Understanding the health care crisis that isn’t but could be

There are two separate components to our current housing problem–the need for “affordable housing” and the equally important need for housing that can be made affordable. The distinction might be […]

During a two-week period this spring, 27,000 low-income households in Massachusetts applied for federal housing vouchers to help pay their rent. They joined at least 60,000 families already waiting for […]

When state leaders approved a $2.4 billion Big Dig bailout this spring, they said their plan was responsible. And they said it was fair to taxpayers. What they didn’t say […]

Native American wearing moccasins, a disembodied arm holding a sword, and some words in Latin that hardly anyone can understand. How did Massachusetts end up with this conglomeration of images […]

Gov. Paul Cellucci and other state officials have caught flak over the years for their frequent trips and trade missions to foreign countries. But some state workers who promote Massachusetts […]

The crowd assembled inside the State House to lobby for more legal aid for the needy didn’t exactly fit the stereotype of poor people’s advocates. These were no law students […]

There’s nothing like providing a job benefit one worker at a time. But that’s the way it is when it comes to supporting some government employees during an extended illness. […]

It’s the kind of steaming-hot day that can make even the most good-natured person cranky, but Rosie Mavrogeorge graciously invites a stranger inside her drab, wood-frame apartment building when asked […]

When it comes to drug cases, Judge Sydney Hanlon knows what she’s looking at. As presiding justice of Dorchester District Court, she runs Boston’s busiest community court, with 8,636 criminal […]

Evan Dobelle knew that Trinity College had an image problem when he took over as president in 1995—that’s why he was hired. But the perspective of a hotel doorman helped […]

Here he is at the State House, it’s that time of year, and he just can’t help himself. After quoting the Roman statesman Seneca-“Loyalty is the holiest good in the […]

Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American DreamBy Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff SpeckNorth Point Press, New York, 2000, 256 pagesPicture Windows: How the […]

The special town meeting in Foxborough on December 6 was a civic gathering unlike any other in the town’s history. A tent and heaters were set up outside Foxborough High […]

In his new book, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam attempts to quantify what he views as the crumbling character of American civic […]

It’s a quarter to five on a Friday afternoon and Holyoke Mayor Michael Sullivan is talking on the telephone about the problems facing young people in his city. There’s a […]

What gets lost in the shift from books to screen and merchandise? The magic. My mother would have loved Harry Potter. This might not seem like much to J.K. Rowling, […]

“Don’t Borrow Trouble.” That’s the slogan of the City of Boston’s new program to educate consumers about loan scams and unethical lending practices that could cost them their homes. Given […]

Most taxpayers would agree that it is desirable to reduce the Massachusetts income tax rate to 5 percent, especially given a state income tax burden that is one of the […]

The current economic outlook and spending controls could enable the Commonwealth to accommodate further multi-year tax cuts, if approved by the voters in November 2000, within a balanced budget.” I […]