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 […]
Travaglini’s new firm works for state pension fund
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.
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, State House News Service, The Download
Salem mayor says health care impasse may require ballot solution
By Gabrielle Gurley Unless more immediate steps are taken to rein in accelerating health care and pension costs, municipal officials will continue to triage community services to pay for employee […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Playing the ‘comment’ game
By Bruce Mohl The reader comments at the end of online newspaper stories are apparently becoming a battle ground in the fight over a proposed high-rise tower along the Rose […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Newspaper endorsements still matter
I’ve been on the “ed board” circuit lately—tromping around the state and attending meetings with newspaper editorial boards. The goal is for my clients to wow the opinion-makers with their […]
Posted inUncategorized
Defining nepotism is all relative
It’s not nepotism if you have the qualifications to do the job, no matter how many relatives work in the state’s trial court. That was the argument to the state’s […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Download
Berwick to replace Hibbard at DPU
By Bruce Mohl Paul Hibbard is stepping down as chairman of the state Department of Public Utilities and being replaced by a top aide to Ian Bowles, the secretary of […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
Holding on tight and not letting go
By Jack Sullivan Judging from comments House Speaker Robert DeLeo made to The Republican of Springfield, it doesn’t appear there’s any appetite in the Legislature for reining in the autonomy […]
Posted inEnvironment
Bowles urges more monitoring
The state’s top environmental official today released a letter he sent to the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station urging officials there to enhance air and water monitoring efforts. (See below, or […]
Posted inEnvironment
After tour, Bowles backs Pilgrim
The Patrick administration’s top environmental official says he is comfortable with the level of environmental monitoring at Pilgrim Nuclear Station and believes the plant should be relicensed by the federal […]