Gov. Deval Patrick has decided to shake up transportation sector oversight with one, new seven-member state transportation board to replace the joint MassDOT/MBTA boards. But the real surprise of the […]
Board stiff at MassDOT
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service, The Download
Labor pain for Democrats
Chris Christie stormed into the New Jersey governor’s office by tossing verbal bombs at the state’s teachers’ union. Scott Walker caused a national sensation when he went after the collective […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, The Download
Health care reform: Not as unpopular as everyone thought
Obamacare was a big winner at the Democratic convention last week, where the law was praised and its most popular provisions highlighted. On Sunday, it received another (sort of) plug, […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Primary rundown
Overall, the Massachusetts primary was an incumbent’s paradise, but it had a few surprises at the local level and it set the stage for some interesting fall matchups, particularly the […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Back Story
DCR ups rent demands
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, under scrutiny for leasing state land at bargain-basement rates, is demanding a big increase in rent for a state-owned parking lot located in […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Elizabeth Warren dances in the shadows
Did you hear Elizabeth Warren’s passionate, pointed, and populist speech to the party faithful at the Democratic convention last night? And if you did, do you remember what she said? […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion, Politics
Patrick’s school story
Gov. Deval Patrick delivered a rousing speech on behalf of President Obama Tuesday night, with his gift for inspiring oratory on full display before a national audience. But when it […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Patrick unleashed
Expect some “very frontal attacks against Mitt Romney” from Gov. Deval Patrick, CNN’s Anderson Cooper told the network’s primetime Democratic National Convention audience shortly before Patrick took the stage in […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Lobbyists claim overreach by Galvin
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Prominent lobbyists have filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State William Galvin claiming the state’s chief lobbying enforcement officer overstepped his authority by trying to force […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Airing the dirty laundry: Walsh blunder shows Warren camp angst
Convention week was supposed to be Elizabeth Warren’s moment in the sun, a chance to fire up the base and deliver her populist economic pitch on a national stage. Instead, […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Brown’s tightrope walk
US Sen. Scott Brown, trying to keep his distance from the Republican Party, walked a tightrope this week as the GOP met in Tampa to nominate Mitt Romney for president. […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Back Story
Tax breaks on the hot seat
Tax breaks, for years a largely untouchable entitlement that Beacon Hill offered to businesses, are finally coming in for some serious scrutiny. The Patrick administration told state lawmakers this week […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Brown turned down RNC speech invite
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE US Sen. Scott Brown acknowledged for the first time on Thursday that he was asked by the Romney campaign to speak at the Republican National Convention, […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Selective lip service
The old saying goes that someone is entitled to their own opinion but not to their own facts. But the fact of the matter is most facts tossed around during […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Parks partnerships? Or raw deals?
Daly Field, state-owned parkland on the Charles River in Brighton, is up for grabs. With the help of some community leaders, Simmons College has succeeded in getting the Massachusetts Legislature […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Ann Romney’s fuzzy valentine
Touted as the not-so-secret ingredient in the campaign to humanize her husband, Ann Romney lived up to her advance billing and delivered a warm and personal speech about life and […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
What should Mitt do?
With a hurricane bearing down on New Orleans, Bill Weld offers up some advice to Mitt Romney today, one former Massachusetts governor to another. Weld wants to see Romney leave […]
Posted inEducation
Students stock up on iPads, ebooks
Trips to OfficeMax to fill up on pencils, filler paper, binders, and notebooks for the first day of school could soon go the way of the horse and buggy, replaced […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The GOP forecast
The Republicans lopped a day off their convention in Tampa because of Tropical Storm Isaac and now are praying Mitt Romney’s coronation isn’t eclipsed by video of wind, rain, and […]
Posted inPolitics
Political ad filings show what TV shows charge
This story is the third in a series on television ad buys on local stations. Earlier: Young Guns set sights on Tierney-Tisei race and Kennedy places orders for $450,000 in […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, The Download
Drill, baby, drill
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney unveiled a “drill, baby, drill” energy plan yesterday that he says will make North America energy independent within eight years. The plan would open up […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
A frustrating Dream
Faith in The Dream By Deval Patrick Hyperion, 100 pages In the mid 1960s, when he was about 10 years old and living in Chicago, Deval Patrick went with one […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Young Guns set sights on Tierney-Tisei race
A conservative Super PAC connected to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Tea Party favorite, is coming into town with guns blazing to try to oust embattled US Rep. John […]
Posted inPolitics
Kennedy places orders for $450,000 in TV ads
Joseph Kennedy III says he is focused exclusively on winning the Democratic primary for Congress from the Fourth District, but his campaign is busy planning for the general election. Two […]