Former Senate president Billy Bulger practiced the trade with such abandon that MBTA was said to stand for “Mr. Bulger’s Transportation Authority,” an only partially tongue-in-cheek reference that seemed to […]
The Download: Pondering patronage
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Turner doth protest (way) too much
By Michael Jonas No one in town seriously could have expected Boston City Council President Mike Ross to do anything other than what he did today: file an order recommending […]
Posted inEducation, Environment, Health Care, Politics, State House News Service, The Download
The Download: Dreams deferred
Last week Gov. Deval Patrick said that he wanted to facilitate undocumented immigrants’ access to college and drivers’ licenses in his overall strategy to expand opportunities for legal and illegal immigrants. Yet […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
Parking garage intrigue
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is looking to raise a substantial amount of money for the cash-strapped MBTA by leasing the T’s parking garages, but Boston development interests are warning […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
Not all districts “Race to the Top”
State officials and school district leaders across Massachusetts are eagerly anticipating an infusion of $250 million in education funding over the next four years from the federal Race to the […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, The Download
The Download: The People’s Republic
The Cambridge City Council fired up its version of the Wayback Machine last night and transported us all the way back to the dark days of early 2009. At the […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion, Politics
Don’t give GE $25m in tax credits
I received a voicemail this morning from a machine tool manufacturer in Springfield. The owner was irate about a Boston Globe report describing tax credits the state has been negotiating […]
Posted inPolitics
Petrolati to step down, DeLeo vows changes
House Speaker Robert DeLeo issued two statements today saying he would lead the charge for changes at the state’s Probation Department and that Rep. Thomas Petrolati would be stepping down […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download, Transportation
The Download: Teacher lessons
Another Monday, another impressive spread on the Boston Globe op-ed page devoted to the thoughts of retired Boston high school teacher Junia Yearwood. More accurately, we should say another spread […]
Posted inEnvironment
DPU: Cape Wind needed to meet goals
Massachusetts regulators today gave their long-expected approval to Cape Wind’s 15-year contract with National Grid, concluding that the contract’s high cost was acceptable given the project’s ability to help the […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
Sky high solar subsidies
Don’t get Back Story? Click here.Its advocates say solar power has a bright future in Massachusetts, but right now the energy technology needs astronomical ratepayer subsidies to survive.Solar power generators […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
A winning blueprint
Fairhaven marked a point of no return for Charlie Baker early on election night. The South Coast town, with a September unemployment rate of 10.2 percent, went narrowly for Republican […]
Posted inPolitics
Probation hiring rife with abuse, corruption
Because of a reporting error, the original version of this story attributed Edward McDermott’s testimony to the wrong person regarding retaliation and intimidation against people who did not comply with […]
Posted inPolitics
Surprise surprise: Political ties help
Independent Counsel Paul Ware’s 308-page report on hiring practices at the state’s Probation Department reads a lot like a trashy novel. It’s full of politically juicy material, but in the […]
Posted inOpinion, Uncategorized
Idealism put to the test
I’m not going to lie: When I went to see “Waiting for Superman” with my education major friend recently, my eyes filled up. Davis Guggenheim’s latest movie chronicles the struggle […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Uncategorized
The Download: Reality deficit
The message behind the bipartisan deficit-reduction panel’s recent report was, “See, fiscal discipline isn’t all that tough!” But the back-and-forth that followed the report’s release last week has seriously called […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Intrigue at the W
a federal bankruptcy judge is considering whether the W Boston, a gleaming new 26-story hotel and condominium tower in Boston’s theater district, should fall to foreclosure. On one level, the […]
Posted inPolitics
Brown hits the stump
Scott Brown took a few jabs at a political culture that has already begun boiling with talk about 2012 before anybody elected in the 2010 midterms has been sworn into […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Uncategorized
The Download: Time to regionalize
In Massachusetts, 911 calls are handled by 262 different facilities, or one for every 24,000 residents. Maryland, a state comparable to Massachusetts in population and land size, uses just 24 […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics
Menino plans to file health care petition
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, frustrated by the Legislature’s refusal to let cities and towns join the state’s Group Insurance Commission without union approval, announced today he will file a […]