THERE WEREN’T MANY bright spots last year as the University of Massachusetts Amherst stepped up to the top level of college football, the Football Bowl Subdivision. The team went […]
State Government
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion, Politics
Keeping the public in parks
FUNDING PARKS has long been a low priority of state government. While the state budget has increased by 3.7 percent since 2001, the share devoted to environmental programs, including parks, […]
Posted inPolitics
Murray agenda: Guns, welfare, transportation
IT WAS A DAY of flowery rhetoric followed by the outlines of a more down-to-earth legislative agenda as the Massachusetts Senate convened for the first session of its new two-year […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Hung jury leads to Cahill mistrial
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICEAFTER ACQUITTING HIS co-defendant, a 12-person jury was unable over the past week to reach a unanimous verdict on former Treasurer Tim Cahill’s public corruption charges, leading […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Maybe Patrick wants to make more money
NO ONE SEEMS to believe him, but Gov. Deval Patrick was quite emphatic about his near-term future at the Democratic National Convention in September. “I’m gonna finish my term [as […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
Patrick wants to cut local aid by 1 percent
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AS PART OF A PLAN to address an estimated $540 million mid-year budget gap, Gov. Deval Patrick on Tuesday slashed spending by $225 million and asked […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
Virtual uncertainty
TWO YEARS AGO, the Greenfield school district launched the state’s first all-online public school with the promise of leading Massachusetts into 21st century education. The school set out to tap […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Burgess posting was a ‘screw up,’ Patrick says
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICEHOURS AFTER the Boston Globe reported that the state highway safety director has a long record of accidents and driving infractions, the Patrick administration indicated that Sheila […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
LG Murray says what everyone knows
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE LT. GOV TIMOTHY MURRAY wants to be the state’s next governor. That much he made clear on Thursday. His plans to make that happen, however, are […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, State House News Service
Bigby says NECC has primary responsibility
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE CALLING IT “ONE of the greatest health care tragedies in my memory,” the Patrick administration’s top health official told lawmakers Wednesday that she is committed to […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Sen.-elect Warren is monosyllabic
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICECANDIDATE ELIZABETH WARREN was known for giving lengthy answers to the even the simplest of questions, often joking that she had not yet mastered the political skill […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Deja vu all over again
(This article originally appeared in the winter 2009 print issue of CommonWealth, but it seems appropriate now in the wake of Tuesday’s election.) TWO-PARTY GOVERNMENT Is critical to the […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
No election highlights for Massachusetts GOP
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the number of House Republicans members scheduled to be sworn in on Jan. 2, 2013. The correct number is 29, down […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
State tax revenues lag, mid-year cuts likely
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICEIN LIGHT OF a new dim revenue report for October that shows tax collections now trailing estimates for the year by over $250 million, the Patrick administration […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
The patient Menino
BOSTON MAYOR THOMAS MENINO is a patient investor with city money. Three years ago, when he was running for a fifth term, the mayor orchestrated a $200,000, two-year loan to […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Democrats target Republican freshmen
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICEFRESHMEN HOUSE REPUBLICANS are in the crosshairs this election cycle with the majority of incumbents from both parties facing no opposition and a Democratic majority all but […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Brown’s bipartisan money
SEN. SCOTT BROWN has staked his reelection efforts to the notion of bipartisanship. When Brown talks about being a bipartisan senator, he’s talking about voting with Democrats on Capitol Hill. […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
State makes plans for revenue falloff
State House News Service In the face of economic risksand uncertainty three months into the fiscal year, the Patrick administration is capping full-time equivalent employees at current levels and taking […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
DCR cottage leases face quicker demise
massachusetts officials are vowing to phase out a controversial program that has offered cheap, virtually permanent permits for state park land to private citizens for summer cottages. After years of […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
A bank for infrastructure
Illustration by Peter and Maria Hoey.the pivot was abrupt, but it hardly sounded unfamiliar. For two straight hours, Joe Curtatone, the mayor of Somerville, had led an auditorium packed […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
‘No money’ Mike Connolly
BY HIS OWN admission, “No Money” Mike Connolly has made hundreds of people laugh by telling them he is running for state representative but not accepting any campaign donations. But Connolly, […]
Posted inPolitics
Here comes StateStat
FOLLOWING THE LEAD of many cities and towns across the country, the state of Massachusetts is launching a program to harness more data that can be used to sharpen government […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics
State seeks bids for health care
The state’s Group Insurance Commission issued a request for proposals on Wednesday that is expected to change the way its 400,000 members are insured and to cut expenses by nearly […]