Securing funds to offset the some of the costs associated with the $1.9 billion South Coast Rail project would be a significant coup not only for southeastern Massachusetts, but also […]
State House News Service
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
Towns offer space to keep popular RMV branches open
cities and towns across the Commonwealth are making the state an offer it can’t refuse: Free or low-cost public space for Registry of Motor Vehicles branches. To save $1.7 million […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
State of the unions
”Governor Patrick, Anti-Labor.” ”Governor Patrick, Anti-Public Safety.” That was the 411 from Arlington and Medford police officers lined up more than 200 strong in front of Arlington’s Town Hall in […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service, The Download
Federal stimulus funding cushions state budget
With Washington coming to the rescue, Massachusetts has been able to save programs that would have been decimated without federal stimulus funds. According to a report published Wednesday by the […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service, The Download
Gateways Cities leaders introduce economic development plan
Massachusetts needs to rework its tax incentive programs to create jobs, stimulate commercial development, and build market-rate housing in the state’s most economically distressed cities. That was the message from […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Uncategorized
Martha’s big sister
It may seem like a first, but we've been here before. Congressman Michael Capuano thinks The Woman is the one to beat in the US Senate race. The State House […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Mission Impossible II: MBTA Crisis Management
Good afternoon, Mr. Mullan. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is plagued by many problems, among them multibillion debt, aging infrastructure, and a significant cohort of employees for whom customer service […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
What state are we in?
Here's a news flash you don't see often in this state: Republicans in the US Senate race outnumber Democrats, 2-1. Granted, that ratio includes only candidates who have made formal […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Trick or Treat: The Revenge of Dan Grabauskas
Revenge is a dish best served cold. For the former MBTA general manager, there's probably nothing more delicious than the headline "State Transportation Secretary is resigning "Secretary of Transportation James […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Hollywood-style voting takes a baby step in Massachusetts
The attorney general's office has the list on the two dozen or so ballot questions that have been "certified" (that is, supporters can now start to collect signatures for them) […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service, The Download
Local foods mean local smells
Tewksbury residents went to Beacon Hill yesterday to argue about the regulation of odorous hog farms. The State House News Service's Jim O'Sullivan reported (via Wicked Local Tewksbury) that the […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Oooh-no! A municipal wake-up call from Hurricane Bill
The New England saying, “Wait five minutes and the weather will change,” goes doubly so for hurricanes. Hurricane Bill is a Category 4 storm, one that could pack a devastating […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service, The Download
Stimulating a Bristol County cleanup
Bristol County is receiving the largest infusion of total federal dollars ($162.4 million) outside Suffolk County ($323.2 million) according to a county-by-county breakdown of federal stimulus funds flowing to the […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
The Pottery Barn Rule of MBTA management
When Dan Grabauskas emerged from the initial two-hour plus MBTA Board of Directors executive session on Thursday, he looked like he’d been hit by a Silver Line bus. With the clock […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
How the MBTA general manager wins friends and influences people
Newton Mayor David Cohen, chairman of the MBTA Advisory Board, is the latest public official to side with MBTA general manager Dan Grabauskas in the still-smoldering MBTA civil war.In a […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Head games at the MBTA
Now that four MBTA board members have come out in support of embattled MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas, perhaps Gov. Deval Patrick should take a page out of President Barack […]
Posted inEducation, Politics, State House News Service
Hub youth work to bring civics class back to public schools
It’s civic engagement at its finest. Like most students, Boston youth organizer Katherine Garcia, 16, had never designed a curriculum for a high school course. Roy Karp, executive director of […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Uncategorized
Did Al Sharpton save the Cambridge Police Department?
Did the prospect of dealing with Al Sharpton prove to be the catalyst that propelled the Cambridge Police Department, the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, and Harvard University professor Henry Louis […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Uncategorized
Tip, Ronnie, and Tricky Dick walk into a bar…
What would Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill think about competing against the likes of Richard Nixon and Franklin Roosevelt? We'll never know, but only one of the unlikely trio […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service, The Download
Senate wants to hide names of tax credit recipients
Can you have tax credit transparency without identifying who's receiving the tax credits? That's the question facing House and Senate budget negotiators as they try to resolve differences between two […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Mission Impossible: Commuting on the MBTA or running it?
It wasn’t a fluke, an infrastructure issue, sabotage, or terrorism, according to MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo. Nor did it have anything to do with the T’s debt issues or the […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Patrick “boxed in” on his 2010 re-election strategy?
State House News Service's Jim O'Sullivan has a succinct forecast of gubernatorial politics over the next 18 months (subscription required for full story): Gov. Deval Patrick's sharp words last week […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Proposed taxes unlikely to solve transportation crisis
The transportation reform debate has gone quiet since the hand-wringing over the wider fiscal crisis pushed state government’s most troubled sector out of the headlines. But expect "reform before revenue" […]
