Boston has some big decisions to make in the next few years that will impact one of the city’s greatest strengths, which is the diversity of its workforce and the opportunities it has been able to provide to white collar and blue collar workers alike who are able to make a living and raise a […]
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Winter 2014 Editor’s note
Public policy at times can be very theoretical and dry, but this issue isn’t like that at all. It draws you in with great writing and photography that helps you understand some of the biggest challenges facing our society today and the people who are trying to address them. Our cover story, for example, focuses […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Public defender blues
Malden District Court is 50 shades of grim. The defendants in the packed courtroom—men and women, some young, most not—appear somber, resigned, or just plain petrified. The female judge whispers to attorneys. No one seems to know where the Spanish interpreter is, so the Portuguese interpreter does double duty. The court clerk yells out names […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Dell dating Middlebrooks
Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks tweeted a photo of himself and NESN reporter Jenny Dell celebrating together on New Year’s Eve. The happy couple looked like they were having a good time, but the photo raised more than a few eyebrows around town since reporters typically don’t sleep with the people they cover. The […]
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Target: Data breach could affect 40 million
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Target, the major retailer with locations throughout Massachusetts, confirmed Thursday “unauthorized access to payment card data” that may have impacted 40 million credit and debit card accounts. The impacts would have been between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15. “Target’s first priority is preserving the trust of our guests and we have […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Uncategorized
Wynn: Gambling law changes needed
Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn is urging Massachusetts lawmakers to make changes to the state’s gaming law, something they are reluctant to do for fear of reopening the debate about gambling. Wynn flew into Boston nearly two weeks ago to talk to lawmakers about several sections of the law that concern him, particularly a […]
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Getting to yes, turning to no
Yes, yes, and yes. Those are the answers developers give communities when they want to get approval for their projects. But once those projects are underway, it seems, the deals that were written in stone begin to crumble like shale, such as the $1.6 billion makeover of downtown Quincy and the mixed-use development of the former South […]
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UMass football losing more than games
A new report says the cost of the UMass Amherst football program keeps growing, and so does the support required from students and taxpayers. The Boston Globe reports that students and taxpayers have spent $1 million more than projected to fund the first two seasons of the team’s upgrade to elite collegiate competition. That financial […]
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Digital journalism guerrilla heads for Hub
New York Times media critic David Carr spends his days sifting through the wreckage, and the opportunity, that digital journalism has created. Now he’s coming to Boston to sort through how news organizations survive, and thrive, in a time of thoroughly broken revenue models. The Globe reports today that Carr will join Boston University ’s […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
T to go late night
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Trolleys, subways and 15 key bus routes will begin running until 3 a.m. during the weekends under an MBTA pilot program set to begin next spring, according to a state transportation official. The pilot program is estimated to cost $20 million, and the MBTA hopes to bring on corporate sponsors to […]