As was the case a couple of hundred years ago when the question centered on a struggle for sovereignty from royal rule, in the battle for same-sex marriage rights, it […]
Another shot heard ‘round the world
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Stop covering politics as if it’s a game
IT’S OVER! Why can’t political campaigns be more fun? Where’s the drama? Where are the hero’s that enthrall and excite us? Why are we so turned off, tuned out, and […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Brown biding his time?
Massachusetts Democrats ousted Scott Brown by turning the election calendar against him. The short calendar between Brown’s January 2010 election and his November 2012 defeat meant that the state’s dominant […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Most pollsters nailed it
It’s almost scary how accurate the polls were in the US Senate race between Democrat Ed Markey and Republican Gabriel Gomez. Markey defeated Gomez by 10 points, and polls on […]
Posted inPolitics
June 25th Boston mayoral forum transcript
This is a transcript of a June 25th Boston mayoral forum with Boston City Councilors John Connolly and Charles Yancey and state Rep. Martin Walsh. Candidate Charles Clemons did not […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
How low can voter turnout go?
Will Boston Bruins fans be so distraught that they won’t drag themselves to their neighborhood polling place to vote in the US Senate special election? Apparently, according to Secretary of […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
Naughton should back guns owners insurance
REP. HAROLD NAUGHTON of Clinton, who is hosting hearings around the state on gun control issues with the goal of proposing legislation later this year, is focused on the tail […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
Group pushes school autonomy
Twenty years ago this month, as Tom Menino was about to take office as Boston’s acting mayor, the state adopted the landmark 1993 education reform law. It was, in many […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The vast nothingness of special elections
What if they held a special election and, relatively speaking, nobody came? It could happen. It actually could happen tomorrow with the uninspiring special Senate election that has been relegated […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Reform zoning now
Massachusetts has always been a source of innovative ideas that change the world, from the revolutionary principles that gave birth to democracy to the technological concepts that founded Facebook. But […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
A Lowell charter’s odyssey
A new Lowell charter school found a temporary home at a Greek Orthodox church after being turned away by two other churches that apparently saw the charter as a competitive […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Challenging the myth of college sports
Odds are unless you’re a devout follower of college basketball, you probably barely remember Ed O’Bannon. That, however, could change if the former member of the 1995 UCLA national champion […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Naughton’s gun tour
The school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, sparked an intense national debate about gun control, but the issue soon faded in the face of a split Congress. The debate has also […]
Posted inEconomy, Transportation
Pioneer: T needs to cut repair costs
A CONSERVATIVE-LEANING THINK TANK on Wednesday said the MBTA could save half a billion dollars over the next 10 years by curbing high wages at its maintenance facilities and […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, State House News Service, The Download
Good, better, best, and “wow” on casinos
If casino developers don’t “wow” the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, they might as well pack up and go home. The commission released its mammoth 236-page Phase 2 application Tuesday. Developers will […]
Posted inEnvironment
Cape Wind takes on Danish flavor
CAPE WIND IS STARTING to take on a Danish flavor, with several of the offshore wind farm’s major contractors hailing from Denmark and now a pension fund from the country […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Lawrence parking “vulnerabilities”
State and federal investigators have been probing irregularities in Lawrence’s public parking lots for months. They arrested one parking lot attendant, Justo Garcia, an ally of Mayor William Lantigua, earlier […]
Posted inUncategorized
Marijuana sellers, buyers seek lower fees
The people who plan to sell marijuana under the Massachusetts medical marijuana program are urging state officials to lower the fees they would be charged or base them on the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
Ambivalent views on spy program
How do Massachusetts residents feel about the government surveillance program capable of gathering information on every phone call and Internet computer click made in the country? Somewhere between ambivalent and […]
Posted inEnvironment
H2O Canada
All of the New England states except New Hampshire plan to jointly explore ways to import large amounts of Canadian hydro-electricity into the region, an acknowledgment that hydro power is […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
Bad chemistry
Three violent crimes in Brockton, including a day-time murder, are being linked to individuals released from prison because of the Annie Dookhan scandal at the state drug lab. Dookhan is […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Smart growth
The number of Americans with college degrees continues to grow, according to new federal census data. And Massachusetts, as expected, continues to lead the way with the highest percentage of […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Gomez: No tea for me, thanks.
In the 2010 special US Senate election, enthusiasm from the nascent Tea Party movement helped propel Scott Brown past Martha Coakley. In the 2013 special election, the Tea Party is […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Obama stumps for Markey
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICECritiqued by his Republican opponent as a symbol of the dysfunctional Washington D.C. establishment, Congressman Ed Markey enjoyed the backing of the nation’s top Democrat Wednesday as […]