STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE REJECTED BY THE voters in his bid for an expansion of charter school access, Gov. Charlie Baker said Wednesday he will explore other means of reducing […]
Municipal Government
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Turning around New Bedford
Photographs by Frank Curran JON MITCHELL WALKS a fine line as the mayor of New Bedford. On the one hand, he is the self-professed squeaky wheel, constantly pressing state and […]
Posted inEconomy
A Springfield revival?
Photographs by Mark Morelli SPRINGFIELD MAYOR DOMENIC SARNO remembers the day after Thanksgiving in 2012. The sky was clear and the temperature unseasonably warm. The mayor was at the city’s […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Ash withdraws name from Cambridge post
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE JAY ASH, SECRETARY, for the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development and one of three finalists for the open Cambridge city manager’s post, has […]
Posted inPolitics
Pot opponents mislead on costs, local aid threat
LT. GOV. KARYN POLITO suggested earlier this week that passage of the ballot question legalizing recreational marijuana could lead to a reduction in local aid to pay for regulating the new […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Boston property tax hike makes sense
TAXES VS. INVESTMENTS. The tension between these two concepts has been at the center of public policy debates at all levels of government throughout American history. Putting aside the recurring […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Polito: Pot question could curb state aid to cities
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE FUNDING FOR SCHOOLS and local aid could take a hit if voters approve a marijuana legalization ballot question in November, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics, Transportation
Being smart is not enough
This is the third in a series entitled The Future of Mobility, a joint project of CommonWealth and Meeting of the Minds, a San Francisco-based organization that seeks to build alliances around […]
Posted inPolitics
Joyce absolved of wrongdoing
SEN. BRIAN JOYCE obtained all the required permits to renovate his home, according to a report by the Milton Town Administrator that rebuts questions raised in a newspaper article over whether the lawmaker clandestinely […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Rivera to LePage: Your comments help no one
The following is a response from Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera to Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s comments about where the opioids causing problems in Maine are coming from. PAUL LEPAGE, the governor […]
Posted inGun ownership, Guns, State House News Service
Mass. mayors back AG on assault weapons
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY faced a barrage of criticism in the weeks following her announcement of stepped up enforcement of the state’s assault weapons ban, but […]
Posted inEducation
Musical chairs
Photographs by Michael Manning STATE EDUCATION OFFICIALS placed the Southbridge schools into receivership earlier this year, citing continual underperformance in all testing areas, high suspensions and disciplinary problems, and unacceptable […]
Posted inGun ownership, Guns
Mass. chiefs approve most gun permits
ONLY A TINY fraction of Massachusetts residents who apply for firearms licenses or identification cards are turned down, suggesting the state’s reputation for restricting gun use may be overstated. Just […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Gateway Cities preoccupied with panhandling
IN NEW BEDFORD, the City Council considered requiring panhandlers to get licenses to ask for money in the city. Manchester, New Hampshire, banned the exchange of items of value between […]
Posted inEconomy
Sandwich shop struggling on Boston Common
THE EARL OF SANDWICH is struggling financially at its Boston Common restaurant location, with losses mounting and revenues declining. The city of Boston hasn’t taken a hit—rental payments to the […]
Posted inEconomy
Boston garage sale stirs worries
THE CITY OF Boston used to sell off rundown municipal garages for development all the time by itself, but it’s taking a different tack with the old Winthrop Square Garage, […]
Posted inEducation
Southbridge schools get fresh start
THE NEWS WAS not unexpected when the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted in January to put the Southbridge schools into receivership. The small central Massachusetts district of […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
There’s no getting around
THE TERM “HIDING in plain sight” has meaning beyond the obvious. Sometimes facts and realities that are part of our daily routine get overlooked, taken for granted, accepted as part […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Rivera’s take on School Department odyssey
LIKE MANY PROBLEMS IN LAWRENCE, the problem with the School Department headquarters and the lease at 237-255 Essex St. is old and complicated. This month, a 28-plus-year-old problem was resolved […]
Posted inPolitics
Why whites control Lowell city government
Photographs by Meghan Moore LOWELL IS MOST commonly associated with block upon block of old mill buildings; immigrants from Asia and the world over; and tough streets, the kind that […]
Posted inEconomy, Transportation
Pump slump good for government
FALLING FUEL PRICES may be wreaking havoc in oil-producing countries, but they are bringing smiles to drivers in Massachusetts and helping state and local officials keep their budgets in balance. […]
Posted inPolitics
Rivera’s school department odyssey coming to end
LAWRENCE MAYOR DANIEL RIVERA won City Council approval Tuesday night to do what he probably should have done two years ago – buy the headquarters of the school department, fix […]
Posted inPolitics
Lawrence city councilor slams Rivera
LAWRENCE CITY COUNCILOR Modesto Maldonado came down hard on Mayor Daniel Rivera on Monday for squandering taxpayer dollars on a losing war with the former landlord of the school department headquarters. […]
Posted inEconomy, Education
Doubts over controversial construction method
A NEW STUDY released by a conservative think tank says schools built in Massachusetts under a relatively new construction approach cost taxpayers far more than similar projects built using the […]