Middleboro Review and so on

  By  Kelly Garrity TOLL POLL —  Staring down the threat of slashed federal transportation grants and dwindling gas tax revenue, transit advocates are calling for lasting solutions to the state’s transportation funding struggles — solutions they say Bay Staters back. A majority of people surveyed in a new poll  conducted by the MassInc Polling Group for Transportation for Massachusetts said they want to see the state develop its own long-term funding plan, and pluralities said they’d be open to exploring new revenue sources, including tolls and congestion pricing. "The reality is we can’t take for granted that the federal dollars we’ve relied on  will always be there  . Massachusetts must strengthen its commitment to long-term transportation funding," Transportation for Massachusetts Executive Director Reggie Ramos said. "We need a proactive plan to ensure safe, reliable, and sustainable transportation — one that embraces fair and effective funding solutio...

  By  Kelly Garrity THOU DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH —  Democrats sometimes  played up the theatrics  during President Donald Trump’s speeches before Congress in his first term. This time, the strategy is different.  There's no high-profile boycott planned. Instead, Democrats were given private guidance to bring a guest “who has been harmed by the Trump administration’s early actions or will be hurt by the House Republican budget,”  POLITICO’S Nicholas Wu reported Monday  . And many in Massachusetts are following along. Here’s who they’re bringing: — Sen. Ed Markey  is bringing the Chrissy Lynch, the president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. “The AFL-CIO has long represented workers across the Commonwealth and the country in fighting back when billionaires like Trump and Musk try to push them down,”   Markey said in announcing Lynch as his guest  . — Sen. Elizabeth Warren  will be joined by Wellesley's Doug Kowalewski,  a former ...