The Boston Globe Spotlight Team earlier this month sent an email to nearly 200 private, independent schools in New England asking them to fill out an online survey documenting instances […]
The Back Story
Posted inBallot Questions, Health Care, The Back Story
Ballot question spurs unusual hospital alliance
Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera came to the State House on Tuesday to testify in support of a ballot question that would revamp the way hospitals are compensated and steer an […]
Posted inHealth Care, The Back Story
Bogus Health Connector website shut down
The Baker administration has shut down a shadowy commercial website masquerading as the official Massachusetts Health Connector and referring customers to health insurers while collecting a fee in the process. […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Listen to what’s not said about solar
In the increasingly contentious debate over solar energy, listen to what’s not said as much as what is said. The state’s utilities and their business allies talk about the high […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Mass Housing hires new chief in 10 minutes
It took less than 10 minutes for the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency to name a new executive director last month. The authority’s board convened at 2 p.m. on Jan. 12. […]
Posted inGambling, The Back Story
Arrigo chafes at Mohegan Sun deal
This story was updated after its initial publication with comments from Dan Rizzo. Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo wants to negotiate a surrounding community agreement with Wynn Resorts in next-door Everett, […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
Uber uses threats, political pressure to thwart regs
AS LAWMAKERS CONTINUE to work on legislation to regulate the emerging ride-hailing industry in Massachusetts, the biggest sticking point appears to be mandating fingerprints for drivers, a move that has […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
Cape Wind mounting comeback
CAPE WIND, the controversial Nantucket Sound wind farm given up for dead last year when it lost a lucrative pair of utility contracts, is trying to mount a comeback. Jim […]
Posted inEconomy, Gambling, The Back Story
A tale of two companies
STEVE WYNN MUST BE CRYING in front of his Picasso reading about the efforts of state and city officials to bring GE to Boston. The so-called Summary of Incentives agreement […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Everybody aboard the energy omnibus
House officials are busy crafting an omnibus energy bill, setting the stage for one of the more interesting legislative debates on Beacon Hill in a long time. House Speaker Robert […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
A Beacon Hill switcheroo
In 2013, a bill went into a legislative conference committee on Beacon Hill with a section limiting MBTA fare increases to 5 percent every two years. The section emerged from […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Back Story
Probation case drags on and on
NEARLY SIX YEARS after the Probation Department patronage scandal exploded into public view, almost four years after three top officials were indicted, 18 months after their convictions, and nearly one […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, The Back Story
Do clean energy jobs add up?
MASSACHUSETTS OFFICIALS ISSUED A REPORT earlier this week indicating the state’s “clean energy industry” continued its explosive growth this year, boosting employment 11.9 percent to nearly 99,000 people, or 3.3 […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
For Legislature, there’s always next year
The first year of the Legislature’s two-year session ended with a whimper on Wednesday night. After 11 months of doing next to nothing, the two branches finally moved into high […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Hingham letter investigation could turn criminal
HINGHAM OFFICIALS ARE HINTING that their $40,000 probe into who wrote two anonymous letters to the Board of Selectmen in April could possibly turn into a criminal investigation. One Hingham employee has already […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Hingham spends $40,000 tracking anonymous letter
AN EMPLOYEE OF THE TOWN OF HINGHAM stepped forward this week to say he wrote an anonymous letter mailed to the three members of the Board of Selectmen earlier this […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Beacon Hill’s snail pace of action
Procrastinating is a way of life on Beacon Hill. Almost 10 months into the first year of a two-year legislative session, there has been a lot of talk but very […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
Solar fight getting nasty
THE FIGHT OVER SOLAR POWER incentives is coming to a head on Beacon Hill, and it’s getting nasty. Earlier this week, the leaders of six major business groups across the […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
Q&A: Sorting out solar
It seems like solar power was going great guns under former governor Deval Patrick, but now everyone is fighting about it. What’s going on? Solar did do phenomenally well under […]
Posted inEducation, The Back Story
Dissecting UMass coach’s bonus-laden salary
DEREK KELLOGG, the UMass men’s basketball coach, is the highest paid public employee in Massachusetts, but you’d never know it looking at his base salary. Kellogg’s base salary is $225,000, […]
Posted inGambling, The Back Story
The big Indian gamble
Now that the federal government has authorized the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe to take more than 300 acres of land in Taunton and Mashpee into trust, the big question is whether […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
The lowdown on Sullivan Square
IF YOU DON’T live in or around Charlestown, chances are you have no idea why so much of the Wynn Resorts casino debate centers around fixing traffic problems in Sullivan […]
Posted inEconomy, The Back Story
Rainy day blues
Rainy day funds have a natural rhythm. They shrink during a recession when reserves are drawn down to offset declining tax revenues. Once the economy rebounds and tax revenues start […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
The Dukakis-Weld rail link
FORMER GOVERNORS Mike Dukakis and Bill Weld are heading up to Beacon Hill next week to put a rail link between North and South stations on Gov. Charlie Baker’s radar. […]
