TOM BRADY MAY HAVE scored big with his $170,000 speaker fee from Salem State University but school officials insist the appearance by the Super Bowl MVP was a winner for their […]
Brady speech a win for Salem State
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
Baker gets pressure on paid parental leave
Message received. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, Attorney General Maura Healey, and state Treasurer Deb Goldberg are all offering employees paid parental leave, so now Gov. Charlie Baker is indicating that paid parental […]
Posted inGambling
Boston, Wynn clash on paperwork
THE CITY OF BOSTON AND WYNN RESORTS are now fighting over whether the Las Vegas company filed a required application with the municipality’s Public Improvement Commission to make road improvements […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
SJC paves way for income inequality debate
Now that the Supreme Judicial Court has cleared the way, the House and Senate (and Gov. Charlie Baker, too) can start debating income inequality in Massachusetts and how to address […]
Posted inPolitics
SJC sides with Senate on money bill
THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT on Monday unanimously ruled that the House budget proposal is a money bill under the state constitution, a decision that means the Senate was legally within […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Part 3: Energy rules need to change
Third of three parts OUR ENERGY SYSTEM is evolving and will look very different in years to come from what we have today. Electricity produced by solar, wind, and other […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Hillary Clinton goes back to the future
Hillary Clinton laid out the themes of her presidential campaign in their fullest form yet with her Saturday speech on New York’s Roosevelt Island. The location was meant to evoke […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
A grand bargain on medical device tax
ONE PROPOSAL TO CHANGE the Affordable Care Act would repeal the law’s 2.3 percent tax on sales of medical devices. On June 2, the House Ways and Means Committee voted, once […]
Posted inThe Download
Thank God we’re a two-paper town
There are two ways you can tell the newspaper tong war is ramping up between the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald. They ignore each other. Or they don’t. And both […]
Posted inOpinion, Uncategorized
The right question on Iraq
‘IF YOU KNEW then what you know now, would you have invaded Iraq in 2003?” Other than revealing basic IQ or blind family or party loyalty, is this question really […]
Posted inGambling, State House News Service
Crosby denies wrongdoing at Gaming Commission
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GAMING COMMISSION CHAIR STEPHEN CROSBY, under scrutiny for a potential conflict of interest during the awarding of an eastern Massachusetts casino license, adamantly denied any wrongdoing […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
What’s a money bill?
THE LEGAL BATTLE between the Massachusetts House and Senate over the constitutional authority to raise taxes in this year’s budget hinges on interpretations of a 137-year-old Supreme Judicial Court advisory […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Leveraging student debt as a campaign issue
In 2008, young voters by all accounts were the key to sending Barack Obama to the White House. While their numbers slid back in the election four years later, they […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
Massachusetts can lead in inmate college education
MORE THAN 20 YEARS AGO, Congress voted to make prisoners ineligible to receive Pell Grants, the funding program aimed at low-income college students. This summer the Obama administration expects to […]
Posted inGambling, The Download
Casinos, recusals, and the optics of ethics
During the Monica Lewinsky scandal, President Bill Clinton famously told a grand jury, “It depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is.” To paraphrase Clinton, Massachusetts Gaming Commission chairman Stephen […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, State House News Service
Sentencing reform takes over Beacon Hill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE STATE’S TOP JUDGE AND PROSECUTORS, who are sparring over sentencing reform proposals, brought their battle to Beacon Hill on Tuesday as activists flooded the capitol […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Honeymoon over for Walsh?
The honeymoon may be nearly over for Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. When he took office in January 2014, Walsh was an awe-struck neophyte whose thrill at being mayor was charming. […]
Posted inGambling, State House News Service
Walsh calls for reset on Boston casino license
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE BOSTON MAYOR MARTY WALSH, who is waging a legal battle against state gambling regulators, insisted again on Monday that the state may have to push the […]
Posted inArts and Culture, The Download
Throwing the book at the library president
It looked like a good-news story to revel in. The valuable pieces of artwork that were presumed missing from the Boston Public Library weren’t missing after all. They were apparently […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Part 2: What states are doing on energy
Second of three parts IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, policymakers across New England may commit tens of billions of ratepayers’ dollars to gas pipelines and electric transmission that will shape […]
Posted inThe Download
Media glare a tempting lure for academics
“Publish or perish” has long been the axiom in academia, where having research work appear in prestigious scholarly journals is often the yardstick used to determine tenure and other types […]
Posted inEconomy, Olympics, Politics
New Bedford proposed as site of Olympic sailing
THE GROUP ATTEMPTING to bring the 2024 Summer Olympics to Boston said Thursday that New Bedford will serve as the venue for Olympic and Paralympic sailing if their bid is […]
Posted inTransportation
Baker rules out new taxes for the T
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Thursday announced an $83 million winter resiliency plan for the MBTA, urged the Legislature to pass a separate package of management reforms, and ruled out new […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
Baker administration revises T absence rate
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION is now acknowledging that the MBTA absenteeism information cited in a report by the governor’s special advisory panel probably overstated the problem and that the reported comparison […]