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 […]
Time on T’s side
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.
Posted inPolitics
Milford split on driver’s licenses
Milford Police Chief Thomas O’Loughlin has voiced support for issuing driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants, but CommonWealth magazine’s Bellwether project indicates residents of his own town are split on the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Breathing easier
Izaeyah French of Dorchester is an energetic 7-year-old who loves kickball—and loves knowing asthma won’t keep him on the sidelines while other kids play. In the past, “my head would […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
North Andover sets Hollywood straight
By Gabrielle Gurley About two years ago, a Hollywood movie production company sought permission from North Andover Town Manager Mark Rees to film at a private home in a residential […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Tom Reilly’s personal endorsement
By Paul McMorrow The last time Charlie Baker trumpeted the endorsement of a celebrated defector, it didn’t go so well. After picking off Tim Cahill’s erstwhile running mate, Paul Loscocco, […]
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
Picturing what’s next in cutting health costs
By Jack Sullivan Paul Levy, president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, has an insider’s take on an emerging trend in medical imaging that is having an effect […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
Is open space in danger?
Mass Audubon knows how to grab your attention. In a recent fundraising letter, the state’s largest conservation group says the state is losing more than 8,000 acres of open space […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Back story misses mark
Bruce Mohl’s opinion piece “Is Open Space in Danger?” misses the mark on the challenge to preserve land in Massachusetts.Thanks to the collaborative work of state environmental agencies and conservation […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
No victory on open space
CommonWealth magazine’s Back Story may create the erroneous impression that the Commonwealth can now declare final victory in the effort to protect the natural resources and landscapes of Massachusetts. The […]
Posted inPolitics
Anger fuels challenge to Senate president
Senate President Therese Murray says she’s as angry as anyone at the chaos and bickering that passes for governing in Washington. The problem for Murray is voters are just as […]
Posted inEconomy
Right to rent slow to catch on
As the sun broke through a bank of gray clouds one recent September morning in Dorchester, a glimmer of hope filled a small group of protestors. A Massachusetts constable had […]
Posted inEconomy
Boston nonprofit helping foreclosure victims
For nearly two years, the federal government has pledged billions of dollars to keep banks from foreclosing on homes—with little result. But while the bailout has faltered and foreclosures have […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Taking his reform elsewhere
Massachusetts Corrections Commissioner Harold Clarke is leaving after just three years on the job to become the director of Virginia’s prison system. The departure was so sudden that it prompted […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Reading between the (poll) lines
Over the last month or so, we have seen a steady stream of new polling data in the Massachusetts gubernatorial election. In reading these polls, there seem to be two […]
Posted inPolitics
A campaign car wreck
“(Bleep) him.” It’s probably the most honest utterance to date in the increasingly toxic battle for the governor’s office, which is starting to look more like a barroom brawl than […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Taking the T to the Big Apple
By Gabrielle Gurley The financially hobbled MBTA continues to come up with creative ways to reel in cash. World Wide Tours, a New York City-based, family-run bus company, approached the […]