ON A SUNNY October day, students play at recess outside Hawlemont Elementary School tucked into the wooded hills of Charlemont, which are electric with fall color. As they head back […]
State Government
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Two longtime reps skip speaker vote
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE TWO LONGTIME MEMBERS of the House, both with a prickly history with Speaker Robert DeLeo, opted out of voting for DeLeo’s reelection to the post, even asking […]
Posted inPolitics
Pro-pot senators pass on blocking delay
SENATE PRESIDENT STANLEY ROSENBERG last week notified three of his colleagues who support marijuana legalization that the Senate was preparing to push back the starting date for retail sales by […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Vennochi, Herald miss the point
Boston Globe columnist Joan Vennochi and the Boston Herald editorial page rush to the defense of the Beacon Hill insiders who last week pushed through legislation tweaking the timetable of […]
Posted inThe Back Story
MassHousing paid settlements to terminated workers
THE NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency terminated three employees earlier this year and cushioned the blow by paying them a total of $144,552, according to records […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Mass. = primary care doctor desert
MASSACHUSETTS IS ARGUABLY home to the best hospitals, doctors, and medical research institutions in the world. The best and brightest attend our medical schools and many will subsequently live and […]
Posted inThe Download
Not your father’s weed
Did you hear? Legal marijuana for adult recreational use is coming to Massachusetts. It may be soon, it may be later, but make no mistake, it’s on its way. But […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Hedge fund could lose millions for campaign violation
A $500 CAMPAIGN donation to a family friend running for Massachusetts governor could potentially cost a New York hedge fund millions of dollars in its management fees of investments from […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
AG aide wins 5-3 vote for judgeship
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE First Assistant Attorney General Christopher Barry-Smith received confirmation Wednesday for a Superior Court judgeship despite strong opposition from gun rights advocates. The Gun Owners Action League […]
Posted inTransportation
T eyes increase in executive salaries
DESPITE THE MBTA’s reputation as a wasteful state agency bloated with overpaid employees, the board that oversees the agency thinks upper management is underpaid and that low-balling those positions will […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Baker seeks changes in pot law
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AFTER MASSACHUSETTS VOTERS just said yes to legalizing marijuana Tuesday, Gov. Charlie Baker, an outspoken opponent of the referendum, said he wants a more efficient process […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Baker confirms probe of environmental police
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE of Energy and Environmental Affairs is investigating allegations of environmental police officers spending portions of the work day at home and receiving overtime […]
Posted inUncategorized
Pot proponents hit critics on ‘scare tactics’
A LAWYER WHO helped draft the initiative to legalize adult recreational use of marijuana said critics of the referendum are using decades-old scare tactics to defeat the proposal and twisting […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Goldberg cuts ties with Wells Fargo
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASSACHUSETTS TREASURER DEB GOLDBERG has instructed her debt management deputies to immediately remove Wells Fargo from their approved list of underwriters for one year. Four Massachusetts […]
Posted inHealth Care
Prices biggest cause for rising health costs
IT’S THE PRICE, stupid. That was the message delivered at the first day of annual state hearings on health care cost trends with experts and officials pointing the finger at […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Politics
Dysfunctional DCR tries to be smarter landlord
Photographs by Michael Manning THE HEAD OF THE CHARLES Regatta is a major draw for Massachusetts. Attracting more than 11,000 athletes and tens of thousands of spectators from all over […]
Posted inPolitics
Youth movement
Photograph by Frank Curran THE SCENE: The Amherst town cemetery, sitting on a stone wall circling an old burial plot, not far from Emily Dickinson’s grave. Solomon Goldstein-Rose, who won […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
The missing piece of education reform
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS ago a broad coalition of legislators, business people, education experts, and state officials put together and passed a wide-reaching education reform law. That law reflects a set of […]
Posted inEducation
Charter cap debate clouds original intent
PROMOTING INNOVATION WAS the original purpose of charter schools. As first envisioned by union leader Albert Shanker and others, charters would benefit the educational system as a whole by serving as […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Baker’s big health care move
FOR THE THIRD time since 1996, the Massachusetts Medicaid program, called MassHealth, is preparing for transformation. After submitting a final proposal in July, state officials are anxiously awaiting a decision […]
Posted inUncategorized
The toughest mile
IN 2008, THE Patrick administration set out to wire 123 cities and towns in western Massachusetts for broadband. But eight years, 1,200 miles of fiber-optic cable, and nearly $100 million […]
Posted inEconomy
Drawing a line
IT’S NOT QUITE a gang war with combatants brandishing mechanical pencils but there’s a brewing battle over state regulations that engineering companies say are arcane and outdated but architects insist […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, State House News Service
MWRA: Old water tunnels in poor condition
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE CAST IRON AND STEEL PIPES and valves integral to the tunnel system that provides 60 percent of the water to eastern Massachusetts communities served by the […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
MassDOT looks to trash records
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IF YOU USED an old Fastlane transponder on the Massachusetts Turnpike 18 years ago, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation likely has a record of that trip. […]