just about every community in the Bay State is trying to make do with less, but there are huge differences in the sizes of their municipal payrolls in relation to […]
Municipal workforces
Posted inUncategorized
Expanding our horizons
like everyone else in the news business, we here at CommonWealth are trying to figure out a way to cover the news and cover our costs. Thanks to generous grants […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Study: Older drivers good, but not good enough for 25% discount
New Massachusetts insurance data indicate that drivers over 65 are relatively low risks behind the wheel but probably not deserving of the full 25 percent auto insurance discount they receive […]
Posted inUncategorized
Second chances
INTRO TEXT three years ago, Dan Ladd of Lincoln closed up a real estate law practice and went back to school. Faced with a slow business climate and a desire […]
Posted inPolitics, Transportation
The last man standing
Jeffrey Mullan is out walking his dog in the fading summer twilight. I see him as I drive down a street in Milton and pull over to say hi. It’s […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Why some Boston voters may be holding their noses at the polls
The timing of today's indictment of two former Boston firefighters, including the infamous "disabled" bodybuilder, Albert Arroyo, and one civilian department employee on various charges related to bogus disability claims […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Fact-check: The Menino-Flaherty debate
What follows is an attempt to fact-check some of the claims and charges of Mayor Thomas Menino and City Councilor Michael Flaherty Jr. during their hour-long debate at the Kennedy […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Menino still in pole position
Today's Boston Globe offers mostly very good news for Mayor Tom Menino, who holds a commanding lead over challenger Michael Flaherty in a new Globe poll with just over three […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, The Download
Willie Horton Doctrine guides Bay State governors
Micheal Blanding writes in this week's Boston Globe Magazine that "The Long Shadow of Willie Horton" has put an end to the commutation of prison sentences in Massachusetts, regardless of […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
State of the unions
”Governor Patrick, Anti-Labor.” ”Governor Patrick, Anti-Public Safety.” That was the 411 from Arlington and Medford police officers lined up more than 200 strong in front of Arlington’s Town Hall in […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Charter schools — how dare they want the best for their students?
Writing in last week's Boston Phoenix, Chris Faraone tees up some of the controversies surrounding charter schools in Boston. One big beef of charter critics that he lays out in […]
Posted inEducation
Term paper trafficking
See an update to this story here. Despite laws in Massachusetts and 16 other states, lawsuits, honor codes, and even sophisticated plagiarism-detection software, college students continue to buy term papers […]
Posted inPolitics
Missed opportunity
INTRO TEXT In the wake of the indictments of former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson and former House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, a State House under siege by a fed-up public recently […]
Posted inPolitics
SFI filings
There are nearly 4,900 elected and appointed state and county officials required to file annual Statements of Financial Interest (SFI), and all public employees at all levels are subject to […]
Posted inUncategorized
Correspondence
State lotteries are predatory institutions Michael Jonas’s interview of Barbara Dafoe Whitehead was first-rate. (See “Ben Franklin Was Right,” CW, Summer ’09.) Interesting, substantive, and entertaining, it put a much […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service, The Download
Federal stimulus funding cushions state budget
With Washington coming to the rescue, Massachusetts has been able to save programs that would have been decimated without federal stimulus funds. According to a report published Wednesday by the […]
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
First comes love, then comes marriage, then….
After Massachusetts led the way on gay marriage, other states followed. The Bay State may lead again on gay parenting, if one influential medical organization gets its way. The American […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Bay State leans on income taxes, not so much on sales levies
Massachusetts ranks third in its reliance on income taxes to fund state and local government, behind Oregon and Maryland, according to a new report by the Tax Foundation. And despite […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
What might David D’Alessandro find as he turns over the rocks at the MBTA?
Former John Hancock CEO David D’Alessandro is hard at work on his eagerly anticipated "top-to-bottom" review of the MBTA’s finances and management, due for release by the end of October. […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Charter schools and spaghetti?
Thursday, October 8, 2009 Granted, the connection is not immediately obvious. But this post on the indispensable Eduwonk employs a nifty marinara metaphor to frame the case for charter schools […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Khazei promises to shake things up
Alan Khazei, touting the endorsement of Max Kennedy and his wife Victoria, portrayed himself today as the change agent in the race for the US Senate seat of the late Edward […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Galluccio road show growing tired
So now we have what passes for an explanation from Anthony Galluccio for what happened late Sunday afternoon at a Cambridge intersection. Let's just say it doesn't pass the smell […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Mass. likely to lose House seat, but no population sinkholes here
The Electoral Map has a good rundown of the fastest-growing and fastest-shrinking congressional districts in the US. The upshot is that the Republicans are likely to make short-term gains after […]
Posted inPolitics
Galluccio road show growing tired
So now we have what passes for an explanation from Anthony Galluccio for what happened late Sunday afternoon at a Cambridge intersection. Let’s just say it doesn’t pass the smell […]