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. But after snaring the two black Boston politicians, they shut their investigation down, leaving all sorts of white political crooks untouched. That’s Wilburn’s take on […]
The Back Story
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
Knocked off track
Click here for more Back Stories. Don’t get Back Story? Sign up here. Is there a calculable dollar value inherent in warranties? That could be the key question in the MBTA’s suit against Rocla Concrete Ties over 150,000 defective concrete ties on the Old Colony Commuter Rail. Denver-based Rocla, seeking summary judgment in federal court, […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Greenway’s toll revenue
Don’t get Back Story? Sign up here. State officials say they will continue to provide financial support this coming fiscal year for the privately run Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway in Boston, but the amount of aid is likely to drop. The state this year is providing a total of $2.2 million in cash and in-kind […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
Power surge
NStar Corp. quietly filed with state regulators late last week three wind-power contracts that will provide electricity at prices that are both competitive with fossil fuels and significantly cheaper than Cape Wind. State law requires Massachusetts utilities to solicit long-term contracts for renewable power for at least 3 percent of their load. National Grid, the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Public defender ethics
The governor is pushing hard for a takeover of the judiciary’s public counsel service, but he’s spicing up what is basically a good government message by raising ethical concerns about the current management system. Jay Gonzalez, the governor’s secretary of Administration and Finance, says he wants to get rid of the current system, which contracts […]
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 a loud but symbolic repeal vote in the House, national health care opponents are now focused on weakening the new regime’s funding at every possible […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Uncategorized
Money machine keeps humming
A controversial real estate transfer fee collected by the Boston Redevelopment Authority has won a reprieve from the federal government. The Federal Housing Finance Agency issued a proposed rule this week that would bar the lenders it oversees from investing in most mortgages with private transfer fee covenants. The covenants, typically inserted into a deed […]
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 charged right through those attacks, and at his swearing-in ceremony last week, he reiterated the call to harness the Treasury’s funds for public policy purposes, […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
Hostage negotiations
Will the Patrick administration hold hostage the proposed merger of NStar Corp. and Northeast Utilities until NStar agrees to buy the rest of Cape Wind’s power output? Regulators have already approved the sale of half of Cape Wind’s electricity to National Grid, but the nation’s first offshore wind project hasn’t been able to find a […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Uncategorized
Patrick gets quacking
Click here for more Back Stories. Don’t get Back Story? Sign up here. If it looks like a lame duck, walks like a lame duck and quacks like a lame duck, it’s probably a lame duck. When Gov. Deval Patrick raised his hand last week to take the oath of office for his second term, […]