Can you have tax credit transparency without identifying who's receiving the tax credits? That's the question facing House and Senate budget negotiators as they try to resolve differences between two […]
Senate wants to hide names of tax credit recipients
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Logan Airport wins arbitrary award for bewilderment
J.D. Power has ranked Boston's Logan Airport 16th out of 21 "medium" airports in its recently released "2008 North America Airport Satisfaction Study." Its best category, with four out of […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
The trains will be on time… ish
The old saw about the regularity of a scheduled train is "you can set your watch by it." When a train is ready to leave at 12:38, there is no "ish" attached […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Sal makes three
Today's federal indictment of former House speaker Sal DiMasi fills out the ignominious trifecta many had been anticipating for several months: three straight Massachusetts House speakers indicted on charges related to activities […]
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
The medical mystery of McAllen, Texas
Harvard Medical School's Atul Gawande has a fantastic investigative piece — with the structure of a detective novel — in this week's New Yorker. "The Cost Conundrum" is about rising […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
With charter schools stalled, poor kids lose
State Sen. Robert O'Leary, just four months into his new role as co-chairman of the Legislature's education committee, says he has a lot of homework to get up to speed on […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Duncan: Federal aid may depend on openness to charters
A timely add-on to our post earlier today on the Massachusetts charter school stand-off: US Education Secretary Arne Duncan made it clear yesterday that federal education aid will depend on […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Teachers’ unions and Massachusetts achievement gains
Does passage of the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 and the achievement gains that have followed prove that teachers' unions are not nearly the obstacle to school reform efforts […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Some Medford city jobs are worth keeping
Last week we noted that things are so bad at Medford City Hall that the mayor is telling workers to get out while they can:“If [you] can secure employment somewhere […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Unemployment still centered in southeast Mass.
Town-by-town unemployment rates for April are now online at the state's Office of Labor and Workforce Development, and the results are shown in the map below: Statewide unemployment was 7.8 […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, The Download
An escalation in the debate over a graduated income tax
Blue Mass Group’s David suggested last summer that it’s time to consider, once again, a graduated income tax in Massachusetts. He pointed out that 34 of the other 40 states […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Where the boys (and girls) are
After Memorial Day, Cape Cod has no trouble attracting visitors of all ages. But Lynn Mason-Small of Yarmouth hopes to make the Cape a more attractive place year-round, especially for […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
State of the States
OUTSIDE LINKS Obesity rates Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Unemployment rates Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor CW UNBOUND ARCHIVES Internet access Summer 2009 Baby names: Ryan […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Boston’s leadership club
Thursday, May 21, 2009 This Michael Graham column in today's Boston Herald lays out the state of affairs in our capital city so perfectly that there is really nothing to add. The […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Government work not so secure in Medford and Worcester
Notwithstanding the sweet pension packages for certain public employees in Massachusetts, it's getting scary for a lot of people who get their paychecks from City Hall. For example, Medford Mayor […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Mission Impossible: Commuting on the MBTA or running it?
It wasn’t a fluke, an infrastructure issue, sabotage, or terrorism, according to MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo. Nor did it have anything to do with the T’s debt issues or the […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Life after newspapers
Boston’s largest newspaper seems to have dodged the closure bullet for now, but the question of what the city might look like without it – and what might spring up […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Raynham deems 0.54% voter turnout good enough for town meeting
The South Coast community of Raynham, which has 9,283 registered voters and about 13,600 residents, last night "saved" its town meeting by lowering the quorum from 200 to 50 people, […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
Boston’s reliance on property tax may be a saving grace
A new report looks at the budget crises facing 13 American cities, including Boston. Tough Decisions and Limited Options: How Philadelphia and Other Cities are Balancing Budgets in a Time […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Pension commission chair doesn’t mince words on termination benefits
State leaders may be wavering on some aspects of pension reform, but Alicia Munnell, the Boston College professor heading a special commission on the state pension system, is suffering from none of that. […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Head Count maps now archived
CW Unbound has a new page listing all of the maps of Massachusetts with town-by-town data that we've compiled on the blog, and in CommonWealth magazine, over the past few […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Florida calls Boston “thick” (in a nice way)
Sociologist Richard Florida is subbing at Andrew Sullivan's blog, and today he puts another brick in his monument to cool, creative, and gay-friendly cities like Boston. (Remember that these are […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Download
Greenway tries to build traffic, but there’s a long way to go
Officials running the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway are circulating their latest plans to drive traffic to the downtown Boston park, including a carousel, a farmers' market, and a makeover of […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Public records politics
By Colman M. HermanRepublican state senators are pushing an ethics amendment that would mandate Gov. Deval Patrick's office to follow the Public Records Law. Sources say Senate Democrats, weary of […]