When it comes to ranking the interests of teenagers, political activism would presumably come low on the list, somewhere between heeding good advice and doing the laundry. But teens in […]
Lowell teens lobby for the 17-year-old vote
Posted inPolitics
Lawmaker using exile as platform
No one had to put Charley Murphy’s desk out in the hall, but they might as well have. In December, Murphy resigned as House majority whip, one step ahead of […]
Posted inEducation, Health Care, Transportation
Groups promote walking to school
Over the past 30 years, the number of overweight children in the United States has soared while the number of kids walking to school has plummeted. The two trends, and […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Money can’t buy Warren love
Elizabeth Warren has been battling months of grumbling from Bay State Democrats. One would think that a $7 million quarterly fundraising haul — a total that blows away rival Sen. […]
Posted inEconomy
Build it, they will come
James Rooney is telling lawmakers that if they build an addition on to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, convention groups will come. Now he’s got proof. Four groups have […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
What’s up with the sales tax?
Sales tax receipts normally behave like you’d expect them to: They rise when the economy is expanding, and fall when unemployment spikes. Data from across the country show that, historically, […]
Posted inPolitics
Eat your greens
The latest gamble by one of the country’s most successful, but aging, state lotteries is to use lifetime payouts to attract a new breed of bettors. While the Lottery has […]
Posted inEconomy
The stimulus
State officials gave a green light to the $29.6m North Bank pedestrian bridge because it was shovel ready. The bridge, which looks like a roller-coaster, runs underneath the Zakim […]
Posted inUncategorized
Finding her voice
Attorney General Martha Coakley at a financial literacy workshop at East Boston High School.Martha Coakley has a cold. The attorney general apologized for this fact as she took the […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Time out
Illustration by Eva Vazquez. DEAN WILLIAMSON, A high school senior from Worcester, came to the State House in late February hoping to see a debate in the House of Representatives. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Society’s lepers
on a chilly night in early February, the Massachusetts website that informs the public where the state’s most dangerous sex offenders are living indicates 41 of them are staying at […]
Posted inEducation
Log-on learning
Brynn Wetherbee, an eighth grader from Clinton, is a student at the Massachusetts Virtual Academy, the state’s first full-time online school. SCHOOL BOOKS, PAPERS, and two laptop computers are […]
Posted inEnvironment
May describes himself as Cape Wind agnostic
Tom May said he was an agnostic about Cape Wind before NStar and Northeast Utilities announced their planned combination nearly 18 months ago and little has changed now that he […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care
Calling for backup
the framingham police officer called for a different sort of backup. He was at a department store in a local mall where a woman suspected of shoplifting was acting strangely. […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
College exams
Two decades after the start of the standards and testing era in education, which vowed to hold public schools accountable for firm measures of student achievement, efforts are underway to […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, The Back Story
Renewable anxiety
UPDATE: The bill referenced in this story passed the Senate yesterday. For the full text of the bill, click here. To read about yesterday’s Senate session, click here. Lawmakers on […]
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
Health care diet
State lawmakers are putting the finishing touches on legislation to rein in the cost of health care, but the private sector isn’t waiting. Hospitals, insurers, and care providers are already […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion, Transportation
There are answers to T funding crisis
There are solutions. The MBTA funding crisis remains, even after action to raise fares and reduce service. The Patrick administration has been clear that there will be an even larger […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Senate president backs $20-$40m for training effort
Even though the numbers tell us that the Massachusetts economy is growing faster than the national average, we still have a long way to go, and the recently revised jobs […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
On the MBTA board, one is the loneliest number
During the MBTA board’s final meeting on fare hikes and service cuts Wednesday, board member Ferdinand Alvaro called out the one group of people with the power to put an […]
Posted inPolitics
Coakley says her intent is to seek reelection
Attorney General Martha Coakley said today she plans to seek a third term as the state’s top lawyer. “Right now, first of all my focus is on doing my job. […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
T approves average fare hike of 23 percent
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICEThe MBTA board voted 4-1 today to raise fares by an average of 23 percent, cut some service routes, and double the price of rides for disabled […]
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
Doctors groups: “First, do no waste.”
Have you heard there are issues with health care costs?From the debate about how to ensure everyone is insured to the tango over how to rein in the out-of-control overall […]