HOLYOKE–Mary Signet’s afternoons felt empty after the daily Transcript-Telegram newspaper folded three years ago. She would climb the stairs to her home in Holyoke’s Highlands after teaching grammar school all […]
A Newspaper Grows in Holyoke
Posted inCriminal Justice
Vermont Puts Nonviolent Criminals to Work
Building contractor Jeff Goodwin is standing in front of the glittering surface of the municipal pool in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. While teen-agers take turns diving into the rumpled iridescent water […]
Posted inEconomy
On Heritage Road
In the heart of suburbia, anxieties about the new economy.
This article first appeared in CommonWealth’s Spring 1996 issue, the premiere issue of the magazine.
Posted inOpinion, Politics
The Know Somethings?
The Tea Party phenomenon aims to upend Massachusetts political structures with a combination of anti-establishment populism, a challenge to prevailing economic wisdom, and anti-immigrant vehemence. John Mulkern has written a […]
Posted inUncategorized
Broken promises and changed deals
Back to main Sue Tucker is a Democratic state senator from Andover. When asked whether or not Massachusetts should have casino gambling, people inevitably imagine one or two fancy Connecticut-style […]
Posted inUncategorized
Responsibility rests with Patrick
Back to main Kathleen Conley Norbut is president of United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts. Scott Harshbarger, senior counsel at Proskauer,was the Massachusetts Attorney General from 1991 to 1999.Last week […]
Posted inUncategorized
The ethics of risk in the gambling debate
Back to main Rev. Richard McGowan, S.J ., is a professor at the Carroll School of Management and economics department at Boston College. He has written extensively on the effects […]
Posted inUncategorized
The time to act is now
Back to main Robert Haynes is president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. Our nation’s severe economic recession and the ongoing jobs crisis have changed the context of many policy debates. We […]
Posted inUncategorized
Slots mean instant jobs and tax revenue
Back to main David Flynn is a Democratic state representative from Bridgewater The number one issue for me in terms of expanded gambling – and in particular the licensing […]
Posted inPolitics
Fall 2013 correspondence and updates
Flynn-King race deserved mention James Aloisi’s article in the Summer issue of CommonWealth (“Fitting the Boston mayoral race into a historical context”) offers an engaging account of the history of […]
Posted inPolitics
Patrick will sign sentencing reform bill
The following is a statement from Governor Deval Patrick. “I asked for a balanced bill and, after many twists and turns, the Legislature has given me one. Because of the […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Politics of climate change still unsettled
Massachusetts is one of the greenest states in the nation, but even here the politics of climate change is unsettled. Scott Brown voted for a regional carbon cap-and-trade system as […]
Posted inEnvironment
Power subsidy settlement OK’d
CORRECTION: Because of incorrect information supplied to CommonWealth by the Patrick administration, the initial version of this story said the premium for Massachusetts-generated solar was roughly 30 cents per kilowatt […]
Posted inPolitics
Petrolati not out of hot water in probe
The attorney for for State Rep. Thomas Petrolati says a scathing report on probation hiring abuse “totally vindicates” his client but the independent counsel who conducted the probe said that […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Sex education in the land of the Puritans
THE NORTHAMPTON HIGH SCHOOL student union surveyed students last year, asking them what they thought were the school’s biggest problems. “We got a lot of people saying sex ed,” said […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Anita Walker betting culture is good for your health
With a portion of the state’s casino revenues, the Massachusetts Cultural Council is testing whether arts and culture can be prescribed just like medicine. The organization is running three pilot […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Markey-Kennedy race in the homestretch
NEARLY EVERYONE AGREES that when Joe Kennedy launched his primary challenge nearly a year ago to Sen. Ed Markey, the son of the state’s most storied political family looked like a […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Dr. Michael Mina’s rapid test theory
The US could have prevented the surge of COVID-19 cases this winter that killed hundreds of thousands of people if only the FDA had approved methods for at-home rapid testing […]