Washington loves a good crisis, and it has had no shortage of them this year, from a near-shutdown of the federal government in April, to the 11th-hour negotiations over the […]
Next DC crisis: The Postal Service is broke
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Agents, insurers at odds over credit scores
The state’s automobile insurance companies and the agents who represent many of them are on opposite sides of a hot-button issue: Should the companies be allowed to consider a driver’s […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Scott Brown’s secret
Two stories tucked inside the metro section of The Boston Globe this morning help explain why US Sen. Scott Brown is going to be hard to beat. The first story […]
Posted inOpinion, Uncategorized
Memo to the Gang of Twelve (aka the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction)
For decades economists have chided the American people for spending too much and saving too little. Now we are told we should spend money to make it circulate while we […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Film tax credit: take two
There’s no denying the excitement when a major motion picture production comes to your neighborhood. Increasingly, in recent years, movie making has moved out of the Hollywood soundstages to our streets […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Justice sends clear signal to AT&T: No more T’s
The Justice Department’s decision to sue to disconnect the conversation between AT&T and T-Mobile is being hailed by many consumer advocates as a victory for competition even as it comes […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
Special needs misspending found
Auditor Suzanne Bump today released her audit of the embattled Merrimack Special Education Collaborative (MSEC), along with audits of the Southeastern Massachusetts Education Collaborative (SMEC) and READS Collaborative. The audits found serious […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
How do you solve a problem like Uncle Omar?
Jimmy Carter had brother Billy. Barack Obama has Uncle Omar. Carter’s headline-grabbing younger brother produced countless headaches for the White House as his elder brother fought for reelection in 1980. […]
Posted inEnvironment, Transportation
State, local officials prep for ethanol trains
Most of the ethanol that is mixed with gasoline in Massachusetts enters the state by ship or fuel truck, but that will change next year when Global Petroleum Corp. begins […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Feudin’ Republicans
The weeks leading up to Labor Day are slow ones on the presidential campaign trail. Real news is scarce, with candidates spending most of their time cozying up to well-heeled […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Blown out of proportion
With the benefit of hindsight, today’s Boston Globe headline gets it about right: “Tired Irene Slaps N.E.” That put a pithy — and accurate — coda on the killer-Hurricane-turned-whimpy-tropical-storm that […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Here comes Irene
Mother nature is pumping some life into the usually sleepy August news cycle. Earlier this week, an earthquake shook the East Coast and dominated front pages. But there’s nothing like […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Hurricane reading list
Stuck inside this weekend? Here’s some reading to get you through the hurricane and up to speed on Massachusetts policy and politics. CASINOS Beacon Hill leaders have written legislation that […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
CrazyKhazei like a fox?
CrazyKhazei has been outed and he’s none other than Eric Fehrnstrom, one of the architects of Sen. Scott Brown’s stunning victory last year and a key adviser to Mitt Romney’s […]
Posted inUncategorized
Psychologist withdraws SJC appeal on license
A female psychologist who had sex with a former patient is withdrawing her court appeal seeking the return of her license. Brookline psychologist Mary O’Neill acknowledged having a sexual relationship […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Back Story
Gambling bill could end up in court
The last time casino gambling legislation looked like a sure thing in Massachusetts, the gambling push devolved into back-biting and chest-thumping among the state’s top political leaders. That’s unlikely this […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Is Massachusetts ready for the Big One?
Will the aftershocks from yesterday’s 5.8 Virginia earthquake that rumbled through the Northeast Corridor get people thinking more seriously about natural disasters as more than comic fodder for bloggers and […]
Posted inTransportation
T’s salary structure has little flexibility
The choice of Jonathan Davis as the T’s interim general manager makes sense, but it demonstrates again how much of a straitjacket the transit authority’s pay structure is.Davis, the T’s […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Herald having difficulty covering itself
It’s a good thing we’re a two-newspaper town — especially when one of those two papers is the subject of a very public libel lawsuit. The Herald reports today that […]
Posted inEconomy
Have you noticed a change in downtown Boston?
In five months on the job, the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District says it has hauled away 32,000 pounds of trash and removed 1,500 graffiti sites. It has organized art […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Warren picks the medium for her message
As part of her exploratory moves towards announcing a Senate bid, Elizabeth Warren has been avoiding the press. Her statewide listening tour among potential supporters has been reported only by […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Uncategorized
Menino breaking even on golf courses
Kudos to the Menino administration for significantly narrowing the losses associated with operating Boston’s two municipal golf courses. Tax records indicate the Fund for Parks and Recreation, a nonprofit arm […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, The Download
Evergreen Solar, R.I.P.
The editorial obituaries for Evergreen Solar, which filed for bankruptcy protection this week, varied depending on the politics of the newspaper. The Boston Herald said the bankruptcy means the state’s […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download, Transportation
Crowd control in the Facebook era
The shooting of a homeless man by San Francisco transit police prompted reactions that have propelled Bay Area Rapid Transit into the history books. Last week, BART’s spokesman, (who apparently […]