It’s easy to forget in the mind- and finger-numbing midst of Snowmaggedon about Boston’s 2024 Olympic bid – easy to forget, that is, if you don’t pay attention to everyone decrying […]
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.
Partners surrenders
PARTNERS HEALTHCARE HAS agreed to end its controversial pursuit of South Shore Hospital and will hold off on acquiring two Hallmark Health hospitals on the North Shore for the time […]
DeLeo says no to taxes
HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DeLeo laid out his agenda for the upcoming legislative session on Wednesday, saying he will look to expand early childhood education, maintain local aid, increase drug abuse […]
Baker’s Trojan horse?
Gov. Charlie Baker has made no secret of his disdain for the way the state’s health connector has been run, both on the campaign trail last year and since the […]
Brian Williams’ Stolen Valor
Audiences and readers are down, followed out the door by advertisers, trailed by revenues, which in turn kills jobs. That is the tale of newspapers, magazines, and television network news, […]
Say it ain’t snow
When did natives of the Caribbean take over key public works positions in Massachusetts? That has to be what happened, otherwise how else to explain the haphazard approach to clearing this […]
Baker seeks to slash MassHealth
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER unveiled his plan to bridge the $768 million budget deficit with nearly one-third of the spending cuts coming from MassHealth, the primary funding vehicle for the state’s […]
DeLeo: My thinking has evolved
SAYING HIS THINKING has “evolved,” House Speaker Robert DeLeo said on Thursday that he wants to do away with a rule he instituted six years ago that would require him […]
Judge rejects Partners deal
A SUPERIOR COURT judge emphatically rejected the deal that would have allowed Partners HealthCare to acquire three local hospitals, saying a decision to allow the takeovers would have an enormous […]
Stormy performance fit to a T
The jury is still out on Gov. Charlie Baker’s performance during the blizzard, though some are giving the rookie good grades at least for appearances. But one thing is certain as […]
Healey opposes Partners deal
ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY told a Superior Court judge on Monday that she has serious concerns with her predecessor’s deal to let Partners Healthcare take over three smaller hospitals and […]
No good deed goes unpunished
Good deeds, they say, are their own rewards and a Dorchester charter school teacher may soon have to settle for that. Nicole Bollerman, a third-grade teacher at UP Academy Dorchester, […]
A hole in the state’s recovery narrative
The state added more than 60,000 jobs to the workforce in 2014, the strongest growth in nearly 15 years, pushing year-end unemployment down to 5.5 percent. Tax revenues are flowing in […]
AG fines South Shore Hospital group $1.8m
A South Shore Hospital physicians group agreed to pay $1.8 million in state and federal fines to settle charges that it inflated patient bills and paid kickbacks to doctors in exchange for referrals to […]
The Boston.com chameleon
“I think Boston.com is going to have a little more edge to it,” Boston Globe CEO Mike Sheehan told CommonWealth magazine last summer in laying out his vision for the bifurcated […]
Steward rules
STEWARD HEALTH CARE is changing the rules of hospital oversight in Massachusetts and there is little state regulators are doing about it. In November, Steward announced it was closing the […]
Taking it to the streets
Commuters driving into Boston came to an abrupt and unwelcome stop Thursday morning as protesters cemented into barrels blocked traffic on I-93 south in Medford and north at East Milton. […]
Brotherly luck
A correction has been added to this story. ONE OF THE KEYS to the success of the Massachusetts Lottery is its agents. There are more than 7,600 of them scattered […]
Should incumbents get top ballot billing?
THE POWER OF INCUMBENCY is a time-tested benefit in contested elections. Studies have shown over and over that officials seeking to hold onto their seats at all levels are successful […]
Patrick fires a shot in the dark at legislators
As Gov. Deval Patrick (until noon Thursday, that is) strolled out of the State House Wednesday evening on his not-so Lone Walk, there was likely one common thought running through […]
DeLeo reelected as Speaker
LAST SUMMER, HOUSE Speaker Robert DeLeo defended himself aggressively against assertions by federal prosecutors that he was an unindicted coconspirator in the corruption trial that led to the conviction of […]
Sam Sutter, politician
No one will ever accuse Sam Sutter, the newly elected mayor of Fall River, of being dumb or blind. Or of lacking ambition. Sutter, the soon-to-be-former Bristol district attorney, saw […]
From Lottery games to Olympic Games
One of the biggest areas of concern when it comes to the potential of an Olympics in Boston, among both proponents and opponents of a Hub Games, is where to […]
I am Warren, hear me roar
It really didn’t take Sen. Elizabeth Warren long to find her voice, as if anyone was concerned she wouldn’t, and now it looks like she’s using it to be the […]
