Middleboro Review and so on

  New from  CommonWealth Beacon CAMPAIGN FINANCE:  State Rep. Chynah Tyler of Boston  will pay  a $6,000 civil forfeiture to the state and submit to greater campaign-finance scrutiny for the next six months, after Uber Eats, audiobooks, and thousands of dollars in unexplained spending landed the Roxbury pol in hot water with state political finance regulators. Chris Lisinski has more.   Inclusionary zoning in the legal firing line as Senate tries to boost policy   January 8, 2026 By  JENNIFER SMITH Just as an end-of-year lawsuit launched a broadside against a decades-old policy to boost affordable development, state lawmakers moved to make it easier for cities and towns to roll out their version of that same policy. A Cambridge developer is arguing that the city’s so-called inclusionary zoning program, which requires developers to set aside a number of units for lower- and middle-income people, is unconstitutional at its core. The suit aims to crack the fou...

  New from  CommonWealth Beacon INSURANCE:  The state’s home insurer of last resort will soon  need to decide  whether to raise rates for the first time in two decades after a massive jump in enrollees, adding to broader concerns about affordability. Jordan Wolman explains.  FLU:   Public health officials  announced  two Boston children younger than two years old died from flu-related illnesses, bringing the statewide total to four this season, Sam Drysdale reports for State House News Service.  OPINION:  Middle school teacher and state representative candidate Johnnie McKnight  argues  that policymakers need to set guardrails around the use of AI to prevent swaths of workers from being left behind by the quickly developing technology.    Boston rep sanctioned for spending campaign dollars on personal uses   January 7, 2026 By  Chris Lisinski The state's campaign finance laws are notoriously generous when it come...