In recent weeks, students at Harvard have stepped up the pressure on the university to divest its $32.3 billion endowment – the largest in the world – from the fossil […]
The numbers behind Divest Harvard
Posted inEducation, The Download
Norma Rae goes to Northeastern
Part-time faculty at Northeastern University narrowly voted to form a union on Thursday, giving momentum to a movement that appears to be picking up steam in Boston and across the country. […]
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 […]
Posted inPolitics
Court officers fair game at Probation trial
The federal corruption trial of John O’Brien and two of his top aides has focused so far on patronage at the Probation Department, but the defense is about to broaden […]
Posted inGambling, The Back Story
Gaming Commission: Boosterism or bias?
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is taking a lot of heat from Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and others for failing to be objective, but the perception of bias may stem from […]
Posted inGambling, The Download
Casino bidders credo: by any means necessary
True, Jean-Paul Sartre, who is credited with coining the phrase in his 1948 play Dirty Hands, had loftier ideas in mind — the abolition of class distinctions. So, too, did […]
Posted inGambling, State House News Service
Crosby says “no reason” to resign
Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby said Thursday that there is “absolutely no reason on earth” for him to resign. The commissioner, who has been under fire for his decision […]
Posted inPolitics
Probation intervention helped Lawton along
Two officials affiliated with the Plymouth County Probate and Family Court testified on Thursday that the Probation commissioner’s office intervened in a 2008 hiring process for a job as a […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Embrace our differences, but eliminate inequality
Our cherished local accent – known as the Boston accent, really more a northern New England accent – was put on display recently by MassDOT marketing officials who brought attention […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
MBTA fare hike: too bad, so sad
When it comes to the MBTA, squeaky wheels don’t get the grease. The Boston Globe reports that the MassDOT board of directors plans to increase fares Wednesday despite reams of […]
Posted inPolitics
Another Probation official made cash donation to Petrolati
For the second day in a row, a witness in the federal corruption trial of former top Probation officials testified he made what appears to be an illegal cash donation […]
Posted inPolitics
Ex-Probation aide says jobs curried favor with lawmakers
Federal prosecutors began tying the string together on their case that former Probation commissioner John J. O’Brien and two top aides ran a rigged hiring system, getting a former chief […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
State GOP puts its money where its mouth is
The Massachusetts Republican Party is on the verge of throwing its financial weight behind Charlie Baker’s gubernatorial effort, even as Baker fends off a primary challenge from Mark Fisher. The […]
Posted inPolitics
Senator’s alleged girlfriend ‘woefully inadequate’
A woman described by a federal prosecutor as the girlfriend of Sen. Mark Montigny of New Bedford received the highest score in the final interview for a probation officer’s job […]
Posted inPolitics
Petrolati donations raise legal issues
A Probation official testified in federal court on Tuesday that he gave two, $100 cash contributions to his superiors at the agency to pass on to Rep. Thomas Petrolati of […]
Posted inGambling, The Download
Sausage-making and casino licenses: Butchery at work
You’d be hard-pressed to find another state law and initiative that has been botched the way the rollout of the casino gambling law has been. From voters negating lawmakers’ intent […]
Posted inGambling
Tackling tie votes
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission, left with an even number of members after Chairman Stephen Crosby recused himself from votes on Greater Boston casino licensing issues, is going to try to […]
Posted inPolitics
DeLeo not told he will testify on Probation
House Speaker Robert DeLeo said on Monday said he has received no formal indication that he will be called as a witness in the trial of former Probation commissioner John […]
Posted inPolitics
Young reels in lawyers in probation case
The third day of the federal racketeering trial of former Probation Department boss John O’Brien opened with US District Court Judge William Young turning aside a bid by O’Brien’s lawyers […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Previews of Probation attractions
The opening statements of the prosecutors and defense attorneys in the federal corruption trial of former Probation commissioner John O’Brien and two of his top aides offered a tantalizing preview […]
Posted inPolitics
Whose ox is being gored?
Former commissioner John J. O’Brien and two top deputies, Elizabeth Tavares and William Burke III, may the ones being called to answer in federal court for a rigged hiring scheme […]
Posted inGambling
Host status hinged on lease provision
Mohegan Sun beat back a bid by Boston to win host community status for a Revere casino in part by removing a provision from the secret lease agreement between Mohegan […]
Posted inPolitics
Reading between the lines
Opening statements in the long-awaited corruption trial of former state Probation commissioner John J. O’Brien were eye-opening not only for what the lawyers said but for what they didn’t say. […]
Posted inGambling
Crosby recuses himself from Boston actions
Citing questions raised about his behavior and judgment, Stephen Crosby, the chairman of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, said on Thursday that he would no longer take part in the agency’s […]