The Massachusetts Democratic Party celebrated the demise of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ by putting Scott Brown on the defensive before what should have been a marquee moment for the Massachusetts […]
Mass Dems needle Scott Brown on gay rights
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Pay to play on Beacon Hill
The first indictments in the long-simmering scandal over rigged hiring at the state’s Probation Department are in. It’s no surprise that former Probation Commissioner John O’Brien has been brought up […]
Posted inPolitics
Coakley indicts O’Brien, Cahill aide
Indictments unsealed today by Attorney General Martha Coakley allege the commissioner of the state’s Probation Department and the one-time chief of staff to former state Treasurer Tim Cahill engaged in […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
New clues on charter school effectiveness
The verdict on charter schools has always been a mixed one. A major study in 2009, for example, by the National Center for Research on Education Outcomes, or CREDO, at […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Coakley indicts O’Brien, Cahill aide
Indictments unsealed today by Attorney General Martha Coakley allege the commissioner of the state’s Probation Department and the one-time chief of staff to former state Treasurer Tim Cahill engaged in […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Sealed indictment ‘highly unusual’
By Jack Sullivan Attorney General Martha Coakley said she moved to seal for months the indictments against the former head of the state’s Probation Department and the former chief of […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
The early education benefit
Much of the research on the long-term effects of high-quality early education has focused on children from low-income families. What about children from middle class families? A new working paper […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
Fiscal concerns trump political loyalties
The Massachusetts Legislature continued to put fiscal concerns ahead of political loyalties as the Senate voted 24-10 for a bill that would make new public employees work longer for less […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Analyzing the House vote on gambling
DeLeo tightens grip House Speaker Robert DeLeo flipped 64 former no votes into the yes column during last year’s gambling vote; they included several members of DeLeo’s leadership team, including […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Back Story
The casino debate’s Achilles’ heel
RICHARD MCGOWAN, a professor at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management and a leading researcher on gambling, has called compulsive gambling the “Achilles’ heel” of the casino industry. He’s right, […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Download
Wishing for the return of Luddites
Climate change skeptics are increasingly turning to a weapon many conservatives have over the years despised: Public record access. A suit in Virginia by a right-wing group to secure the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The other Warren moves to the head of the pack
It’s official: Scott Brown can start worrying.Elizabeth Warren is in. Prior to Warren’s announcement, smart money was on Brown to skate to re-election. After all, Brown is the most popular […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The casino bill’s bad press
As far as inevitable developments go, Beacon Hill’s consensus proposal to license three resort casinos and one slot parlor sure has a lot of questions hanging over it. When the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Warren off and running for Senate
Harvard professor and former presidential advisor Elizabeth Warren will announce Wednesday she is officially in the race to unseat US Sen. Scott Brown. Aides say she will greet commuters in […]
Posted inPolitics
Globe launches pay website
Boston.com splits in two today, spinning off BostonGlobe.com as a separate, subscription-only website costing $3.99 a week. It’s an attempt by the region’s largest news organization to begin collecting money […]
Posted inEducation
Middle class schools called underperformers
A new education report by the Third Way, a Washington, DC-based think tank, found that the nation’s middle class schools aren’t performing up to par. The report found that three […]
Posted inPolitics
Pierce leaving Globe after being disciplined
Boston Globe magazine writer Charlie Pierce, who needs little prompting to offer opinions on everything from sports to politics, is leaving for a job at Esquire magazine after the newspaper […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
The minority voting rights imperative
Dear Governor Patrick: Few Americans are more aware than you of the salient and inherent value of the right to vote and the importance and indispensability of representative democracy. Having […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Post 9/11 stress syndrome
The nation paused yesterday to reflect on the horrors inflicted a decade ago. The observance was moving, and it was hard not to be touched by it. The day of […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
DiMasi sentenced to eight years
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Former House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, once arguably the most powerful man in Massachusetts, was hit Friday with an eight-year jail sentence for his conviction on charges […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
The middle class candidate
When Elizabeth Warren was asked at one of her invitation-only, listening-tour house parties in Andover whether she was ready for the onslaught of scrutiny a potential US Senate candidacy will […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Opinion, Uncategorized
9/11 and the arts
The arts have always had a humanizing influence — rising above political differences to celebrate the transformative power of creative expression. I find myself reflecting on that as we observe […]
Posted inEducation, Politics, The Download
Patrick consolidates UMass control
Gov. Deval Patrick consolidated his control over the 19-member University of Massachusetts board of trustees by reappointing its controversial chairman and naming six others who are political supporters and Democratic […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Remembering 9/11
As the United States nears closer to the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the media has embarked on a collective national memorial in print, broadcast, and online. The […]