Citing attorney-client privilege, a quasi-public state authority is refusing to disclose how much it is spending on legal fees fighting a $562,000 severance payment to an official who lost his […]
Is the HEFA severance fight worth it?
Posted inEconomy
Many states trimming their film tax credits
Massachusetts is aggressively courting Hollywood productions with its film tax credit, but the movie-making tax incentives have lost some of their luster in other states, according to a new study […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Download
Storm cells
For years now, the topic of where news will come from has been feverishly debated as technology has enabled the average person to be eyewitnesses-cum-street-reporters of breaking news. Yesterday’s tornadoes […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Scholarships that keep students in the high school race
High school graduations are around the corner, and that means education officials are preparing thousands of scholarships to award to graduates. They are like volunteers at the famed Boston Marathon […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Lantigua’s brazen fundraisin’
Last year, Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua spent more money on printer toner ($1,545) than he spent on political catering ($1,525). In fact, according to reports on file with the state […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, The Download
Frank credit
In his column yesterday, the Herald’s Howie Carr skewered US Rep. Barney Frank for recommending his then-partner Herb Moses for a job 20 years ago at Fannie Mae, a housing […]
Posted inEconomy, The Back Story
Coakley’s regulatory retreat
In an embarrassing retreat, Attorney General Martha Coakley has quietly withdrawn regulations she proposed more than a year ago to protect auto insurance consumers. A three-paragraph message posted on the […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Patrick refused to honor DiMasi Cognos request
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE When the Boston Globe began publishing stories in 2008 questioning Speaker Salvatore DiMasi’s role in the passage of a state contract for Cognos, the speaker met […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
The Download: Mediscare
Say what you will about Sen. Scott Brown, but our man in Washington certainly knows what makes a good political commercial and he wanted no part of it. Brown was […]
Posted inEnvironment
Christie pulling NJ out of cap and trade
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says climate change is real, but nevertheless he is pulling his state out of a regional carbon cap and trade system because he believes it […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The Download: The GOP’s alienation program
Instead of coming to grips with the changing face of America, the Republican Party appears to be dead set on alienating every minority group in the country. Mother Jones writer […]
Posted inEducation, Politics, The Download
The Download: Pawlenty fever? Try golf clap
On the same day Tim Pawlenty made his presidential candidacy official, Mitch Daniels said he was out of the race. Daniels was polling right next to Pawlenty – low-single digits […]
Posted inPolitics
Salesman, lobbyist crafted Cognos contract
Officials working to sell Cognos software to Massachusetts carefully crafted legislative language to ensure that Cognos would be virtually assured to win a $15 million software contract that lawmakers included […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Education, Politics, The Download
The Download: The best school policy money can buy?
Bill Gates has made improving US schools one of the cornerstones of the work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and he’s put his considerable stash of money where […]
Posted inEconomy
NM film office head coming to Mass.
The former head of New Mexico’s film office is coming to Massachusetts to take a similar job, a strong signal that Gov. Deval Patrick wants to grow the state’s movie […]
Posted inUncategorized
Lobbyists, DiMasi met ‘all the time,’ aide says
Lobbyists constantly called the office of former Speaker Salvatore DiMasi to arrange meetings between their clients and the speaker, DiMasi’s former administrative assistant testified Monday in federal court.Katie Quinn, the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Education, The Download
The Download: Howie Inc.
Howie Carr, the one-man media empire, knows how to promote himself. His latest book, Hitman: The Untold Story of Johnny Martorano: Whitey Bulger’s Enforcer and the Most Feared Gangster in […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
DiMasi trial pulls back the curtain
Through two weeks of testimony, prosecutors in the Sal DiMasi corruption trial have elicited sensational testimony about bribes, kickbacks, and sleaze inside the State House. But as they’ve tried to […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, The Download
The Download: The write stuff
Despite a national publicity tour and appearances on all the major television shows, Gov. Deval Patrick’s memoir “A Reason to Believe” is selling like cold hotcakes, according to Nielsen Bookscan, […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
White House all wet taking Herald out of pool
Did anyone with even a passing knowledge of Boston politics and media not know what the front page of the Herald would look like today after the White House made […]
Posted inEnvironment
Turbine testing facility opens in Charlestown
The huge building next to the lot holding imported cars in Charlestown looks a lot like a warehouse, but it’s actually part of an effort by Massachusetts to attract cutting-edge […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, The Download
The Download: Michele Bachmann’s teen problem
US Rep. Michele Bachmann is contemplating tossing her hat in the ring for the Republican presidential nomination. With Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee out, the Minnesota Republican says her telephone […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics
Senate health plan gives unions little
Public sector unions were counting on the Senate to slow down the push on Beacon Hill for health care givebacks, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. Senate […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Health Care, The Download
The Download: Brown’s DiMasi diversion
US Sen. Scott Brown doesn’t want to talk about Osama bin Laden. He does, however, have plenty to say about the disgraced former speaker of the House, Sal DiMasi. DiMasi […]