In anticipation of a budget cut, the Massachusetts court system is preparing to lay off and furlough workers while merging district courts and shedding leased space. The House and Senate […]
Courts planning layoffs, consolidations
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Ads and comments blend at the Globe
By Colman M. Herman Letting its ads creep into its content, the Boston Globe is trying to build a revenue stream from the comments its readers submit about online stories. […]
Posted inEnvironment
Mass.-only provision dropped on subsidies
In the face of a legal challenge, Massachusetts officials withdrew a regulation that tried to steer subsidies for renewable power to Massachusetts-based companies. The emergency order issued by the state […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
We need more housing
I participated yesterday in a forum on the connection between housing and the economy held by the Home Builders Association of Massachusetts. The event marked the release of a report demonstrating the […]
Posted inPolitics
Conventional thinking
Deval Patrick must feel a bit like David Ortiz. It wasn’t too long ago that both men were being written off, one unable to get around on a fastball, the […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
In defense of elites
Charlie and Deval, wear your school tie – the crimson model emblazoned with “Veritas.” Treasurer Tim, show us your street cred – your Wall Street cred. It is time to […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Senate shifts gears on tax credits
The Massachusetts Senate abruptly changed course yesterday on tax credit transparency, paving the way for passage of legislation that would for the first time identify the recipients of particularly lucrative […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Travaglini’s new firm works for state pension fund
By Michael NortonSTATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE The Chicago-based hedge fund hiring Michael Travaglini away from the state pension management team survived the pension fund’s downsizing of its hedge fund portfolio […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Herald refuses to cover probation story
By Bruce Mohl The Boston Herald’s refusal to cover the fast-moving probation story is becoming comical. It’s one thing to not write about the Boston Globe’s two-part series on probation […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Memories of Jack O’Brien
Reading the Boston Globe’s recent stories about patronage hires, shoddy financial oversight and various other nefarious doings at the Massachusetts probation department elicited memories of a meeting I had in […]
Posted inPolitics
Senate sides with judiciary, for now
In the power struggle over probation between the three branches of state government, the Massachusetts Senate is siding, at least for now, with the judiciary. Sen. Cynthia Stone Creem of […]
Posted inPolitics
Probation chief put on leave; SJC appoints special counsel
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court today placed state Probation Commissioner John J. O’Brien on administrative leave and appointed an independent counsel to investigate patronage practices at the agency. “It has […]
Posted inEducation
Mixed messages on longer school day?
Longer school days lead to big gains in student achievement. Or maybe they don’t. It’s easy to scratch your head and wonder which is true after reading two new studies […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
$78b needed for transit systems
Speech to “The Future of Transit” summit by Federal Transit Authority Administrator. Remarks are edited. I know that transit riders – especially those who have other options – will only […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Tap colleges, firms for STEM educators
There is a desperate need for improved STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – education in America. A troubling STEM achievement gap is growing between US K-12 students and […]
Posted inEducation
In defense of a B +
There’s nothing quite like identify fraud to capture the imagination. Cases like “Clark Rockefeller” and now, Adam Wheeler – accused of faking his way into Harvard, and nearly into a […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Red ink not unique to MBTA
The budget woes of the MBTA seem relatively minor compared to the fiscal problems currently facing many of the country’s largest transit systems.At a forum on the future of public […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Slots don’t cure all deficits
By Alison Lobron The bright lights of casinos have entranced Beacon Hill for years, but a new report from the American Gaming Association offers a stark reminder that glittering slot […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, Transportation
Tracking the truth
Click here for a timeline of what MBTA officials knew and when they knew it. Also see a suit by the MBTA, a private briefing for legislators, and correspondence involving the […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
The ‘comment’ game, part 2
By Bruce Mohl As of this afternoon, 90 comments had been posted on Boston.com about the Boston Globe’s story about Don Chiofaro’s clash with Mayor Thomas Menino, and they seemed […]
Posted inEnvironment
Grid strikes Cape Wind deal
The largest electric utility in Massachusetts today agreed to buy half of the power output of Cape Wind over the next 15 years, paying a significant premium over current prices. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, The Download
Firefighter follies
By Michael Jonas There was already so much to stir public outrage in an arbitrator’s decision last month to award Boston firefighters a 19 percent raise over four years. Today’s […]
Posted inPolitics
CW on Broadside
CW senior investigative reporter Jack Sullivan joins Jim Braude on NECN’s “Broadside” to discuss the MBTA’s failing concrete railroad ties and the state of investigative journalism. Here’s the link.