CommonWealth Beacon analyzes the multi-billion-dollar bond bill the legislature is considering - including $1 billion or so to help the MWRA connect its water pipes to more towns as an incentive to get them to allow more housing.

The Boston City Council today approved a request to the state legislature for permission to temporarily increase commercial tax rates to try to shield homeowners from a potentially huge increase should downtown office-building assessments collapse as many workers continue to stay at home. Read more.

The state House of Representatives today passed a measure that would give Boston 205 new liquor licenses - most designated for Zip codes where large national chains have little to no interest in setting up shop - to dole out over the next three years. Read more.

Brookline.News reports on efforts by a group to get enough signatures for a ballot question on converting the town into a city. Read more.

The State House News Service reports the state has collected $1.8 billion from rich people in new taxes in the first nine months of the fiscal year - $800 million more than state revenue officials had forecast for the entire fiscal year, which could be good news for the MBTA and schools. The money comes from a 4% surcharge on income above $1 million, as approved by voters in 2022.

Megan Johnson had some spare time today, so she came up with the bill for the Boston Calling for folks who keep up with the weird and wonderful world of Boston, with a playlist that stretches from the '90s to today. See it larger.

CommonWealth Beacon takes a look at the controversy over ShotSpotter, the expensive system police in Boston and other cities use to locate the source of potential gunfire: BPD Commissioner Michael Cox stood by the system at a Monday hearing, but critics say it has a large number of false positives, which means people in the minority neighborhoods where the sensors are located are more likely to be grilled by police investigating false leads. Chicago announced earlier this year it's abandoning the system.

The Tech reports MIT and Cambridge police and state troopers moved in shortly after 4 a.m., forcing out both protesters and reporters.

MIT president's statement to campus community.

CommonWealth Beacon takes a look over disagreements about how the city should deal with a declining office-space market - and the resulting potential loss of property taxes.

Bruce Mohl, who goes back to the days when CommonWealth was a quarterly print journal, wrote today he will be stepping down later this year.

I’m not sure what I will do next, but I hope it’s as interesting and fun as what I do now.