THE HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE issues a report setting the stage for a Thursday vote to expel Rep. Carlos Henriquez from the body. The committee voted 9-1 that House Speaker Robert […]
House panel backs Henriquez expulsion
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Bay State is a bottom-dweller on budget planning
What do Massachusetts and Alabama have in common? They both are lousy at using the best tools available to craft state budgets. That news may come as a shock to […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
House panel backs Henriquez expulsion
The House Ethics Committee issues a report setting the stage for a Thursday vote to expel Rep. Carlos Henriquez from the body. The committee voted 9-1 that House Speaker Robert […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The declaration of independents
Massachusetts has a large, and growing, block of independent voters. They call out like a siren to ambitious outsider politicians, ambitious individuals who set out to vanquish partisan politics. These […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The whirling revolving door
What do you call a long-time congressional staff member? A chump. Lawrence Lessig , the Harvard law professor who has been on a crusade against the corrupting influence of money […]
Posted inEducation
Pricey foreign study
James Romanelli, a senior at Boston College, paid full BC tuition last year, plus the cost of housing, to spend a semester at the Copenhagen Business School. So he was […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
44 gun recommendations
The committee created by House Speaker Robert DeLeo to explore ways of reducing gun violence in Massachusetts made 44 recommendations on Monday, most of them nuts and bolts proposals to […]
Posted inThe Download
Tsarnaev and the death penalty
Attorney General Eric Holder approved a motion for prosecutors to seek the death penalty for alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzokhar Tsarnaev, triggering an emotional debate inside Massachusetts about the ethics […]
Posted inThe Download
Trying to Patch the sinking news lifeboat
Soccer is the game of the future, its deriders have long said, and always will be. After the latest news that Patch, the pet project of AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Panagiotakos’s lobbying fees soar
Steven Panagiotakos, once one of the state’s most respected lawmakers, is quickly becoming one of Beacon Hill’s top lobbyists. Records on file with the Secretary of State’s office indicate Panagiotakos’s […]
Posted inPolitics
DeLeo’s probation problem
Laughter and applause rained down on the House chamber on Wednesday. Beacon Hill lawmakers sent one of their own off in style, welcomed a new member to their ranks, and […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, State House News Service, The Download
Political fallout from Jeremiah Oliver case
Gov. Deval Patrick pronounced the state of the Commonwealth “strong,” but the state of the Department of Children and Families is anything but. Patrick won’t be able to revel in […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Economy, Politics, State House News Service
DeLeo rules out new taxes, fees
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE House Speaker Robert DeLeo on Wednesday ruled out any new taxes or fees in the budget his deputies will produce this spring, essentially nixing Gov. Deval […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service, The Download
Fall River goes all in – again
The last time a casino deal blew up on Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan, he shrugged it off as the cost of rolling the dice. Flanagan’s gambling had nearly blown […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Lynn police cleared in fatal shooting
The Essex District Attorney says the fatal shooting of an Iraqi war veteran in September by Lynn police was justified because the man, Denis Reynoso, had grabbed an officer’s gun […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Nose to the grindstone
A week ago, Tom Friedman diagnosed the problem with American education and the reason why US kids are falling farther behind on international benchmarks of achievement: We’ve become a nation […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
No systemic problems at DCF, Patrick says
Gov. Deval Patrick said Monday that the problems facing the Department of Children and Families in the wake of the Jeremiah Oliver case are “not systemic” and that the ongoing […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Probation listicles all the rage
Lawyers for embattled former Probation Department chief John O’Brien have long claimed that the federal racketeering case against the one-time Beacon Hill fixer represents an attempt to criminalize patronage. They’ve […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Voting reforms are long overdue
In an era of voting rights retrenchment – where electoral freedoms are steadily eroding nationwide – Massachusetts lawmakers on Beacon Hill are on the verge of doing the unexpected: Passing […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Henriquez, in cuffs, testifies at State House
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICEWith his lawyer asserting his innocence and suggesting the all-white jury that convicted him was not a “jury of his peers,” incarcerated state Rep. Carlos Henriquez was […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
Does Evans have a violence-reduction strategy?
The appointment of Boston’s new police commissioner, William Evans, has generated positive reaction, especially because of his vow to strengthen connections to residents through things like more walking beats in […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Back Story
Meade sought legal advice on Red Sox invite
On June 25, 2012, Peter Meade got to do what most Boston fans only dream of doing: He filled in as the public address announcer at Fenway Park as the […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Beacon Hill exodus
Despite comfortable perches on Beacon Hill, state lawmakers are fleeing the Legislature at a fast clip. Leading the outmigration are several top lieutenants to House Speaker Robert DeLeo. Lynn Democrat […]
Posted inGambling, Opinion
Revere-only casino insults E. Boston
I’ve been supporting the community activists in East Boston who are working mightily to oppose the proposed Suffolk Downs casino. These activists are not simply saying “no” to the casino […]