I heard the cost of the Green Line Extension was spinning out of control in early June, but I had no proof and ended up not writing anything. That’s my […]
The Back Story
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Back Story
Probation juror: Patronage ‘disgusting’ but not illegal
A LITTLE MOREÂ than a year after the guilty verdicts came down in the Probation Department hiring scandal and with the appeals process inching along, a former juror in the widely […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
Trying to saddle the runaway Uber horse
Third in a series In May, the members of the Braintree Licensing Board took a step that no other community in the state has been willing or able to do: […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, The Back Story
DCR forgives $23,000 of club’s unpaid rent
THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION and Recreation is forgiving three-quarters of the back debt owed by a Quincy yacht club renting space from the state on Wollaston Beach. The Wollaston […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Baker’s dire deficit projection misses mark
A clarification has been added to this story. THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION’S dire warnings last winter about a $768 million deficit for fiscal 2015 have turned out to be off the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Baker’s public records silence
Gov. Charlie Baker isn’t saying where he stands on legislative efforts to update the state’s Public Records Law, possibly because he is not eager to disrupt the status quo. Like […]
Posted inGambling, The Back Story
Walsh’s steadily expanding casino lawsuit
OVER THE LAST SEVEN MONTHS, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has steadily increased the intensity of his legal attacks on the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, to the point where the case is […]
Posted inGambling, The Back Story
Mystery figure in Crosby ethics probe revealed
THE MYSTERY FIGURE who spurred a state ethics investigation of Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby turns out to be Charles A. Baker III, a lawyer and top Democratic political […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, The Back Story
Baker seeks to curb solar speculators
A correction has been added to this story. THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION, which favors keeping a cap in place on one solar subsidy program, is now tinkering with another solar price support. […]
Posted inGambling, The Back Story
Wynn statement on meeting with Walsh
 The following statement was issued by Michael Weaver, senior vice president for marketing and communications at Wynn. In addition to our current $35.9 million commitment to Sullivan Square pre- and […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion, The Back Story
Fact-checking the state’s incarceration rate
In the debate over mandatory minimum sentences and corrections reform, those resisting major changes say there is little need for wholesale reform because the state incarceration rate is so low. […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
What’s a money bill?
THE LEGAL BATTLE between the Massachusetts House and Senate over the constitutional authority to raise taxes in this year’s budget hinges on interpretations of a 137-year-old Supreme Judicial Court advisory […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
Baker administration revises T absence rate
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION is now acknowledging that the MBTA absenteeism information cited in a report by the governor’s special advisory panel probably overstated the problem and that the reported comparison […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
Fact-checking MBTA union’s radio ad
WHILE BEACON HILL engages in a high-stakes debate about the future of the T, the Boston Carmen’s Union is running ads on the radio that play loose with the facts. […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
T union raises concern about outside contractor
THE MBTA RESTORED full service to the Orange Line in March but nevertheless shipped 24 disabled Orange Line traction motors to an outside contractor for repair. The T says it […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
T union raises concern with outside contractors
THE MBTA RESTORED full service to the Orange Line in March but nevertheless shipped 24 disabled Orange Line traction motors to an outside contractor for repair. The T says it […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
T report misses mark on absenteeism numbers
ONE OF THE MOST ALARMING figures to come out of Gov. Charlie Baker’s MBTA panel report earlier this month was 57. That’s the average number of working days that T […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
New England governors vow to boost natural gas capacity
THE NEW ENGLAND governors met behind closed doors on energy issues in Hartford on Thursday and vowed afterwards to work collaboratively to expand the region’s natural gas pipeline capacity. What shape that […]
Posted inEducation, The Back Story
Tracking the EMK Institute’s funding
THE NEW EDWARD M. KENNEDY INSTITUTE is a marvel of a museum, an architecturally breathtaking building that attempts to educate visitors about the role and operations of the US Senate. […]
Posted inEducation, The Back Story
Study of black and Latino boys excludes charter success
Researchers conducting a study looking for effective practices that are helping black and Latino boys close the achievement reported a stunning finding this week: No Boston schools are succeeding at […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Rules debate puts Beacon Hill on hold
THE MBTA ISN’T the only state entity that’s been operating with significant delays. The movement of legislation on Beacon Hill has been ground to a halt by a debate on […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
Commuter rail ridership numbers don’t add up
COMMUTER RAIL RIDERSHIPÂ is up. No, it’s down. Actually, it’s held steady. These three statements cannot all be true. And yet, all three are supported by official data collected and published […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Kid-free Boston
IN A 2011 Boston Globe op-ed, columnist Scot Lehigh asked: “Where are the snow shovelers of yesteryear?” He suggested that the once-eager entrepreneurs must be more consumed by Facebook, texting, and video games than […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
Keolis accused MBTA of meddling in hiring
THE TOP OFFICIAL at the state’s commuter rail operator raised concerns in a December letter to the MBTA that agency officials were undermining efforts to hire an experienced executive to […]
