IT’S A STEAMY afternoon in late July, and you might expect the temperature to be rising even higher beneath the golden dome of the Massachusetts State House. The state Senate […]
Beacon ill
Posted inUncategorized
A botched experiment in this laboratory of democracy
At this writing, the general election campaign for governor has just gotten underway, and it’s looking like a barn-burner. And with the first post-primary poll putting the race at a […]
Posted inUncategorized
Dispelling the myths about Shays Rebellion
Shays’s Rebellion: The American Revolution’s Final BattleBy Leonard R. RichardsUniversity of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 216 pages. Residents of western Massachusetts find it difficult to avoid regular encounters with the legacy […]
Posted inPolitics
Does it matter if the governors race severs our last bond with the GOP
When Massachusetts voters choose a governor on November 5, they’re more likely to be thinking about, say, tolls on the Turnpike than the balance of power in Washington, DC. But […]
Posted inUncategorized
Adams wants more than mowed lawns at Greylock Glen
ADAMS — Hard times and failed dreams aren’t new in the North Berkshire town of Adams. Since 1940, the picturesque hamlet has lost nearly one-third of its population as its […]
Posted inUncategorized
Contested legislative races
When they go to the polls this November, two-thirds of Massachusetts voters will see only one candidate for state representative on the ballot. Only South Carolina has less competition for […]
Posted inUncategorized
The CALL doesnt stop at job placement
For many years, Jewish Vocational Service of Greater Boston was a small agency that helped Jewish immigrants find jobs. The organization was founded in 1938 to accommodate the influx of […]
Posted inPolitics
Taking the laws into their own hands
From the archives This article first appeared in CommonWealth’s Fall 2002 issue. Click here view more issues. WHEN IT COMES TO DEMOCRACY, is it possible to have too much of […]
Posted inUncategorized
Inching toward acceptance
Le Petite Café, where I get my favorite French baguette sandwich, is a small, family-owned restaurant in an enclave of real estate agencies, cell phone providers, and medical offices at […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Where education reform has failed changing schools
State education aid is up $2 billion from what it was in 1993, the year the state’s education reform law was enacted. While there’s little doubt that school programs are […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
In their opinion
By Robert Keough Political campaigns have their rituals, one of which is a round of meetings with newspaper editorial boards. Before the summer is out, the various candidates for governor […]
Posted inEducation
What community colleges could learn from the nations best
Across the country, community colleges are the fastest growing segment of public higher education. Close to half of all collegegoers now start their freshman year at a community college. In […]
Posted inUncategorized
Counterpoint
The legendary journalist H.L. Mencken once said, “For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.” If Mencken were alive and writing today, he could […]
Posted inUncategorized
Argument
State housing policy in Massachusetts is a failure, not only for those individuals and families seeking affordable housing, but for the communities of the Commonwealth as well. What is needed […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
State of the marital union
INTRO TEXT “Politics and marriage don’t really mix,” said Boston College political science professor Alan Wolfe at the June 18 Commonwealth Forum on “The State of the Union: Understanding Marriage […]
Posted inUncategorized
Prop 2 12 at 20
INTRO TEXT More than a few heads turned this spring when two different state representatives floated the idea of doing away with or amending Proposition 2 1/2, the state’s landmark […]
Posted inUncategorized
GOP cyberkibitzer
INTRO TEXT Last fall, lots of Bay State Republicans were quietly fretting over acting Gov. Jane Swift’s sinking poll numbers, but only one posted his impolitic assessment of his party’s […]
Posted inUncategorized
Crime labs morbid state
INTRO TEXT There is a rapist on the loose somewhere on the Cape, and Michael O’Keefe, first assistant district attorney for Cape Cod and the islands, says he’s pretty sure […]
Posted inPolitics
Mapping Massachusetts Politics
Just as the candidates will tell you, there’s a clear choice to be made in this year’s gubernatorial election, but it’s not about them. Mitt Romney and the Democratic nominee […]
Posted inUncategorized
Converting to Modernity
The series of events that began with the conviction of John Geoghan in Boston on charges of sexual abuse–along with the revelations that the Boston archdiocese had known about his […]
Posted inUncategorized
Does job training work
The Job Training CharadeBy Gordon LaferCornell University Press, Ithaca, 320 pages Even after a long economic boom, the United States continues to have many adults trapped in an unacceptably large […]
Posted inUncategorized
Plymouth rejects cityhood but still debates governance
In its place of origin, town meetinglives to fight another day PLYMOUTH–When the town of Plymouth voted in May to preserve its town-meeting form of government, it was a victory […]
Posted inUncategorized
Campaign Contributions
Already the most reliably Democratic state in national politics, Massachusetts puts its money where its mouth is. The Commonwealth is a cash cow for the national Democratic Party, but it’s […]
Posted inPolitics
Uncovering thirdparty candidates
Carla Howell has been avoiding me. For the past several weeks I’ve been trying to interview her, only to be told by her staff that she was too busy to […]