First in a series of occasional articles on rulings issued by the Secretary of State’s office concerning appeals of public records requests filed with public agencies. Last March, Boston Globe […]
Sifting through records appeals
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, The Download
The Download: Wind resistance
Cape Wind dominates the debate on wind energy, but the push for onshore wind is a study in contrasts. A Cape Cod Times report explains how wind projects proposed for Dennis, Eastham, Harwich, Orleans Wellfleet, West Barnstable, and Truro have gone by the […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Download
The Download: Recoil edition
Welcome to the backlash against the backlash. In the aftermath of this weekend’s Tucson shootings, there was a decent amount of momentum behind the notion that the nation’s political discourse […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Uncategorized
Patrick gets quacking
Click here for more Back Stories. Don’t get Back Story? Sign up here. If it looks like a lame duck, walks like a lame duck and quacks like a lame […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Remembering JFK
Barnstable County Assistant District Attorney Joseph P. Kennedy III, the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, delivered the following address at the State House on the 50th anniversary of his great […]
Posted inPolitics
Public backs independent redistricting
Massachusetts residents strongly favor empowering an independent redistricting commission and restraining the state Legislature’s redistricting powers, according to a new MassINC poll. Overall, 62 of respondents to the poll […]
Posted inEconomy
Film spending flows mostly out of state
The state’s film tax credit generated $319 million in new spending on movies, TV shows, and commercials in 2009, but only a third of the money went to Massachusetts residents […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
A look back, and look forward
Thank you for having me here this morning, for what I anticipate will be my last major speaking engagement as Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs. I intend to describe […]
Posted inEducation, Politics, The Download
The Download: Whose Constitution?
It couldn’t be termed a constitutional crisis but the decision by the new Republican-controlled House to read the Constitution into the Congressional Record was as much hysterical as historical. In […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, The Download
Lawmakers call for parole moratorium
By Bruce Mohl A bipartisan group of state lawmakers today called on the Parole Board to put off any more hearings until a report is completed on the parole of […]
Posted inPolitics
Politics vs policyat Vets Services
Across the street from the State House, where Gov. Deval Patrick was taking the oath of office for his second term, a hardy band of intergenerational brothers gathered […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics, Transportation
Regional approach wrong road to take
I appreciate MassINC’s attention to the transportation issues currently facing Massachusetts. The think tank’s report, Next Stop, Massachusetts. Strategies to Build the Bay State’s Transportation Future and Keep our Economy […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
A new look at the rankings
Every fall Boston magazine releases a back-to-school issue ranking the state’s best high schools. And every fall the skeptics sneer. These critical observers regard the magazine’s rankings as little more […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
DeLeo bucks public unions on health
House Speaker Robert DeLeo , in a move likely to erode his longheld union support, today vowed to push for legislation that would help rein in municipal health care costs […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, The Download
The Download: Patrick’s new politics
Kevin Cullen, in a column in today’s Boston Globe, shines a light on how Gov. Deval Patrick is insisting on political loyalty as he assembles his leadership team for a […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Back Story
Cloak and dagger
The state’s film and life sciences tax credits work the same way, but they are administered very differently. On Wednesday, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center awarded nearly $24 million in […]
Posted inUncategorized
O’Brien files for state pension
Embattled former Probation Commissioner John J. O’Brien filed for his state pension on New Year’s Eve, the same day he abruptly resigned his $130,000 post rather than face a disciplinary […]
Posted inPolitics
O’Brien resigns, says he’s scapegoat
Suspended Probation Commissioner John J. O’Brien issued a press release today saying he is resigning his post immediately because he won’t receive a fair hearing on charges that hiring and […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, The Download
The Download: Mass inequality
Massachusetts is leading the way into a new Guilded Age. The Bay State has one of the largest income gaps between the rich and the poor in the country. The […]
Posted inPolitics
Insurance by the mile makes cents, study says
A new study indicates there is a strong correlation in Massachusetts between the miles a car is driven and the number of automobile insurance claims and losses associated with that […]