After several years of relatively agreeable gas prices, the surge has begun again and where it stops, nobody knows. The cost of a gallon of gas nationally has risen to $2.90, according to AAA, with Massachusetts prices just a tick behind at $2.89. That’s an increase of 22.6 percent from a year ago and while it’s not […]
Jack Sullivan
Jack Sullivan is now retired. A veteran of the Boston newspaper scene for nearly three decades. Prior to joining CommonWealth, he was editorial page editor of The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, a part of the GateHouse Media chain. Prior to that he was news editor at another GateHouse paper, The Enterprise of Brockton, and also was city edition editor at the Ledger. Jack was an investigative and enterprise reporter and executive city editor at the Boston Herald and a reporter at The Boston Globe.
He has reported stories such as the federal investigation into the Teamsters, the workings of the Yawkey Trust and sale of the Red Sox, organized crime, the church sex abuse scandal and the September 11 terrorist attacks. He has covered the State House, state and local politics, K-16 education, courts, crime, and general assignment.
Jack received the New England Press Association award for investigative reporting for a series on unused properties owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, and shared the association's award for business for his reporting on the sale of the Boston Red Sox. As the Ledger editorial page editor, he won second place in 2007 for editorial writing from the Inland Press Association, the nation's oldest national journalism association of nearly 900 newspapers as members.
At CommonWealth, Jack and editor Bruce Mohl won first place for In-Depth Reporting from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors for a look at special education funding in Massachusetts. The same organization also awarded first place to a unique collaboration between WFXT-TV (FOX25) and CommonWealth for a series of stories on the Boston Redevelopment Authority and city employees getting affordable housing units, written by Jack and Bruce.
Posted inPolitics
Girl power
The #MeToo movement has empowered women to take back the narrative on harassment and discrimination. It also could give them real power in making laws and policy. A record number of women are running for office around the country this year. Nevada and Arizona are on the verge of becoming the first state legislatures in the […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Pot board red-faced over green light
THE STATE BOARD overseeing the nascent pot industry in Massachusetts had been running smoothly in its first months of operation. But as the most critical aspect of its mission began – giving thumbs up or down to applications for marijuana sales and cultivation – the commission hit a glitch when 10 suitors for licenses were […]
Posted inPolitics
The Codcast: No bridges make good neighbors
When disputes arise between communities bordering each other, the public proclamations are usually fairly muted and respectful. Then there’s the battle between Quincy and Boston over rebuilding the Long Island Bridge to connect to a planned addiction treatment and recovery campus. “Boston answers to a different set of rules,” said a fired-up Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch […]
Posted inPolitics
A Lively campaign
There’s two sides to every coin, goes the old saw, but it’s hard to make heads or tails out of the results of the GOP convention in Worcester and what it means for Gov. Charlie Baker. Republicans gave Baker a healthy 70 percent of the vote for the nomination nod but at the same time, the vocal […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Walsh takes concrete step to rebuild Long Island Bridge
BOSTON OFFICIALS SAY they intend to go full speed ahead with rebuilding Long Island Bridge as a path to an addiction recovery center on the harbor island and claim their approach to construction will minimize heavy traffic through Quincy’s streets and mitigate that city’s concerns over public safety. Chris Osgood, Boston’s chief of streets, said […]
Posted inEducation
UMass vs. UMass
The list of those supporting the takeover of Mount Ida College in Newton by the University of Massachusetts as a satellite campus for Amherst students starts with UMass President Martin Meehan, UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy, and the system’s board of trustees, all of whom got together and quietly moved on the $50 million acquisition, plus […]
Posted inEnvironment
Tax that dirty water
LISA MURPHY DOESN’T have any control over how much rain or snow falls on her property in Milton, but she is nevertheless being charged a special fee for stormwater runoff. The fee is calculated based on the amount of impervious surface on her property—her paved driveway and patio as well as the footprint of her […]
Posted inEconomy
Lottery winners not getting full prize value
THE WINNERS OF two second-chance drawings offered by the Massachusetts Lottery are getting shortchanged, collecting merchandise worth far less than what they were promised. Second-chance games do what the name implies, give losing instant ticket holders the opportunity to win in a second drawing that offers money prizes as well as “pick your prize” packages […]
Posted inHealth Care
BI-Lahey merger gets a break on cost growth
STATE HEALTH OFFICIALS stripped language from a document that would have required the merger of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Lahey Health to prove they’ll meet legislatively mandated cost growth benchmarks, a requirement officials made sure was adopted as part of the recent merger between Partners HealthCare and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. The […]