Why did MBTA's single largest contract fail to appear on its board of directors' January open meeting agenda? The MBTA Board of Directors voted Wednesday to exercise the final option on the MBTA’s contract with the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail Co. MBCR will operate commuter rail for the transit agency until July 2013. The board […]
State House News Service
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Where’s Martha Coakley’s love for the League of Women Voters?
Some debates are more equal than others. That’s one political strategy that plenty of candidates for higher office have embraced, and Attorney General Martha Coakley is no exception. Coakley has participated in two forums with state Sen. Scott Brown, the Republican candidate, and Joseph L. Kennedy, the Libertarian candidate, sponsored by WBZ-TV and WBZ Radio. […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Uncategorized
Lawrence: The next Springfield?
Two years ago, CommonWealth found civic leaders in Lawrence "Thinking Big" about the city's future. Not anymore. On Wednesday, Gov. Deval Patrick travels north for a closed door meeting with state and city officials to discuss a likely Bay State bailout for the troubled Merrimack Valley city. The city's 2010 fiscal year deficit recently shot […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Who says the federal stimulus program isn’t working? Not the MBTA
Deficits have continued to plague the MBTA. Going into November, the transit agency was about $25 million in the hole, despite receiving $160 million in sales tax revenues for fiscal 2010. But help was on the way. How did the transit agency get most of that FY 2010 red ink off the books? Paging Uncle […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
No backing off the Green Line extension
If state leaders have to back off any transit projects, the Green Line extension won’t be one of them. Secretary of Transportation Jeffrey Mullan again reaffirmed support for the project Tuesday at a Joint Committee on Transportation oversight hearing. Rep. Denise Provost, a Somerville Democrat, had asked Mullan to outline his opinions on suggestions that […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
An inconvenient truth: Fixing the MBTA’s problems costs $$$
So many problems, so little money. Few people understand, much less want to wrestle with, the MBTA’s financial morass. That’s why safety issues captured the headlines with this week’s release of David D’Alessandro’s MBTA review. State officials [inserts gasps of horror here] are outraged yet again to discover that delayed maintenance causes major safety hazards, […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
A Corzine warning to Patrick?
According to State House News Service (subscription required), Gov. Deval Patrick was on the radio this morning saying there is "no comparison" between yesterday's New Jersey/Virginia gubernatorial elections (both won by Republicans) and his own re-election effort next year. "A year is a long time in politics," he added. He's right, but the New Jersey […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
All aboard for MassDOT
"This is new, and anything new draws critics." Ever mindful of the less-than-stellar reception his picks for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation board of directors received on Beacon Hill and beyond, Gov. Deval Patrick delivered this pithy observation during his opening remarks at the board's first meeting Monday. He went on to advise directors Andrew […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Uncategorized
Harvard panel, Boston police chief Davis discuss the Gates controversy
That human beings profile one another isn’t surprising. But when certain social, class, and cultural norms and values collide during confrontations between police and civilians, those instincts sometimes take on a more sinister guise. Law professors and police officials dissected lessons learned from last summer’s international controversy sparked by the arrest of Harvard professor Henry […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Can South Coast Rail qualify for stimulus funding?
Securing funds to offset the some of the costs associated with the $1.9 billion South Coast Rail project would be a significant coup not only for southeastern Massachusetts, but also for Gov. Deval Patrick, who promised to build the long-sought-after line to New Bedford and Fall River by 2016. Massachusetts recently applied for two federal […]