Steward Health Care is tight-lipped about its finances, but a picture of the private, for-profit hospital chain’s first year in business is starting to emerge. The Boston-based company in 2010 […]
Public Records
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Lobbyists claim overreach by Galvin
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Prominent lobbyists have filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State William Galvin claiming the state’s chief lobbying enforcement officer overstepped his authority by trying to force […]
Posted inPolitics
Galvin’s slow motion public records office
the state office charged with ruling on the appeals of citizens whose requests for public records have been denied operates at a snail’s pace. About 250 appeals are filed each […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Gambling glitch
The gambling conglomerate bankrolling the efforts to build a tribal casino in Taunton has become embroiled in an apparent pay-to-play scandal in New York, a fact that sheds new light […]
Posted inPolitics
DCR, club strike deal on rent
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation is ending a standoff with the Wollaston Yacht Club by renewing the organization’s permit at its existing $5,000-a-year level as long as the […]
Posted inPolitics
Beacon Hill’s army of influence
special interests spent more than $67 million last year lobbying on Beacon Hill, the equivalent of about $335,000 per lawmaker, according to state records. The Massachusetts Teachers Association was the […]
Posted inPolitics
Closed-door government
the machinery of government, whether it’s a regulatory proceeding or the route a bill takes to become law, is designed to give members of the public the chance to voice […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
SJC acknowledges 21st century
There are still courthouses around Massachusetts where index card files reign over computer files and you still have to go to clerks’ offices to get civil and criminal case documents […]
Posted inPolitics
Dueling viewpoints on the Greenway
Secretary Davey’s letter to the Rose Fitzgerald Greenway Conservancy: Nancy Brennan, Executive DirectorRose Fitzgerald Greenway Conservancy 185 Kneeland Street, 7th Fl. Boston, MA 02111 Dear Nancy:Thank you for sending the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
The puzzle at DCR
State Auditor Suzanne Bump says she is puzzled why it took so long for anyone in state government to notice the haphazard way the Department of Conservation and Recreation was […]
Posted inPolitics
The $100,000 club
In this economy, it’s always nice to have a second income, and many in the Legislature do. A CommonWealth review of financial disclosures filed with the state Ethics Commission found nearly […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Transparency missing from government
For more on the Public Records Law, see CommonWealth’s updated guide to public records.last november i received an email from an attorney working at the Department of Transitional Assistance informing […]
Posted inPolitics
Public records makeover
CommonWealth long has focused on the need for greater transparency in government. We’ve highlighted the needless secrecy surrounding the recipients of state tax credits and the shortcomings of the financial […]
Posted inPolitics
Psychologist seeks return of license
A female psychologist is asking the state’s Supreme Judicial Court for her license back even though she violated one of the cardinal rules of her profession by having sex with […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Is the HEFA severance fight worth it?
Citing attorney-client privilege, a quasi-public state authority is refusing to disclose how much it is spending on legal fees fighting a $562,000 severance payment to an official who lost his […]
Posted inPolitics
Records law doesn’t apply to governor
Another in a series of occasional articles concerning Massachusetts public records and open meetings laws. Responding to an appeal filed by CommonWealth, Secretary of State William F. Galvin officially ruled […]
Posted inPolitics
Judge rejects Globe’s records injunction
A Superior Court judge today rejected The Boston Globe’s bid for an injunction requiring Massachusetts officials to turn over the names of employees who have received lucrative settlement or severance […]
Posted inPolitics
Globe files suit on severance records
Another in a series of occasional articles on public records and open meetings issues. The Boston Globe is suing eight Massachusetts executive agencies plus the Massachusetts Port Authority and the […]
Posted inPolitics
Rebate records withheld by state
Second in a series of occasional articles on rulings issued by the Secretary of State’s office concerning appeals of public records requests filed with public agencies. The Great Appliance Exchange […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion, Politics
A call to reason
since the mid-1990s, legislatures around the country have pursued a continuing and escalating course of action, from registration and community notification laws to civil commitment procedures, targeting individuals who have […]
Posted inPolitics
Everybody knew
commonwealth first began investigating patronage at Probation in 2008. We tried to pry records from the Probation Department under the state’s Public Records Law, but the agency, as part of […]
Posted inPolitics
Stop pushing paper
More than 4,500 state and local officials file statements of financial interest each year with the State Ethics Commission. The ethics forms are supposed to be readily available to the […]
Posted inPolitics
New probation officer donated to senator
The state’s probation commissioner was suspended in May for allegedly handing out jobs and promotions to people who donated money to politicians on Beacon Hill, but his replacement is doing […]
Posted inPolitics
Hidden treasure
A sense of awe envelops Nancy Powell as she waxes eloquently about The Birds of America, a multi-volume set of John James Audubon’s hand-painted prints of life-size images of 435 […]