Sherry Vargson lights a match, sticks it near the water coming out of her kitchen faucet, and watches as a flame shoots upward. As this multimedia story from Time magazine […]
The Download: What the frack?
Posted inEconomy, Education, The Back Story
Supply and demands
Four charter schools are opening in Boston next fall and they need classroom space. The Boston Public Schools are downsizing and will have 10 empty buildings at the end of […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
The Download: Putting the budge in the budget
Who blinked? Who will blink? And is blinking overrated? Pundits and experts are beginning to pore over the deal to cut $38.5 billion from the federal budget, and what they’re […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Thinking outside the box to build a square
Cities and towns across the Commonwealth are being hit harder than ever as revenue and state aid decrease. Many municipalities have put on hold development projects that could revitalize public […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download, Transportation
The Download: Reform before revenue resurrected
Another hearing, another round of mea culpas from Bay State transportation officials. This past winter’s commuter rail problems set the stage for Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Mullan to put a new […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment
Organogenesis breaks ground on tissue factory
Massachusetts bet more than $30 million on Evergreen Solar and lost, but its $8 million wager on Organogenesis is paying off handsomely so far.The Canton manufacturer of living cell tissue […]
Posted inEconomy, Health Care, Politics, State House News Service
Dempsey tweaks Patrick proposals
The new House budget proposal tweaks two of Gov. Deval Patrick’s major initiatives, eliminating collective bargaining for many aspects of municipal health plan design and reducing the number of attorneys […]
Posted inEnvironment
Fish fight
massachusetts democrats are close allies of the environmental community, routinely receiving top scores on environmental scorecards and leading the charge on major environmental legislation in Washington. But don’t tell that […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Public sector pay: reasonable or excessive?
gov. scott walker’s victory in curbing collective bargaining rights of Wisconsin public sector workers casts a spotlight on the issue of disparities between public and private sector compensation. The same […]
Posted inUncategorized
The next great thing
despite the economic woes in the country, investment in research and development continues to expand in all public, private, and nonprofit sectors, according to federal statistics. Nowhere is that impact […]
Posted inEconomy
Untethered competition
wireless phones, it seems, are ubiquitous. Talking, texting, surfing. On the street, on the T, and in the car. You can’t swing a dead Samsung without hitting someone with a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Public or private?
gov. deval patrick clearly doesn’t think much of the judiciary’s management skills. He’s filed legislation calling for a professional manager, instead of a judge, to oversee the trial court. He […]
Posted inEconomy
Urban (love) affairs
Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier By Edward Glaeser New York, The Penguin Press, 352 pagesREVIEWED BY JOHN SCHNEIDERcities have always […]
Posted inUncategorized
Spring 2011 Correspondence
Utilities are the rats Regarding your article “The Meter is Running” (Winter ’11), the only rats hiding under the rocks are the electric utility companies who refuse to buy meaningful […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Plan violates separation of powers provisions
the committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) board and management staff have no quarrel, and in fact are in agreement, with the overall point made by Secretary Gonzalez. Read the argument […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, Politics
Schools set aside funds for special ed increases
Brookline Public Schools are scrambling to close a nearly $1.5 million budget gap for the fiscal year beginning in July, yet the School Committee is nevertheless setting aside $400,000 in […]
Posted inPolitics
Lottery plots against ‘slots’
Like those running any gambling enterprise, officials at the Massachusetts State Lottery don’t like anyone muscling in on their turf. And when they think someone is, they can lower the […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Hollywood stars not paying taxes?
Some of Hollywood’s hottest stars may be shortchanging Massachusetts on their taxes. A brief reference at the end of the state Revenue Department’s latest report on the film tax credit […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Fall River gambler
in upending a planned 300-acre biotech park, Fall River Mayor William Flanagan picked a fight with the governor, angered the state university, junked a decade’s worth of planning, and endangered […]
Posted inPolitics, Transportation
Endless loop
Nearly a year ago Attorney General Martha Coakley proposed new regulations to protect auto insurance consumers, but she’s never pulled the trigger and implemented them.Coakley solicited feedback on her proposal […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Boston NAACP moves to recapture relevance
The NAACP’s Boston branch all but dropped out of sight in recent years, but new president Michael Curry is looking to erase doubts about the all-volunteer organization’s relevancy by stepping […]
Posted inPolitics
No easy patronage cure
the massachusetts trial Court’s policies and procedures manual says all hiring is to be based strictly on merit. No practice or appearance of nepotism or favoritism is allowed. Yet for […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
Lawrence on the mat
lawrence, with an anemic tax base and the state’s highest poverty rate, is no stranger to the usual litany of urban woes facing struggling cities. But Lawrence’s problems suddenly became […]
Posted inUncategorized
Who does he think he is?
IT’S AN EARLY March afternoon and a gaggle of reporters are waiting outside the House chamber. The focus of their interest finally steps out and obliges the group. He and […]