Greg Reibman

Welcome to CommonWealth Beacon, your free, non-partisan source for in-depth news and opinion on policy, politics, and civic life. Sign up for The Saturday Send to get the latest news and commentary on the stories that matter to Massachusetts. ONCE UPON A TIME, in a land not far away, a well-meaning town leader found a magic lamp while strolling through her community’s very chaming downtown. After picking it up and giving it a few good rubs, a genie appeared, offering three wishes.

AS THE CROW FLIES, the multi-family development called The Nines at the intersection of Route 9 and I-95 in Wellesley is a half mile from the Waban MBTA Green Line station in Newton. But the massive apartment complex was built for humans, not crows. If you’re a human living at The Nines, you’d have to swim across the Charles River and then trudge up the hills of Waban to reach the T station in a more-or-less straight line.

TWO THINGS CAN be true at the same time, and that is very much the case with the teachers strike now entering its 11th day in Newton.. First: Newton’s striking school teachers deserve more money. Second: But the city doesn’t have enough money to sustain paying teachers as much as they’re asking for over the long term.