HE HAS SAID it is the most important hire he will make as mayor, and that was certainly not lost on Marty Walsh as he wrestled with which of the […]
Marty’s man
Posted inPolitics
Fired Elder Affairs worker sues state
A FORMER LONG-TIME compliance worker at the state Executive Office of Elder Affairs is suing the agency, alleging it violated his First Amendment rights and the state Whistleblower Act by […]
Posted inThe Download
Globe flip flops on film tax credit
The Boston Globe editorial page executed a Romneyesque flip-flop on the state’s film tax credit this week. Five years ago, the Globe published a rousing editorial opposing a bid by […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
House paid Boston law firm $262,000
THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE paid $262,000 to a Boston law firm in 2013 and 2014 for work on ethics investigations. House officials are declining further comment on how the money was […]
Posted inThe Download
Curt Schilling hits cyber-bullies with some chin music
Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling can do no wrong in some folks’ eyes around here for his performance in the team’s 2004 World Series win that fulfilled a generations-old […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, Opinion, Politics
MTA chief calls Baker budget troubling
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER’S proposed budget is troubling for its lack of vision and absence of meaningful investments in education and other vital community services. Although some of the governor’s ideas […]
Posted inOlympics
Olympics once-in-a-century opportunity
Remarks prepared for delivery to the Boston Municipal Research Bureau. As I said last month, this isn’t Loon Mountain, it’s the city of Boston. But with 100 inches of snow […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion, Politics
Baker misses budget opportunity
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER missed an opportunity on Wednesday to play the role of an educator and explain how and why he is trying to rein in state spending. His press […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
The MBTA’s rebate hot potato
A rebate program for the MBTA’s winter nonperformance snafus might make commuters happy, but does it make fiscal sense for a functionally insolvent agency to hand back money? Jonathan Davis, […]
Posted inGambling, Transportation
Wynn pays MBTA $6m for land
THE MBTA IS $6 million richer after selling a 1.75-acre parcel of land to Wynn Resorts for the preferred entrance to its planned $1.7 billion casino-hotel complex in Everett. The […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
What a ‘soft receivership’ for T would mean
LAST WEEK PIONEER Institute called for the MBTA to be placed in “soft receivership.” The purposes of this policy brief are to consider Massachusetts’ experience with two recent receiverships, and to […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Baker proposes T funding hike
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE TAXPAYERS WILL further subsidize the struggling MBTA under Gov. Charlie Baker’s budget proposal, which calls for a $64.5 million increase in funding for the agency, […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Baker’s movie play
Gov. Charlie Baker is demonstrating that he can roll out a budget very skillfully. Using the Boston Globe as his message delivery system, the governor this week has unveiled a […]
Posted inEconomy
Baker pushes family homelessness program
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER says he plans to make a big dent in the number of homeless Massachusetts families by taking $20 million now being used for shelter and hotel-motel stays […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Boston’s African American leaders
PHOTOJOURNALIST DON WEST teamed up with former Boston Globe national editor Ken Cooper on Portraits of Purpose: A Tribute to Leadership to document the careers of Boston-area African American leaders […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Marty’s moment of reckoning
When all the snow has melted and the debates are done about space-saver policies and how well — or poorly — the city did at digging out from under it […]
Posted inEnvironment
Cape Wind developer not giving up
CAPE WIND DEVELOPER Jim Gordon spoke at a rally on behalf of Cape Wind on Saturday and insisted his 14-year quest for a wind farm in Nantucket Sound is not […]
Posted inThe Download
Globe cuts political losses
The print version of the Boston Globe cut its political losses today, abandoning its stand-alone Friday Capital section and tucking the slimmed-down remains into the back of Metro. For those […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
The price of leadership
CORRECTION: Several corrections were made to the original version of this story, all of them dealing with the pay of leadership positions in the House. Specifically, Rep. Jonathan Hecht’s leadership […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
The hazing of Frank DePaola
“Thank you, sir, may I have another?” That is the infamous response from a pledge to the Omega fraternity in the movie Animal House as he gets whacked repeatedly with a […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Baker pushes regional energy approach
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION said on Wednesday it plans to work with utilities in Massachusetts and neighboring states to purchase renewable energy and expand the region’s natural gas pipeline infrastructure. In […]
Posted inEnvironment
Cape Wind developer mum on project
THE DEVELOPER OF the troubled Cape Wind project quoted Mark Twain on Wednesday, saying reports of his death are greatly exaggerated. But he had very little to say about efforts […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Waging the war on poverty
IN 2015, THERE are emerging signs of bipartisan energy to address poverty. While contemplating a third presidential run, Mitt Romney vowed that a potential campaign would include a pledge to […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Battle for MBTA’s soul underway
As the task to slice and dice the MBTA’s historic collapse gets underway, a battle royale has erupted anew between two camps of transportation influencers who can be loosely described as […]