Swan song for the twilight moth? State wildlife officials are singing the blues over the Twilight Moth, believed to be near extinction in Massachusetts. They’re proposing to add the moth, last seen near the former Devens army base, to the list of endangered species in the state, along with the Precious Underwing Moth and the […]
Robert David Sullivan
Posted inUncategorized
The Bay States march up the State of Caring Index
Massachusetts became a kinder and gentler state during the 1990s, at least according to the United Way of America’s State of Caring Index, which was updated last December and includes 35 indicators–from the percentage of citizens living below the poverty level to voter turnout for presidential elections. The Bay State jumped from 18th to fifth […]
Posted inPolitics
State of the State speeches accentuate the positive
A State of the State address is no time for bad news, unless it’s your first year as governor and you have predecessors to blame. “This is a government with problems at its very core, and these problems have festered for decades,” said Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher in January, and it goes without saying that […]
Posted inEconomy
Commonwealth Forum ponders middle-class debt crisis
MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN about federal and state governments spending beyond their means, but many middle-class American households are also awash in red ink. At the Commonwealth Forum “Going for Broke: Middle Class Families on the Financial Edge,” held on December 5 at the Omni Parker House Hotel in Boston, panelists discussed the reasons and remedies […]
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The possible benefits of predictable population growth
Population growth in the Bay State has been relatively predictable over the past half-century: no sudden spurts, no actual declines. The problems associated with population loss–labor shortages, falling tax revenues, etc.–are obvious, but should Massachusetts, which ties for 11th in the narrowness of the spread between highest and lowest growth rates over the last five […]
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Where the odds favor single men, the Bay States mysterious budget a looming shortage of dentists, homeowners who stay put, a business-climate report card, whos buckling up
Temptation island? Single women who like the odds to be in their favor might consider moving to Nantucket. According to the Web site ePodunk.com, the island is the only county in New England that has more single men than single women, with 105 available guys for every 100 detached dolls. (Essex County, Vt., comes the […]
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Lodges and lattes
In our last issue, sociologist Theda Skocpol lamented the decline of fraternal organizations in America (“Civic Dissociation,” CW, Summer 2003), saying that such groups appeal to “people from a wide variety of social backgrounds.” Those organizations are still around in Massachusetts, and among the strongest is the Elks, which has 75 lodges in the Bay […]
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CarFree in Boston finally pulls into bookstores
INTRO TEXT After nearly a decade in the shop, Car-Free in Boston is back in service–and, for those who prefer their transportation public rather than private, not a moment too soon. A compendium of every conceivable way of getting around Greater Boston without getting behind a steering wheel, Car-Free has had loyal fans since 1977, […]
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Soft touches
Charities are advised to stay close to Boston–or head a bit to the west–when shaking their tin cans. The Catalogue for Philanthropy, a consortium of nonprofits that says it “promotes philanthropy itself,” recently released its latest Massachusetts Generosity Index, which ranks 333 Bay State cities and towns by their level of giving. The name is […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Uncategorized
A celebration of doing nothing
The Importance of Being Lazy: In Praise of Play, Leisure, and VacationsBy Al GiniRoutledge, New York, 176 pages. Al Gini is a guy I’d like to have by my side when I ask my boss for more time off, but I’d hate to spend my vacation with him. A professor of philosophy at Loyola College, […]