STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IF YOU USED an old Fastlane transponder on the Massachusetts Turnpike 18 years ago, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation likely has a record of that trip. […]
MassDOT looks to trash records
Posted inEducation, Opinion
The cost of the charter school cap
IN NOVEMBER, VOTERS in Massachusetts will decide whether to raise the cap on charter school enrollment. The irony is that for most voters—those living in suburban and rural communities with […]
Posted inThe Download
Bail Weld?
Former governor William Weld, running for vice president, is apparently feeling liberated and it has little to do with his party affiliation. Weld, never one to hew to the party […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
States are where clean energy action is
ON THE ISSUE OF CLIMATE CHANGE and energy policy, the candidates for president couldn’t be farther apart, as evidenced by their brief exchange at last week’s first debate. For Hillary […]
Posted inOpinion
New poverty numbers are misleading
NEW CENSUS NUMBERS released last month saw incomes rise by 5 percent nationally and the poverty rate dropping to 13.5 percent from 14.8. The news made major headlines. Many are celebrating. And […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Pilgrim is safe, shouldn’t close early
DESPITE ASSERTIONS TO THE CONTRARY, the facts demonstrate that the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station has run very reliably in recent years. For calendar year 2014, our capacity factor was 97 […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
SJC upholds parent rights of same-sex partner
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE PARENTING RIGHTS of a mother in a same-sex relationship extend even when the couple is unmarried and the mother has no biological connection to the […]
Posted inThe Download
Campanello firing remains mystery
Gloucester Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken on Monday fired Leonard Campanello, the city’s famous police chief, for misleading investigators who were apparently probing his relationships with two unidentified women who allegedly […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Boston Pops to produce July 4 events
THE BOSTON POPS announced on Monday that it is going to take over production of the July 4 Esplanande events next year. In a press release, the Pops also said […]
Posted inHealth Care
Insurers raise concerns on Children’s
THE MASSACHUSETTS ASSOCIATION OF HEALTH PLANS on Monday urged the Department of Public Health to reconsider its conditional support for a proposed expansion at Boston Children’s Hospital. Lora Pellegrini, the […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, State House News Service
Baker appalled by DCR official’s actions
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said Monday he was “appalled” by the actions of a former top state parks official, confirming that video showed him driving with lights […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Sacrifice is out of style in politics
First in a series. IN HIS FIRST INAUGURAL, Ronald Reagan observed “we’re too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams . . . We have every right to […]
Posted inThe Download
Globe numbers look promising
Circulation statements filed by the Boston Globe suggest the newspaper is doing fairly well maintaining its print subscriber base and growing its digital following. The statements, included in the Sunday […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Baker’s DPH backs Children’s expansion
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH has recommended approval of a $1 billion expansion at Boston Children’s Hospital, a step that moves the controversial project closer […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 20: Grading the Legislature
The Environmental League of Massachusetts put out its latest legislative scorecard this week, and the rankings provided a number of interesting insights about Beacon Hill.
Posted inEnvironment, The Download
The Codcast: Grading the Legislature
The Environmental League of Massachusetts put out its latest legislative scorecard this week, and the rankings provided a number of interesting insights about Beacon Hill. First, the Environmental League’s scorecard […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Lawmakers close FY16 budget gap
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE on Thursday fast-tracked a spending bill to Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk aimed at closing the books on fiscal 2016, which ended June 30, […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Pollack wants to step up climate-change efforts
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE CLIMATE CHANGE WILL BECOME a “huge focus” of the Baker administration’s transportation efforts, according to a top state official who said the old method of building […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Race dialogues
CURRENT NATIONAL DISCOURSE urges us all to choose a side. Black Lives Matter versus Police Lives Matter. Build a Wall versus Stronger Together. Political Correctness versus Straight Talk. What gets […]
Posted inGambling, The Back Story
House money
DOES THE NUMBER combination 23, 31, 42, 50, 57 mean anything to you? That was the million-dollar winner in the Powerball game from Sept 26, 2015, purchased at the American Legion […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Third party defections endanger Democrats
THE GOP NOMINEE, a former entertainer whose presidential prospects were once ridiculed, gains in the polls with a not-so-subtle pitch to whites in the Rust Belt. His Democratic rival who […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
Johnson’s “Aleppo moment”
It was not a good night for Gary Johnson and his Libertarian Party campaign for president, but that could be good news for Hillary Clinton. In front of a televised […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Ash withdraws name from Cambridge post
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE JAY ASH, SECRETARY, for the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development and one of three finalists for the open Cambridge city manager’s post, has […]
Posted inThe Download
Charter school math
It’s unlikely to change many minds because, like who won the presidential debate, facts mean little when it comes to perception and opinion. But a new study by the Massachusetts Taxpayers […]