During the Boston mayoral debate Wednesday night, candidate Kevin McCrea leveled a series of charges against Mayor Thomas Menino and his other rivals. What follows is a closer examination of those […]
Fact-checking the Boston mayoral debate
Posted inPolitics, The Download
An email’s as good as a phone call when nagging City Hall
The Web has not yet made everyone high-functioning citizens, according to "The Internet and Civic Engagement," a report released yesterday by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Affluent and well-educated Americans are […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service, The Download
Local foods mean local smells
Tewksbury residents went to Beacon Hill yesterday to argue about the regulation of odorous hog farms. The State House News Service's Jim O'Sullivan reported (via Wicked Local Tewksbury) that the […]
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
Kerry to face the (town meeting) music
It's John Kerry's turn. The state's soon-to-be-senior senator will follow scores of congressional colleagues who have waded into the uncertain waters of a town meeting that is likely to focus […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Cruise is coming
Tom Cruise hasn't been spotted yet in Massachusetts, but fans and some state officials are breathing a sigh of relief that preparations are finally under way for filming of the star's […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Patrick: Vicki not interested in Senate seat
Gov. Deval Patrick says Vicki Kennedy told him she is not interested in running for or temporarily occupying the vacant seat of her late husband, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. While family members have […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
The Supreme Court argument for US Sen. Jim McGovern
A lot of the profiles for Ted Kennedy note how he became a major force in the US Senate, and US politics in general, despite his reputation as a lightweight […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The line on succession
As speculation continues to mount on who will run in a special election to succeed the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, little attention is being paid to who might succeed the successor […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Ted Kennedy and Massachusetts
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 […]
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 […]