It’s the gift that keeps giving, the evergreen story that gets repackaged every so often and then met with varying degrees of outrage, some sincere and others as phony as […]
Residency ruse
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, State House News Service
Commission to comment on Partners-AG deal
The Massachusetts Health Policy Commission said on Wednesday it plans to file comments on Attorney General Martha Coakley’s agreement with Partners Healthcare permitting the company to acquire South Shore Hospital […]
Posted inPolitics
Boston takes pounding from Gaming Commission
Caption: Gaming Commission members from left: Bruce Stebbins, Enrique Zuniga, James McHugh, and Gayle Cameron The Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Wednesday unanimously rejected a request from Boston Mayor Marty Walsh […]
Posted inPolitics
Rep. Petrolati’s wife will testify about qualifications
US District Court Judge William Young worked out a deal on Wednesday that will allow Kathleen Petrolati, the wife of state Rep. Thomas Petrolati, to testify at the trial of […]
Posted inPolitics
Defense: Mulligan played patronage like O’Brien
An attorney for former Probation Department commissioner John O’Brien on Wednesday accused Robert Mulligan, the former chief justice of the Massachusetts Trial Court, of practicing political patronage, playing fast and […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service, The Download
Why Atlantic City casino woes matter here
Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen recently visited “Vegas-by-the-Sea” and found nothing good to say about Atlantic City’s casino experiment. In the time-honored tradition of journalists everywhere, Cullen tapped the consummate […]
Posted inPolitics
Wynn promises place to Suffolk Downs
If you lose your jobs, you can come work for us. That’s what Wynn Everett is promising Suffolk Downs workers as part of its “Suffolk Downs Employee Commitment.” Should the […]
Posted inPolitics
Shaky Ryan insists jobs used to help DeLeo
Defense attorneys on Tuesday raised questions about the accuracy of testimony by a top aide to former Probation commissioner John O’Brien, but legislative liaison Edward Ryan stood by his claim […]
Posted inPolitics
Witness for the prosecution
Robert Mulligan leaving the courthouse on Tuesday. Federal prosecutors at the trial of former Probation commissioner John O’Brien finally got their dream witness on the stand. After weeks of trying […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Income inequality, Beacon Hill style
It would be hard to swing a dead cat in the State House without hitting a member of the nearly all-Democratic Legislature who has railed in one form or another […]
Posted inPolitics
Witness: DeLeo got jobs to help speaker fight
The legislative liaison for former Probation commissioner John O’Brien testified Monday that O’Brien gave then-House Ways and Means Committee chairman Robert DeLeo 10 newly created positions to hand out to […]
Posted inHealth Care
Judge accepts comments, not intervenors, in Partners case
First Assistant Attorney General Christopher Barry-Smith appears before Suffolk Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders. A Suffolk Superior Court judge on Monday agreed to accept comments on a controversial antitrust consent […]
Posted inPolitics
Walsh calls off talks with Wynn, Mohegan
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is unilaterally calling off all mitigation negotiations with the two companies vying to build a casino on the city’s border until after the Massachusetts Gaming Commission […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Citizen legislators
Massachusetts lawmakers are spending less time than ever writing and debating new laws. And, in response, citizens and interest groups in Massachusetts are increasingly turning to the ballot to make […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
Globe Foundation gives full-page ad to Walsh
The Boston Globe Foundation donated a full-page ad in Wednesday’s newspaper to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh so he could thank the staff of the Boston Public Schools at the close […]
Posted inPolitics
Independents practice very different politics
CommonWealth editor Bruce Mohl with gubernatorial candidates (from left) Scott Lively, Evan Falchuk, and Jeff McCormick. The three independent candidates running for governor said on Friday that their candidacies are […]
Posted inPolitics
Aide describes pressure to hire rep’s wife
A former high-ranking official in the state’s Probation Department said Friday that a coworker pressured him to hire the wife of a prominent member of the House of Representatives. The […]
Posted inThe Download
SCOTUS sends Massachusetts back to the law books on abortion
In McCullen vs. Coakley, the US Supreme Court obliterates the 2007 Massachusetts law that set up a 35-foot buffer zone around abortion clinics. The justices, who usually stake out distinctive positions […]
Posted inPolitics
Boston firm seeks to halt Internet censorship
A Boston-based nonprofit is planning to use a $35,000 grant from the Knight Foundation to begin developing a system that would notify Internet users when their online activity is being […]
Posted inEconomy
Walsh gives Chiofaro an opening on garage
The view from Grain Exchange Boston Mayor Marty Walsh wasn’t in the room Wednesday afternoon, when the developer Don Chiofaro unveiled his latest bid at demolishing a hulking waterfront parking […]
Posted inThe Download
Court says pay to play in television
The mantra among Internet cognoscenti is “Information wants to be free.” What’s strange is that many who argue that often are looking to profit off that information even if it […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
A solar garden grows
Worth Robbins is like a lot of Massachusetts residents. He always wanted to put solar panels on his roof in Harvard, but he discovered that trees on his property and […]
Posted inState House News Service
Charter schools cry foul over new ed rule
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE State education officials on Tuesday approved a major change to the way the state evaluates the performance of school districts, drawing the ire of charter school […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
DeLeo says he didn’t trade jobs for votes
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE House Speaker Robert DeLeo said he never traded jobs for votes in 2007 and 2008 when court testimony indicates he offered lawmakers the opportunity to make […]