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 […]
A look back, and look forward
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 […]
Posted inUncategorized
Life science firms get $24m in tax credits
[CORRECTION: A correction had been added to this story] The state awarded nearly $24 million in tax credits today to 30 life sciences companies that promised to create 1,000 jobs […]
Posted inEducation, Politics, The Download
The Download: Senator Zelig
Another week, another round of head-scratching and hand-wringing over just who Scott Brown (Wrentham resident, truck owner, and current occupant of the People’s Seat in the US Senate) really is. […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
The governor’s transition
jobs, jobs, jobs is the mantra on Beacon Hill, but it’s not what you think. State officials are talking more about their own jobs than about the moribund economy. They’re […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, The Download, Transportation
The Download: Michelle Rhee, Inc.
Michelle Rhee has certainly landed on her feet. Rhee stepped down as chancellor of the Washington, DC, public school system in October after the mayor who hired her was tossed […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The Download: There will be blood
Few, save the most minimalist proponents of small government, think there’s much left to cut in the state budget without inflicting pain, so it’s now a matter of whose priorities […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Uncategorized
The BPL’s dirty laundry
The Boston Public Library has quietly settled litigation with a lawyer-lobbyist who the library alleged was secretly paid by its former president for doing no work. The settlement offers few […]
Posted inEconomy
State’s film business doing a fade?
Movies made in Massachusetts like The Fighter, The Town, and The Social Network are basking in award nominations right now, but there’s a sense the Bay State film industry is […]