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MBTA employees allege discrimination
Posted inUncategorized
Introducing Charlie Baker
Republican Charlie Baker, a longtime political insider trying to raise his profile and his chances as he runs to unseat Gov. Deval Patrick, said he would back a single casino […]
Posted inEconomy
Alcohol sales up despite new tax
Massachusetts residents seem to be drinking more alcohol, despite new sales taxes on beer, wine, and spirits. The Revenue Department said its reading of tax revenue numbers indicates the volume […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
WSJ: Cahill got contributions from firm vying for state pension business
By Bruce Mohl The Wall Street Journal reports that a number of Massachusetts officials, including state Treasurer Timothy Cahill, received campaign contributions from out-of-state law firms in connection with their […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The Herald’s hack obsession
By Robert David Sullivan Today’s Boston Herald has a follow-up to yesterday’s story by Jay Fitzgerald that implied that the lion’s share of federal stimulus funds were hijacked by the […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
The BRA’s “pre-buttal”
By Bruce Mohl David Guarino, in a blog post on MS&L Boston’s PR Finish Line, praises the Boston Redevelopment Authority for releasing what he calls a pre-buttal to last week’s […]
Posted inUncategorized
Q&A with Setti Warren
Newton’s new mayor, Setti Warren, talks to CommonWealth’s Alison Lobron about the challenges of a 24/7 job, the meaning of Martha Coakley’s loss, and how to govern a highly opinionated […]
Posted inUncategorized
Most late money came from outside Bay State
Massachusetts voters sent Scott Brown to the US Senate, but the flood of cash coming into his campaign from around the country indicates his race against Attorney General Martha Coakley […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Western Mass beats South Coast for rail funds
By Gabrielle Gurley Bay State transportation officials continue to throw everything they’ve got into South Coast Rail , but the feds took a pass, deciding that three western New England […]
Posted inPolitics
The politics of policymaking
The business on Beacon Hill is always a mix of political posturing and policy, with it sometimes difficult to know where one leaves off and the other begins. That can […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Judges to Patrick: Hands off probation
Two top state court officials say they oppose Gov. Deval Patrick’s “radical proposal” to wrest control of the probation department and warn that budget cuts proposed by the governor would […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Economy
Patrick seeks cap on film tax credit
JANUARY 28 UPDATE: A top House leader says the $50 million cap on film tax credits proposed by Gov. Deval Patrick would be a disaster for the movie business in […]
Posted inEducation
Correspondence
IT’S TIME TO LEARN WHAT WORKS IN THE CLASSROOM Who doesn’t want to believe that teachers matter? It makes intuitive sense. It’s what any good teacher knows instinctively. And now […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Hail to the chief
Margaret Marshall ushers me down a series of hallways, turning on lights as she goes. It’s nearly 5 p.m. on the 10th anniversary of her appointment as chief justice of […]
Posted inUncategorized
Fox Undercover
On Tuesday night at 10, Fox 25 Undercover ran Part 1 of their two-part series on the Boston Redevelopment Authority, which was prepared in collaboration with CommonWealth magazine. The segment […]
Posted inEducation
State employee investigated for selling term papers
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 […]
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, […]