The Society of Professional Journalists has named the State of Massachusetts recipient of its 2026 Black Hole Award, an annual dishonor recognizing government entities that demonstrate a troubling …
Anyone who's following surveillance tech and policing in #MApoli might want to read this banger of a memo from Digital Fourth to the #SomervilleMA city council this week.
No idea who writes this MA blog, but the phrasing is incredible. Chefkiss. 11/10, no notes:
"The Massachusetts State Legislature, a body that once took fourteen months to decide whether to rename a rest stop, announced this week that it is fully prepared to regulate artificial intelligence, a technology that evolves faster than a state senator can Google 'what is artificial intelligence' and click 'I’m Feeling Lucky.'"
Senate Committee on Ways and Means receives two AI bills mid-February, schedules hearing for sometime after the sun explodes; Billerica man’s AI attack ad somehow the most honest thing in Massachusett
Okay, Beacon Hill. You know election season is here. Some top concerns we have:
CLIMATE
The threat of AI as it's currently (not) defined. (Energy, water cost. Personal data rights...)
Car dependency. We want the freedom to get places without being forced to insure, own, maintain a giant box on wheels.
Housing. Too little. NO to hedge fund, private equity ownership
A secretive State gov that specifically *helps* ICE kidnap our family, colleagues and neighbors 😡
"... war in Iran is costing Massachusetts drivers $2.4 million per day."
Interesting article from WBUR covering energy-related news:
https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/03/16/massachusetts-energy-needs-order
What do we think about the battery storage? Claims from Healey that her executive order will actually lead to real savings?
I don't want to comment on the upcoming election - except to be clear that people regardless of party are coming to realize that climate affects us all in material ways. We can't afford to ignore foundational issues that cost us so much.
Saying the state has "a lot of energy needs," Gov. Maura Healey is tasking state agencies with adding 10 gigawatts of power to the state’s supply to help lower residents’ increasingly costly energy bills. That’s enough to power two million homes and could save residents $10 billion, Healey said.
Let’s Change Cambridge
Framingham District 2
Mara Dolan
Dan Kennedy
Crystal Huff (they/them)
ts 🚇
Jesse
Tyler Simonds