Attorney General Martha Coakley on Wednesday indicted a former official at Plainridge Racecourse in Plainville for stealing $61,000 from the harness racing track’s money room. The alleged theft occurred at […]
Coakley indicts man for Plainridge theft
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
The hidden injuries of long-term unemployment
The worst of the economic recession has thankfully passed. Massachusetts’ unemployment has fallen from a high of 8.7 percent in January of 2010 to 6 percent in April. But this […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
With casinos, Walsh knows the host gets the most
The last time Boston Mayor Marty Walsh ran up against a deadline for striking a peace deal with the two casino developers sitting just across the city’s borders, Walsh made […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
T keeps expanding but police don’t keep pace
As the geographical footprint of the MBTA keeps expanding, the resources of the T’s police force keep getting stretched thinner and thinner. The transit agency is preparing to expand west […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Middle-of-road Speaker takes on gun violence
John Rosenthal of Stop Handgun Violence at the State House press conference, flanked by House Speaker Robert DeLeo (left) and Rep. Harold Naughton Jr. of Clinton. House Speaker Robert DeLeo, […]
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
Hospitals play Game of Thrones
Partners HealthCare tried to acquire South Shore Hospital and state regulators cried foul. Lahey Health, meanwhile, is trying to gobble up Winchester Hospital and state regulators are practically cheering it […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Audio: Casino gaming splits governor candidates
The Democratic candidates for governor are split on casino gambling, with one opposed, one in favor, and two somewhat reluctant supporters. At a forum this week with four of the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion, Politics
The lessons of Bellflower
Fifteen minutes after the initial alarm was sounded for a report of smoke, the call went out: “Give me all the help you can get.” It was May 22, 1964, […]
Posted inEducation
Classroom unrest
IN A MOVE that has sent shockwaves across the state’s education landscape, the largest teachers’ union in Massachusetts has elected a new president who staunchly opposes many of the cornerstones […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Martha Coakley and “the inevitability thing”
The ghosts of 2010 are rattling their chains. There are so many problems plaguing Attorney General Martha Coakley’s run for governor that it is difficult to know where to begin. […]
Posted inPolitics
Gaming panel restarts Wynn-Mohegan feud
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is calling for some changes in the state gaming law, and doing so in a way that appears to buttress Steve Wynn’s claim that Mohegan Sun […]
Posted inThe Download
Drug scourge reemerges
With the passing of the 60s and 70s, it seemed the attention paid to narcotic use, if not the actual use itself, died off, giving way to stories of recreational […]
Posted inPolitics
Ex-Sen. Hart’s memory nonexistent on Probation
Former state Sen. John (Jack) Hart Jr. testified on Wednesday at the trial of former Probation commissioner John O’Brien that he could recall almost nothing about the work he did […]
Posted inPolitics
W. Ma. Probation official testifies to hiring irregularities
A Probation Department official from western Massachusetts testified on Wednesday about hiring irregularities and possible nepotism at the agency, but his testimony was undercut by his inability to remember events […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion, Politics
Candidates take note: NH backs clean energy
New polling data from New Hampshire suggests that New England residents strongly favor clean, renewable energy and will pay more on their utility bills to help finance its development. The […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
State House on trial
Every weekday, for the next month or two, former state Probation Department boss John O’Brien will walk into the federal courthouse in South Boston and listen as prosecutors try to […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
State House on trial
Every weekday, for the next month or two, former state Probation Department boss John O’Brien will walk into the federal courthouse in South Boston and listen as prosecutors try to […]
Posted inPolitics
Retired judge, prosecutor parry over son’s hiring
A combative and evasive retired state judge insisted his son was “uniquely qualified” for a position as a probation officer even though he had trouble holding down other jobs and […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Commencement (non)-speakers
College commencement season is upon us, the time for freewheeling and provocative pronouncements from graduation speakers, fitting capstones to an unique period of time in life when we’re afforded the […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics
Coakley-Partners deal
Attorney General Martha Coakley approved a deal on Monday that allows Partners HealthCare to complete its acquisition of South Shore Hospital in Weymouth and two affiliated physician practices as long […]
Posted inPolitics
Probation job was answer to woman’s pension play
When Patricia Mosca came knocking on Senate President Therese Murray’s door, Murray’s staffers knew what Mosca was after: a bump in her state pension. Murray’s office went along with the […]
Posted inPolitics
Probation defense: What did Judge Mulligan know?
Defense lawyers for former state Probation Department boss John O’Brien fought hard last week to bring patronage-laden court officer hirings into play at O’Brien’s federal corruption trial. On Monday, O’Brien’s […]
Posted inPolitics
Senate President pushed Probation on son of judge
Senate President Therese Murray personally tracked the progress of a controversial patronage hire within the Probation Department, at one point leaving a handwritten note on a staffer’s desk, asking, “How […]