REPUBLICAN STEPHANIE FATTMAN seemed poised to easily win reelection last year as register of probate in Worcester County. She had a pile of campaign cash, the name recognition of an […]
Was the Sutton GOP Town Committee just a conduit?
Posted inOpinion
Fattman case is no gray area of the law
In an April 2 column in CommonWealth, Paul Craney makes two points, one personal and the other legal, in regards to a recent action that Sen. Ryan Fattman, his wife, […]
Posted inPolitics
Janey will seek full term as Boston mayor
ACTING BOSTON MAYOR Kim Janey, who has looked very much like a candidate for a full term since taking the reins from Marty Walsh two weeks ago, made it official […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
State revenues keep on surpassing projections
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE collected more than $3 billion from Massachusetts residents, workers, and businesses last month, once again shattering the Baker administration’s expectations and putting […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Rachael Rollins on vindication of her decline-to-prosecute philosophy
RACHAEL ROLLINS made headlines during her 2018 run for Suffolk County district attorney when she said, if elected, the office would not prosecute those charged with a set of 15 […]
Posted inRace/Racism
Senate committee to probe post-COVID society
WHEN SEN. ADAM HINDS looks at the disproportionate toll COVID-19 has taken on poor people and communities of color in Massachusetts, he said, “It’s hard not to experience it as […]
Posted inOpinion
Past state GOP chairs raise OCPF concerns
WE, AS SEVERAL past chairs of the Massachusetts Republican Party (MassGOP), have had a unique perspective on the role that the Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) has played […]
Posted inUncategorized
Race-blind decision-making could reduce racial disparities in child welfare system
THOUGH THEY ARE certainly helpful for raising broader awareness of the issue, I don’t need reports or articles like the recent piece in CommonWealth to tell me that black and […]
Posted inUncategorized
Casinos hoping odds in SJC case tilt in their favor
COULD A DISPUTE over the payout odds for blackjack actually rise to become a case before the Supreme Judicial Court? You bet. In an unusual case, the state’s highest court […]
Posted inThe Download
Rachael Rollins on vindication of her decline-to-prosecute policyÂ
Rachael Rollins made headlines during her 2018 run for Suffolk County district attorney when she said, if elected, the office would not prosecute those charged with a set of 15 […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Rachael Rollins on vindication of her decline-to-prosecute policyÂ
RACHAEL ROLLINS made headlines during her 2018 run for Suffolk County district attorney when she said, if elected, the office would not prosecute those charged with a set of 15 […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t undercut brownfields tax credit
WHEN AN ENVIRONMENTAL remediation program has thrived for a quarter-century — converting abandoned industrial sites into engines of job creation that address the ravages of environmental contamination — turning our […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Pandemic prayers: COVID is reshaping organized religionÂ
IT HAS BEEN more than a year since Temple Beth Zion, a nondenominational Jewish synagogue in Brookline, closed its physical doors. The synagogue started holding daily prayer services for the first […]
Posted inNews Analysis
Why tax forecasts during COVID have been so wrong
ONE OF THE GREAT PUZZLES of the past year is that the world was devastated by a plague and Massachusetts tax revenues were…pretty much OK. Month after month, the state […]
Posted inOpinion
Hotels that fire their workers must be held to account
WHEN MY FAMILY immigrated from Cabo Verde in West Africa, many of them got their first jobs in Boston’s hotels. My cousins Iva and Lucindo Brandao worked in the Colonnade […]
Posted inEnvironment
Baker pulls plug on Springfield biomass power plant
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION pulled the plug on a controversial biomass power plant in Springfield on Friday amid growing pushback from opponents who viewed the burning of wood to produce electricity […]
Posted inPolitics
Laborers union local backs Santiago
JON SANTIAGO, a state rep trying to build a broader base of support in Boston for his run for mayor, got a lift on Friday when a union local with […]
Posted inHealth Care
Disability community is ignored demographic in pandemic
LIKE MANY OTHER marginalized populations, the disability community often finds itself an outlier when it comes to decision-making but always at the center of who is suffering the most. Findings […]
Posted inThe Download
State won’t require 11th grade MCAS
In an attempt to reach a compromise on whether to administer the MCAS this year, Education Commissioner Jeff Riley may have pleased no one. Teachers’ unions and school officials had […]
Posted inEducation
State won’t require 11th grade MCAS
IN AN ATTEMPT to reach a compromise on whether to administer the MCAS this year, Education Commissioner Jeff Riley may have pleased no one. Teachers’ unions and school officials had […]
Posted inOpinion
Fattman case deserves fair, clear ‘public resolution’
SINCE 2012, I’ve worked in a profession that is heavily regulated by national and state campaign finance rules. My approach is to understand the rules, make sure they are clear […]
Posted inOpinion
Climate change already causing power grid issues
IN THE WAKE of the Texas tragedy, when the extreme cold weather literally froze the power grid, took out electricity and fuel supplies, and wreaked havoc on millions of lives, […]
Posted inHealth Care
Virus notes: COVID cases among people over 70 way down
THE HIGH VACCINATION rate among older people in Massachusetts is driving down the number of COVID-19 cases in that age group. According to the latest state data, there were 943 […]
Posted inThe Download
Mandatory vaccination debate is percolating
As more and more people get vaccinated, questions on what to do with people who refuse to get their shot(s) keep coming up. Should vaccinations be optional, required, or just […]