Edward M. Kennedy died last night after representing Massachusetts in the US Senate for 47 years. The Boston Globe, of course, has comprehensive coverage on the life and career of […]
Ted Kennedy and Massachusetts
Posted inEconomy, The Download
July 2009 unemployment rates: Lawrence and Fall River top 14 percent
The state Office of Labor and Workforce Development today released town-level unemployment data for July 2009, and the Gateway Cities continue to suffer the worst. See the chart below for […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Do small businesses in Gateway Cities have adequate access to credit?
By Benjamin Forman and Lynn Sanders Small business development is a central strategy for growth and renewal in the Commonwealth’s former mill cities, but there are real reasons to be […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
89 years and counting
With Massachusetts and much of the country mourning the loss of Sen. Edward Kennedy, the anniversary of another monumental political event will likely go unnoticed. It was 89 years ago […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
It is possible for a big-city incumbent mayor to lose
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels proved last week that a big-city mayor can not only lose an election, but can come in third in a primary. That may come as some […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Kennedy succession plan again attacked as villainy out of a James Bond film
For some reason, Sen. Ted Kennedy's advocacy of a law giving the governor the power to appoint a temporary successor should he die in office has become a kind of […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Isn’t “power politics” a redundant term?
Joan Vennochi has a typically well-written but surprisingly angry column in Sunday's Boston Globe on Sen. Ted Kennedy's plea for a law allowing Democratic Gov. Patrick to appoint a replacement […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Not much pork for the Bay State
Catherine Rampell writes in the New York Times's Economix blog that universities and military contractors dominate the list of biggest congressional earmark recipients for fiscal year 2009. But New England, […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Huge job losses haven’t spread to public sector — yet
Does a government job protect you from recessionary pink slips? Maybe in the short term. Employment by state and local governments — here in Massachusetts and across the US — […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
The 2009 export market for calculating Massachusetts (and scrappy Rhode Island)
The Herald's Jay Fitzgerald reports that exports from Massachusetts companies fell by 20 percent in the first half of 2009, "thanks to the global recession." (Nationally, the drop in exports […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Oooh-no! A municipal wake-up call from Hurricane Bill
The New England saying, “Wait five minutes and the weather will change,” goes doubly so for hurricanes. Hurricane Bill is a Category 4 storm, one that could pack a devastating […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
How Boston parks measure up
The Trust for Public Land has just released its 2009 City Park Facts, tallying acreage and spending devoted to public recreation in the 77 largest US cities. Boston comes off […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Iowa’s school year creeps into early August
The case against summer vacation seemed to get stronger last year, thanks to a study suggesting that the time off was a major factor in the continuing achievement gap between […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Gallup deems Massachusetts the most liberal and most Democratic state
Gallup's newest polls have self-identified Democrats outnumbering self-identified Republicans here by 34 points, the largest gap in the US. The percentage of respondents calling themselves "liberal" (29 percent) is also […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Energy costs plunge in Boston, restaurant costs show relatively small rise
According to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, consumer prices fell by 3.4 percent in the Boston area in July, compared with July 2008. That's a sharper […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Fantastic MBTA voyages
There are fantasy baseball and football teams, so why not fantasy MBTA routes? The Future MBTA has posted ideas from readers for subway lines that will probably never be built […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Boston’s golf courses get liquor licenses on the cheap
Liquor licenses in Boston are scarce commodities that often sell for tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, but the city’s two municipal golf courses have found a way […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
NPR maps economic indicators
National Public Radio's recently improved website includes three handy maps with county-by-county data on foreclosure rates, unemployment rates, and median household income. (One complaint: Even when you zoom in on […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service, The Download
Stimulating a Bristol County cleanup
Bristol County is receiving the largest infusion of total federal dollars ($162.4 million) outside Suffolk County ($323.2 million) according to a county-by-county breakdown of federal stimulus funds flowing to the […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Standardizing pre-school
Back-to-school shopping can mean many things: backpacks and notebooks for sure, but also the anxiety-producing process of choosing a school. When it comes to selecting a pre-school, some say a […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Sox strike out on open bars
Regulators say they plan to order the Boston Red Sox to stop offering an open bar as part of $1,000-and-up packages for some of Fenway Park’s most coveted seats. Daniel […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Slow housing growth in Mass., but better than Michigan
The Census Bureau has just released its newest estimates of housing units by state, and Massachusetts is pretty far down the list in terms of creating new homes. You can […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Humane Society chief lauds farm animal bill
By Wayne Pacelle This session, Commonwealth lawmakers are considering a bill that might seem a little unexpected at first blush: one introduced by Rep. Pam Richardson (D-Framingham) to prevent cruel […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
The Pottery Barn Rule of MBTA management
When Dan Grabauskas emerged from the initial two-hour plus MBTA Board of Directors executive session on Thursday, he looked like he’d been hit by a Silver Line bus. With the clock […]