In case you missed it, the New York City subway system is in crisis mode, and officials in the Big Apple are looking to Boston for some answers. At the end of June, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency, ordered a turnaround plan for the subway system, and pledged […]
Current Affairs
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: YIMBYs take on NIMBYs
It has become almost axiomatic that communities will resist new housing development projects. They will generate unbearable traffic! There isn’t enough parking here! They’ll hurt property values! The developer wants to cram in too many units! The list of horribles is endless, but the response can usually be summed up with one word, which is […]
Posted inOpinion
Fenway is about more than baseball
“WHAT DOES GLORIA STEINEM have to do with baseball?” an annoyed Larry Lucchino wanted to know. Lucchino, who was the Red Sox president at the time, was responding to my announcement that Steinem had agreed to speak to The Great Fenway Park Writers Series, which I chair for the team. Larry’s response ticked me off, […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Does web browsing leave a public record?
THE STATE’S SUPERVISOR of public records says a state employee’s web browsing history is a public record, and has asked Attorney General Maura Healey to order the Baker administration to turn the information over to a reporter. The case represents another attempt by state officials to determine what a public record is in an increasingly […]
Posted inThe Download
4 takeaways from sales tax moves
You could actually see an industry in transition on Wednesday. Amazon held a giant job fair at nearly a dozen of its US warehouses, including the one in Fall River, as the company sought to fill 50,000 empty positions across the country. At the same time, the Retailers Association of Massachusetts announced it was mounting […]
Posted inThe Download
Here’s the Diehl
Geoff Diehl made it official last night by formally announcing his Republican run against US Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Somebody pass Charlie Baker the antacids. The Whitman state rep mixed his kickoff speech with sports references and denunciations of Warren as a soft-on-immigration, big-government enemy of the people. Diehl was a co-chairman of President Trump’s campaign […]
Posted inThe Download
On to the next ballot questions
Now that last year’s final ballot-approved law is in place (Gov. Charlie Baker signed the legislatively amended marijuana bill into law on Friday), Beacon Hill is gearing up for the next round of ballot initiatives to be placed in front of voters in November 2018. It looks like the top issues being championed are all […]
Posted inThe Download
Another big mention for Moulton
Politico’s massive profile of Seth Moulton struggles with the opposing Beltway views of the congressman from Massachusetts: Is he a rank opportunist willing to say and do almost anything to win White House mentions or is he the real-deal leader who believes in country, public service, and speaking his mind? Author Michael Kruse offers evidence […]
Posted inThe Download
MassHealth votes represent major shift
The Legislature’s rejection of Gov. Charlie Baker’s MassHealth savings initiatives represents a big political shift on Beacon Hill. In the past, Democratic lawmakers have largely ceded the nitty gritty of budget balancing to Baker, but Wednesday’s votes suggest they are willing to take a political stand that requires them to step up and find savings […]
Posted inThe Download
Another hit for football
We may be known as home to the reigning NFL champions, but Boston is also the center of research efforts that have methodically plowed through the defensive line the multibillion-dollar industry erected against the idea that the repeated head injuries its players are subject to exacts a devastating human toll. The NFL conceded the problem […]