It was always going to come to this, and yesterday, J.W. Carney made it official: Whitey Bulger’s upcoming murder trial will be as much about Bulger’s sordid relationship with law […]
Bulger shoots blanks
Posted inOpinion, Politics
What does Vidal Sassoon have to do with P3s?
Vidal Sassoon died this month, and that news brought me back to the 1980s somehow (or maybe it was the new version of “Dallas.” Yikes.) But it reminded me that […]
Posted inEconomy, Health Care, Politics, State House News Service
Senate passes food pricing bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE With just two senators present, the Senate on Monday morning approved a bill that food stores in Massachusetts have been pressing unsuccessfully for a decade. Under […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
School turnaround failure
Yesterday’s front-page Boston Globe story on English High School is a cautionary tale of what takes place under the broad banner of “school turnaround,” and of how ill-conceived reform efforts […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, The Back Story
The bottle bill blues
The state already has on its books a recycling law that assesses a 5-cent deposit on beer and carbonated beverage containers. Supporters have been trying for 14 years to extend […]
Posted inPolitics
Dems: Brown’s king, queen gaffe not unique
A video produced by the Massachusetts Democratic Party suggests US Sen. Scott Brown has been mis-speaking a lot when it comes to meeting with kings and queens. During a radio […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Sympathy for Sal
Former House speaker Sal DiMasi’s tragic story of failing to get prompt treatment from prison officials for tongue cancer is touching off a wave of sympathy, but it’s unclear whether […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, Transportation
RTAs strike back at T-only bailouts
State lawmakers outside Greater Boston, backed up by increasingly irate transit riders in their districts, are exerting a newfound assertiveness so they can get more of the state dollars that […]
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
Can health care reform recover?
Think of health care reform as a really sick patient in need of intervention. Better yet, think of it as a plane crash. In fact, think of it as 20 […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Davey makes pitch for infrastructure dollars
I know that I’m supposed to talk about the establishment and character of the State Infrastructure Bank we’re pursuing in Massachusetts, and I promise to do so while I’m standing […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Turner vindicated by SJC ruling
To many of the constituents he once represented, vindication came as a sweet balm late last week when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that convicted former Boston City Councillor […]
Posted inEducation
AFL-CIO reverses course on teacher bill
The Massachusetts AFL-CIO changed course on Wednesday and now says it supports a teacher evaluation bill that has been proposed as a way of avoiding a costly ballot question fight. […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Rubio, O Rubio, wherefore art thou, Rubio?
Yes, it was hard to believe that Marco Rubio was not being vetted as a vice presidential possibility by Mitt Romney. Romney revealed that the Florida senator is under consideration […]
Posted inEconomy, Transportation
Earmark amendments filed for bond bill
With the state House of Representatives expected to debate a transportation bond bill on Wednesday, lawmakers from both parties filed amendments earmarking state funds for projects in their districts. More […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Tribe and tribulation for Indian gaming
Since Gov. Deval Patrick signed a law authorizing casino gambling last year, a giant contradiction has been hanging over the race for the state’s three casino licenses. The law carves […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Patrick: a UMass theater major?
Gov. Deval Patrick was a lonely voice calling on UMass trustees not to approve a 4.9 percent fee hike for the coming school year. Though he seemed to be playing […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Gambling glitch
The gambling conglomerate bankrolling the efforts to build a tribal casino in Taunton has become embroiled in an apparent pay-to-play scandal in New York, a fact that sheds new light […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Rhode Island rolls the dice
If the tensions in Massachusetts over casino legislation seemed high, it’s really nothing compared to the time Rhode Island is having trying to stem the impending financial calamity that will […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Environment, Politics
Murray rips NRC, Entergy
As the lockout of workers at the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth continues amid stalled contract negotiations, Senate President Therese Murray had some harsh words Thursday for the Nuclear […]
Posted inUncategorized
Committee buries expanded bottle bill
Backers of expanding the state bottle bill, who insist they have the majority support in the state Legislature, will have to wait at least another year before the measure can […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Storrow Drive garage, park proposed
Clarification: Mass Eye and Ear says the profit on the existing Storrow Drive parking lot it leases from the state is less than $500,000 a year. CommonWealth reported it was […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Domain bonanza
The World Wide Web is getting crowded, or so they say, so the international nonprofit that governs the way the Internet operates decided to see if there was any interest […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Boston and Berlin can benefit from cooperation
Five years ago, the city of Berlin and several of its biotech businesses sent a delegation to the BIO International Convention, which was held in Boston that year. It was […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Debating the American Dream
Massachusetts and the nation are no longer teetering on the abyss as we were in 2008, but a deep sense of discomfort has settled in among us. Again and again […]