If the recent report on secrecy in the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the subsequent suspension of engineer Helmut Ernst tell us anything, it’s that access to public records and […]
The Big Dig’s paper trail problem
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
A woman’s place is in the House
When Niki Tsongas , the Lowell-based congresswoman, testified recently before the Massachusetts Special Joint Committee on Redistricting, she caused a kerfuffle. As the only woman in an otherwise all-male and […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Not your father’s Kennedys
With the passing of Ted Kennedy, it appears the family’s well-known ability to circle the wagons and protect the familial legacy as well as each other may also be slipping […]
Posted inHealth Care
Health compromise becomes law
What started as an all-out battle over municipal health care reform ended today in a show of kumbaya at the State House as the proposed reforms became law. Gov. Deval […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
SJC decries ‘catastrophic’ budget
The state’s highest court yesterday called on Gov. Deval Patrick to freeze political appointments to the judiciary and announced the consolidation of nearly a dozen courts because the fiscal 2012 […]
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
All quiet on the union front
Just a couple months ago the leaders of public sector unions in Massachusetts were up in arms about attempts on Beacon Hill to curb their collective bargaining rights. They threatened […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
The real “culture of corruption”
There has been plenty of talk in the wake of the Sal DiMasi verdict about whether or not Massachusetts has a “culture of corruption.” The DiMasi situation is the standard […]
Posted inHealth Care
Municipal health care refinements approved
Gov. Deval Patrick successfully tweaked the Legislature’s municipal health care reform package to buttress his claim that Massachusetts is demanding $100 million in givebacks from public sector unions in a […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Closed door democracy
The political class in Massachusetts, birthplace of the American Revolution, has a rather inglorious record when it comes to practicing some of the basic tenets of the open democratic government […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Unions, think-tank spar in Connecticut
Public sector unions in Connecticut filed a complaint last month with the state’s attorney general alleging a conservative think tank located in Hartford unlawfully tapped into the state’s email system […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service, The Download
Patrick’s health care dilemma
It’s been a week now, and as of this morning Gov. Deval Patrick still hadn’t decided whether he’s going to go along with a provision in the Legislature’s budget that […]
Posted inEconomy, The Back Story, Transportation
Garage gamesmanship
The MBTA is facing a $45 million budget deficit just days into the new fiscal year as a real estate deal the transportation agency is counting on to balance its […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Hitting the jackpot
Tomorrow night’s Megabucks jackpot is an estimated $4.3 million. If you’re under 40 and not feeling particularly lucky but still like the sound of that much money, you could run […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA offers a premium deal in Braintree
Premium can mean a few things. As a noun, it could be an added amount one pays over and above a standard rate for an item or service. As an […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
Contract dispute
when officials at the Clarence Edwards Middle School in Charlestown needed someone to work as a lunch and hall monitor, they did what often happens in the Boston Public Schools. […]
Posted inEconomy
Divining Devens
massachusetts hasn’t created a new municipality in nearly a century, since East Brookfield and Brookfield divorced in 1920. Five years ago, it looked like Devens would displace East Brookfield as […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service, Transportation
Delays in service
late into a May evening in New Bedford, commuters told three stone-faced federal officials about their daily 90-minute plus treks up Route 24 to Interstate 93 toward Boston, a stressful […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Split Governor’s Council confirms picks
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE With Gov. Deval Patrick on hand to ensure a tiebreaking vote, Rep. Christopher Speranzo won a lifetime appointment today as clerk magistrate of the Pittsfield District […]
Posted inPolitics
Salary divide
It’s 7:30 a.m. The MBTA’s Richard Davey is standing just inside the Roxbury Crossing station, sipping his coffee while getting an earful from a woman worried about security on Orange […]
Posted inPolitics
Liquor battle brewing
massachusetts has long guarded its unique rules for regulating alcohol, so state officials weren’t happy last year when the federal appeals court in Boston struck down a 2006 state law […]
Posted inEnvironment
Cracks in cap and trade
the same carbon tax concerns that have stymied climate change legislation in Washington are now starting to gain some traction in the Northeast. Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Criminal capacity
gov. deval patrick wants to close two prisons this year to save money, but the Legislature isn’t enthusiastic about the idea, partly because of fears about violence stemming from cramming […]
Posted inPolitics
Public records makeover
CommonWealth long has focused on the need for greater transparency in government. We’ve highlighted the needless secrecy surrounding the recipients of state tax credits and the shortcomings of the financial […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Politics
Morphing Malcolm
Malcolm X: A Life of ReinventionBy Manning MarableNew York, Viking, 594 pagesReviewed by Kevin C. Peterson during the final weeks of his life, Malcolm X, the voluble and acerbic American […]