The Boston Redevelopment Authority has hired an outside law firm to help negotiate a new deal with the Red Sox for the use of Yawkey Way and the Green Monster […]
Colman M. Herman
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Audit: DCR is terrible landlord
A new state audit reveals that the understaffed Department of Conservation and Recreation is a terrible landlord, often failing to collect rental fees and late payments and neglecting to charge […]
Posted inHealth Care
Secondhand chemo
Workers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center prepare chemotherapy drugs in a clean room.NOT TOO LONG ago people smoked everywhere and gave little thought to how their smoke might […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
State getting some leases in order
IT HAS TAKEN THREE YEARS, but state officials are finally putting the finishing touches on a plan to start charging yacht and boat clubs fair rents for the public […]
Posted inPolitics
Vendors outside Fenway being phased out
THE CITY OF BOSTON is slowly phasing out the street vendors around Fenway Park, claiming that the 18 small business people selling grilled chicken sandwiches, sausage sandwiches, peanuts, and baseball […]
Posted inPolitics
State nets bigger payday putting parking out to bid
THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND RECREATION put the management of a state-owned Boston parking lot out to bid for the first time in more than 20 years and […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
DCR cottage leases face quicker demise
massachusetts officials are vowing to phase out a controversial program that has offered cheap, virtually permanent permits for state park land to private citizens for summer cottages. After years of […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Back Story
DCR ups rent demands
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, under scrutiny for leasing state land at bargain-basement rates, is demanding a big increase in rent for a state-owned parking lot located in […]
Posted inPolitics
The inside story of gaming agency hire
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission hired Carl Stanley McGee as its interim executive director on May 1. McGee, a Harvard Law School graduate, former Rhodes Scholar, and Gov. Deval Patrick’s point […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Restaurants in Boston get infrequent inspections
the massachusetts sanitary code requires municipalities to check restaurants for health code violations twice a year, but the city of Boston often is doing the inspections less frequently, in some […]
Posted inPolitics
Galvin’s slow motion public records office
the state office charged with ruling on the appeals of citizens whose requests for public records have been denied operates at a snail’s pace. About 250 appeals are filed each […]
Posted inPolitics
DCR, club strike deal on rent
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation is ending a standoff with the Wollaston Yacht Club by renewing the organization’s permit at its existing $5,000-a-year level as long as the […]
Posted inPolitics
City tweaks contract with Swan Boats
It’s that time of year again in Boston as the city makes way for the ducklings and for another unusual deal for the operator of the swan boats in the […]
Posted inPolitics
Boston City Council Oks wedding restrictions
UPDATE: The Boston City Council approved the new marriage ordinance on Wednesday. The Boston City Council is preparing to restrict when the city clerk can marry people during work hours […]
Posted inEnvironment, Transportation
Gas price crackdown has no legal authority
Patrick administration officials are pledging to crack down on gas stations engaging in price gouging, but under current state regulations they have no legal authority to take any action.With gasoline […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
DCR not talking
Over the past couple months, Ed Lambert has been talking tough about the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s deadbeat renters, but now he’s not talking at all. The DCR commissioner […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
The underbelly of Beacon Hill
Richard Vitale, the friend and financial advisor to former House speaker Sal DiMasi, admitted last October that he illegally lobbied on Beacon Hill without registering as a lobbyist. He was […]
Posted inPolitics
IG questions legality of Red Sox deals
Inspector General Gregory Sullivan is questioning the legality and fairness of a 2003 deal between the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Boston Red Sox that allowed the ball club to […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
The puzzle at DCR
State Auditor Suzanne Bump says she is puzzled why it took so long for anyone in state government to notice the haphazard way the Department of Conservation and Recreation was […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Freeloading
Wollaston Yacht Club in Quincy. Photo by Michael Manning.The 114-year-old Wollaston Yacht Club is a bit rundown these days, but its location has considerable appeal. Right on Wollaston Beach […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
The T’s naming rights deal
The company hired to sell the naming rights for MBTA assets will pocket 12 percent of whatever revenue it brings in. The T’s contract with IMG Worldwide Inc., best known […]
Posted inOpinion, Uncategorized
Wedding restrictions win initial support
The wedding bells and cash register may be ringing a lot less at Boston City Hall. Several Boston city councilors voiced support today for a proposed ordinance that would limit […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Wedding ordinance proposed for clerk post
The Boston City Council, facing heat for trying to place one of its former colleagues in the city clerk’s post, plans to take up a proposed ordinance today that could limit […]
Posted inEducation
BU instructor resigns after seeking grading help
A Boston University lecturer resigned after using Craigslist to hire someone to help grade student papers, BU officials said. A BU spokesman confirmed Duane Lefevre, a marketing instructor at the […]