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Miami Herald
14-07-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
This U.S. State Could Make Every Mile You Drive Cost More Than Just Gas
Car buyers from across the U.S. are continually dealing with higher prices, regardless of what financial bracket they fall into. Cheap used cars are hard to come by, and the average new car price has continued to increase - thanks, in part, to new tariff policies. But for residents of one state, the cost of car ownership may be far greater than the mere purchase price. CBS News reports that Massachusetts may soon track how much you drive and charge accordingly if the new Freedom To Move Act is passed, and it's causing quite the controversy. The bill is currently under discussion at the Massachusetts State House, where critics of the new law say it is about control and limiting transportation. Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance executive director Paul Craney says that the bill is trying to "put mechanisms in place to limit mobility," but Democrat Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Creem says otherwise: "This bill does not do that. This bill doesn't impose restrictions on how much Massachusetts residents can drive nor where they can drive. It doesn't include fines, penalties, taxes on personal vehicle use and it was never the intent of myself or any of the advocates to put a strain on a person's individual liberties." Instead, she says, the goal of the bill is to give more walking, cycling, or train options for those in areas that don't have them in an effort to get more cars and trucks off the road. Creem says that "it's not about telling people what to do," and that this "is not big brother watching you," but Craney argues that this is just the beginning. "We can all kind of figure out where this is going," he said. The bill has not yet reached a committee and is likely to undergo several edits, so it will still be years before anything therein is enacted. Related: New Tennessee Law Hits Bullies Where It Hurts: Their Driver's License A dollar figure per mile has not yet been floated, but whatever it is, the extra cost to residents needs to be justified. In 2021, Massachusetts passed a law requiring the state to reach zero emissions by 2050, and as Craney concedes, "it's not a goal. It's not wishful thinking. It is actually a law." To meet that zero-emissions target will require radical change, and advocates of the new bill say that this is just one way the state can get there. But the path will not be straight. Owners of businesses, especially smaller ones, may have to face higher transport costs that they simply cannot avoid, while others are concerned about their data being stored and what that might mean in terms of government overreach. As valid as those points are, the state needs to find a way to meet the requirements of its own law. Furthermore, it's worth pointing out that Massachusetts is home to the city where drivers are most likely to experience a collision, Boston, so perhaps quieter streets could have a positive impact on more than just air quality. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Boston Globe
11-07-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
‘This law is not working.' Mass. bills would allow abortions after 24 weeks.
At a hearing at the Massachusetts State House on July 10, patients, doctors, and advocates debated the merits of the legislation. Advertisement Nicole Martin, who sees doctors in Massachusetts but now lives out of state, said she had to travel to Washington, D.C., earlier this year in order to get an abortion. An MRI had revealed problems with her unborn son Daniel's brain, and a doctor said if the child lived past birth, he would be unable to walk, talk, or feed himself. Martin, who was 31 weeks pregnant, was devastated and chose to terminate the pregnancy. She went to D.C., because Daniel's condition could not be confirmed in time as 'grave.' Washington, D.C., along with nine states, has no restrictions on abortion. Advertisement 'The plan was to travel for the sad, merciful injection and then come home … and deliver Daniel stillborn at my home hospital,' Martin said. But the day after she got the injection, she had severe lower back pain and nausea. 'I was hundreds of miles from home, and I was afraid I was going to go into labor,' Martin said as she teared up. 'Up until five minutes before our flight, I was alone on the floor of the airport bathroom throwing up.' Other women who testified had traveled to states such as Colorado and Maryland in order to get abortions beyond 24 weeks. 'This was very meaningful progress,' Dineen said, 'but I'm heartbroken to tell you today that this law is not working.' Massachusetts liberalized its abortion laws in 2020 in anticipation of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. The state passed the Roe Act, which allowed for abortions at or after 24 weeks under certain conditions and lowered the age of required parental consent from 18 to 16. The current bills would bring Massachusetts law closer to Advertisement According to the Nationally, four Frances Hogan, an attorney and a member of the board of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, testified against the bill on the grounds that purposeful taking of unborn human life is always morally wrong. '[This bill] removes four existing modest restraints … and essentially would allow abortion on demand for all nine months,' Hogan said. Dr. Anna Whelan, an OB-GYN from Worcester, spoke in favor of the bill. She told the story of one of her patients whose fetus was diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis at a routine scan during her third trimester. Tuberous 'Despite living in a state with some of the premier medical institutions, she had to fly to a different state to get the care that she needed,' Whelan said. Advertisement Angela Mathew can be reached at
