I first met Colman Herman, the author of this issue’s cover story on the Massachusetts Public Records Law, years ago when I was a Boston Globe reporter. He had asked […]
Three thoughts
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Quincy insurer snubs its rep
Officials at Arbella Insurance Group of Quincy were no-shows at a recent award ceremony for their local state representative, Ronald Mariano, the House chairman of the Legislature’s Committee on Financial […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Wall Street Journal discovers Patrick-Obama connection
We thought the idea that there are similarities between the background, style, message and, by implication, substance of Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Barack Obama was a pretty old storyline […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
The Fix We’re In
With the stock market nosediving, credit lines freezing, retirement savings disappearing overnight, and the state budget on the chopping block, we are facing an economic peril as great as any […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
The Fix We’re In: Jacob Hacker on the “Great Risk Shift” hitting home
With the stock market nosediving, credit lines freezing, retirement savings disappearing overnight, and the state budget on the chopping block, we are facing an economic peril as great as any […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
The Fix We’re In: Stephen Crosby on budgeting in an economic crisis
With the stock market nosediving, credit lines freezing, retirement savings disappearing overnight, and the state budget on the chopping block, we are facing an economic peril as great as any […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
The Fix We’re In: David Weil on transparency and the economic crisis
With the stock market nosediving, credit lines freezing, retirement savings disappearing overnight, and the state budget on the chopping block, we are facing an economic peril as great as any […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Is local aid next?
Though Gov. Deval Patrick has said weathering the fiscal storm must involve shared sacrifice, local aid to cities and towns and school funding were untouched by the $1 billion in […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Never mind the red ink: Team Trans spreads the good news
If the audience at yesterday’s Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs breakfast forum were the chanting types, the refrain would have been: Go, team, go! Duly noted was the […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
The Fix We’re In: Alan Wolfe on “the utter failure of conservatism”
With the stock market nosediving, credit lines freezing, retirement savings disappearing overnight, and the state budget on the chopping block, we are facing an economic peril as great as any […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
Zoning laws: Wasilla is no Wayland
Sarah Palin has sought to connect with voters in the "lower 48" by telling them Alaska is just a microcosm of the United States. It seems doubtful that the GOP […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
Film tax credits: A state budget horror show?
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 State tax credits for the film industry, which received a tough review in the spring issue of CommonWealth magazine, got national treatment in Sunday’s New York […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
Channel tax anger at Dems?
Boston Globe columnist Joan Vennochi picks up today on our recent post highlighting the fact that Massachusetts ranks last in the country in contested races by major party candidates for […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Massachusetts ranks dead last in contested elections
Massachusetts, once known for its raucous politics, now ranks last in the nation in the percentage of voters with a choice as to who represents them in the State House. […]
Posted inPolitics
What works
INTRO TEXT COMING TOGETHER IN WESTERN MASS. To municipal administrators these days, the word “regionalization” is what “plastics” was to The Graduate’s Benjamin Braddock: an easy, but just a little […]
Posted inEconomy
Redefining a ‘better’ life
“it’s crazy that none of us can afford to live in the town where we were kids,” said a high school classmate at a recent mini-reunion. We’d grown up in […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Underfunded and overextended
moving people out of cars and into mass transit makes sense economically and environmentally, but not if the MBTA doesn’t have enough money to properly operate and maintain its existing […]
Posted inOpinion, Uncategorized
Seeing the forest and the trees
seen from a satellite high above, 29 percent of the city of Boston is hidden under the leafy canopy of trees during the summer months. That’s more shade than exists […]
Posted inPolitics
Mr. Cellophane
Whether we’re checking the test scores of local schools or looking for the fat content of a brand of yogurt, we are all players in a new way of life. […]
Posted inEconomy
Build to suit
early last year, MassINC released Reconnecting Massachusetts Gateway Cities, a report on how the state’s historic mill communities have been struggling to make the shift to the New Economy. It […]
Posted inPolitics
Override forces turn to the pros in the art of winning elections
INTRO TEXT Voter apathy may have hit a new low in Holliston in May. Even with a Proposition 2 1/2 override of $992,000 on the ballot, only 29 percent of […]
Posted inEducation, Politics, State House News Service
Patrick reveals a big appetite for education reform
INTRO TEXT The unveiling of the Readiness Project should dispel any doubt that Gov. Deval Patrick sees himself as the master builder of the next epoch of education reform. “Our […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Child care centers get Web scrutiny
INTRO TEXT Massachusetts is taking steps toward giving parents online access to information about licensing and state inspections of child care centers. Matt Veno, a spokesman for the state Department […]