Beverly Scott, the outgoing Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority chief, will move into one of the state’s top transportation positions as the MBTA general manager/rail and transit administrator in December. […]
Atlanta’s Scott chosen as next MBTA chief
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Personality politics
The latest installment of the Raybo-hearts-Scotto show couldn’t have taken place at a more appropriate spot than Sullivan’s at Castle Island. Ray Flynn, the former Boston mayor, is hot-dogging the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story, Transportation
Pragmatic approach at authorities
The Patrick administration is taking a pragmatic approach to the salaries being offered to candidates for the long-empty top jobs at Massport and the MBTA, paying more money than the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Edge to Warren
The media consensus seems to be that Elizabeth Warren handled herself well in her first debate against US Sen. Scott Brown, although neither candidate scored a decisive victory. Warren was […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Former prosecutor to head drug lab case review
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Former Suffolk County prosecutor David Meier will lead a new central office set up to review the thousands of criminal cases potentially tainted by a state […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Throwing MCAS results into the mix
From reading headlines and stories across the state, one would think the “M” in MCAS stands for “mixed.” The state released the results of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Lantigua Agonistes
With the Bay State riveted on Mitt Romney’s floundering fortunes and Scott Brown’s declining poll numbers, the biggest municipal scandal in recent years is playing out quietly in the Merrimack […]
Posted inPolitics
Romney’s “givers and takers” moment
Mitt Romney’s intemperate remarks about the divide between givers and takers is now threatening to send his already teetering presidential campaign into a tailspin. The secret video recording of remarks […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Warren bounce
A Suffolk University/WHDH-TV poll released yesterday became the third survey in recent days to show Democrat Elizabeth Warren ahead in her US Senate showdown with incumbent Republican Scott Brown. Suffolk’s […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care, State House News Service
Department of Public Health Commissioner resigns
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Tendering his resignation, Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach on Monday accepted responsibility for the failed oversight of a state crime lab chemist accused of mishandling evidence […]
Posted inEducation, State House News Service
MCAS scores trending up
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICEStudents’ standardized test scores are trending upward and the persistent achievement gap between certain demographic groups is closing, according to the Massachusetts Department of Early and Secondary […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Uber cab controversy
The Boston cab industry has never been much of a sympathetic character. So it was no surprise when the state’s August attempt to shut down the cell-phone-based cab service known […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Steward’s finances
Steward Health Care is tight-lipped about its finances, but a picture of the private, for-profit hospital chain’s first year in business is starting to emerge. The Boston-based company in 2010 […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, The Download
Fishing disaster
The US Commerce Department declared the New England groundfishery a disaster, a designation that could lead to $100 million in federal aid for fishermen and more reductions in catch limits. […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, Transportation
Glynn to be tapped for Massport head
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE The lengthy search for a new chief executive of the Massachusetts Port Authority has narrowed in on former health care executive and MBTA chief Thomas Glynn, […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service, The Download
The (rich) kids are alright
To paraphrase Mark Twain’s weather observation, everyone talks about the middle class but no one seems to be able to do anything about them. The U.S. Census Bureau released a […]
Posted inPolitics
Tierney has surprising lead over Tisei
A new poll shows that while US Rep. John Tierney and his Republican challenger Richard Tisei are holding their own among partisan voters, Tierney leads the race by 7 percentage […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Board stiff at MassDOT
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 […]
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? […]