IN THE SEEMINGLY ARCANE world of tax filing deadlines and extensions, timing is everything. And a simple change in Massachusetts tax filing deadlines to match new federal regulations would save […]
Accountant group pushes tax filing change
Posted inThe Back Story
MassHousing paid settlements to terminated workers
THE NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency terminated three employees earlier this year and cushioned the blow by paying them a total of $144,552, according to records […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
House, Senate OK delay in marijuana law
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE HOUSE AND SENATE on Wednesday passed a bill (S 2524) that would delay the licensing of retail marijuana outlets by six months, which could push […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
DNC needs to be turned upside down
IT HAS BEEN OVER A MONTH since the 2016 presidential election. For Democrats, the collective empty feeling and sleepless nights are still present. Why did the Democrats lose? Simply, it […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Boost the Renewable Portfolio Standard
AT THE SAME TIME president-elect Donald Trump has loudly promised job creation measures, he has also vowed to invest in fossil fuel expansion, including the coal industry. These two promises […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Standing in a train on a snowy evening
Whose trains these are I think I know. His office is high atop Beacon Hill though. He will not see me stopping here To watch the tracks fill up with […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download, Transportation
The Codcast: Talking among ourselves
What do criminal justice reform, the MBTA, and legal marijuana have in common? Other than the fact you can get busted for smoking and selling pot on the Green Line, […]
Posted inEconomy
Highest and best use
ROBERT KENNEDY famously paraphrased George Bernard Shaw in a 1968 campaign speech when he said, “Some people see things as they are and say, why? I dream things that never […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics, State House News Service
Baker misses key problem with Electoral College
AS PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP prepares to take office despite losing the popular vote, many Massachusetts voters may be less than thrilled about the Electoral College process But Gov. Charlie Baker […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
T parking revenue up 22%
THE MBTA’S PARKING REVENUE increased 22 percent over the last five months compared to the same period a year ago, reinforcing the notion that theft by employees of the T’s […]
Posted inOpinion
Nothing has changed at City Hall
BOSTON MAYOR MARTY WALSH recently began what will be a year-long series of conversations about race in neighborhoods around the city, with an aim to heal old wounds and move […]
Posted inThe Download
How soon is too soon?
Basically, anyone in first grade or older has a pretty firm recollection of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the four-day hunt for the killer-terrorists that held the Greater Boston […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Activists interrupt criminal justice meeting
CHANTING “JOBS NOT JAIL,” advocates for criminal justice reform briefly disrupted the final meeting of a state criminal justice policy commission today, part of a growing chorus of voices expressing […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, State House News Service
Ortiz stepping down early
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE U.S. ATTORNEY Carmen Ortiz, the first woman and first Hispanic to serve as the top federal prosecutor in the district of Massachusetts, will leave her post […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Five Affordable Care Act questions for the GOP
SO, REPUBLICANS ARE planning a major blitz to repeal and delay/replace/collapse the Affordable Care Act/ACA/ObamaCare. I’ve got five questions to ask leaders of the Grand Old Party. First, if your […]
Posted inThe Download
All bets are off
It could be desperation has eased as the economy recovers from the Great Recession. It could be the middle- and lower-classes, the targets of most low-level gambling, are tapped out […]
Posted inThe Download
Ortiz’s shrinking role on corruption
US Attorney Carmen Ortiz is vowing to continue bringing corruption charges against public officials, but the overturning of her convictions of former Probation commissioner John O’Brien and two of his […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
O’Brien conviction overturned; DeLeo cleared
A US APPEALS COURT overturned the convictions of former state probation commissioner John O’Brien and two top aides, saying prosecutors failed to prove key elements of their case and should […]
Posted inTransportation
T addresses costly shutdown process
THE MBTA’S CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER said on Monday the agency is moving up by 10 minutes the departure time for the last Green Line train from Heath Street so that […]
Posted inTransportation
T board raises competitive threat from Uber
IN THE MIDST OF A PRESENTATION on MBTA revenues, members of the T’s oversight board engaged in a debate about the threat to the transit agency posed by new transportation […]
Posted inTransportation
T ‘Picking Room’ taking a hike
THEY CALL IT THE PICKING ROOM, the place where T union employees go one at a time by seniority to pick their schedule for the next quarter by making marks […]
Posted inTransportation
T labor deal yields big wage savings
THE MBTA AND ITS LARGEST UNION announced a new labor agreement on Monday that offers an estimated $22 million a year in savings to the transit authority while putting core […]
Posted inThe Download
Throwing real books at offenders
Laura Santana was facing two years in prison for smuggling nearly a pound of cocaine into Logan Airport. But instead of jail, officials threw the books at her, allowing Santana […]
Posted inEnvironment
Baker sets emission reduction targets
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION is taking aim at power plants and using a lighter touch with private vehicles as it seeks to comply with a court order requiring the state to […]