Headlines about housing woes are usually followed by tales of low-income families squeezed by the sky-high cost of housing in Greater Boston. But that very difficult reality has obscured a […]
Current Affairs
Posted inEconomy, Education, The Download
The Download: Where the grads are
Well-educated people tend to congregate together, and sometimes so do high school dropouts. Portfolio.com scoured Census data for information on educational attainment and then ranked the 200 largest metropolitan statistical […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Education, The Download
The Download: Counterpunch
Suspended, and likely to be soon ousted, commissioner of Probation John O’Brien is fighting back. O’Brien’s attorney, Paul Flavin, went on “Greater Boston” last night to repeat his allegations that he gave scores of notes […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, The Download
The Download: Obama hits back
When it comes to taxes, presidents can’t get a break and Barack Obama is no exception. Obama is on the defensive after the announcement of a tax deal that includes […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
The Download: Kick the can
The midterm elections last month presented the country with the prospect of a deadlocked Congress, one that had been birthed by obstructionism, and one whose leadership measured success in terms […]
Posted inEconomy, Health Care, The Download
The Download: Immunization exemptions
Whooping cough, an infectious bacterial disease that causes uncontrollable coughing, used to be one of the most common childhood diseases in the United States and a major cause of childhood […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, The Download
The Download: The People’s Republic
The Cambridge City Council fired up its version of the Wayback Machine last night and transported us all the way back to the dark days of early 2009. At the […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download, Transportation
The Download: Teacher lessons
Another Monday, another impressive spread on the Boston Globe op-ed page devoted to the thoughts of retired Boston high school teacher Junia Yearwood. More accurately, we should say another spread […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Tom Reilly’s personal endorsement
By Paul McMorrow The last time Charlie Baker trumpeted the endorsement of a celebrated defector, it didn’t go so well. After picking off Tim Cahill’s erstwhile running mate, Paul Loscocco, […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service, The Download
Senate Republicans blow back on wind siting bill
Gabrielle Gurley Wind siting reform legislation continues to go nowhere fast. At the end of the formal legislative sessions at the end of July, a group of House members from […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Blago faces the music
By Michael Jonas Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich’s fate is now in the hands of a federal jury. The Chicago press has had a field day with the circus-like corruption […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The Shirley Sherrod he knew
By Michael Jonas It is a mild understatement to say there is plenty that initial media reports and the Obama administration had wrong about Shirley Sherrod. But the lessons involve more than just the unconscionable […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Uncategorized
The unpredictable Scott Brown
By Gabrielle Gurley US Sen. Scott Brown continues to gain national prominence as Washington’s new go-to guy. All it takes these days is a letter from Brown to signal the […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Sarah Palin: No shades of gray
By Bruce Mohl I went to the Boston Common this morning because I was curious about Sarah Palin. I wanted to see for myself whether she was the vacuous caricature […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Bay State’s bridge to nowhere
Tuesday, December 8, 2009 On the state's sudden reversal and decision not to spend $9 million in federal stimulus money for a footbridge over Route 1 that would connect an […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Uncategorized
Harvard panel, Boston police chief Davis discuss the Gates controversy
That human beings profile one another isn’t surprising. But when certain social, class, and cultural norms and values collide during confrontations between police and civilians, those instincts sometimes take on […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Combatting the debt culture
David Brooks says we need to get ready for the next culture war. Not a divisive showdown over social issues to be dreaded, this is a battle, he says, to […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Uncategorized
Martha’s big sister
It may seem like a first, but we've been here before. Congressman Michael Capuano thinks The Woman is the one to beat in the US Senate race. The State House […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Uncategorized
Did Al Sharpton save the Cambridge Police Department?
Did the prospect of dealing with Al Sharpton prove to be the catalyst that propelled the Cambridge Police Department, the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, and Harvard University professor Henry Louis […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Uncategorized
Tip, Ronnie, and Tricky Dick walk into a bar…
What would Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill think about competing against the likes of Richard Nixon and Franklin Roosevelt? We'll never know, but only one of the unlikely trio […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
A “new” neighbor?
Massachusetts isn't the only place thinking about history in spite of — or as a distraction from — the gloomy fiscal future. State legislators here recently opted against eliminating Bunker Hill […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Pension commission chair doesn’t mince words on termination benefits
State leaders may be wavering on some aspects of pension reform, but Alicia Munnell, the Boston College professor heading a special commission on the state pension system, is suffering from none of that. […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
Patrick’s low ratings part of national trend
Before anyone writes Deval Patrick's political obituary over the 7News/Suffolk University poll released yesterday, it's worth noting that Patrick has plenty of bad-ratings company among his fellow governors. Judging by the range […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Just words
Deval Patrick famously dressed down a group of Massachusetts newspaper publishers in a speech delivered days after his election, telling the news honchos that many of their reporters just didn't get […]