Boston Globe
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
‘Systemic failure': At the State House, Muslims tell stories of Islamophobia, advocate for permanent civil rights commission
Sumaira Afzal, a Muslim advisor at Simmons University, said she supports the bill because of the instances of discrimination she's heard about in the city and state. There was no question, she said, as to whether those instances had gone up after the Advertisement 'It's important for me to talk to my representatives and convey our concerns so we can make this state and community a safe space for everybody,' she said. Advertisement Attendees also lobbied for the State Senator Jamie Eldridge and state Representative Vanna Howard, both Democrats, are the lead sponsors of the so-called Muslim Commission Bill. Eldridge said he introduced the bill because there is no commission to support Muslim civil rights, as there are for other minorities, including the 'The truth is, Massachusetts has long benefited from the strength and contribution of its Muslim residents, but that hasn't been matched by recognition in our state government,' Eldridge said. The senator, who represents the Middlesex and Worcester district, said he's heard 'very challenging, very heartbreaking' stories about harassment faced by Muslim constituents. 'And we know that Islamophobia has only increased in the past few months, few years,' he said. Attendees broke out into groups to lobby dozens of representatives throughout the day. One group was comprised of about 30 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders at Alhuda Academy in Worcester. At the Massachusetts State House, the Council on American-Islamic Relations - MA hosted a legislative briefing on Muslim lobby day to advocate for several bills protecting Muslims in Massachusetts. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff Accompanied by four teachers, they filed into the office of Sen. Robyn Kennedy, a Democrat from Worcester, and detailed some of the challenges they faced, including bullying and harassment in their own neighborhoods. Another group of three met with Democratic Rep. Rob Consalvo's legislative aid Emily Carrara. Kynza Khimani, who graduated Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2024, told Carrara that many community members at the university experienced harassment for wearing hijabs, and she once came across people in Harvard Square yelling that 'Islam is for terrorists.' Advertisement 'The [commission] would establish a permanent body to study and respond to the issues facing Muslim communities in Massachusetts, like civil rights, education, and public safety, which is now, more than ever, really necessary for our communities,' Khimani told Carrara. Legislators and their aides largely indicated support for the bill, lobbyists said. Toward the end of the day, multiple advocates read out victim impact statements from people represented in court by CAIR-MA. Others shared their own stories of harassment, including Aimen Tahir, a recent high school graduate. Tahir said she was once 'chased down the hall' in her freshman year of high school because someone wanted to 'comment' on her hijab. 'Every year, I feel the heat of everyone's faces upon me during the moment of silence for 9/11, as if I'm the perpetrator of criminal when I wasn't even born at the time,' she said. Fatuma Mohamed, the director of youth advocacy for CAIR-MA, said the increase in harassment is a 'systemic failure' and 'growing crisis.' 'Muslim students across Massachusetts are being harassed, silenced, and left behind, without the structures in place to protect or support them,' she said. Mohamed said the commission wouldn't 'fix everything overnight' but could be a tool to build systemic change. 'It will signal to Muslim students that their state sees them, values them, and is committed to protecting them,' she said. Advertisement Emily Spatz can be reached at
Boston Globe
03-06-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Bill to reshape Cannabis Control Commission heads for House vote
It also seeks to further regulate intoxicating hemp-based items, which often exist in a legal gray area with limited oversight; adjusts the existing cap on retail licenses any one operator can hold; and eliminates the requirement that medical marijuana businesses be 'vertically integrated,' meaning they must grow and process all the marijuana they sell. Advertisement The Massachusetts State House. Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff The Ways and Means Committee advanced the bill with 23 Democrats in support of a favorable report, none opposed, eight Republicans reserving their rights, and five Boston Democrats taking no action on the committee poll. House Ways and Means Committee Chair Aaron Michlewitz said last week he was 'hopeful to do it soon' and that the House would 'make it a priority to kind of get through it as quickly as we can.' Speaker Ronald Mariano's office confirmed the cannabis bill will be on the agenda for Wednesday's formal session in the House. Advertisement Top Senate Democrats haven't expressed the same sense of urgency on the CCC. 'I will talk to senators and the chair of the Cannabis Committee, and we'll see. We'll take a look at whatever the House sends over, of course,' Senate President Karen Spilka said Thursday.
