It wasn’t that long ago that the Roman Catholic church was a spiritual, political, and social force in Massachusetts. With the influx of European immigrants beginning in the 19th century, Catholic churches peppered the landscape, with even smaller towns having multiple parishes. But since the turn of the century – and the bomb that was the […]
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 inEconomy
Senate goes light on short-term rental regs
THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE has passed its bill for short-term-rentals, a stripped-down version of the House measure that simplifies the tax on hosts and eliminates any tiered structure so that people offering a single room in their home are treated the same as the investor with scores of units for rent. The Senate bill, passed on […]
Posted inEconomy
Pot board high on Worcester
THE STATE BOARD regulating the legal marijuana industry will set up permanent shop in Worcester as its headquarters with a satellite office in Boston. The five-member Cannabis Control Commission on Tuesday voted unanimously to seek a 13,000-square foot office space in the state’s second largest city and find a smaller, 5,000-square foot office in the […]
Posted inTransportation
Walsh wants to hike parking fines
BOSTON MAYOR MARTY WALSH will unveil a $5 million plan to improve the city’s transportation system, ranging from repaving roads and sidewalks to creating dedicated bus lanes, and plans to hike parking violation fines to pay for the effort. Walsh plans to include the money in his fiscal 2019 budget to be unveiled Tuesday and […]
Posted inPolitics
City stalls on Yawkey name change
A STANDING-ROOM ONLY crowd, including reclusive former Red Sox CEO John Harrington making an emotional plea to retain the street’s moniker, left disappointed after a Boston commission charged with overseeing the city’s public ways unexpectedly delayed a controversial vote to rename Yawkey Way on Thursday. The city’s Public Improvement Commission, which had been slated to […]
Posted inEconomy
Walsh pulls Airbnb proposal
JUST HOURS BEFORE the Boston City Council was set to vote – and likely reject – Mayor Marty Walsh’s proposed ordinance to regulate short-term rentals such as those listed on Airbnb, he withdrew his bill and said he’d come up with another “in the coming weeks.” “During a robust process, including s public hearing and […]
Posted inUncategorized
Wu seeks to limit short-term rentals
BOSTON CITY COUNCILOR MICHELLE WU filed an amendment Monday to the mayor’s proposed ordinance on short-term rentals that would bar investors from purchasing properties and renting them out on platforms such as Airbnb. Wu’s amendment to Mayor Marty Walsh’s plan would also require people who register their home as a short-term unit to notify neighbors […]
Posted inUncategorized
Pot board retreats on sweeping regs
THE COMMISSION OVERSEEING the nascent pot industry bowed to pressure from top elected leaders and put off approving home delivery and so-called “social consumption” cafes but voted to give minorities the preference for those permits when they become available. In the first of three days of hearings at the State House to finalize regulations, the […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Find Mass. money – and then waitÂ
If you have unclaimed property listed with the state treasurer’s office, don’t make plans to spend it – or even get it – any time soon.  After years of urging people to search the listings and put in a claim for money or property they may have forgotten about or been unaware of that was left by […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Pot chair says no pressure on regs
THE CHAIRMAN OF the state board charged with regulating legal pot said he and his colleagues are feeling no added pressure in light of comments from top elected officials calling for the panel to slow down on issuing regulations for a broad array of marijuana businesses. The Cannabis Control Commission is wrapping up its public […]