By Gabrielle Gurley How long will the charade of trying to schedule the Massachusetts Transportation Department’s board of directors to appear before the Joint Transportation Committee continue? Indefinitely, it seems. […]
Board games at MassDOT
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Crazy like a fox? Christy Mihos’s big RMV idea
By Gabrielle Gurley With all eyes on the big dogs in the governor’s race, the underdog can afford to go out on a limb. Christy Mihos, who is challenging Charles […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
Carr and Braude sing the same tune
By Bruce Mohl Howie Carr and Jim Braude are about as far apart on the political spectrum as you can get, but both of them are singing the same song […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
DeLeo’s gambling proposal
I’ve now been Speaker for more than a year. It has certainly been a year of challenge, not only for those of us in government but for our citizens, as […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion, Politics
Menino’s fifth-term agenda
Fifty-nine days into a new term, we enter the most challenging of seasons. It’s budget time in Boston. Typically, the decisions we make in the next few months set us […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
DeLeo goes all in — with a story to tell
HE DIDN’T REPRISE Senate President Therese Murray’s one-word policy pronouncement when she spoke before the same group last year and declared, in response to a question about bringing casinos to […]
Posted inUncategorized
CW on Broadside
CommonWealth magazine editor Bruce Mohl joined Jim Braude on Broadside on Thursday on New England Cable News to talk about the three-way tug of war over the state’s probation service. […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
HEFA backs Murray bill
There has been much written and said about HEFA in the last year, and unfortunately far too little of it has been accurate. In fact, none of the publicity captured […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Economy
Decision time for film tax credit
Beacon Hill lawmakers, who probably spent more than $300 million over the last four years trying to lure Hollywood filmmakers to Massachusetts, took a brief intermission today to consider whether […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Probation officials oppose takeover, say ‘patronage works’
Top Massachusetts probation officials today urged lawmakers to reject a Patrick administration proposal that would move their agency out of the judicial branch of government and into the executive branch, […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Merge MassDevelopment with HEFA
Each and every MassDevelopment employee puts the highest priority on increasing employment in Massachusetts. Improving the coordination and the efficiency of economic development efforts are goals worthy of the highest […]
Posted inPolitics
Carr takes on probation
CommonWealth senior investigative reporter Jack Sullivan will be on the Howie Carr Show on WRKO (AM 680) on Monday at 6:08 p.m. to talk about patronage at the state probation […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
“Underemployment rate” in Mass. in double digits
The 2009 “underemployment rate” for Massachusetts, which includes those who have given up looking for work, and those working only part-time, was at 14.5 percent, according to new data from […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Fly the bipartisan skies
By Bruce Mohl Washington may be paralyzed by political partisanship, but our state’s Democratic and Republican senators seem to be getting along reasonably well. In Boston today to accept a […]
Posted inEducation
Boston superintendent on hot seat
Boston Schools Superintendent Carol Johnson said today she is “distressed” by the way teachers are evaluated in the city, but couldn’t explain why evaluations aren’t being conducted regularly as required […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Economy
Would you fund movies or environmental programs?
Back-to-back State House press conferences today showcased the type of choices Gov. Deval Patrick and state lawmakers have to make as they strive to balance the Massachusetts budget. At the […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
James Aloisi talks up VMT, parking fees
By Gabrielle Gurley Most of the revenue-generating remedies for the state’s ailing transportation networks are “feasible,” “viable” and “doable.” Problem is they aren’t getting done. Which brings us to former […]
Posted inUncategorized
Tough review for Boston teacher evaluation
A new study reported on the front page of yesterday’s Boston Globe echoes the findings of CommonWealth’s Fall 2009 cover story , which reported that teacher evaluations in Boston, as […]
Posted inEnvironment
Baker, green groups discuss climate change
Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles Baker, who’s taken a lot of shots lately for his stance on climate change, sat down with a group of environmentalists today for a wide-ranging discussion. […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Jobs must be our focus
This is an important piece of legislation, and I’m proud to have filed it with my colleague, Senator Karen Spilka. It’s important because it addresses our most pressing concern right […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
The Monitor’s web-first approach
Nearly one year after the newspaper presses stopped rolling at The Christian Science Monitor, editor John Yemma continues to fine-tune the 102-year-old international news outlet’s transformation from a daily into […]
Posted inPolitics
All in the family
Stephen P. Anzalone Jr. is living proof that the state’s probation service is family friendly. When Anzalone was appointed a probation officer in 2007, he was set to join his […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Stop Bay State subsidies for Hollywood moguls
It’s time to pull our heads out of the popcorn buckets. With 310,000 jobless residents, Massachusetts can’t afford to waste any more public resources on subsidies for Hollywood moguls. The […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
No funds for Open Meeting Law enforcement
By Bruce Mohl No one, it appears, is policing public officials to make sure they comply with the state’s Open Meeting Law. Attorney General Martha Coakley, in a presentation to […]