THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE came to rest on the big money for Massachusetts two years ago when Gov. Deval Patrick signed legislation ushering the Bay State into the casino era. […]
Springfield bets on sibling rivalry
Posted inCriminal Justice, Economy, Politics
What happened to Johnny Ramos is criminal
JOHNNY RAMOS SAYs he did “a lot of stupid things” when he was a teenager growing up in Boston’s South End. He says he never used drugs or carried a […]
Posted inEnvironment
William Koch
CommonWealth’s Bruce Mohl interviewed William Koch by phone from his office in West Palm Beach on Feb. 20. Koch was with Brad Goldstein, his media representative. What follows is a […]
Posted inEnvironment
Jim Gordon
This slightly edited interview with Cape Wind’s James Gordon took place at his office at the Park Plaza Office Building in Boston on Feb. 28 at 10 a.m. in the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Secondhand chemo
Workers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center prepare chemotherapy drugs in a clean room.NOT TOO LONG ago people smoked everywhere and gave little thought to how their smoke might […]
Posted inEnvironment
Look who’s talking
AFTER SPENDING 12 YEARS and $65 million trying to bring wind turbines to Nantucket Sound, Jim Gordon thinks the end of his struggle is in sight. “This is the year,” […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
DC lobbyists Maxed out
It’s become a well-worn phrase in coverage of Washington doings to refer to the “revolving door” that connects Congress and K Street — the new shorthand for DC lobbyists. The […]
Posted inPolitics
Capitol turnover
MASSACHUSETTS REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS have for decades enjoyed key committee and leadership posts in Congress because of their seniority, and the state has reaped the benefits, both in funding from […]
Posted inPolitics
Where the votes are in Boston
THE 2000 CENSUS CATEGORIZED BOSTON as a majority-minority city for the first time in its history, but this new classification has not been the primary cause of a changing political […]
Posted inPolitics
Is two years too short?
THIRTEEN TIMES between 1983 and 2010, John Barrett III ran for mayor of North Adams and won. But Barrett said the constant drumbeat of running for election in the […]
Posted inPolitics
Gateway insights
Urban Mayor–Making a City WorkBy Jack Yunits with contributions from Lees YunitsBoston, Acanthus Publishing396 pagesTHE COMMONWEALTH’S GATEWAY CITIES have enormous potential, which explains why state officials, after years of neglect, […]
Posted inEnvironment
One on One
Your report on rising sea levels suggests Boston dodged a bullet with Hurricane Sandy. The report says if Sandy had come ashore five hours earlier, at high tide, 6.6 percent […]
Posted inEducation
Teacher lessons
A CENTRAL FOCUS of education reform efforts over the last decade has been the premise that classroom teachers are the single most important in-school variable affecting student learning. The idea […]
Posted inEnvironment
No help needed
AS RESIDENTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH of Massachusetts, we live in a state where we spend more than over $22 billion a year on energy, about $18 billion of which we […]
Posted inEnvironment
Subsidize hydro
AS MASSACHUSETTS POLICYMAKERS seek to move today’s economy beyond the legacy of fossil fuel combustion, we’re forgetting our heritage. New England was a world-class industrial power in the early 19th […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service
Tax battle joined
THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE late Monday night approved a $500 million transportation tax plan by a 97-55 margin, eight votes shy of being able to override Gov. Deval Patrick’s promised veto. […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Charter numbers game
Some district public school leaders and union officials are seizing on the fact that charter school waiting lists are double counting some kids, thereby overstating the demand for seats at […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Uncategorized
Women lean every which way
Nearly a century after women got the right to vote and several generations after they became mainstays in the workforce, it seems society – at least the male half – […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Aloisi to lawmakers: ‘I give up. You win’
DEAR MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE: When I was Secretary of Transportation in 2009, I thought I could use my many years of good will and fundraising on your behalf to leverage support […]
Posted inEconomy
Fear and loathing on the tax trail
THE MEN IN expensive suits came by the hundreds, but as they ambled into the ballroom at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel on a cold March morning, they already knew […]
Posted inPolitics
Bacon Hill
Prosecutors said former Probation Commissioner John J. O’Brien was successful in getting his wife a job at the state Lottery because the office of then-Treasurer Tim Cahill was just as […]
Posted inEconomy
Patrick threatens veto, calls DeLeo-Murray plan ‘pay more get less’
THE CONFRONTATION between Gov. Deval Patrick and Beacon Hill’s legislative leadership is boiling over. House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray came together this week to deliver a […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
The true measure of gun violence
Gun owners staged a large rally outside the State House yesterday. The show of force came as state and national lawmakers move toward tightening restrictions on firearms, whether through background […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
State getting some leases in order
IT HAS TAKEN THREE YEARS, but state officials are finally putting the finishing touches on a plan to start charging yacht and boat clubs fair rents for the public […]