The Massachusetts Appeals Court has placed a senior staff attorney on paid administrative leave after CommonWealth reported that the attorney was running a side business writing term papers for students […]
State employee investigated for selling term papers
Posted inHealth Care
Teen use of smokeless tobacco leads to call for tax increase
when state lawmakers increased the tax on cigarettes two years ago by $1 per pack, it was a good move, but they didn’t finish the job, say anti-tobacco activists and […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Probation head responds to reports of excessive spending
john j. o’brien, the reclusive state commissioner of probation, is coming out of his shell. Faced with two reports suggesting that spending at his agency is excessive, O’Brien is suddenly […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Four-day week deemed a success
A yearlong Utah experiment with a four-day work week for state employees has ended with a positive verdict, even as its goals changed along the way. In August 2008, then-Gov. […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
All aboard
Sen. Steven Baddour, the co-chair of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation, was ticked off. The five members of the new Massachusetts Department of Transportation board of directors had been […]
Posted inPolitics
Stepping up
When Edward Kennedy died in August, the country lost one of its most able lawmakers, a liberal who could cross the aisle on issues ranging from education to immigration. For […]
Posted inUncategorized
Entrances and exits
Each year, the state’s Department of Public Health releases two thick reports on vital statistics: Massachusetts Births and Massachusetts Deaths. To mark the new year, we’ve culled some of the […]
Posted inEconomy
Going it alone
According to data released late last year by the US Census Bureau, “nonemployer businesses”—mostly consisting of just one person, working full or part-time— have been on the rise, at least […]
Posted inPolitics
The wild, wild west
the Massachusetts GOP is gazing longingly at 1990, the last time that anti-incumbent fever put one of their own — Bill Weld — in the governor’s office. And Charles Baker, […]
Posted inEconomy
Zeroing in on the BRA
The Boston Redevelopment Authority isn’t easy to write about. The agency wears so many hats (regulator, landlord, banker, developer) and is involved in so many things (city planning, real estate, […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Probation head in the spotlight
Over the weekend, Gov. Deval Patrick leaked news that he plans to include in his upcoming budget a measure that would take the state’s probation department out of the judiciary and place it under […]
Posted inPolitics
Brown boom or Brown bubble?
The extraordinary victory of Republican Scott Brown over Democrat Martha Coakley leaves us with an important question for the Massachusetts GOP: Was the Brown phenomenon a sign of a sustainable […]
Posted inEducation
A tangled web in Gloucester
The mess that has been made over the handling of a proposed charter school in Gloucester offers a cautionary tale of what happens when a process that is supposed to […]
Posted inEducation
Nonprofit shows results with troubled kids
where some see reason for despair, Matt Stone sees possibility. Stone is the Massachusetts manager for Youth Villages, a nonprofit that aims to replace some residential services for troubled youth […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Technology makes ride-sharing a better way to go
By Daniel Grabauskas Last Friday, Zipcar, the world's largest car sharing provider, and Zimride, the largest online ride-sharing community, announced an expansion of their partnership to five more university campuses […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Coakley on both sides of legal dispute
Attorney General Martha Coakley finds herself on both sides of a sensitive legal dispute over the state’s competitive auto insurance system. As the state’s top lawyer, Coakley is defending the […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Two weeks until CW launch date
A reminder: In two weeks, CommonWealth magazine will launch a new website featuring original reporting, guest columns, and new opportunities for readers to discuss public policy and politics.At the same […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Will Jill join the anti-tax brigade?
The announcement that Jill Stein will run for governor on the Green Party ticket is generally seen as another headache for Deval Patrick, who can't afford to lose any votes […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, The Download
Judge rules against Catholic college’s plans for retirement community
A state judge has ruled that Regis College can't skirt local zoning laws in building a 362-unit retirement village in Weston. The Catholic school had argued that the development was […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Politics not his strong suit?
The Globe's Adrian Walker thinks he knows exactly when things started to go downhill for Gov. Deval Patrick:It isn’t hard to pinpoint the day Patrick lost control of his image. […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
“Walk-in” contract fails the transparency test at the MBTA
Why did MBTA's single largest contract fail to appear on its board of directors' January open meeting agenda? The MBTA Board of Directors voted Wednesday to exercise the final option on […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Do the people on Buzzards Bay swear like sailors?
People in one Iowa city seem to think so. The Bettendorf City Council has changed "Falmouth Court" to "Lilly Court" because too many people have trouble pronouncing the former. From […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Revving up for a new year and a new website
Posting at CW Unbound has been light for the past few weeks, not only because of the holiday season but also because we've been working on the Winter issue of […]
Posted inEducation, Politics, The Download
The Education Mayor
Tom Menino may have been laid up for two months in his Hyde Park home, but he's hardly been out of action. In fact, Hizzoner seems to have quietly been […]