HUNDREDS OF ORANGE-CLAD MBTA union workers and supporters crammed the Fiscal and Management Control Board meeting Monday to loudly — and, in some cases, profanely – protest the administration’s efforts […]
Jack Sullivan
Jack Sullivan is now retired. A veteran of the Boston newspaper scene for nearly three decades. Prior to joining CommonWealth, he was editorial page editor of The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, a part of the GateHouse Media chain. Prior to that he was news editor at another GateHouse paper, The Enterprise of Brockton, and also was city edition editor at the Ledger. Jack was an investigative and enterprise reporter and executive city editor at the Boston Herald and a reporter at The Boston Globe.
He has reported stories such as the federal investigation into the Teamsters, the workings of the Yawkey Trust and sale of the Red Sox, organized crime, the church sex abuse scandal and the September 11 terrorist attacks. He has covered the State House, state and local politics, K-16 education, courts, crime, and general assignment.
Jack received the New England Press Association award for investigative reporting for a series on unused properties owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, and shared the association's award for business for his reporting on the sale of the Boston Red Sox. As the Ledger editorial page editor, he won second place in 2007 for editorial writing from the Inland Press Association, the nation's oldest national journalism association of nearly 900 newspapers as members.
At CommonWealth, Jack and editor Bruce Mohl won first place for In-Depth Reporting from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors for a look at special education funding in Massachusetts. The same organization also awarded first place to a unique collaboration between WFXT-TV (FOX25) and CommonWealth for a series of stories on the Boston Redevelopment Authority and city employees getting affordable housing units, written by Jack and Bruce.
Posted inPolitics
Joyce absolved of wrongdoing
SEN. BRIAN JOYCE obtained all the required permits to renovate his home, according to a report by the Milton Town Administrator that rebuts questions raised in a newspaper article over whether the lawmaker clandestinely […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker says DCR suspensions send right message
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Wednesday applauded one of his cabinet secretaries for handing out one-week suspensions without pay to the top two officials at the Department of Conservation and Recreation […]
Posted inPolitics
Milton board backs Joyce
THE THREE MEMBERS of the Milton Board of Assessors said on Tuesday that they will review and probably reassess state Sen. Brian Joyce’s home, but they indicated the lawmaker had […]
Posted inPolitics
Questions raised over Globe’s Joyce story
MILTON TOWN RECORDS and interviews with local officials are calling into question the accuracy of a Boston Globe story suggesting embattled state Sen. Brian Joyce shortchanged the municipality on property […]
Posted inGuns, The Back Story
AG’s gun communications lacking
Two weeks after Attorney General Maura Healey announced her crackdown on assault weapons sales, there is still confusion over how and when she issued her directive, whether she did or […]
Posted inTransportation
T to pay $400 million for mandated safety system
MBTA OFFICIALS SAY a mandatory $460 million system to ensure rail safety is on track to be installed by 2020 but though they claim it’s an 80-20 split with the […]
Posted inTransportation
T union claims cash uncollected
THE HEAD OF the MBTA’s Carmen’s Union ramped up his assault on the agency’s move to privatize money collection, claiming the first week of a new system resulted in untold […]
Posted inTransportation
Union blasts Baker on armored car sunroofs
MBTA WORKERS BLASTED Gov. Charlie Baker for asserting someone at the agency cut sun roofs into two armored cars which the union said were in the vehicles since they were […]
Posted inGun ownership, Guns
Healey clears gun buyers
ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEYÂ decided to allow those who bought nearly 2,300 assault weapons in Massachusetts to keep their new guns even though they were purchased after she ordered the sales […]
Posted inGun ownership, Guns
Healey triggers gun-buying frenzy
A GUN-BUYING FRENZY that resulted in 2,500 assault weapons being purchased Wednesday – one-fourth the total sold all of last year – has forced Attorney General Maura Healey into threatening dealers […]
Posted inGun ownership, Guns, Politics
Healey clamps down on assault weapon sales
ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY has drawn a line in the sand: Beginning immediately, Massachusetts gun dealers are on notice that selling a semi-automatic rifle that doesn’t comply with the state’s […]
Posted inEconomy, The Back Story
Airbnb follows Uber playbook
FIRST UBER, NOW AIRBNB. The so-called sharing economy that went from zero to billions of dollars in the blink of an eye caught the State House off-guard, but it now […]
Posted inPolitics
Senate set to tax Airbnb
THE SENATE WILL take up a proposal to extend the hotel tax to home-sharing apps such as Airbnb and Homeaway, the latest effort to rein in and reap revenue from […]
Posted inEducation
Musical chairs
Photographs by Michael Manning STATE EDUCATION OFFICIALS placed the Southbridge schools into receivership earlier this year, citing continual underperformance in all testing areas, high suspensions and disciplinary problems, and unacceptable […]
Posted inGun ownership, Guns
Mass. chiefs approve most gun permits
ONLY A TINY fraction of Massachusetts residents who apply for firearms licenses or identification cards are turned down, suggesting the state’s reputation for restricting gun use may be overstated. Just […]
Posted inPolitics
To caucus or not to caucus
CAUCUSES ARE NOT clandestine cabals requiring a secret handshake and special door knock to get into the room, except perhaps for the Democratic and Republican legislative caucuses. In Massachusetts, in […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, Economy, Politics
Top pols say just vote no
THE STATE’S TOP elected officials from both sides of the aisle made a powerful political appeal to oppose the ballot question that would legalize the adult use and commercial sale […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, Transportation
Fingerprints fail in Senate Uber bill
AFTER AN EXHAUSTIVE debate that dragged on for nearly five hours, the state Senate passed Uber-friendly regulations for the runaway ride-hailing industry but not before beating back an impassioned plea […]
Posted inBallot Questions, Politics
SJC hears appeals on marijuana ballot question
OPPONENTS OF THE BALLOT QUESTION to legalize marijuana argued before the state’s highest court Wednesday that the initiative should be shelved for a number of reasons, including the fact that […]
Posted inTransportation
T board ends commuter rail refunds
COMMUTER RAIL PASSENGERS will no longer be able to get refunds on unused tickets, a change that puts them on the same track as other MBTA riders and could save […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA says it can’t reconcile fare data, cash deposits
MBTA OFFICIALS ACKNOWLEDGED on Monday that they still can’t reconcile what their fare machines are telling them is being collected and the money actually being deposited in the bank, a […]
Posted inBallot Questions, Politics
Medical pot dispensaries can cash in with ballot question
THE MEDICAL MARIJUANA INDUSTRY in Massachusetts, which has been struggling to get off the ground, could hit the jackpot if voters this fall approve a ballot question legalizing the commercial […]
Posted inTransportation
AAA says marijuana OUI laws useless
THE RESEARCH ARM of AAA says states that set legal limits for marijuana driving impairment have no scientific basis for the standards and urged a national effort to adopt uniform […]
