FORMER GOV. DEVAL Patrick’s trade mission to Singapore in December 2013 must have been grueling because an aide who accompanied him on the trip ordered up a massage and what […]
Ethics and Open Government
Posted inPolitics
Galvin orders DPH public records training
Secretary of State William Galvin is ordering officials at the Department of Public Health to attend training sessions on the workings of the Massachusetts Public Records Law. “In the past […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Sweetheart deals?
The state Department of Conservation and Recreation is coming under fire yet again for leasing state land to private entities at below-market rates, but this time even one of the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Checking Bump’s mileage
Every St. Patrick’s Day the state’s leading politicians flock to South Boston for a roast that features jokes, songs, and lots of laughs. Most of the pols view the event […]
Posted inPolitics
Temp CFO earns $262,000 for 10 months
A temporary replacement for the chief financial officer at the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency ended up making nearly $262,000 — $34,000 more than the full-time president and CEO – because […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
120 days and counting
The state’s Public Records Law has three major blind spots. The Legislature, which passed the initial law in 1851, exempted itself from the law’s reach in 1897. The judicial branch […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Probation jurors go with their heads
Jurors went with their heads rather than their hearts in finding former Probation commissioner John O’Brien and two of his top aides guilty of mail fraud, racketeering, and conspiracy. Their […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
PACs and caps
A campaign finance package the Legislature advanced Wednesday afternoon would double the state’s limits on contributions to political candidates. The change would allow candidates to accept $1,000 checks from donors, […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Prosecution struggles in Probation Department case
Former Probation Department commissioner John O’Brien is on trial at a South Boston federal courthouse for allegedly running his department like a criminal enterprise. Federal prosecutors claim that O’Brien oversaw […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Boston’s inspectional disservice
The recent Globe Spotlight Team series “Shadow Campus” painted a devastating and detailed picture of the scummy world of Boston’s apartment rental market catering to the thousands of college students […]
Posted inPolitics
Reading between the lines
Opening statements in the long-awaited corruption trial of former state Probation commissioner John J. O’Brien were eye-opening not only for what the lawyers said but for what they didn’t say. […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Colleges forced to confront sexual assaults
At the end of April’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month, an unidentified Mass.gov contractor tweeted, “Sexual assault is always avoidable.” After a torrent of criticism, Gov. Deval Patrick labeled the message […]
Posted inThe Download
Giving up the battle at DCF
As Howie Carr constantly points out, you know someone is on their way out once they start being described as “embattled.” And it was hard to find anyone in the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The Fresolo soap opera ends
The on-again, off-again run by John Fresolo to recapture his old state rep seat in Worcester ended on Wednesday when he sent a letter to state officials asking them to […]
Posted inThe Download
Planet Harvard comes back to Earth
Harvard is used to being in the headlines for all the right reasons, like the stellar accomplishments of its students and faculty. However, in the past few days, administrators at […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The long shadow over Willie Lantigua
Former Lawrence mayor William Lantigua is laying the groundwork for a political comeback. Former Lawrence mayor William Lantigua has a number of former aides lining up behind a courtroom defendant’s […]
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
More Bridgewater follies?
We are getting a glimpse of the world behind the walls at Bridgewater State Hospital, and it’s not a pretty picture. A week after the state agreed to a $3 […]
Posted inThe Download
Jared Remy’s rage – and the fallout in the announcers’ booth
A picture can be worth a thousand words, and the shot of a steroid-bulked Jared Remy staring blankly at his murder arraignment last August said plenty, splayed out across the […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Are state campaign finance laws irrelevant?
Over the past 40 years, legislative changes have placed stringent restrictions on individual campaign contributions in Massachusetts. The maximum amount one can contribute to any candidacy in the course of […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Trouble in the “velvet coffin”
Another day, another juicy installment in the soap opera that is doubling as the office of the Suffolk County Register of Probate office. In today’s episode, Globe reporters Sean Murphy […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Super PAC bill may be too late to cover governor’s race
The Massachusetts Legislature is likely to take up a campaign finance package that would impose stricter disclosure rules on super PACs soon, but the new regulations are unlikely to take […]
Posted inThe Download
You apparently haven’t come that far, baby
Styling is out for T riders. Actually, just for women straphangers. Guys are okay, unless they choose to wear a kilt. According to the Supreme Judicial Court’s interpretation of the […]
Posted inPolitics
O’Brien judge bows out
The federal judge in the corruption trial of former Probation commissioner John O’Brien recused himself Thursday but not before excoriating defense attorneys for bringing the motion as retaliation for ruling […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
State salary numbers don’t tell full story
To read the headlines in the two Boston papers last week would lead one to think that government salaries are spiraling out of control: “More than 1,000 state employees get […]
