The Saturday Send: Oct. 18, 2025

 

The Saturday Send

Welcome back to the Saturday Send, a weekly digest of stories from CommonWealth Beacon that you may have missed.  This week, Chris Lisinski covers the MBTA's launch of its popular contactless payment system one year in, and what other innovations are on the table for the T to make rider payment more convenient. Plus: Nantucket residents organize against new affordable development citing "environmental justice" concerns, a big resignation at MassDOT, state legislatures pump the breaks on new money for sheriffs, and more. Check out those stories below, and, as always, thanks for reading. — The CommonWealth Beacon team

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‘Contactless’ fares quickly grow popular among T riders By Chris Lisinski MBTA riders long wanted the agency to catch up with its peers and provide a way to pay fares that didn’t involve CharlieCards or vending machines. After the first year, data show many commuters are embracing the new option. READ MORE

In fight against Nantucket housing development, an unusual battle cry  By Jordan Wolman Whether it’s just a calculated bid to pull any available lever in the NIMBY arsenal or the legitimate invocation of a serious environmental threat, or perhaps both, the review petition is now in the hands of the Healey administration. READ MORE

Tibbits-Nutt out, Eng elevated in abrupt shakeup at MassDOT By Chris Lisinski Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt suddenly resigned Thursday, prompting the governor to ask the head of the MBTA and the state’s highway administrator — a pair of trusted veterans — to work two jobs simultaneously. READ MORE

‘Serious questions’ prompt lawmakers to hit the brakes on funding for sheriffs By Chris Lisinski At a time of intense scrutiny on sheriffs’ offices, the Legislature moved to withhold more than $130 million Gov. Maura Healey proposed for the county law enforcement offices, in the process handing a new talking point to her GOP challengers for the corner office. READ MORE

Shutdown squeeze ups the odds of a Mass. recession By CommonWealth Beacon staff This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith talks with Mark Williams, finance lecturer at the Questrom School of Business at Boston University. Now two weeks into the federal shutdown, Williams reviews an already bleak estimate of Massachusetts’s financial health if officials continue on their current spending path. Facing federal cuts, immigration policy changes, and the knock-on effects of the shutdown, Williams warns that the Bay State could be heading for a recession within a year. READ MORE

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