EVAN FALCHUK, WHO waged a spirited run last year as an independent candidate for governor, is back in campaign mode, hoping to drive a statewide ballot question that would forbid spending taxpayer funds for a Boston 2024 Summer Olympics. This week, Falchuk formally registered People’s Vote Olympics Committee to raise money for a 2016 statewide […]
Gabrielle Gurley
Gabrielle covers several beats, including mass transit, municipal government, child welfare, and energy and the environment. Her recent articles have explored municipal hiring practices in Pittsfield, public defender pay, and medical marijuana, and she has won several national journalism awards for her work. Prior to coming to CommonWealth in 2005, Gabrielle wrote for the State House News Service, The Boston Globe, and other publications. She launched her media career in broadcast journalism with C-SPAN in Washington, DC. The Philadelphia native holds degrees from Boston College and Georgetown University.
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
Walsh’s Boston Olympics hot potato
What a difference a day makes. In 24 little hours, the prospects for a Boston Olympics have gone from full steam ahead to dubious if put to a vote. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh told The Wall Street Journal that he would not “stand in the way” of a referendum on bringing the 2024 Olympic Summer […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Romney, Boston 2024, and the White House
Can Boston host an event that’s the equivalent of “20 Super Bowls at once?” Mitt Romney thought so two years ago. Gov. Charlie Baker and Boston 2024 chairman Dan O’Connell told the Boston Herald this week that they would dearly love to have Romney sign on as the city’s key Olympic advisor. But how does the city […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Baker’s surprise transportation pick
STEPHANIE POLLACK MAY know more about the MBTA than anyone alive. She’s been a dogged advocate for transit expansion. She opposed the repeal of gas tax indexing, believing the state needs a steady stream of new revenue to meet infrastructure needs. And she has lots of solid ideas for dealing with the state’s transportation problems. The […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
MassLive’s statewide strategy
A SPRINGFIELD-BASED NEWS outlet is taking a run at being the go-to source for state news in Massachusetts. MassLive, a website affiliated with the Springfield Republican, is trying to expand its brand beyond western Massachusetts by offering coverage across the state, with a special emphasis on Worcester and Boston. Newspaper websites traditionally piggyback on their […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service
Bridging the digital divide
Princeton is one of 45 municipalities across the state that do not have access to high-speed Internet service. The town’s broadband committee tried to get Charter, Comcast, or Verizon to take a look at building a network, but none of the companies was interested. The town wasn’t dense enough to make the project worthwhile: Big […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service
The tax man goeth
MICHAEL WIDMER IS a harried journalist’s best friend, a man a reporter can count on to return calls with good intel before deadline. The longtime president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation developed an attachment to journalism early on. Fresh out of graduate school at Harvard, he worked for the pre-Internet United Press International when, according […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
The most interesting man in the Bay State political world
With Massachusetts focused on Deval Patrick’s “Lone Walk” and Charlie Baker’s inauguration, one person has been out of the headlines in recent weeks: House Speaker Robert DeLeo. DeLeo is largely invisible to the vast majority of state residents – his Salvation Army holiday bell-ringing stint outside Macy’s in Downtown Crossing did not attract as many […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
New Bedford facing Cape Wind fallout
THE BLOW DELIVERED by National Grid and NStar to Cape Wind extends to New Bedford’s Marine Commerce Terminal that would have served as the major staging area for construction of the wind farm. “It’s a major setback for offshore wind and what was expected to be a key source of work for the terminal,” said […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service
CDCs applaud new tax credit program
As the year’s end brings a barrage of appeals from nonprofit groups hoping to capitalize on the spirit of holiday giving, the state’s community development corporations are making a pitch for a new tax credit program that enjoys the bipartisan backing of both the outgoing Democratic governor and his Republican successor. The Massachusetts Association of […]