, thousands marched from Madison Park Technical Vocational High School in Roxbury to Boston Common for March for Our Lives, a rally held worldwide to protest gun violence following the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14. Leonor Muñoz, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student, stood alongside her sister,…
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United Nations report: U.S. has the wealth to end homelessness and chooses not to
In early December, United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston landed in Los Angeles, the first stop in his tour of extreme poverty in the United States. It was a Sunday, a day before he was scheduled to begin, but Alston said he had decided to get a head start on his mission. One of the…
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Boston Area Workers Defend the Constitutionality of Unions
In just one of 11 rallies across the state of Massachusetts hundreds of union workers crowded outside of the Boston Firehouse, Monday, March 3 to raise their voices against a pivotal Supreme Court case challenging the constitutionality of imposing union fees in the public sector. The opening remarks of Janus v. American Federation of State…
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HUD Delays Obama-era Policy on Fair Housing
Fair Housing Act (FHA) requirements for funding have now been put on hold by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) until 2020, leaving housing advocates across the country worried about unaddressed inequities. Under President Barack Obama HUD began requiring communities to provide data on how they address segregation issues and other concerns under…
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Sen. Warren Visits Roxbury Health Center, Vows to Fight for Health Insurance for Low-Income People and Kids
File photo Board members, health providers and staff members at The Dimock Center in Roxbury shared their concerns with Senator Elizabeth Warren during a roundtable discussion centered on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Community Health Center Fund in early January. Warren, nationally known for her progressive views, was greeted by a round…
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No More “Free and Open” Internet? Party-Line Vote at FCC Scuttles Net Neutrality
The Federal Communications Commission has voted to repeal net neutrality rules. In a party-line vote on Thursday, the FCC approved a proposal to end regulations that prohibit Internet service providers from blocking or slowing down access or prioritizing their own content. Commission Chair Ajit Pai said repealing the Obama-era rules will help consumers and promote…
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Affordable Housing Survives GOP Tax Bill’s Final Edit
The Republicans of the House and Senate released the final version of their tax bill on Friday, Dec. 15, with the intention of voting it into law before the new year. The bill—titled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—has received numerous edits since it was originally introduced by House Means and Ways Committee Chairman Kevin…
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Racism as Usual at Sports Stadiums, College Campuses
Sometimes I find it truly amazing these days when people hear of racist actions or events and are shocked, as if these things are new to America or as if racism started yesterday. A couple of racist events happened this past week. A white college student in Connecticut did everything she could, including something weird…