ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY says big disparities in prices paid to health care providers continue to hamper efforts to control health care costs, a situation that might call for more […]
Healey: “Stronger interventions” may be needed
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Hassan takes on Ayotte in NH
New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan made it official on Monday: She’s running for the US Senate seat currently held by Republican Kelly Ayotte, setting up a high-stakes battle next year between two […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker one of the experts consulted by Health Policy Commission
THE STATE’S HEALTH POLICY COMMISSION on Monday began taking testimony from a variety of experts on health care cost trends, and one of them was Gov. Charlie Baker. Baker, the […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
More charter schools are not the answer
IT SEEMS THAT the debate over charter schools is once again heating up in Massachusetts. Proposed legislation by Gov. Charlie Baker, a lawsuit on behalf of students denied charter seats, […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Patrick Kennedy comes clean
Patrick Kennedy wears his heart on his sleeve, his manner far more confessional than calculating. That said, his timing couldn’t be better. The youngest child of Ted Kennedy has written […]
Posted inThe Download
Bergantino steps down, NECIR stays on the case
Nonprofit investigative journalism is hard to do and even harder to finance over time. The New England Center for Investigative Reporting, based at Boston University, has found something like journalism’s […]
Posted inEducation, The Back Story
Dissecting UMass coach’s bonus-laden salary
DEREK KELLOGG, the UMass men’s basketball coach, is the highest paid public employee in Massachusetts, but you’d never know it looking at his base salary. Kellogg’s base salary is $225,000, […]
Posted inPolitics
Tough road ahead for Yancey
CITY COUNCILOR CHARLES YANCEY has represented Boston’s District 4 since the district was created in 1983. In every election since then — both preliminaries and finals — Yancey has taken […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Watching Teamsters reruns
Federal charges of strong-arming film producers to force them to hire local Teamster drivers. Threats of violence and vandalism to send a message to nonunion production companies. Ties to an […]
Posted inGambling
Boston, Somerville slam Baker on casino
THE CITIES OF BOSTON AND SOMERVILLE are claiming in court documents that the Baker administration violated state laws in awarding an environmental certificate to Wynn Resorts for its proposed $1.7 […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, Opinion
Helping low-income families out of poverty
BUILDING A PATHWAY that leads out of poverty and into economic self-sufficiency requires hard work, resilience and persistence. However, low-income families will do all it takes to reach economic independence […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
Councilors go to jail to hear ideas on reducing recidivism
Some 100 people went to jail yesterday to learn how to keep inmates from returning there once they get out. In a Boston City Council first, a committee convened a […]
Posted inEnvironment
Baker says state is at energy crossroads
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said on Tuesday that Massachusetts and the rest of New England are standing at a crossroads on energy, but it appears he wants to go down a […]
Posted inGambling, The Download
Gaming Commission faces its toughest decision
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission, facing perhaps its toughest decision ever, is being urged by two newspapers to give deference to the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe as the agency decides whether to […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, State House News Service
Baker administration, union target DCF together
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER plans in the coming months to implement changes at the beleaguered Department of Children and Families, part of an “unprecedented collaboration” between his […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Download
Carrying the Bay State’s water
Although Massachusetts is currently experiencing a moderate drought, the Bay State is unlikely to experience water problems of California-sized proportions. But the Bay State does have a major water problem, it’s […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service
Ash lends insight into Baker administration’s investment strategy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A TOP BAKER administration official on Thursday shared with lawmakers his philosophical approach to government investing, including a strategy that he said differs from the approach […]
Posted inThe Download
Crux of the coverage of the pope’s visit
Crux, the Boston Globe-owned vertical dedicated to all things Catholic, would likely not exist if not for the phenom known as Pope Francis. The worldwide interest in the man formerly known […]
Posted inTransportation
Massport says Uber is deceptive
Massport officials have demanded Uber explain a fee the company tacks onto its fares for rides to and from Logan Airport and to cease referring to it as an “airport […]
Posted inGambling
Gaming commission won’t alter course on tribal casino
The state’s Gaming Commission rejected a proposal by the developers of a Brockton casino plan to either expedite the licensing process or declare that it will issue a Southeast region […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
There, she said it again
How many times must Sen. Elizabeth Warren say she is not running for president? Apparently as often as people ask because, it seems, there is still a stubborn group who don’t believe […]
Posted inGambling, The Back Story
The big Indian gamble
Now that the federal government has authorized the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe to take more than 300 acres of land in Taunton and Mashpee into trust, the big question is whether […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Heads up, the MBTA is hurting, keep moving
The first report of the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board is a grim catalogue of the dire realities facing the transit system. Much is already known: operating expenses outstrip revenues […]
Posted inGambling
Judge skeptical of Boston’s casino challenge
BOSTON, REVERE, AND THE CASINO OPERATOR Mohegan Sun on Tuesday argued they should be allowed to continue their legal challenge to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s award of a Greater Boston […]