Officials at the University of Massachusetts Lowell hope to open a permanent branch of their campus in downtown Haverhill with a $2.5 million appropriation contained in a supplemental budget lawmakers […]
Here comes UMass Haverhill
Posted inPolitics
Paving the way for votes
CORRECTION: The original map that accompanied this story was based on a 2010 draft redistricting plan provided by the Lawrence city clerk’s office in error. The map and legend have […]
Posted inPolitics
Cashing in
CommonWealth has obtained all settlement and judgment payouts by the State Comptroller from Fiscal Year 2005 though the second quarter of Fiscal 2014. Click here for the data, which includes […]
Posted inHealth Care
Free agency
Dr. Richard Dupee chats with a patient after an examination. Dr. Richard Dupee is old school. Instead of rushing from one examining room to the next as fast as he […]
Posted inPolitics
Threading the needle
From the archives This article first appeared in CommonWealth’s Spring 2014 issue. Click here view more issues. CHARLIE BAKER BOUNDS into the Charlestown Knights of Columbus, where the once and […]
Posted inPolitics
Harsh history lessons
IT’S HARD TO HEAR as the chatter bounces off the bare tile floor of the crowded VFW hall in Ipswich. The Democratic town committee is holding its annual breakfast on […]
Posted inEducation
Doing well and good
CALL IT A textbook case of serendipity. A few years ago, Frank Ferguson, then in his early 80s, reluctantly began considering the fact that he would not be able to […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
DOR web problems force deadline change
State officials have extended the filing deadline for income tax filers because of problems with the Department of Revenue’s website, the latest technology glitch that is causing issues for state […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, Opinion
To fill our talent pool, fix remedial education
jonathan was trying. But his professor, Mike Williamson of Middlesex Community College in Lowell, could see the student’s frustration mounting as he worked, once again, to conquer Algebra 1. He’d […]
Posted inGambling, Opinion
Spring 2014 Editor’s note
the massachusetts gaming Commission has a tough choice to make in awarding the Greater Boston casino license. The two finalists, Mohegan Sun and Wynn Resorts, are both strong companies, pledging […]
Posted inOpinion
Spring 2014 correspondence and updates
South Coast Rail good for environment Your article in the winter issue of the normally balanced CommonWealth magazine (“South Coast Rail worries environmentalists”) misses the mark badly. It relies solely […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Veterans court
What makes specialty courts for drugs, housing, and now veterans so effective? Well, for the veterans treatment court, which is relatively new, they realized that there were things about veterans […]
Posted inEnvironment
We’re a better player (Full Transcript)
What follows is the complete transcript of a discussion with Mitchell Etess, the chief executive officer of Mohegan Sun, on March 11, 2014. CommonWealth: Steve Wynn says you have a […]
Posted inEnvironment
We’re a better player
commonwealth: Steve Wynn says you have an inherent conflict of interest owning a casino in Massachusetts that would be 111 miles away from your casino in Connecticut, in part because […]
Posted inGambling
Don’t bet against me (Full Transcript)
What follows is a transcript of an unedited interview with Steve Wynn of Wynn Enterprises on March 5 at his villa in Las Vegas. For the edited version, click here. […]
Posted inGambling
Don’t bet against me
Steve Wynn, in his Las Vegas villa, in front of Picasso’s The Sailor and a Giacometti sculpture. steve wynn is giving an art tour inside his villa, which is located […]
Posted inEducation
Back to school on the American Dream
Degrees of Inequality: How the Politics of Higher Education Sabotaged the American Dream By Suzanne Mettler New York: Basic Books 261 pages the american dream is in trouble. As our […]
Posted inTransportation
A can-do attitude
The Race Underground: Boston, New York, and the Incredible Rivalry that Built America’s First Subway By Doug Most New York: St. Martin’s Press 404 pages once upon a time, before […]
Posted inPolitics
The guiding hand
mindy myers has never called New England home, but she’s nevertheless left her political mark on the region. The 37-year-old Washington insider has run the successful election campaigns of three […]
Posted inPolitics
Boston’s challenge for the GOP
The partisan divide between cities and less urbanized areas is growing into one of the defining characteristics of Massachusetts politics. The suburbs are often held up as the place where […]
Posted inEducation, State House News Service
School chief offers online testing advice
When the Burlington schools were randomly selected to administer a paper and pencil version of the state’s new online standardized test, Superintendent Eric Conti had a better idea. He suggested […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Silver Line service needs to expand
The Silver Line has become one of the most important elements of the MBTA’s service platform, meeting the needs of a highly diverse population and providing an alternative mass transit […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Obama’s weak “movement” coattails
The front-page of this morning’s New York Times takes readers inside the campaign of Eric Lesser, a bright-eyed 29-year-old running for an open state Senate seat in Western Massachusetts. The […]
Posted inBy The Numbers, Politics
New poll contradicts earlier casino survey
Two recent Massachusetts polls on casino gambling produced very different results, but the difference may have more to do with the population being surveyed than any actual change in attitude. […]