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 […]
Host status hinged on lease provision
Posted inBallot Questions, Politics, The Back Story
Wynn won’t fight casino ballot question
One big name – Wynn – is missing from the forces mobilizing to fight a ballot question that would outlaw casinos and a slots parlor in Massachusetts. Wynn Enterprises did […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Boston’s inspectional disservice
The recent Globe Spotlight Team series “Shadow Campus” painted a devastating and detailed picture of the scummy world of Boston’s apartment rental market catering to the thousands of college students […]
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 […]
Posted inGambling
Gaming panel denies Boston host status
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission adopted a narrow interpretation of state law on Thursday in voting 4-0 to deny Boston host community status for proposed casinos in Revere and Everett. The […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
T ridership drop in ’13 was anomaly
Commonwealth Magazine recently opined about the reason why the MBTA experienced a slight dip in ridership between 2012 and 2013 (Download: “Boston’s public transit conundrum,” March 12, 2014). Contrary to […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
State GOP getting rolled by its own boulder
Kirsten Hughes must, at times, feel like King Sisyphus. Though Hughes, the chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, has never been accused of being deceitful like the Corinthian ruler of […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Beacon Hill’s oyster runaround
Richard Cook is a fisherman who wants to build an oyster farm in Mashpee. His farm is in danger, not because he can’t get the right permits, which he can, […]
Posted inPolitics
Walsh-Wynn disconnect
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, […]
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, 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, […]