Two years ago, CommonWealth found civic leaders in Lawrence "Thinking Big" about the city's future. Not anymore. On Wednesday, Gov. Deval Patrick travels north for a closed door meeting with […]
Lawrence: The next Springfield?
Posted inUncategorized
Remembering the woman behind “Charlie on the MTA” — and the Charlie Card
Folklorist Bess Lomax Hawes passed away last week. I offer a personal remembrance. I never met Ms. Hawes, but I feel a connection to her. She co-authored the folk song, […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, The Download
Fact-checking the Senate debate: Subjectivity reigns
Many of the answers in last night's Democratic Senate debate defy fact-checking — not because the candidates ducked questions, but because the questions themselves invited subjective replies. Candidates were asked […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Average debt for Bay State college grads tops $23,000
The average student loan debt for graduates of Bay State colleges in 2008 was $23,125, according to a new report from the Project on Student Debt. But that's actually a […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Taunton goes from Silver City to Chickpea Central
Once known for its silversmiths, the city of Taunton is now trying to corner the market on hummus. The Taunton Daily Gazette reports that the City Council has just approved […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Fact checking the Senate candidates: Some fumbles, stumbles and personal revelations
By Jack Sullivan and Bruce Mohl More than 36 years after Roe v. Wade became the law of the land regarding abortion, it’s clear the legal procedure still inflames passionate […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, The Download
More affordable housing not the answer for Gateway Cities
The Bay State's older industrial cities are suffering from weak housing markets and high concentrations of poverty. So does it really make sense to "fix" these cities by adding more […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Harvard Square book-signing for “Harvard Square”
Monday, November 30, 2009 Mo Lotman will be signing copies of his book Harvard Square, which CW Unbound's Alison Lobron wrote about last month, on December 1 at 7:30 at […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Fact-checking the Senate candidates: Youth will be served
It was the starkest contrast of the webcast debate and the one area where U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano clearly differentiated himself from the rest of the field running for US […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Are hate crimes 10 times more likely in Massachusetts than in Mississippi?
That's what a superficial reading of the latest FBI statistics would indicate. Massachusetts law enforcement agencies reported 333 crimes "that manifest[ed] evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Who says the federal stimulus program isn’t working? Not the MBTA
Deficits have continued to plague the MBTA. Going into November, the transit agency was about $25 million in the hole, despite receiving $160 million in sales tax revenues for fiscal […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Nevada underwater, Bay State relatively dry
The Wall Street Journal reports that nearly one in four American home mortgage holders owe more than their property are worth in today's market. Nationally, 22.6 percent of mortgage holders […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Remembering Boston’s “clean highway in the sky”
The magazine ArchitectureBoston is now being posted online, and its Winter issue is all about infrastructure — "the one crucial point at which politics and architecture merge," according to roundtable […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
“Too big to fail” strategy for Boston Convention Center?
The Globe's Casey Ross reports that the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, which has so far "failed to generate a building boom on the waterfront," wants to expand in order […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Dukakis breaks silence to protest Brookline’s “confounded wreck”
The Globe's Brock Parker takes note of former governor Michael Dukakis in a rare example of spending some political capital where he still has plenty of it: at a Brookline […]
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
Bay State 3rd healthiest, alcoholic binges notwithstanding
The United Health Foundation's latest America's Health Rankings put Massachusetts in third place for overall goodness, behind Vermont and Utah. (Mississippi was last.)The Bay State finished first in two "core […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
US senate candidates on the public option, a new stimulus bill, and other domestic issues
All five of the candidates for US Senate who responded to our issues questionnaire (Martha Coakley being the lone holdout) are skeptical of government subsidies for newspapers. Four of them […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
US senate candidates on foreign policy
Both Democratic and Republican candidates for the US Senate seat formerly held by the late Ted Kennedy recognize the importance of immigrants to the Massachusetts economy, according to their responses […]
Posted inEducation, Politics, The Download
US Senate candidates on charter schools, No Child Left Behind
The federal government should promote more charter schools, say almost all of the candidates for the US Senate seat formerly held by the late Ted Kennedy. One exception is Michael […]
Posted inUncategorized
Warren Buffett’s shrewd recognition of a railroad revival
By Daniel Grabauskas Last week the Sage of Omaha, Warren Buffett, closed the biggest deal of his career. Value: $26.3 billion. It wasn’t about a high-tech company. It wasn’t about […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Buffett’s shrewd recognition of a railroad revival
By Daniel GrabauskasLast week the Sage of Omaha, Warren Buffett, closed the biggest deal of his career. Value: $26.3 billion. It wasn’t about a high-tech company. It wasn’t about a […]
Posted inPolitics
Reining in regulation?
the obama administration has dedicated 2009 to the most ambitious legislative agenda of any president in recent memory, from the economic stimulus package of the winter to this fall’s landmark […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
A near disclosure
UPDATE: An official at the U.S. Senate Office of Records said the financial disclosure form form Stephen Pagliuca arrived in the office on Tuesday, one week after the extension Pagliuca's […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, The Download
Kirk on the abortion flap
As the senatorial candidates traded jabs over their positions on abortion restrictions, the current holder of the seat they all want, Sen. Paul Kirk, hopes the terms in the Stupak […]