Once the purview of shock jocks, 10-year-olds with a phone and time on their hands and MSNBC, prank calls, punks, and set-ups are now becoming the de rigueur method to […]
The Download: Gotcha Nation
Posted inEnvironment, Health Care, Politics, The Download
The Download: The solar advantage
Over time, solar will trump wind. So says James Rogers, the CEO of Duke Energy, one of the country’s largest electric power utilities. During a question-and-answer session after his keynote […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
Obama on message
President Obama hit all the right notes yesterday afternoon at TechBoston Academy in Dorchester. This wasn’t a visit to break new ground with big policy announcements; it was a chance […]
Posted inEnvironment, Health Care, The Download
The Download: Face time with Larry Summers
Larry Summers gave his first local speech since leaving the White House yesterday. He began his address by joking that Washington, DC, offered a respite from the brutal politics of […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
The Download: Breaking news—important people consort and talk to each other
“No matter how cynical you get, it’s impossible to keep up,” Lily Tomlin famously said. That’s especially so if your news consumption consists of a steady diet of Boston Herald […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Money for nothing
Face facts: Massachusetts doesn’t measure up for really mind boggling corruption. Illinois had its governor trying to auction off the senate seat of then-president-elect Obama. New Jersey had mayors, selectmen […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Unions support health savings effort
Click here to read the unions’ letter to Governor Deval Patrick in full.
Posted inEconomy, Health Care, Politics, The Download
The Download: Bill, TED, and state budgets
Microsoft founder Bill Gates is deep into state finances these days, worried that government officials are using so many accounting tricks to balance their budgets that precious public education dollars […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Greenway’s toll revenue
Don’t get Back Story? Sign up here. State officials say they will continue to provide financial support this coming fiscal year for the privately run Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway in […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
The Download: First and goal
Union matters seem to dominate the 24-hour news cycle these days. From Wisconsin’s governor looking to eviscerate his state’s public sector unions; to Ohio being on the verge of doing […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
CW’s Bruce Mohl on the Callie Crossley show
Thursday, March 3, 2011 CommonWealth magazine editor Bruce Mohl appeared yesterday on The Callie Crossley Show on WGBH . The two discussed the Governor’s proposal to overhaul the state’s public defender […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
State House Wisconsin rally
A rally Feb. 26 at the State House in support of Wisconsin public sector unions attracted hundreds of people. Halfway through the rally hundreds more arrived as part of an […]
Posted inEducation, Politics, The Download
The Download: Setti for Senate
What makes Newton Mayor Setti Warren think he can beat US Sen. Scott Brown? Evidently, the same supreme confidence that made Brown think he could take on Martha Coakley. Ever […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, State House News Service, The Download
The Download: Patrick as political analyst
Gov. Deval Patrick spent the weekend in Washington, DC, raising his national profile, raising cash, and getting some practice in the role of campaign surrogate for President Obama. The trip […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, The Download, Transportation
The Download: Rank this
If this has been the winter of our discontent, we are now entering the slush season of high anxiety for high school seniors, who will soon learn which colleges have […]
Posted inEducation, Environment, The Download
The Download: On Wisconsin
It was more of a shouting match than a vote, but the Republican-controlled Assembly in Wisconsin early this morning approved legislation cutting the collecting bargaining rights of public sector workers […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
Power surge
NStar Corp. quietly filed with state regulators late last week three wind-power contracts that will provide electricity at prices that are both competitive with fossil fuels and significantly cheaper than […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The Download: No defense
President Obama has turned the favored sports axiom on its ear by showing the best offense is not a good defense but actually no defense. In ordering his Justice Department […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
SJC issues Probation directives
The Supreme Judicial Court issued a series of directives on probation hiring today, including one that would bar hiring managers from seeing any job recommendations from public officials until after the […]
Posted inTransportation
T denies warranty change for ties
The MBTA in court filings denies it agreed to a change in the warranty on concrete ties it purchased for the Old Colony commuter rail line and hints that political […]
Posted inEconomy
Genzyme gives back $6m in tax credits
Genzyme Corp. of Cambridge is voluntarily returning $6 million to the state of Massachusetts because it technically failed to create 200 net new jobs last year, according to an analysis […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, The Download
The Download: The sprawling health care story
Now that nearly everyone in Massachusetts has health insurance, Gov. Deval Patrick is filing legislation to rein in its cost. It’s one of those big, complicated policy stories that few […]