THE UNION REPRESENTING EMPLOYEES in the MBTA’s cash collection and counting operation said on Monday that privatization of the work will yield savings of $330,000 in the first year, not […]
Union: T overstates privatization savings
Posted inHealth Care
Prices biggest cause for rising health costs
IT’S THE PRICE, stupid. That was the message delivered at the first day of annual state hearings on health care cost trends with experts and officials pointing the finger at […]
Posted inTransportation
T officials target Green Line derailments
MBTA OFFICIALS ON MONDAY said they are taking a number of steps to reduce Green Line derailments, of which there have been 10 since the beginning of 2015. Jeff Gonneville, […]
Posted inTransportation
T board green-lights fare collection bid process
THE MBTA’S OVERSIGHT BOARD on Monday gave the transit agency’s staff a green light to put out a request for proposals for companies to design, build, finance, operate, maintain, and […]
Posted inTransportation
Baker: ‘Acts of God’ justify fine waivers for Keolis
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said waiving the fines against Keolis for “acts of God” during the brutal winter of 2015 was the right thing to do but insisted the commuter rail […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Don’t gamble with Massachusetts students’ future
ON NOVEMBER 8, Massachusetts voters will decide whether to lift the cap on charter schools, eliminating a major constraint on charter school formation and expansion in the Commonwealth. Proponents of […]
Posted inThe Download
Guns, gangs, and toddlers
There is often very little daylight between victims and victimizers in the mayhem caused by gang-fueled gun violence. Sometimes that is the case figuratively, with today’s target of a gang […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Foreign policy context of Clinton-Trump race
Third of five parts. THE TWO MEN WHO SOUGHT the presidency in 1960 shared one important distinction: they were, respectively, the first nominees of each major political party born in the 20th Century. Both Richard Nixon and John Kennedy were, […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Baker projects $295m deficit for this year
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE CONTINUING TO CHASE after state budget solutions, Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration on Friday identified what it sees as a $295 million deficit in the $39.25 billion […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Charting the path to zero carbon emissions
CLIMATE POLICY is in a holding pattern. The D.C. Circuit court is deliberating on the future of EPA’s “Clean Power Plan” regulation of carbon pollution from existing power plants. Stakeholders […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 22: Does DCR need fiscal control board?
What should be done? The Codcast talks with Whitney Hatch, chairman of the DCR Stewardship Council, and Stephen Pritchard, who spent four years in the administration of former governor Mitt […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
The Codcast: Does DCR need fiscal control board?
Where do you begin with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the agency that oversees the state’s parks as well as dams, piers, ice rinks, pools, and even bocce […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
Which way on VMT?
MAYBE THE STATE Department of Transportation didn’t get the memo. In August, Gov. Charlie Baker vetoed a provision in a transportation bond bill directing the Transportation Department to seek federal […]
Posted inThe Download
An MBTA privatization do-over?
Call it politicians’ version of buyer’s remorse. The misgivings and backtracking of Republicans who had reluctantly endorsed Donald Trump? No, we speak of the local version now playing itself out, […]
Posted inPolitics
In Lowell, higher salaries for a higher purpose
THE LOWELL CITY COUNCIL is giving itself and the city school board raises on the order of 67 to 100 percent, purportedly as a way to attract a more diverse […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA privatization comes with tradeoffs
MORE THAN 20 state, federal, and Boston lawmakers rallied with MBTA union leaders at Faneuil Hall on Wednesday to protest privatization, with several officials lamenting the transit agency’s decision to […]
Posted inThe Download
No question, 2018 election will be in the toilet
Opponents of the state’s new public accommodations law, which prohibits discrimination against transgendered individuals, have gathered enough signatures to place a referendum for repeal on the 2018 ballot. If voters think […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
Billy Bush goes bye-bye
Donald Trump is still hanging tough in the race for the White House, but it looks like the television career of Billy Bush, the other man on the now infamous […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Bump will seek third term
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AUDITOR SUZANNE BUMP plans to run for re-election and will play no role in the day-to-day operations of her late husband’s businesses, according to a statement […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Crime and punishment
Nobody thinks teenagers should be carrying guns on the streets of Boston. Jail may be the best—or only—way to deal with many of those carrying and shooting guns there. But was it the right thing to do in this case?
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Politics
Dysfunctional DCR tries to be smarter landlord
Photographs by Michael Manning THE HEAD OF THE CHARLES Regatta is a major draw for Massachusetts. Attracting more than 11,000 athletes and tens of thousands of spectators from all over […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Turning around New Bedford
Photographs by Frank Curran JON MITCHELL WALKS a fine line as the mayor of New Bedford. On the one hand, he is the self-professed squeaky wheel, constantly pressing state and […]
Posted inPolitics
Youth movement
Photograph by Frank Curran THE SCENE: The Amherst town cemetery, sitting on a stone wall circling an old burial plot, not far from Emily Dickinson’s grave. Solomon Goldstein-Rose, who won […]
Posted inPolitics
Can Elizabeth Warren legislate?
DURING HER FIRST four years representing Massachusetts in the Senate, Elizabeth Warren has become the chamber’s leading progressive voice. Hillary Clinton considered her for the vice presidential slot and, while […]