We’ve heard over and over about the stark choice facing voters in the contest for governor. We can elect someone who understands the human pain behind unemployment rates and foreclosure […]
Yin and Yang? Or Mike and Ike?
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
Razor edge support for Question 3
Milford residents appear to narrowly support Question 3, according to CommonWealth magazine’s Bellwether project. The Bellwether project’s online town forum found that supporters of the ballot question, which would cut […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The Globe’s man-bites-dog endorsement for auditor
By Michael Jonas Last week, my colleague Bruce Mohl wrote about the ins and outs of the candidate endorsement process at Boston’s two daily papers. The Boston Herald, which leans […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
A strategy to believe in
Baseball fans flocked to Moneyball: The Art of an Unfair Game for its insights into how an undercapitalized franchise like the Oakland A’s managed to compete with financial giants like […]
Posted inPolitics
Finance money flows to Bielat
Sean Bielat is giving Barney Frank the toughest run he’s had in decades. That’s due, in part, to the savage beatings Frank is taking over his financial ties to the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
The art of endorsements
Political endorsements by newspapers don’t carry as much weight today as they once did, but campaigns still scramble for them. They represent a stamp of approval seen by thousands of […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Sept. report shows job growth slows
Today’s unemployment report – the last before the November gubernatorial election – suggests the pace of recent job growth may be slowing. The unemployment rate in September fell to 8.4 […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Primary care docs in short supply
Primary care physicians continue to be short supply in the Bay State for the fifth year in a row, according to the 2010 workforce study released today by the Massachusetts […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Tribes lobby for reservation land
The demise of state gambling legislation this summer was a blow to Gov. Deval Patrick and many legislators, but no one was more disappointed when the deal fell apart than […]
Posted inEconomy
A ballpark assessment
can you believe it? Fenway Park, America’s most beloved ballpark, home to the Green Monster and Pesky’s Pole, and sacred ground to Red Sox Nation, is worth less than some […]
Posted inPolitics
Legislative pay
many massachusetts legislators say the salary they receive as full-time lawmakers is not enough to live on and raise a family, so the majority—nearly 60 percent—report some form of outside […]
Posted inPolitics
Road warriors
when the four gubernatorial candidates were queried at a debate about the cars they drove, Republican Charlie Baker drew some envious chuckles when he said he had a ’66 Mustang. […]
Posted inPolitics
Stop pushing paper
More than 4,500 state and local officials file statements of financial interest each year with the State Ethics Commission. The ethics forms are supposed to be readily available to the […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Politics
Backwater of the universe
Banned in Boston: The Watch and Ward Society’s Crusade against Books, Burlesque, and the Social Evil By Neil MillerBoston, Beacon Press, 209 pagesIt’s easy to be smug when you live […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
Advice to the Governor: Push for higher standards
Click here for more advice for the governor Discussion of education issues in this year’s race for governor has often centered on the state’s recent decision to join the effort […]
Posted inTransportation
Time on T’s side
The MBTA and Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail Company publish “report cards” showing the commuter rail’s performance and, by all accounts, the trains arrive when they are supposed to 95 percent […]
Posted inPolitics
Power is a money magnet on Beacon Hill
Money chases power on Beacon Hill, and there may be no clearer example of that relationship than the campaign war chests of state Reps. John Rogers and Charles Murphy.Rogers used […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Economy, Politics, State House News Service
Police scramble on Quinn pay
Police unions and individual officers are trying hard to save what’s left of the 40-year-old Quinn Bill with mixed success. Budget woes forced lawmakers to cut what was once a […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
On Beacon Hill, help is easy to find
Massachusetts lawmakers have pared back the size of the legislative staff in the midst of the current recession but the state still ranks as one of the most aide-heavy legislatures […]
Posted inEconomy
Feds taking aim at real estate fees; BRA seeks guidance
A novel real estate fee long collected by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, and more recently by some private developers, is coming under fire from the federal government.The Federal Housing Finance […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
A business improvement district in Boston-finally
With city services cut and unlikely to rebound to pre-recession levels any time soon, Bostonians are stepping into the breach.Businesses in the Downtown Crossing area are banding together and voluntarily […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
Turnaround artist
Lisa Wong became a rising superstar in Massachusetts politics the moment she trounced a veteran Fitchburg city councilor and catapulted into the mayor’s office at age 28. The wonky daughter […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Raising the bar
Suzanne Bump’s campaign staff is antsy. It’s already an hour into the campaign event, a barbeque with Malden Democrats, and their candidate for state auditor is seriously lagging behind schedule. […]
Posted inEducation
False start
From tiny Roxbury Community College to the University of Massachusetts flagship school in Amherst, women run far behind men in nearly every measure of equal treatment.