In early April, the Boston Globe splashed a report across its front page about excessive absenteeism at the MBTA. Citing pages in a soon-to-be-released report from an advisory panel appointed by […]
Crunching the T’s numbers
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, Transportation
Straus: Eliminating MBTA as separate agency should be long-term goal
THE BEACON HILL tug of war over the MBTA continues to pit those who support Gov. Charlie Baker’s call for a special fiscal control board against those who think an […]
Posted inThe Download
Olympic bid suddenly more sprint than marathon
True, the final decision about what city will host the 2024 Summer Olympics is still two years away. And even the sanctioning of Boston as the US Olympic Committee’s official […]
Posted inPolitics
House threatens legal action if Senate votes taxes
THE HOUSE AND SENATE may be headed for a bruising constitutional confrontation if the Senate next week approves budget amendments that raise or lower taxes. Senate President Stanley Rosenberg and […]
Posted inPolitics, Transportation
Everett T land appraised at $2.76m
WYNN RESORTS PAID $6 million earlier this year for three small, vacant parcels of MBTA land in Everett that were appraised in 2013 for $2.76 million, according to documents released […]
Posted inEconomy, Health Care
Partners reports $17m second-quarter loss
PARTNERS HEALTHCARE reported on Friday that the tough winter weather took a financial toll on the health care giant, with a steep drop in outpatient care contributing to a $17 […]
Posted inPolitics, Transportation
New CW video: MBTA control board — savior or sideshow?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoON8bqCCqY
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Globe suits come with deep pockets
There was a time not so long ago that newspapers, from big to small, had the resources available to ensure that state and local agencies complied with open meeting and […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Tribe: Pull plug on electric table games
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AS MASSACHUSETTS’ FIRST GAMBLING FACILITY prepares to open near the end of June, the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe is asking Attorney General Maura Healey to investigate gambling […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, Transportation
McGee hedges on overturning union contract awards
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE SENATE’S POINT MAN on transportation issues hedged on Thursday on whether lawmakers will give the Massachusetts Department of Transportation board the power to reject an […]
Posted inEducation
A provocative court challenge to charter cap
TWO MONTHS AGO, three prominent Boston lawyers made a big splash with news on the front-page of the Boston Globe that they plan to file a lawsuit challenging the state […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
The underinflated MBTA football
There should be as much handwringing about the MBTA as there is about Tom Brady and underinflated footballs. But there isn’t. MBTA riders are waiting on Gov. Charlie Baker and […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Grading Obamacare
IN MY EXPERIENCE, precious few Americans recognize the variety and depth of policies included in the Affordable Care Act. Over the past several months, we have seen numerous report cards […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Death by a billion clicks?
Many have been sounding the death knell for print and television news since the worldwide embrace of the Internet. Legacy media have been losing eyes and bleeding red ink as more […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download, Transportation
Senate guts Baker’s T plans
While the Legislature’s Transportation Committee was busy on Monday taking testimony on Gov. Charlie Baker’s MBTA reform bill, the Senate Ways and Means Committee was cutting to the chase and […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
It’s time for a clean energy two-fer
MASSACHUSETTS ELECTRICITY COSTS were well above the national average in 2014 for households and businesses, according to federal data. After paying $3 billion in excess electric costs in the winter […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, Transportation
Baker presses lawmakers for T control board
Gov. Charlie Baker turned up the pressure on state lawmakers, appearing at a joint transportation committee hearing Monday flanked by former Chelsea and Springfield officials who expressed strong support for […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Is bipartisanship killing the era of school accountability?
Partisan gridlock is something everyone loves to hate. The dysfunction in Washington underscores everything that’s wrong with governing today. That should make moments of bipartisan agreement something to celebrate, glimmers […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics
Senate President pushes drug bulk purchasing
CONCERNED ABOUT THE RISING COST of pharmaceuticals, Senate President Stanley Rosenberg is pushing a budget proposal that would direct the state to use bulk purchasing to negotiate lower prices with […]
Posted inOpinion
Setting our sights on 2024
THE YOUNGEST COMPETITOR in the Boston 2024 Olympics is 6 years old today. She is just starting to be singled out as exceptional, in a gym or in a pool, […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Here’s one problem Olympic planners can address
I RIDE MY BIKE a lot from the South End to Southie: under the Expressway (my real subject here), up to Dorchester Heights for the sweeping views (and a well-deserved […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
The Globe’s I-93 off-ramp
Boston 2024’s initial plan for transforming the area around UMass Boston into an Olympic Athlete’s Village included a new on-and-off ramp to I-93 that would have cut right through the […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
MBTA numbers do matter
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY STEPHANIE POLLACK this week defended the accuracy of the absenteeism numbers contained in the MBTA advisory panel‘s report, but she did so in a way that was odd […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
CW video: Opting out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC6C_NSWO-o Fordham Institute’s Robert Pondiscio and Massachusetts education blogger Jennifer Berkshire talk with CommonWealth magazine’s Michael Jonas about the opt-out movement in which students are refusing to take standardized tests.