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 […]
Tackling the time warp at the T
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 […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Summer is no time to waste
BOSTON HAS SOME of the best summer programs in the country, but that is still not enough to ensure that all students have access to them. At the Boston Summer […]
Posted inEducation, State House News Service
Senate charter school effort runs off course
AS THE HOURS passed on Thursday night in the Massachusetts Senate, so may have any hope for charter school legislation that would avert a divisive November ballot question showdown. Senators […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Value should determine a drug’s price
WHEN YOU LAST PURCHASED A VEHICLE, did you ask the dealership how much your car cost to manufacture? Chances are, you were more interested in the car’s durability and safety […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Should we smoot the subways?
Recent debates about whose subway is worse, Boston or DC, got me thinking about Moscow’s subway. Moscow’s metro stations are palaces for the people, actual palaces. They are filled with […]
Posted inThe Download
GateHouse creates its own conflict
As the print news business continues to contract, there’s a push on by the suits in the corporate suites to find revenues wherever possible. That push can sometimes blur lines […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
T: Service cuts still an option
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MBTA, which recently voted to raise fares and made significant headway on its structural deficit this year, could look to service cuts in fiscal 2017 […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
And when we get behind closed doors …
Something highly unusual is happening up on Beacon Hill. A legislative conference committee, a group of six lawmakers tasked with finding common ground between the House and Senate on a […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
GE’s tax avoidance: “Imagination at Work”
The General Electric saga took another turn with reports on emails that circulated among city and state officials showing a fevered effort to lure the company, a push that involved […]