Court reorganization, Beacon Hill’s legislative response to the hiring scandal at the state probation department, is noteworthy not only for the reforms it introduces – a new professional court administrator, […]
Court reforms winner’s and losers
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
Waiting for changes in the health care atmosphere
“A great deal has been said about the weather but very little has been done,” Mark Twain is said to have famously remarked. Sometimes, it feels like the cost of […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, Transportation
Murray calls Brown a ‘last-minute Larry’
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICELt. Gov. Tim Murray sharpened the Democratic Party’s attack on Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown on Wednesday, labeling him a “last-minute Larry” reluctant to lead on controversial […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
Youth violence takes an uglier turn
As Boston tries to figure out what went wrong at the recent Urban Music Festival at City Hall Plaza, major cities are facing fresh upsurges in another type of youth […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass., Vt. lead nation in individual premiums
The Kaiser Family Foundation has released a report analyzing health insurance premiums across the country. The report found that Massachusetts and Vermont lead the nation in heath insurance premiums, while Alabama, […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Mitt is not the lone star
Mitt Romney wasn’t on vacation yesterday, and he wasn’t shaking secretive rich folks for huge piles of cash. Instead, he was sweating it out in New Hampshire, a full month […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Obama’s narrative failing
Among liberals and Democratic-leaning voters, these have been dark days. The sense that their party — and their president — got played big time in the recent debt ceiling showdown […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Opinion
Brown letter prompts gas tax debate
Sen. Scott Brown’s letter to Gov. Deval Patrick I write today to express serious concern about recent reports that your administration is looking at raising the Massachusetts gas tax as […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Davey moves up
Gov. Deval Patrick’s appointment of 38-year-old Richard Davey as his new transportation secretary won strong press reviews, but it was unclear whether Davey’s skills in running the T would translate […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Uncategorized
Chiofaro and the BRA’s Meade are talking
The Boston Redevelopment Authority and developer Don Chiofaro are talking again. Chiofaro has been trying for years to redevelop the Harbor Garage on the Greenway into one of the city’s […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Speedy bridge repairs
UPDATE: This story has been updated to include comments from Governor PatrickTwelve down and two to go. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is currently on track to complete the replacement […]
Posted inPolitics, Transportation
Transportation czar hired from within
Gov. Deval Patrick today filled the post of transportation secretary by promoting from within, handing the job off to Richard Davey, the state’s rail and transit administrator and the MBTA’s […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
FAA funding debate may not fly with public
People over 30 remember that the ABC late night news show Nightline started under a different title — America Held Hostage — before morphing into its current incarnation. Each night […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
The Bulger defense takes to the airwaves
No, not that Bulger, the one facing 19 murder charges in federal court. UMass Boston political science professor Mo Cunningham was on Emily Rooney’s radio show yesterday talking about his […]
Posted inPolitics
4 in 10 think corruption is widespread in Legislature
The prevailing view among Massachusetts voters is that corruption on Beacon Hill is limited to a few isolated incidents, but nearly 4 in 10 voters think the problem is widespread, […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
The Bay State’s forgotten commuters
The MBTA sucks all the air out of the room when it comes to mass transit funding, leaving scarcely any oxygen for the commuters who rely on the state’s 15 […]
Posted inHealth Care
Group seeks repeal of health insurance mandate
Massachusetts Citizens for Life said today it intends to place a referendum question on next year’s ballot that would repeal the health insurance mandate contained in the 2006 state health […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Green Line delay
The Big Dig took 25 years to complete, from initial planning to final wind-down. It looks like one mass transit expansion that was tied to the highway project’s environmental permits […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Bicycling ahead
Boston is all atwitter with the arrival of Hubway, the new bike sharing program launched last week. The arrival of Hubway certainly is an important milestone in what has been […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
A lesson from Boston’s quest for a public water supply
When we look back to 2011 from some date in the future, it seems likely that people will wonder how there could have been such heated debate over the proposition […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
NPR puts a face on dropping out
In a five-part series this week carried by WBUR, National Public Radio examines the cost of dropping out of high school through the stories of five people scattered around the […]
Posted inArts and Culture, The Download, Uncategorized
Back to math class for the Globe
We’re all familiar with the warning to keep matches out of the hands of children. The same should often be said with respect to statistics and reporters. Today’s exhibit: The […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Did Mullan deserve a raise?
Secretary of Transportation Jeffrey Mullan could make a pretty good case for a raise. Mullan was making $160,000 a year in September 2009 as executive director of the Massachusetts Turnpike […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Debt clock ticking
This morning the washingtonpost.com’s debt countdown clock reads 5 days and 13 hours until a government default. The news media and politicians are wading into the murky water of what […]