Middleboro Review and so on

  THANK SENATOR ED MARKEY FOR STANDING UP FOR VOTING RIGHTS! I am not going to hold back here. Republicans launched a redistricting war this cycle,   and right now they are winning. They’ve gerrymandered states like Texas to draw out Democratic house districts. Trump’s SCOTUS gutted the Voting Rights Act, paving the way for the rapid elimination of majority-Black districts across the South. And Virginia’s Supreme Court just rejected a response by Democrats that was approved by Virginian voters and would have evened the playing field. Republicans are rewriting the rules to solidify a permanent majority in the House of Representatives — voters and democracy be damned. Nothing short of massive, unprecedented Democratic victory this November will break some of these gerrymanders. But here’s the catch:   If we can take back the Senate, we can still block Trump’s agenda no matter what happens in the House. So here’s our next move. Mary Peltola is running for Senate in Alaska ...

  Sponsored by  The Boston Foundation The Best of  CommonWealth Beacon   OPINION (Photo via Canva) Norwood Hospital was done in by inadequate state regulations. Here is the fix.   May 10, 2026 By  Meredith McGee For the second time in two years, Massachusetts is considering whether it needs to seize hospital land by force just to get a community its health care back. In February, state legislators held a hearing on taking the Norwood Hospital property by eminent domain, the same tool the state used at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton at a cost of  $66 million  to taxpayers. For Norwood, six years into a flood-related closure that never had to happen, it remains the only option available. That fact alone should tell us something is broken. Not because eminent domain is the wrong call for Norwood, but because a state that regulates its utilities, its transit systems, and its energy grid with layers of intermediate oversight has no equivalent to...