In the charged atmosphere surrounding the debate on race and policing in American cities, nuance and fresh perspective have often been in short supply. That made Ross Douthat’s column in Sunday’s […]
Conservative hypocrisy on police unions
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, Transportation
Dissecting the T’s land deal with Wynn
THE FIGHT for the eastern Massachusetts casino license ended more than seven months ago, but it feels like the battle is still raging. Boston, Somerville, Revere, and Mohegan Sun are all […]
Posted inEducation, Politics, State House News Service
Chief of Lowell campus gets top UMass job
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AFTER TOUTING HIS FUNDRAISING capabilities and pledging to make diversity a priority, UMass Lowell Chancellor and former Congressman Martin Meehan was chosen by the University of […]
Posted inArts and Culture, The Download
Iron Man run off by reporter
Robert Downey Jr.  was talking up the new Avengers movie in London when his TV interviewer suddenly started asking him questions about his past drug use, his politics, and his father. Downey […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
GOP not pushing for House roll calls
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE REPUBLICANS THIS WEEK repeatedly opted not to support requests for roll call votes on several controversial budget amendments, prompting one outspoken GOP rep to question […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
T report misses mark on absenteeism numbers
ONE OF THE MOST ALARMING figures to come out of Gov. Charlie Baker’s MBTA panel report earlier this month was 57. That’s the average number of working days that T […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion, Politics
Medical marijuana: What’s taking so long?
WHEN LISA COLEÂ puts her 6-year old-daughter Maddie to bed at night she worries that she might die. So far she has survived epilepsy, but her cognitive development is severely delayed […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Baker takes conventional approach to change
The honeymoon between Gov. Charlie Baker and the public is not at an end but the realities of the forced marriage between Baker and Democrats are starting to bubble up […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
We need a different type of power grid
FOR MANY NEW ENGLANDERS, last winter highlighted the drawbacks of our existing energy system. We are tired of cold seeping in around windows, power outages and work stoppages from storm-damaged […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
Baker puts convention center expansion on hold
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE PLANNED $1 BILLION expansion of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center has been frozen indefinitely by Gov. Charlie Baker, whose administration on Wednesday expressed deep […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, State House News Service, The Download
Boston asks the Baltimore question
A dead black man, peaceful protests, and then riots. The “could it happen here?” syndrome has gripped Boston again with the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore. Gray’s death in police custody […]
Posted inEducation, State House News Service
State takes control of Holyoke schools
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOLYOKE PUBLIC SCHOOLS will be taken over by the state, after the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted 8 to 3 Tuesday to authorize the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download, Transportation
Pushing back on Baker’s T reform
Lawmakers began pushing back against the Baker administration’s MBTA reform plan on Monday, questioning the need for a special T control board, raising doubts about unspent capital funds, and suggesting […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Regulatory review a dangerous path
NOW THAT SPRING has finally arrived in the Commonwealth, many of us are starting our spring cleaning – getting rid of clutter, washing windows and drapes, dusting away cobwebs. And perhaps […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Cunha probes BRA-Sox deal at glacial pace
BOSTON MAYOR MARTY WALSH said that if he were mayor in 2013 he would not have supported the agreement between the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Redevelopment Authority that […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, Transportation
Lawmakers skeptical of MBTA control board plan
Can the Baker administration address the MBTA’s problems using the tools that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation already has? That was the question that the Joint Committee on Transportation wrestled […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
House fends off film tax credit change
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH NO RECORDED VOTES and many members absent from the chamber, the House retained the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax along with state aid for the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
Sparing us further talk of Tsarnaev
For the first time today, jurors will begin to hear a defense of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. It will not be a legal defense that tries to plant doubt about his guilt […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Lowering math standards not the answer
IN HIS PERSPECTIVE PIECE in the Spring 2014 issue of CommonWealth (“To fill our talent pool, fix remedial education”), Higher Education Commissioner Richard Freeland expressed  concern at the number of college […]
Posted inOlympics, The Download
Globe portrays Lucchino as Boston 2024 savior
I’m not one to put much stock in newspaper conspiracy theories, but I must admit I was a little taken back by the front-page splash in the Boston Globe today […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
New England governors vow to boost natural gas capacity
THE NEW ENGLAND governors met behind closed doors on energy issues in Hartford on Thursday and vowed afterwards to work collaboratively to expand the region’s natural gas pipeline capacity. What shape that […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
Affleck blinded by his own star power
It is just too delicious a story to pass up: A tale of political correctness that ran off the rails, involving a couple of local guys with national star power […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, Transportation
Baker unveils MBTA reform legislation
GOV. CHARLIE BAKERÂ and Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack unveiled legislation Wednesday to create a fiscal and management control board to take charge of the crisis-ridden MBTA. The move comes one day […]
Posted inEnvironment
Don’t rely on foreign LNG
IT WAS JUST PAST MIDNIGHT during the winter of 2013. Winter Storm Nemo was barreling down on our region with fierce intensity, and demand for heat and electrical power strained […]