OPPONENTS OF THE BALLOT QUESTION to legalize marijuana argued before the state’s highest court Wednesday that the initiative should be shelved for a number of reasons, including the fact that […]
SJC hears appeals on marijuana ballot question
Posted inGambling
Wynn: Curtatone appeal not delaying casino
STEVE WYNN said Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone’s appeal of an environmental permit for his company’s proposed Everett casino is groundless, but he no longer is saying the legal challenge is […]
Posted inEducation
Report: State needs to boost degree production
IT’S THE LONG-RUNNING saga of the Massachusetts economy that’s been told repeatedly as a cautionary tale: Massachusetts lives by its wits — and lives well by them — but only […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The Codcast: Weld flashes the old charm
William Weld made libertarianism sound like a political middle ground between Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton during an interview Tuesday night with CommonWealth magazine. The […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 6: Weld flashes the old charm
William Weld made libertarianism sound like a political middle ground between Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton during an interview Tuesday night with CommonWealth magazine.
Posted inTransportation
Aiello: One of T’s biggest challenges is workforce
THE HEAD OF THE MBTA oversight board said on Tuesday that one of the authority’s biggest infrastructure challenges is its management workforce. Joseph Aiello, the chairman of the T’s Fiscal […]
Posted inEnvironment
Cape Wind sharply attacks House energy bill
CAPE WIND ISSUED a position statement on Tuesday calling the House’s energy bill anticompetitive, unconstitutional, and the result of “a form of legislative bid-rigging.” The unusually harsh statement was issued […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
History and demagoguery
A raspy-voiced Hillary Clinton shared the news with supporters at Long Beach, California, rally as the word broke yesterday that the Associated Press tally of her pledged delegates and superdelegates […]
Posted inTransportation
T board ends commuter rail refunds
COMMUTER RAIL PASSENGERS will no longer be able to get refunds on unused tickets, a change that puts them on the same track as other MBTA riders and could save […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA says it can’t reconcile fare data, cash deposits
MBTA OFFICIALS ACKNOWLEDGED on Monday that they still can’t reconcile what their fare machines are telling them is being collected and the money actually being deposited in the bank, a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion, Politics
DA O’Keefe amazed at limited DeLeo leak inquiry
I write in response to the recent article that ran under the headline, “Gants calls off DeLeo leak inquiry.” This article carried the sub-headline, “Law enforcement officials tell SJC they […]
Posted inEnvironment
New pipe could help curb gas leaks
IN LATE MAY, the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy released its version of draft energy omnibus legislation. Climate Action Business Association, a Boston-based business group, responded by calling […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
A Trumped-up convention
So how, in a year in which there is no statewide election, with a Republican governor sailing along with near-historic approval ratings, does a Massachusetts Democratic convention get attention? Trump. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
Why Boston drove Ali fight out of town
HE CALLED HIMSELF Muhammad Ali because his given name, he said, was “a slave’s name, and I’m no longer a slave.” In 1965 he was still called Cassius Clay, his father’s […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Harnessing the ‘Third Way’ to improve communities
WHEN I WAS in graduate school studying urban planning in the early-2000s, there was a lot of talk about how cities need “good” schools, but surprisingly little discussion or study […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 5: The politics of energy, Cape Wind
The Senate’s point person on energy, Sen. Ben Downing and the developer behind Cape Wind, Jim Gordon share their concerns about the House energy bill, which calls for the state’s […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
No mandate needed for municipal utilities
FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY, through changes in the electric industry more revolutionary than the ones we are facing today, Massachusetts municipal utilities have set the standard for excellence in […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: The politics of energy, Cape Wind
The Senate’s point person on energy and the developer behind Cape Wind share their concerns in this week’s Codcast about the House energy bill, which calls for the state’s utilities […]
Posted inGambling
Only 10 boat slips at Wynn casino
THE PROPOSED WYNN RESORTS hotel and casino in Everett will feature just 10 slips for boats to pull up and dock. The number seems small given all the concerns about […]
Posted inEnvironment
Beaton: More hydro needed in energy bill
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION’S point person on energy said on Thursday that he would like to see more emphasis on hydroelectricity in the Legislature’s energy bill and indicated he shared House […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Harshbarger says democracy needs a shot in the arm
SCOTT HARSHBARGER MAY have the right diagnosis, but it’s less clear that he’s landed on the cure. The former attorney general and one-time Democratic nominee for governor says democracy is […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion, Politics
Could breakup of Partners be way to go?
WITH GOV. CHARLIE BAKER now having signed off on the legislative deal to avoid the SEIU ballot initiative which would have drastically taken commercial insurance monies away from Partners HealthCare, […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The straw man Hitler argument
Eric Fehrnstrom gamely attempts a straw man defense of a candidate many in his party — including the man he long toiled for — find increasingly indefensible. The essence of […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
House backs transgender bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IN A MAJOR VICTORY for equal rights activists, legislation aimed at preventing discrimination against transgender individuals in all public places, including bathrooms, passed the House on […]