This week’s Codcast suggests Massachusetts has a lot of work to do when it comes to farming out government work to private contractors. The Legislature granted the MBTA a three-year […]
The Codcast: Outsourcing works at other transit agencies
Posted inOpinion
With more control, communities choose clean energy
ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS, COMMUNITIES are taking control over where their energy comes from. By leveraging local bulk purchasing power, more than 100 towns and cities in the Bay State have increased […]
Posted inGambling
A campaign that may be all about nuance
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ON THE BANKS of the Mystic River, workers have been building a structure envisioned by Steve Wynn, the casino magnate who recently relinquished control of his […]
Posted inOpinion
He brought Boston back from the brink
FOR THOSE WHO REMEMBER Boston television news in the pre-cable days, Jack Hynes was a powerful media presence for decades. He anchored the news with a gravitas that made you […]
Posted inOpinion
Millionaire tax wrong way to play Robin Hood
THE MILLIONAIRE TAX is a brilliantly marketed bad idea. It’s hard not to find appeal in the concept of higher taxes on top earners when income disparity has grown dramatically […]
Posted inEnvironment
Baker selects backup for Northern Pass
THE MASSACHUSETTS CLEAN ENERGY PROCUREMENT took another odd turn on Friday as officials entered into contract negotiations with a second transmission company with ties to Hydro-Quebec while giving Northern Pass […]
Posted inOpinion
Winter costs make region cold for business
TO SAY THAT this has been a tough winter is an understatement. Already, we’ve seen record cold snaps, soaring energy bills and story after story about how Massachusetts has burned […]
Posted inOpinion
Storage, not new pipelines, is the answer
MASSACHUSETTS POLICYMAKERS face a serious choice in 2018: do they meet impending reliability challenges with 20th Century technologies that require interminable and inevitable battles over infrastructure siting, or do they […]
Posted inThe Download
Death spiral in Worcester?
In Worcester, officials are worried that their transit agency may be in the midst of a death spiral. With state funding trending downward the last four years, the Worcester Regional […]
Posted inEnvironment
Healey unveils new renewable energy targets
ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY on Thursday said Massachusetts should meet 50 percent or more of its electric power needs with renewable energy by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050. She […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Find Mass. money – and then wait
If you have unclaimed property listed with the state treasurer’s office, don’t make plans to spend it – or even get it – any time soon. After years of urging people to […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. Fiscal Alliance’s hollow defense of dark money
THE DARK MONEY political operation Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance has been mounting a campaign against regulatory changes proposed by the Office of Campaign and Political Finance to enhance disclosure of money […]
Posted inThe Download
Radio sensitivity
Radio, like all aspects of the media not created or controlled by the internet, is feeling the pressure to show results. Nowhere is that more apparent than talk radio and […]
Posted inOpinion
Downsides of minimum wage boost and paid family leave
FOR MASSACHUSETTS small businesses, 2018 is shaping up to be a potentially devastating year. A coalition backed by big labor is making a strong push for both a $15 minimum […]
Posted inPolitics
Pressley: ‘I can’t and won’t wait my turn’
AYANNA PRESSLEY SUCCINCTLY handicapped her race for Congress in her formal kickoff speech on Tuesday night. “Our campaign won’t be easy,” she told 300 supporters at a Cambridge restaurant. “We’re […]
Posted inOpinion
Decisive action needed on Northern Pass
FRIDAY’S NEWS OF a stalemate among the Commonwealth’s utilities about what to do next regarding the denial of a crucial siting permit for Northern Pass highlights the shortcomings of the […]
Posted inThe Download
Whither the Herald?
When your head is on the chopping block, does it really matter who’s wielding the ax? That may be a bit of a harsh metaphor for the sale of the Boston […]
Posted inPolitics
Orrall announces challenge to Goldberg
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE REP. KEIKO ORRALL, a Lakeville Republican, launched her statewide campaign for treasurer on Tuesday promising to bring a “fiscally conservative” approach to an office that […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Pot chair says no pressure on regs
THE CHAIRMAN OF the state board charged with regulating legal pot said he and his colleagues are feeling no added pressure in light of comments from top elected officials calling […]
Posted inOpinion
Some things are worth protecting
FREEDOM OF SPEECH and association, our most fundamental American rights, are perpetually under attack from powerful politicians, bureaucrats, unions, and far-left interest groups. They use campaign finance law as a […]
Posted inThe Download
Free speech free-for-all
Yesterday, Globe columnist Shirley Leung ripped radio station WEEI over racist comments made by suspended host Christian Fauria and called on the station to also suspend his two co-hosts who […]
Posted inOpinion
Baker’s unkept promise
IN THE SUMMER of 2014, then-candidate Charlie Baker made a pledge to the environmental community. He walked into a large hall at Suffolk University Law School, filled with hundreds of […]
Posted inTransportation
DOT notes: Big rail projects and small bridges
SOUTH COAST RAIL project officials said phasing in the new line by running it through Middleboro not only gets the service operating years ahead of time, it gives the line […]
Posted inTransportation
T eyes hikes for fares, parking fees
MBTA OFFICIALS CRACKED open the door to a fare hike and increases in parking fees by the beginning of next year as the cash-strapped agency, despite cuts and privatization efforts, […]