Even two weeks of free rides on the Fairmount Line didn’t boost traffic that much, but they did expose more people to the least-used line on the MBTA’s commuter rail […]
Free bump on the Fairmount
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Remembering Mitchell Chester
David Coleman, the president and CEO of The College Board, shared this remembrance with friends and colleagues of Mitchell Chester, the Massachusetts state education commissioner who died this week at […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Staples sale shows change is the only constant
Once upon a time there were things called stationery stores. These were usually small-ish shops, often family operated, where one could buy fancy pens and not-so-fancy pens, paper, paper clips, […]
Posted inEconomy
More tools needed to combat wage theft
MASSACHUSETTS HAS AN epidemic of wage theft. An estimated $700 million in wage theft occurs annually in our state, robbing workers and their families of essential income and the ability […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Baker slammed for not filing updated budget
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER, at least publicly, has given lawmakers space to reconsider revenue and spending targets in the budget due in just a matter of days. […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion, Transportation
Public transportation is investment in Springfield’s future
FORGIVE US FOR opening old wounds, but it was just two years ago this spring that our state was crippled with foot after foot of snow. There was perhaps no […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, State House News Service, The Download
Getting Obama out of Obamacare
It really shouldn’t be this hard, should it? When one party has the White House and both chambers of Congress, passing legislation and fulfilling promises should be a snap, one would […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Lots of fiscal storm clouds
Even as Gov. Charlie Baker is struggling to balance the current fiscal year’s budget and lawmakers are trying to pare back spending in next year’s spending plan, more storm clouds […]
Posted inTransportation
RIDE call center operator fined $100,000
THE MBTA FINED the operator of its paratransit call center $100,000 in May for a series of contract violations that resulted in poor service for customers. The fines equaled about […]
Posted inTransportation
T takes go-slow approach on alcohol ads
WARY OF OFFENDING the public, the MBTA’s Fiscal Management and Control Board on Monday directed the agency’s staff to redraft an alcohol advertising proposal to reduce exposure to young transit […]
Posted inTransportation
T laying 2 cables along same route
THE MBTA’S OVERSIGHT BOARD raised a lot of questions on Monday about the planned installation of more than 300, 75-foot towers to improve WiFi and cell phone service on commuter […]
Posted inTransportation
T spending $2.2m on replacement bus service
THE MBTA SAID ON MONDAY it intends to spend roughly $2.2 million on heavily subsidized station-to-station bus service for commuter rail customers who are left without train rides on weekends […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Charlie sings the blues
Charlie Baker’s rhetorical style is a bit like easy listening music – not blaring, not head-banging, easy on the ears and mind, if not quite dancing music. But lately, Baker […]
Posted inTransportation
T commuter rail WiFi plan under fire
LOCAL OPPOSITION appears to be growing to the MBTA’s plan to install more than 300, 75-foot poles along the commuter rail system to provide WiFi service to people riding trains. […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion, Politics
5 takeaways from Baker’s health reform
PHASE 2 OF THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION’S ambitious health reform agenda emerged this past week. It contains good and smart proposals – and worrisome ones needing attention. Phase 1 is an […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Baker doubling down on failed biotech strategy
This opinion piece has been corrected in several spots (headline and story) to reflect the fact that $1 billion has not been spent by the Massachusetts Life Science Center. Only […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker taps MassDevelopment for $17.5m
IT’S UNCLEAR whether it qualifies as a nip or a tuck, but the Baker administration is tapping an independent authority for $17.5 million to help balance this year’s budget. A […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment
Round three on renewable energy
A RECENT OPINION PIECE in Commonwealth (“The Upside of Renewables” by Peter Rothstein and Michael Behrmann) attempts to rebut an earlier piece by me which pointed out the high cost […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 55: The Greenway Deal
The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy gained a measure of stability this week as the state, the city of Boston, and park abutters agreed to provide $2 million a year […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The Codcast: The Greenway deal
The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy gained a measure of stability this week as the state, the city of Boston, and park abutters agreed to provide $2 million a year […]
Posted inOpinion
Fitness for parenting – it takes a village
“Ms. Bond’s ability to parent was not appropriately assessed.” Review of the Death of Bella Bond: Report of the Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate, October 28, 2015 AS A […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
About-face on marijuana
THERE’S BEEN A LOT of pot talk lately on Beacon Hill, as the House and Senate battle back and forth over whether changes should be made (and which ones) to […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Moulton on the move
There has been no shortage of head shaking and hand-wringing in Democratic Party circles following this week’s double loss in special elections for House seats in Georgia and South […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
House revamps voter-approved pot law
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AFTER SEVERAL YEARS of ceding marijuana policy-making to a voting public eager to adopt a more permissive approach to the once completely illegal drug, House lawmakers […]