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 […]
The Download: Mediscare
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 […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, The Download, Transportation
The Download: The T’s contract problem
The Boston Globe yesterday wrote another chapter in the ongoing saga that chronicles failures at the MBTA, this time regarding the T’s relationship to Mass Bay Commuter Rail, the company […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The Download: The Eagle-Tribune and Lantigua
In 1988, the Eagle-Tribune won a Pulitzer Prize for its relentless coverage of Willie Horton and the Massachusetts prison furlough program. The paper published nearly 200 stories detailing how Horton, […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
The other gas
The price of gas at the pump is rising dramatically, but the cost of the other gas – natural gas – is going in the other direction. Thanks to breakthroughs […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, The Download
The Download: Oddfellows: Globe to print Herald
What’s next, Howie Carr sporting a bowtie? Frank Phillips and Brian Mooney acknowledging their Herald roots? The Inside Track finding something interesting in the Boring Broadsheet? The Globe writing a […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The Download: Southern comfort
The most popular governor in the North is from the South. There was lots of carping in 2009 when Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor only got a measly $112 million in high-speed […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion, State House News Service
Labor pains
It’s always sad to witness the estrangement of a long time committed couple who have been good for each other over so many years. Could we be seeing this today […]
Posted inPolitics
DeLeo flexes muscle on court reform
Speaker Robert DeLeo showed off some serious political muscle today when the House voted 152-0 to reform the courts and retain the embattled Probation Department within the judicial branch rather […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The Download: Governor’s Council on thin ice
When the needle moves on Beacon Hill, it tends to move quickly. Last Tuesday, one member of the Governor’s Council was warning his colleagues that if they didn’t stop attracting […]