Someone tuning in Tuesday night to the nation’s presidential race saw two frontrunners on television who couldn’t have been more different stylistically and politically. Hillary Clinton hosted a traditional campaign […]
Clinton v. Trump: What they said and how they said it
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Pike open-road tolling moving into place
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Massachusetts drivers can expect to see a lot more technology on the roads later this year when the Department of Transportation begins to roll out its […]
Posted inEnvironment
Beaton offers no commitment on offshore wind
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION’S POINT PERSON on energy told an offshore wind conference on Tuesday that the governor is very interested in the technology, but offered no commitments. Matthew Beaton, the […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Transit once again taking back seat to car
How strong is the grip of auto-centric thinking in the “progressive” state of Massachusetts? Pretty strong. Stronger, in fact, than you might think. In the state whose voters rejected increasing […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Baker’s Trump problem
Charlie Baker, like the Republican Party nationally, doesn’t know what to do about Donald Trump. Like a runaway train, Trump increasingly seems like he’s headed for victory in today’s Super […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
T oversight board hears cons, pros on fare hike
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Public comments skewed heavily against fare hikes ahead of an MBTA control board discussion on proposals that would raise rider fares an average of either 6.7 […]
Posted inEnvironment
House leaders: Price key in energy bill
HOUSE LEADERS, OFFERING UP SOME TANTALIZING CLUES about the omnibus energy legislation they are developing, said the bill will emerge sometime around mid-April and deal in some fashion or another […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
MBTA cancels late-night service
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AFTER NO DISCUSSION at Monday’s public meeting, the MBTA control board canceled extended-hours weekend service, authorizing the transit agency to terminate it by March 19. MBTA […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Missed meals
IN 2009, FIRST Lady Michelle Obama famously took a shovel to a plot on the White House lawn and turned it into a garden, announcing her intention that schoolchildren should […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Walsh’s friends with benefits
The Boston Globe on Sunday continued its fascinating look at people who are profiting from their friendship with Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, with an inside look at two political players […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Building an electric vehicle charging network
THE GOVERNORS OF 17 STATES, including Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, came together recently to forge an agreement to develop cleaner energy and transportation solutions for our nation. The pact, known […]
Posted inOpinion
Solar industry favors incentive reductions
The CommonWealth Back Story on Thursday (“Listen to what’s not said about solar” by Bruce Mohl) sheds important light on the heated debate over net metering and the fate of […]
Posted inThe Download
OMG: Whitey’s ‘solitary act’
The Boston Globe breaks a story that is fascinating on multiple levels about gangster James (Whitey) Bulger breaking a rule at his prison in Florida and being sent to solitary […]
Posted inEnvironment
Healey pushes for delay on pipeline contracts
ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY on Thursday sought to delay action on a bid by Eversource Energy to tap its electric ratepayers for money to finance a natural gas pipeline expansion […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Listen to what’s not said about solar
In the increasingly contentious debate over solar energy, listen to what’s not said as much as what is said. The state’s utilities and their business allies talk about the high […]
Posted inGambling, The Download
McHugh turns out to be right about Wynn
The seemingly never-ending battles between the proposed Wynn Resorts casino in Everett and its surrounding communities are no surprise to James McHugh, who in September 2014 predicted the infighting that […]
Posted inEconomy, Gambling
Fish calls casino ‘game-changer’ for MA
JOHN FISH, the developer chosen by Wynn Resorts to build the company’s $1.7 billion Everett casino, said on Wednesday that the ongoing delays in building the facility are reinforcing an […]
Posted inGambling
Curtatone invites Steve Wynn to call him
WYNN RESORTS on Wednesday ratcheted up the pressure on Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone to drop an environmental challenge to the company’s $1.7 billion hotel and casino in Everett, but Curtatone […]
Posted inEducation, State House News Service, The Download
Brockton charter is a first
Yesterday’s vote by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to approve two new charter schools and allow the expansion of three existing charters included one particularly noteworthy dimension: […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Time is not right for large T fare hike
THE MBTA ASKED THE PUBLIC what it thinks of the agency’s proposal to raise overall transit fares by as much as 10 percent and the cost of some passes by […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Rep: Millions in tax credits go out of state
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Massachusetts sends more than $5 million out of state every year to more than 20,000 people who live elsewhere but receive the state earned income tax […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
How ‘Spotlight’ impacted the legislative process
SPOTLIGHT, BOSTON’S OWN OSCAR NOMINEE FOR BEST PICTURE, highlighted the courageous work of Boston Globe reporters and editors that exposed the Catholic Church’s handling of clergy sexual abuse. The Globe’s […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Joyce says he won’t seek reelection
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A week after the FBI and IRS raided his Canton law office, Sen. Brian Joyce of Milton announced Tuesday that he would not seek re-election. The announcement […]
Posted inUncategorized
Galvin upholds Jones decision on privacy grounds
SECRETARY OF STATE WILLIAM GALVIN’S OFFICE has ruled that the Foxborough Police Department acted properly in denying on privacy grounds a public records request for a surveillance video of New […]