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 […]
Round three on renewable energy
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 […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
The upside of renewables
A Commonwealth opinion piece (“The downside of renewables”) published on May 11 provided a flawed argument against renewable energy and its implications for the New England electricity grid by picking […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Marijuana law must address race impact of War on Drugs
IN NOVEMBER, MASSACHUSETTS voters chose to move our state’s drug policy into the 21st century by rejecting the failed War on Drugs and becoming the first state in the Eastern […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
A costly lesson
Mark Twain once famously observed, “Everyone talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it.” College debt, it seems, is falling into the same category as tuition rates continue […]
Posted inTransportation
Interim T chief to be paid $260,000
STEVE POFTAK, who will be taking over as interim general manager of the MBTA on July 1, signed a contract with the authority that calls for him to be paid […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
T says pension problem worsening
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MBTA PENSION FUND’S problems have been festering for years, but T officials this year did not include $9 million in funds needed to pay retirees […]
Posted inTransportation
Pollack: Faster pace needed on climate change
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY STEPHANIE POLLACK said on Tuesday that the mindset of the state bureaucracy needs to change and change fast if Massachusetts is going to have any chance of responding […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Baker likes the center
Gov. Charlie Baker demonstrated again on Monday his ability to shape-shift to the political center. The Republican governor, who had once floated the idea of merging the state’s Life Sciences […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Politics, Transportation
New funding agreement for Greenway Conservancy
A NEW FUNDING AGREEMENT for the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy was unveiled on Monday that requires a smaller amount of taxpayer money from the state along with new contributions […]
Posted inTransportation
Paratransit advocates report call center problems
PARATRANSIT ADVOCATES said on Monday that the MBTA’s new centralized call center is off to a rocky start, and agency officials acknowledged some glitches as the service has been rolled […]
Posted inTransportation
Old locomotives getting $27m overhaul
THE MBTA’S FISCAL AND MANAGEMENT Control Board voted on Monday to spend $26.9 million overhauling 10 commuter rail locomotives that are already about 30 years old. Joseph Aiello, chairman of […]
Posted inPolitics
Cusack denies retaliation over Lottery move
THE HOUSE CHAIR of the Legislature’s marijuana committee denied that his ire at State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg over a potential Lottery headquarters move out of his hometown was connected to […]
Posted inEducation, Politics, The Download
Targeting charters
One has to wonder at what point charter schools will no longer be the education lightning rod. Long the target of union and administrator angst for what they perceive as drawing […]
Posted inOpinion
Exports explain interest in gas pipeline
AFTER MANY SIGNIFICANT LEGAL and legislative defeats, it’s tempting to think that the massive Access Northeast gas pipeline is dead. That project would transport natural gas from the fracking fields […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion, Transportation
Public transportation is an 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 inEconomy, Opinion, Politics
Taxes don’t make millionaires move
MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATORS APPROVED the so-called Fair Share Amendment last week, setting the stage for it to appear on the 2018 statewide ballot, where voters will decide whether to impose a […]
Posted inPolitics
House reneged on pot agreement, say sources
HOUSE LEADERS ABRUPTLY walked away from an agreement between Gov. Charlie Baker, Speaker Robert DeLeo, and Senate President Stan Rosenberg that would have kept oversight of the emerging legal pot […]
Posted inEducation
Haverhill teachers union rejects charter renewal
AFTER MONTHS OF ACRIMONY in Haverhill, the city’s teachers union voted Thursday to block the renewal of the Silver Hill Horace Mann Charter School, dealing a crushing blow to faculty […]