Read the other candidates’ statements: Charlie Baker, Treasurer Tim Cahill, Dr. Jill Stein. I have from the outset acknowledged that there are thoughtful views on both sides of the Cape […]
Good environmentally, economically, and symbolically
Posted inEnvironment
An incredibly expensive contract
Read the other candidates’ statements: Charlie Baker, Treasurer Tim Cahill, Gov. Deval Patrick. I’m here as a physician, and a scientist and a long-standing environmental activist and a mother who […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, The Back Story
The ins and outs of the Cape Wind debate
The story line from Monday’s gubernatorial debate was Gov. Deval Patrick defending Cape Wind in the face of strong opposition from his three rivals, including, surprisingly, the candidate of the […]
Posted inPolitics
Ethics OK’d hiring of O’Brien’s daughter
The state Ethics Commission issued an advisory opinion in 2006 that said a subordinate of Probation Commissioner Jack O’Brien could hire O’Brien’s daughter as long as he fully disclosed the […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
The death of the press conference
Press conferences used to be the ultimate showdown—newsmaker vs. reporter, mano-a-mano, cage-match style. But in recent years, they’ve become a paltry wisp of their former selves. Nowadays, you’re more likely […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Gov candidates spar over Cape Wind
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Gov. Deval Patrick stood steadfast and solitary in his support for Cape Wind in the face of withering […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Coakley, auto insurers headed for a nasty fight
Trouble is brewing in the state’s auto insurance industry.Two years ago insurance company officials convinced the Patrick administration to let each firm set its own rates rather than having state […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Town workers paid to drop health coverage
As cities and towns continue to wrestle with health care cost pressures, some officials are trying to save money by giving employees cash bonuses to drop their coverage with the […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Cap gains fix goes halfway
One of the biggest thorns in the state budget has been overreliance on revenue from the tax levied on capital gains. In good times, the capital gains tax funds programs […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Siting reform bill a wind breaker
Preserving local control over wind development has been Gov. Deval Patrick’s mantra, but lawmakers from wind-rich parts of the state didn’t buy it. Outnumbered and outvoted, they managed to run […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Key information missing
The Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team is the gold standard in Massachusetts journalism, but the unit’s recent reports about the state’s probation department have omitted some key information.The reports, which portrayed […]
Posted inPolitics
Slots on the sly?
Slot machines on Beacon Hill may be in legislative purgatory, but similar devices that allow people to play for cash are popping up across the state.The devices ostensibly sell high-priced […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Download
Bruce Mohl and Michael Jonas appear on the Emily Rooney Show
CommonWealth Editor Bruce Mohl and Executive Editor Michael Jonas appeared on the Emily Rooney Show on WGBH radio today to discuss the new special issue of CommonWealth on Energy and the Environment. Listen here. […]
Posted inPolitics, Transportation
“Tracking the truth” timeline and documents
The Story FOR 19 MONTHS, the MBTA allowed South Shore commuter trains to run at top speed over rails supported by crumbling concrete ties even though the transit authority knew […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Blago faces the music
By Michael Jonas Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich’s fate is now in the hands of a federal jury. The Chicago press has had a field day with the circus-like corruption […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Download
Getting wind power to hold a charge
By Michael Jonas An interesting read in today’s NY Times on the growth of power storage companies, which are a crucial component of the renewable energy effort, especially wind power, […]
Posted inPolitics
Shrinking coverage
In the last five years, Massachusetts newspapers have dramatically altered the way they cover—or don’t cover—the state’s congressional delegation in Washington.Every Bay State newspaper except the Boston Globe has pulled […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Grass is greener
like the health care bill before it, the fate of a new federal climate change law rests with the Senate. John Kerry is navigating a political minefield, with Republicans uniformly […]
Posted inPolitics
The Brown effect
in washington He said he wanted to be “a Brown Republican,” but what does that mean? Judging from his voting record from the time he took office in February until […]
Posted inPolitics
Probation location
the battle rages over which branch of government will control probation—and its $150 million budget—in Massachusetts. But looking for help to see how other states do it offers little in […]
Posted inEconomy
Eating up deficits
with depleted coffers forcing belt-tightening at all levels of government, it would make sense that officials, especially at the local level, would grab onto any chance to pick up a […]
Posted inEnvironment
An overdue cost-benefit analysis
when gov. deval Patrick signed sweeping energy legislation into law two years ago, the headline in the Boston Globe the next day was: “State starts a green era.”The story was […]
Posted inUncategorized
Fuel for thought
Power. It is, to turn a phrase, the fuel of our economy. For centuries, we have relied on fossil fuels to generate the power we need for our daily lives. […]
Posted inEducation
About-face
The Death and Life of The Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education By Diane RavitchNew York, Basic Books, 283 pages diane ravitch is the preeminent […]