With the number of slow zones decreasing and newly renovated stations, the T may be running better than it has in years. But those improvements have come at a tremendous cost, leading a watchdog group to state that debt is the MBTA’s most toxic problem and call the service’s $700 million hole “ the original sin of public transportation in Boston.”

“To see a report like this, to see that stretches back to the original elevated railways when they were assumed by the government from 1918 on, it is just kind of jarring when you look at the history and compare it to where we’re at here,” Mike Deehan, reporter at Axios, told Callie Crossley during the local news roundtable on this week’s Under the Radar with Callie Crossley. “So it’s just one of the worst — if not the worst — financial environments for the MBTA in decades.”

Financial issues are also plaguing families in the Commonwealth, and one company’s intentions to help those in need have recently been called into question. This week, Governor Maura Healey signed a spending bill that included language that would protect organizations like BlueHub Capital, which has been accused of predatory lending.

“Through its foreclosure mortgage program, [BlueHub Capital] finds folks who are struggling either in foreclosure or on the brink of foreclosure, it buys their home from the bank or from their mortgage holder, and it sells it back to the homeowner at a lower price,” explains Saraya Wintersmith, politics reporter at GBH News.

“And then as part of that deal, they put that second mortgage, which obligates the homeowner to give them a portion of their home’s appreciated value. Ultimately, I think the governor signed the bill and lawmakers advanced this provision within the bill because at the end of the day, it is a program that if folks can find the money to get through the first mortgage and find the money to get through the shared-appreciation mortgage, it does give them a lifeline and allow them to maintain their home.”

Critics say this could lead to additional predatory consumer practices, and Healey’s connection to BlueHub Capital CEO’s Elyse Cherry, has also been under the microscope.

Meanwhile, redevelopment programs in Dorchester and the North End are bringing new life to overlooked areas, while also courting controversy.

A Papa John’s in Fields Corner faced months of pushback from local residents, said Seth Daniel, news editor at the Dorchester Reporter, because of its potential impact on longstanding local restaurants.

“Papa John’s wanted to open right in the middle of the business district. And unfortunately, there was about three other pizza places there, and they’re locally owned,” Daniel said.

“A lot of them are very old and they’ve been through the tougher times when Fields Corner wasn’t so much of a desirable place. You know, a chain would never have gone in there. Now a chain wants to go in there. So the pizza places said, ‘Hey, that’s not fair. We don’t need any more pizza.’ And so that’s how the fight started.”

The Papa John’s was ultimately approved last month to open in Fields Corner. Other developments include the renovation of a previously burned-down building on Bowdoin Street in Four Corners, which will soon house a daycare center, a Caribbean restaurant and a hair salon.

And in the North End, restaurant owner Frank DePasquale plans to renovate an entire block which will overlook the Greenway. The new development will include a cooking school, a restaurant, a cafe and even retail shopping all centered around Italian culture.

All that and more in this week’s local news roundtable!

Guests

  • Seth Daniel, news editor at the Dorchester Reporter
  • Mike Deehan, reporter for Axios
  • Saraya Wintersmith, politics reporter for GBH News

Stories discussed in this week’s local news roundtable: