Gov. Deval Patrick pronounced the state of the Commonwealth “strong,” but the state of the Department of Children and Families is anything but. Patrick won’t be able to revel in […]
Gabrielle Gurley
Gabrielle covers several beats, including mass transit, municipal government, child welfare, and energy and the environment. Her recent articles have explored municipal hiring practices in Pittsfield, public defender pay, and medical marijuana, and she has won several national journalism awards for her work. Prior to coming to CommonWealth in 2005, Gabrielle wrote for the State House News Service, The Boston Globe, and other publications. She launched her media career in broadcast journalism with C-SPAN in Washington, DC. The Philadelphia native holds degrees from Boston College and Georgetown University.
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
No systemic problems at DCF, Patrick says
Gov. Deval Patrick said Monday that the problems facing the Department of Children and Families in the wake of the Jeremiah Oliver case are “not systemic” and that the ongoing […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Beacon Hill exodus
Despite comfortable perches on Beacon Hill, state lawmakers are fleeing the Legislature at a fast clip. Leading the outmigration are several top lieutenants to House Speaker Robert DeLeo. Lynn Democrat […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Public defender blues
Malden District Court is 50 shades of grim. The defendants in the packed courtroom—men and women, some young, most not—appear somber, resigned, or just plain petrified. The female judge whispers […]
Posted inEducation, State House News Service, The Download
Looking back at the Boston busing epic Common Ground
Forty years ago this June, US District Court Judge W. Arthur Garrity Jr. ordered Boston to begin busing white and black students to integrate in its racially divided school district. […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service, Transportation
South Coast Rail worries environmentalists
South coast rail, which is already facing questions about its nearly $2 billion cost, will also have to contend with environmental concerns about the impact of the rail line on […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Clash of the commuter rail titans
Should anyone cry a river for the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad? The long-time operator of the MBTA’s commuter rail network has objected to the process that appears to have put Keolis, […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Scott Brown’s northern exposure
Conservatives may be cheering on former Massachusetts senator Scott Brown’s likely New Hampshire US Senate run next year. But the inevitability of Brown is getting a little old for our […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Apathy triumphs in Fifth Congressional race
Despite Frank Addivinola’s early evening robocalls proclaiming a path to victory through low turnout, an upset was not on the agenda in Tuesday’s Fifth Congressional District special election . Katherine […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Baker 2.0 taps Polito
Charlie Baker 2.0 has learned two important lessons from Charlie Baker 1.0. First, he had to lighten up. Second, he needed to appeal to women voters who were turned off […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics, State House News Service
Addivinola faces uphill challenge
The parking lot is overflowing at the Winchester Sons of Italy on a chilly November evening, so it’s a good thing that Frank Addivinola moved his weeknight campaign event from […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics, State House News Service
Clark coasting in Fifth District race
It seems the Massachusetts Fifth Congressional District special election is a mere formality for Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader of the US House of Representatives. “You can see how excited […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
¡Arriba Lantigua!
“Who are you?” Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua is not happy to see a reporter in his downtown campaign headquarters, much less one who has dropped in unannounced and is busy […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Elizabeth Warren’s 2016 nightmare
There are a few speed bumps on the way to Hillary Clinton’s long march to a possible 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, and one of them is the senior senator from […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Taking stock: Election ’13
Mr. Personality Politics is a world of debating points and policy papers and voter turnout machines, but it’s also a world where personal relationships matter greatly. Marty Walsh stormed into […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Cape officials show how to get rail done
For years, Cape Cod officials wanted to use rail to get tourists off their clogged roads and onto beaches and into restaurants and shops. Coordinated by the Cape Cod Regional […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Deval Patrick, John Adams, and rail to the South Coast
The week before Halloween, Gov. Deval Patrick is giving out transportation projects like candy: New Red and Orange line cars to calm those anxious commuters in Greater Boston who despair […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Katherine Clark takes the fifth
State Sen. Katherine Clark’s victory in the crowded Democratic primary field almost assuredly fast tracks her to Washington, DC, just in time to cope with the fallout from the creep […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, State House News Service, The Download
Tsongas dives into Lawrence’s mayoral cage match
Most Massachusetts officeholders don’t want to be seen anywhere near Lawrence City Hall these days if they don’t have to be there. Members of Congress tend to stay way far […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, State House News Service
Former Medfield hospital cleanup sets precedent
A settlement to clean up a former Medfield State Hospital landfill will prod state agencies to give more careful review to remediating environmentally sensitive Commonwealth-owned sites, especially ones near rivers […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Uncategorized
On a mission from God in East Boston
Another front line has opened up in the battle over an East Boston casino: Multifaith coalitions. Friends of East Boston, a group of neighborhood ministers, announced their campaign against the […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
New Boston gets to vote for old Boston in November
What’s old is new again in Boston. John Connolly and Marty Walsh, two middle-aged white men of Irish descent, will go into the general election to succeed to Mayor Tom […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Lantigua victorious
Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua’s victory in the city’s preliminary contest shocked exactly no one in the Merrimack Valley. While Boston has had an issue-focused mayoral primary campaign and other races […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Uncategorized
West Springfield rocks casino world
Never underestimate the threat of traffic nightmares to doom an $800 million economic development project. West Springfield voters said no in a Big E way to Hard Rock International’s plan […]