A STREAM OF SWEAR WORDS cascaded around a federal courtroom in Boston on Tuesday as US Attorney Carmen Ortiz’s office opened its case against three men accused of concealing the […]
Wynn land case opens with lots of expletives
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Mass. health care reform turns 10
APRIL 12TH IS the 10th anniversary of the signing of Chapter 58, Massachusetts’s landmark universal health insurance law (An Act Providing Access to Affordable, Quality, Accountable Health Care) that served […]
Posted inPolitics
Rizzo denies claim in mailer, files complaint
AS VOTERS WENT to the polls on Tuesday in the hotly-contested election for an open state Senate seat in Boston and surrounding communities, one of the seven Democratic candidates, Dan […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service, The Download
Partners at center of health care cost conundrums
On the one hand, countless studies suggest high-priced hospitals in Massachusetts offer care in most cases that is no different from what is available at a much lower cost at […]
Posted inPolitics
The paradox of Robert DeLeo
Photographs by Michael Manning ROBERT DELEO CLIMBED to the rostrum of the House of Representatives one afternoon in late January for what has become a routine annual ritual, but is […]
Posted inPolitics
Pols have carte blanche with campaign cash
FOR MASSACHUSETTS POLITICIANS, campaign accounts are the gifts that keep on giving. In or out of office, living or dead, there’s a lot of leeway in how elected officials spend […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics
Partners CEO makes his pitch
Photographs by Frank Curran DAVID TORCHIANA, THE CEO OF PARTNERS HEALTHCARE, speaks very softly for a man who is 6-feet-6, weighs north of 200 pounds, and goes by the nickname […]
Posted inPolitics
Why whites control Lowell city government
Photographs by Meghan Moore LOWELL IS MOST commonly associated with block upon block of old mill buildings; immigrants from Asia and the world over; and tough streets, the kind that […]
Posted inTransportation
Tackling the time warp at the T
Photograph by Mark Morelli ON HIS FIRST day on the job last May as the MBTA’s chief procurement officer, Gerard Polcari checked in with Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack and then […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
One on One with George Regan
Photograph by Frank Curran The scene: The Union Wharf office of George Regan, the president of Regan Communications Group and long-ago press secretary to former mayor Kevin White. His dog, […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Radically decentralize DCF’s responsibilities
THE MASSACHUSETTS ORGANIZATION responsible for running the state’s child welfare system has had four different names over a period of 40 years, which is not a sign of success. Each […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Behind the Massachusetts Health Connector’s rehab
AT 11:59 PM on October 31, 2015, about 20 nervous state officials and contractors hunched around computer terminals in a non-descript office in the Charles F. Hurley Building near Beacon […]
Posted inPolitics
MA congressional delegation itching for change
GOING INTO THE 2016 ELECTION, Republicans hold 246 seats in the House of Representatives. Democrats have 188. For Massachusetts, with its nine-member, all-Democrat delegation, this is a very bad situation […]
Posted inEconomy, Transportation
Pump slump good for government
FALLING FUEL PRICES may be wreaking havoc in oil-producing countries, but they are bringing smiles to drivers in Massachusetts and helping state and local officials keep their budgets in balance. […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Galvin’s low energy dampens voting innovation
SINCE THE FLORIDA election debacle in 2000, the United States has seen dramatic developments in the administration of elections. States are modernizing and innovating so much that the act of […]
Posted inHealth Care
Out-of-network billing surprises
MARYLOU SUDDERS, the state’s secretary of health and human services, was going through some paperwork for her late sister when she came across a bill from a doctor for thousands […]
Posted inEconomy
Unpaid internships – hard work, questionable legality
BOSTON-BASED ARGOPOINT placed an ad on Craigslist in February seeking a marketing intern of whom a lot seems to be expected. The ad specified nine required qualifications, including a strong […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Tea Party Ship loses $3.6m
THE BOSTON TEA PARTY Ships and Museum boosted revenue in its third year of operation, but continued to lose money, nearly $3.6 million. Damaged by fire in 2001, the museum […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
About that hot dog
Thomas Farragher at the Boston Globe wrote a column recently about the struggle between hospital haves and have-nots. He likened struggling community hospitals such as Holyoke Medical Center to a […]
Posted inPolitics
Last-minute mailer hits Rizzo in Senate race
MUCH HAS BEEN made of how the seven-way field in Tuesday’s special election Democratic primary for the East Boston-based state Senate seat breaks with tradition in several ways. It features […]
Posted inTransportation
T transit police take over parking probe
AN MBTA SPOKESMAN said the agency has now brought in the transit police to investigate parking fee discrepancies that came to light last month, but refused to provide more details. […]
Posted inTransportation
T board wants all-night service proposal vetted
THE MBTA OVERSIGHT BOARD on Monday put on hold a plan to add additional bus routes to mitigate the cancellation of late-night service until a more sweeping proposal for all-night […]
Posted inPolitics
The anti-tax woman goeth
WHEN COMMONWEALTH MAGAZINE arrived on the scene 20 years ago, Barbara Anderson’s most public battles were already behind her. It was in that context that founding editor Dave Denison paid […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
A Marblehead housewife
“Darn, I knew this was going to happen someday. If you’re reading this, I’m dead.” So begins Barbara Anderson’s final column in today’s Salem News. Anderson died Friday at the […]