The last time casino gambling legislation looked like a sure thing in Massachusetts, the gambling push devolved into back-biting and chest-thumping among the state’s top political leaders. That’s unlikely this […]
Paul McMorrow
Paul McMorrow comes to CommonWealth from Banker & Tradesman, where he covered commercial real estate and development. He previously worked as a contributing editor to Boston magazine, where he covered local politics in print and online. He got his start at the Weekly Dig, where he worked as a staff writer, and later news and features editor. Paul writes a frequent column about real estate for the Boston Globe’s Op-Ed page, and is a regular contributor to BeerAdvocate magazine. His work has been recognized by the City and Regional Magazine Association, the New England Press Association, and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. He is a Boston University graduate and a lifelong New Englander.
Posted inEconomy, Transportation
Delaware North bids $75m for T garage
An affiliate of Delaware North submitted the sole bid for the MBTA’s North Station garage today, putting the financially struggling transportation agency in line for a $75 million windfall. The […]
Posted inEconomy, The Back Story, Transportation
Garage gamesmanship
The MBTA is facing a $45 million budget deficit just days into the new fiscal year as a real estate deal the transportation agency is counting on to balance its […]
Posted inEconomy
Divining Devens
massachusetts hasn’t created a new municipality in nearly a century, since East Brookfield and Brookfield divorced in 1920. Five years ago, it looked like Devens would displace East Brookfield as […]
Posted inEconomy, The Back Story
Back where they started
The state-owned building at Parcel 7 has kept a lonely watch over Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway for a decade now. The office structure, a relic of the Big Dig, has […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
DiMasi trial pulls back the curtain
Through two weeks of testimony, prosecutors in the Sal DiMasi corruption trial have elicited sensational testimony about bribes, kickbacks, and sleaze inside the State House. But as they’ve tried to […]
Posted inPolitics
Bump releases report critical of DeNucci
Massachusetts Auditor Suzanne Bump unveiled a highly critical report on the condition of the office she inherited today, driving a wedge between herself and her predecessor, longtime auditor Joe DeNucci. […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
At the T, reform gives way to revenue
Gov. Deval Patrick’s transportation chief opened the door to new transportation revenues this week. And while MassDOT CEO Jeff Mullan pointedly refused to discuss where new revenues might come from, […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Fall River gambler
in upending a planned 300-acre biotech park, Fall River Mayor William Flanagan picked a fight with the governor, angered the state university, junked a decade’s worth of planning, and endangered […]
Posted inUncategorized
Who does he think he is?
IT’S AN EARLY March afternoon and a gaggle of reporters are waiting outside the House chamber. The focus of their interest finally steps out and obliges the group. He and […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, The Back Story
Doubling down on Evergreen
Gov. Deval Patrick is taking a lot of heat for his administration’s bet on Evergreen Solar, but the state’s financial partnership with the Marlborough company began under former Gov. Mitt […]
Posted inTransportation
T projects $1.1 billion deficit over next 5 years
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is facing a combined budget deficit of more than $1.1 billion over the next five years – a figure that exceeds even the “bleak” estimates […]
Posted inEconomy
Convention center questions
A panel weighing the expansion of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center said on Tuesday that state lawmakers would have to identify between $78 million and $117 million annually in […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Rumored corruption
The FBI used Ron Wilburn, and then tossed him aside. The feds got Wilburn, a Roxbury businessman, to wear a wire while passing bribes to Dianne Wilkerson and Chuck Turner. […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, The Back Story
Lynch pushes for public option
Don’t get Back Story? Sign up here. Congressional Republicans saw their sweeping midterm gains as a mandate to roll back the nation’s sweeping new health care reform package. After staging […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Grossman moving money
Don’t get Back Story? Sign up here. On the campaign trail, Steve Grossman’s stated desire to run the Treasury as an activist invited frequent barbs from his Republican opponent. Grossman […]
Posted inPolitics
DeLeo doubles down with casino allies
House Speaker Robert DeLeo’s dramatic leadership shakeup today did more than put an end to the power struggle between would-be future speakers James Vallee and Charles Murphy. It also consolidated […]
Posted inPolitics
Turner done in by his own deeds and words
Chuck Turner was sentenced to three years in prison yesterday, and afterward, he repeated what he’s been saying all along about the case against him – he’s innocent, he was […]
Posted inEconomy
Money talks—and delivers
until his arrest last year, few Bostonians had heard of Martin Raffol. Many more people, however, had probably heard of his boss, Arthur Winn—one of the state’s most prolific affordable […]
Posted inUncategorized
Feds float Turner perjury charge
Federal prosecutors have stepped up their pressure on former Boston city councilor Chuck Turner, alleging Turner committed perjury while testifying at his corruption trial this past fall. In court documents filed […]
Posted inPolitics
Public backs independent redistricting
Massachusetts residents strongly favor empowering an independent redistricting commission and restraining the state Legislature’s redistricting powers, according to a new MassINC poll. Overall, 62 of respondents to the poll […]
Posted inUncategorized
Life science firms get $24m in tax credits
[CORRECTION: A correction had been added to this story] The state awarded nearly $24 million in tax credits today to 30 life sciences companies that promised to create 1,000 jobs […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
Parking garage intrigue
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is looking to raise a substantial amount of money for the cash-strapped MBTA by leasing the T’s parking garages, but Boston development interests are warning […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Intrigue at the W
a federal bankruptcy judge is considering whether the W Boston, a gleaming new 26-story hotel and condominium tower in Boston’s theater district, should fall to foreclosure. On one level, the […]