Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. President Nixon is roaming the halls of the White House in the midst of the Watergate scandal when he is visited by […]
Dead presidents no laughing matter
Posted inEducation, Politics, The Download
The messy politics of school assignment
A recent Atlantic Cities look at school performance in Washington, DC, helps illustrate why school assignment in Boston is such a politically thorny issue to tackle. DC recently opened a […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion, Politics
Charter schools work
Charter schools are one of the great success stories of Massachusetts education reform, but thanks to a state law limiting enrollment, their growth is about to hit the wall. Last […]
Posted inUncategorized
Warren: Gateway Cities liked my vision of future
The state’s Gateway Cities were the key to Elizabeth Warren’s election victory last fall, and Warren thinks she knows why.In an interview with editors and reporters from the Gateway Cities […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Harvard, MIT win funding fight
In a victory for Boston’s big research universities, but in a move critics say supports a system that lacks accountability and squanders scarce public dollars, the Obama administration has backed […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
The failed Phoenix strategy
Coverage of The Boston Phoenix’s demise tended to focus on the glory days of the alternative weekly and the long list of reporters who got their start there before moving […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Gabriel Gomez: A man for all seasons
Are you a diehard Massachusetts Republican looking to cast your lot with a Senate candidate who shared your support for 2008 presidential nominee John McCain? Gabriel Gomez could be your […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
Goodbye coal
The Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset was sold at a fire sale this week, another indicator of just how quickly the energy market is changing in New England.Brayton runs […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download, Transportation
Patrick’s transportation tax plan going nowhere fast
The beat down on Gov. Deval Patrick’s $1.9 billion tax plan continues. A careful listener at Tuesday’s transportation oversight confab heard the sound of the solons of Beacon Hill unwilling […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Paul Ryan doesn’t get it
US Rep. Paul Ryan ran two races last fall. He went one-for-two. The House budget chief won reelection as a sort of consolation prize, but he lost the race that […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Nixon Peabody hires ex-Sen. Scott Brown
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICEEQUIPPED WITH FIRSTHAND knowledge of how government operates in both Washington, DC and on Beacon Hill, Scott Brown will offer political advice in his new job as […]
Posted inEducation, Politics, The Download
Keane’s wobbly shot across Connolly’s bow
Call it an early shot across the bow. Whether it was intended helpfully to steer a course correction or to serve as the first big blast in the sinking of […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion, Transportation
Speaker steps back, not forward, on transportation
The Speaker of the House took the transportation funding debate a step backward when he announced at a recent Chamber of Commerce breakfast that while he supported the governor’s focus […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
What is a ‘rigorous’ preschool curriculum?
SOME QUESTIONS HAVE ARISEN about the “rigorous curriculum” called for in President Obama’s proposal for universal access to preschool, starting with children from low- and moderate-income families. My own daughters […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
Touching moment at Fujita trial
One of the most touching moments in a courtroom occurred on Thursday when Malcolm Astley walked over and embraced the parents of the Wayland High football star who had just […]
Posted inPolitics
Cellucci joins Weld at ML Strategies
ML STRATEGIES, a government relations consulting group, added another former Massachusetts governor to its ranks, reuniting Paul Cellucci with his old running mate and political partner William Weld. The website […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
Lawyers, guns, and money
Four gun measures are slated to be voted on today by the Senate Judiciary Committee and the votes will give some clues as to the fate of tougher gun control […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, Opinion, Politics, Transportation
DeLeo backs smaller, narrower tax package
TODAY MARKS MY FIFTH SPEECH to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. It’s always a pleasure to address this group, mostly because you and I always seem to have […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service, The Back Story
EBT solution hiding in plain sight
State officials say the technology doesn’t exist to make sure users of Electronic Benefit Transfer cards, which took the place of paper food stamps, aren’t buying alcohol, tobacco, or Lottery […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Insurers oppose gun liability insurance
TWO GROUPS REPRESENTING most of the companies selling insurance in Massachusetts say they oppose a legislative proposal requiring gun owners to purchase special liability insurance. The two groups, the Property […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download, Transportation
March madness at the MBTA
No sooner than the MBTA averts catastrophe one year, authority officials begin telegraphing the next year’s bad news. The caterwauling over the budget deficit reaches a crescendo in the month […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Lesson from Cahill case clear as mud
The criminal saga surrounding former state treasurer Tim Cahill came to a close this week. The state Lottery’s former chief of staff, Alfred Grazioso, has agreed to a $10,000 fine […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
The crimes and punishment of Michael McLaughlin
IF YOU’RE GOING TO BE the sort of rebel who commits multiple felonies, be a rebel with a pol to trade. That’s the lesson of the deal Michael McLaughlin cut […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
End of the line for troubled Mass. virtual school
The state’s first and only virtual school is shutting down at the end of the school year, but few tears should be shed for the Greenfield-based online learning academy. The […]