the goal used to be so much simpler. During those 86 long years in the wilderness leading up to the magical 2004 season, Red Sox fans were fixated on an […]
As ticket scalping thrives, lawmakers ponder their next play
Posted inEconomy
Deeds that keep houses affordable may keep neighborhoods poor
INTRO TEXT in a state short on affordable housing, it might seem odd that housing advocates are calling for policy changes that could eventually bring more market-rate units to poor […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service
A study in tax-study avoidance?
INTRO TEXT Of the seven business tax proposals put forward by Gov. Deval Patrick, “combined reporting” would deliver the biggest boost to state coffers, an estimated $136 million in fiscal […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Following the Money
Gregory Sullivan’s first termas IG ends in August, and he’smaking it known that he isavailable for another.phil johnston thought all hell was going to break loose at the State House. […]
Posted inEducation
College try
IN DECEMBER, MAYOR Tom Menino made headlines when he announced in a speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce that he wanted to sell Boston’s City Hall and its […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
The public payroll
though state finances are back at a point where almost everyone agrees that spending must be brought “under control,” Massachusetts already has fewer government employees, when taking into account our […]
Posted inPolitics
Disappearing ink
one of matt Storin’s last assignments before he retired as editor of The Boston Globe was to carry out a painful round of downsizing. It was the spring of 2001, […]
Posted inEconomy
Money from home
UPDATE: To get FY 2010 data on the percentage of each community’s revenue that comes from property tax, download an Excel file or PDF. You can also go to the […]
Posted inEducation
Credit report
at the core of MassINC’s mission is the belief that all citizens of Massachusetts should have the opportunity to pursue the American dream. And as we’ve written in this space […]
Posted inUncategorized
With all due respect
THIS SPRING, Al Gore testified before Congress on global warming, which he considers an imminent threat to the survival of the planet. When Sen. James Inhofe began his questioning, he […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
Review session
edward kennedy has been getting an earful of late. And since the subject of the senator’s listening sessions is the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, which he played a […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Seeing red
holbrook When first-term Holbrook Selectman Katherine Connolly and her husband started their car on Valentine’s Day, they knew something was wrong. They got out to discover their two front tires […]
Posted inPolitics
Going dutch
Illustrations by Travis Foster State officials and legislators looking for a justifiable trade junket might want to get some plane tickets to Amsterdam. A new report from the International Trade […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion, Transportation
Meeting transportation needs may require more tolls and a higher gas tax
gov. patrick faces a transportation challenge that could make the Big Dig look like a piece of cake. Massachusetts could have a shortfall in highway and transit funding of $13 […]
Posted inEconomy
Risky business
few books have generated as much anticipation here in the CommonWealth office as Jacob Hacker’s The Great Risk Shift. In terms of addressing themes we keep coming back to in […]
Posted inEconomy
Getting smart
portland or maryland? Sticks or carrots? That’s the choice that the new administration needs to make as it translates candidate Deval Patrick’s stated support for smart growth into Gov. Patrick’s […]
Posted inPolitics
Recipe for success
shortly after the polls closed on election night, November 7, it was clear that voters from all around Massachusetts had turned out in droves to elect Democrat Deval Patrick as […]
Posted inPolitics
Republicans have a positive role to play
For the past 16 years, the Massachusetts Republican Party, including its legislators and candidates, has been dominated by the agendas and personalities of single individuals: governors who mobilized the Republican […]
Posted inEducation
The new math
EDITOR’S NOTE: After CommonWealth went to press, it was reported that Manuel Rivera would not be taking the job of superintendent of Boston’s public schools. Manuel Rivera, who arrives in […]
Posted inPolitics
ACTIVISTS, NOT MAYOR, CHANGE NEW BEDFORD
Your article on the mayors of New Bedford and Fall River (“Bright Lights, Little Cities“) is well-written, but there is a message that is lost, and those of us who […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Performance pacts offer energy upgrades for (almost) nothing
INTRO TEXT it sounded almost too good to be true, the way the young man speaking before Newton’s board of aldermen described how improvements to crumbling firehouses and neglected school […]
Posted inEducation
Another day of reckoning approaches for Renaissance
Renaissance is the largest charter school in the state. Has its size protected it from scrutiny? Photograph by Frank Curran. HAS THE BOSTON Renaissance Charter School gotten its act together, […]
Posted inPolitics
Romney’s scorecard
INTRO TEXT When Mitt Romney announced in December 2005 that he would not seek a second term as Massachusetts governor, his reason was simple: “We got a lot more done […]