Boston Globe
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Stephan Thernstrom, historian and affirmative-action foe, dies at 90
Advertisement Beginning with his first book, 'Poverty and Progress' (1964), Dr. Thernstrom helped pioneer the use of quantitative methods in American history, relying on property records, census manuscripts, bank statements, and archival newspapers to craft a nuanced portrait of working men in 19th-century Newburyport. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Enter Email Sign Up He was awarded the Bancroft Prize, a top US history honor, and was later a National Book Award finalist for 'The Other Bostonians' (1973), in which he applied his analytical methods to 20th-century Boston, tracing the upward mobility of varying ethnic groups while exploring the role that prejudice and discrimination played in hindering progress. 'Most studies in quantitative history ought to be reviewed in cipher, just to give the reader an idea of the agonizing prose he can expect. Not so Stephan Thernstrom's work,' editor and publisher Ivan R. Dee wrote in a review for The New York Times. 'He knows how to write a sentence, appreciates the limitations of his infant historical technique, and deals with crucial questions instead of dazzling us with computerized footwork.' Although he continued to publish well-received historical volumes, Dr. Thernstrom became best known for 'America in Black and White: One Nation, Indivisible' (1997), a 700-page exploration of American race relations that he co-wrote with his wife. A product of seven years of research and writing, the book combined dispassionate historical analysis with passages of fiery rhetoric, arguing that African Americans had made significant — and, in the Thernstroms' view, often overlooked — gains since the Jim Crow era, even as opportunity gaps persisted. Advertisement Dr. Thernstrom and his wife favored 'color-blind' fixes, arguing that the use of racial preferences in college admissions and job applications was divisive and largely ineffective. They were especially critical of what they regarded as a politically correct dynamic of 'black anger' and 'white surrender,' in which affirmative-action supporters embraced 'policies built on deference to black victimization through which they can display their racial virtue.' The book made the Thernstroms intellectual heroes for many conservatives, even as it dismayed liberal friends who remembered the couple's earlier years as left-leaning activists. While in graduate school, Dr. Thernstrom immersed himself in Marxist theory, earnestly underlining his copy of 'Das Kapital' and protesting the US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba. His wife, a former red-diaper baby, had sung along with Pete Seeger as a girl and attended the Little Red School House in New York. She and Dr. Thernstrom were planning to register Black voters in the South in 1964 when Abigail became pregnant with their first child. Around that time, Dr. Thernstrom backed a bill in the Massachusetts State House to eliminate references to race on college admissions applications. 'That seemed to me then absolutely the ideal — you admit people without any reference to their race,' he recalled in a 1998 interview with the Times. 'And it still seems to be the ideal to me. What's different is that it was a radical idea in 1963, and now it's a so-called conservative idea.' Disillusioned by the rise of identity politics, he and his wife began voting for Republican presidential candidates for the first time in the 1990s. They joined conservative intellectuals at the White House in 1997, sparring with President Clinton in an Oval Office debate about race and affirmative action, and later championed alternative approaches to education, arguing on behalf of charter schools and vouchers in opinion essays and a 2003 book, 'No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning.' Advertisement Critics said the Thernstroms could be overly reductive and minimized the problems faced by Black Americans. 'Here are two white people who are essentially lecturing Black Americans, saying: 'What are you complaining about? Stop your griping. Here are the data. You're better off than ever before,'' political scientist Andrew Hacker told the Times in 1998. Dr. Thernstrom brushed off the criticism, standing by his empirical findings. A self-described 'lone wolf,' he let his wife take the lead in promoting their work (she 'is fonder of talking than I am,' he told the American Prospect), although he joined her in insisting that they had not undergone any kind of radical political transformation in the years leading up to their first book. 'We haven't changed,' he told The Washington Post after it was published. 'It is that liberalism has evolved.' Stephan Albert Thernstrom was born in Port Huron, Mich., on Nov. 5, 1934. An only child, he grew up in Battle Creek, in southern Michigan, and was raised in the Church of Christ, Scientist. He later adopted a more secular, left-leaning view of the world over the objections of his father, who worked for a railroad company. 'If you're a communist,' he recalled his father telling him, 'I don't want you in my house.' Early on, there were few signs that Dr. Thernstrom had a future in academia. He skipped classes in elementary and middle school and was assigned to a vocational track in high school. But his mother, a homemaker, managed to persuade administrators to reconsider, and Dr. Thernstrom went on to find academic success after falling in love with debate and Latin, which his family described as 'the first school subject he'd found intellectually challenging.' Advertisement After graduating from Northwestern University in 1956, he enrolled in the history PhD program at Harvard. Dr. Thernstrom studied under Pulitzer Prize winner Oscar Handlin, a scholar of American immigration who introduced him to 'the idea that history wasn't just about battles and generals and presidents — that it could really just be the story of ordinary people, like the family that he came from,' his daughter, Melanie, said in a phone interview. At a talk by investigative journalist I.F. Stone, Dr. Thernstrom met Abigail Mann, a fellow Harvard graduate student who was pursuing a master's degree in Middle Eastern studies. (She soon switched to government.) They married about six weeks later, in 1959. Dr. Thernstrom received his doctorate in 1962. He taught at Brandeis University and UCLA, returned to Harvard in 1974 as a professor, and edited books including the 'Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups' (1980), a 1,080-page reference work. He also served as an expert witness in court cases addressing claims of racial discrimination. In 1988, students accused him of making racially insensitive remarks in his lectures, which he denied. He was cleared of wrongdoing but felt isolated by university administrations in the episode, which conservative activists cited 'as an example of political correctness run amok,' according to a profile in the Post. Advertisement Dr. Thernstrom retired from teaching in 2008, not long after he moved to McLean, Va., with his wife. She served as the vice chair of the US Commission on Civil Rights and worked at conservative think tanks before her death in 2020, at 83. In addition to their daughter, Melanie, an author and journalist, Dr. Thernstrom leaves a son, Samuel Thernstrom, the founder of a nonprofit organization that promotes alternative energy technologies; and four grandchildren. Politically, Dr. Thernstrom remained difficult to classify. His daughter said he took issue with aspects of both the left and the right, and lamented the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment in recent years. 'He would be so upset,' Melanie Thernstrom said, 'about the idea of rolling back birthright citizenship,' which President Trump is attempting to end through executive order. 'He really did believe the strength of America came from the melting pot, from different ethnic groups coming together.'
