Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is trying to ramp up last-minute negotiations with the area’s casino developers, but so far he’s not having much luck with Wynn Enterprises. Walsh says Wynn, […]
Walsh-Wynn disconnect
Posted inEducation, The Download
Colleges forced to confront sexual assaults
At the end of April’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month, an unidentified Mass.gov contractor tweeted, “Sexual assault is always avoidable.” After a torrent of criticism, Gov. Deval Patrick labeled the message […]
Posted inPolitics
SJC judges testy on gaming petition
CORRECTION: The original story noted that the repeal would end simulcasting of horse racing. It would actually only end simulcasting of greyhound racing, and would leave all laws relating to […]
Posted inPolitics
Judge rules patronage not a crime
The federal judge in the trial of former Probation commissioner John O’Brien and top aides set a high bar on Monday for prosecutors, saying he will instruct jurors at the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Did Walsh mislead the governor?
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh won a seven-day reprieve from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on his host community casino quest, but he appears to have pulled it off by misleading the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
The legal fight
Links to all the briefs filed with the SJC can be found here. As the Supreme Judicial Court prepares to hear arguments on whether a question repealing the state’s casino […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Baker camp warming to idea of primary face-off with Fisher
Back in March, former governor Bill Weld was arguing that Charlie Baker, the onetime Weld aide and presumptive Republican gubernatorial nominee, had nothing to fear in a potential Republican primary […]
Posted inPolitics
Probation hiring files of Murray disclosed
As part of its racketeering and bribery case against former Probation commissioner John O’Brien, the US Attorney’s office is seeking to enter into evidence files detailing how Senate President Therese […]
Posted inPolitics
Walsh wins delay
Massachusetts Gaming Commission members Stephen Crosby ( center), James McHugh (left) and Gayle Cameron (right) answer questions after hearing. CORRECTION: The original story indicated that Matt Cameron, a lawyer representing […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Opinion
Turning brown to gold
For years, the corner of Gerrish Avenue and Highland Street in Chelsea was a weed-strewn lot. The neighborhood had a long industrial past, once home to box factories, a machine […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Gearing up for interstate tolling
If the Obama administration has its way, a prospect far from assured, states soon will be able to toll interstate highways. A US Department of Transportation proposal, embedded in the […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Is DCF really stretched thin?
Many of the stories covering the recent tragedies on the watch of the Department of Children and Families tend to portray an agency stretched thin by budget cuts over the […]
Posted inPolitics
Walsh: No regrets on pro-casino vote
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh says he doesn’t regret his votes as a state rep to open the state to casino gaming even as he presses the Massachusetts Gaming Commission for […]
Posted inThe Download
Giving up the battle at DCF
As Howie Carr constantly points out, you know someone is on their way out once they start being described as “embattled.” And it was hard to find anyone in the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The GOP’s demographic challenge
Republicans nationally have been licking their chops over the prospects of midterm election gains, with doubts about the Affordable Care Act the lead card the GOP will play in many […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
DeLeo, Murray call on Roche to resign
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE As House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray called for the immediate resignation of Department of Children and Families Commissioner Olga Roche on Monday, […]
Posted inPolitics
Henriquez stuck in jail as deadline comes
Former state rep Carlos Henriquez, who was expelled from the House in February after an assault and battery conviction, will not be out of jail in time to gather and […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Lantigua takes on Devers
The colorful and controversial William Lantigua made it official: He intends to run for his old House seat representing Lawrence as an independent. He still has to submit 150 voter […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, State House News Service
Medical marijuana patients concerned about delays
Medical marijuana advocates Dr. Mark Weiner of Sharon and Eric McCoy of Boston. On a day when attention was focused on legislation that would legalize and tax recreational marijuana, advocates […]
Posted inEducation
Charter formula change draws fire
CHARTER SCHOOL LEADERS Leaders are sounding alarms over proposed changes in state education regulations that would shift a number of low-achieving school districts out of the group of communities where […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
The payoff from patronage
Both sides in the upcoming racketeering trial of top former Probation Department officials generally agree that agency jobs were steered to those with political connections on Beacon Hill. One side […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
For Walsh, two strikes on transparency
Marty Walsh was elected Boston’s first new mayor in 20 years on a platform that included a vow to increase transparency in City Hall. But on two important issues that […]
Posted inPolitics
Mohegan Sun rebuts Boston host status
Mohegan Sun executives say they are eager to work cooperatively with Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, but insist his efforts to win host community status for their proposed casino are off […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Climate change fight requires practivism
What does it take to change the world? Almost four decades after the phrase “global warming” was first used, and eight years after Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, you could […]