AS DEMOCRATS NATIONALLY unite behind our nominee in Philadelphia next week, Massachusetts Democrats have the opportunity to unite behind a ballot initiative that would provide more high quality schools, especially […]
I’m a pro-charter school Obama and Sanders Democrat
Posted inThe Download
Are you a good tax or are you a bad tax?
Gov. Charlie Baker is a fiscal conservative, there is no doubt, preaching that the state has to live within its means like all the families that have to pay taxes. […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Lawmakers send fare cap plan back to Baker
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE UNPERSUADED BY HIS arguments for greater flexibility in setting fares, lawmakers on Tuesday sent back to Gov. Charlie Baker legislation strictly capping MBTA fare increases at […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Baker’s absence in Cleveland speaks volumes
AS PROMISED, Gov. Charlie Baker didn’t show up for the start of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland yesterday. But Baker did weigh in on critical issues relating to race and […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service, The Download
Irony abounds in health agency cuts
Sure, if you’re highlighting irony in this irony-filled world of ours, the easy stop is Cleveland, where the opening night of a GOP convention that is about to nominate a […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
MBTA police plan to privatize dispatch services
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MBTA PLANS to move its Transit Police dispatching function to the private vendor IXP Corporation, freeing up 15 officers to move to patrol as […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Time for action on high cost of electricity
THE HIGH COST of electricity is a major issue impacting Massachusetts businesses and residents alike. Cheap electricity is available throughout much of the United States. That is not the case […]
Posted inThe Download
The thin blue target
There have probably been better times to be a cop, possibly some worse, but has there ever been a more tense and dangerous time than now? Police are under fire, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Education, Opinion
Missed opportunities in Channel 5 forum on race
THE CONVERSATION ON race in Boston hosted by Channel 5 and the Boston Foundation on Thursday offered a tremendous opportunity to confront prejudice and systemic discrimination in Boston. Sadly, people talked around […]
Posted inGambling
Wynn prevails in Somerville permit challenge
WYNN RESORTS on Friday moved a big step closer to beginning construction on its $2.7 billion hotel and casino in Everett when a state hearing officer said the Las Vegas company […]
Posted inEducation
Democrats’ ed reform pivot
LESS THAN TWO weeks before they will anoint Hillary Clinton as the party’s new standard-bearer, Democrats are putting the finishing touches on a party platform that signals a big shift […]
Posted inEnvironment
Pipeline tariff is not a tax
SEVEN OF THE TOP 10 most expensive states for electricity costs are in the Northeast, including Massachusetts. We pay the sixth-highest retail electricity prices in the nation – almost 50 […]
Posted inThe Download
T control board’s one-year assessment
On the eve of their one-year anniversary, the five members of the MBTA’s Fiscal Management and Control Board report that the “long-term rebuilding of the MBTA is underway.” That’s not […]
Posted inTransportation
Legislature rejects Baker T fare amendment
The Massachusetts Senate both and House rejected Gov. Charlie Baker’s amendment to a proposed new cap on MBTA fare hikes on Thursday night. The Legislature had sent the governor a […]
Posted inEconomy, The Back Story
Airbnb follows Uber playbook
FIRST UBER, NOW AIRBNB. The so-called sharing economy that went from zero to billions of dollars in the blink of an eye caught the State House off-guard, but it now […]
Posted inEnvironment
What will Brad Jones do?
REP. BRADLEY JONES JR. of North Reading is caught in a tug-of-war between the House and Senate as the two branches try to find common ground on energy legislation. Jones […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
Lyme disease showdown on tap
What happens when 200 people with no medical expertise gather to debate the finer points of scientific evidence on treatment for a serious disease? We’ll soon find out in the […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Obama, Clinton and the new public-option debate
THE ERA OF Democratic silence on strengthening and improving the Affordable Care Act is officially over. President Obama’s tour de force review of the ACA’s successes in the new Journal […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Prohibit the ‘pipeline tax’
What is the proposed “pipeline tax” on our electric bills, and why is there a bipartisan effort to ban it? The so-called “pipeline tax” is a scheme under which consumers […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
The Notorious RBG
People in their 70s and 80s may not always say it but there is a liberating sense to reaching that age. It comes with impunity to say what’s on your […]
Posted inPolitics
Senate set to tax Airbnb
THE SENATE WILL take up a proposal to extend the hotel tax to home-sharing apps such as Airbnb and Homeaway, the latest effort to rein in and reap revenue from […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, Transportation
Baker pushes T fare flexibility
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER WANTS to give the MBTA a freer hand in raising fares, sending back to the Legislature a budgetary provision that would have imposed […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 11: US Attorney Carmen Ortiz
CommonWealth interviewed Ortiz on June 28 for a story that appears today in the just-released Summer print issue of the magazine. The story, entitled “Leaks, leaks, and more leaks,” raises […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
The Codcast: US Attorney Carmen Ortiz
US Attorney Carmen Ortiz says her office is not the source of press leaks about ongoing federal investigations. “I know people think that, and I know that they’re wrong,” she […]