The spree shootings that left six people dead in Kalamazoo, Michigan, allegedly by an Uber driver who police say admitted to the random murders before and after he picked up passengers, has once again shined a spotlight on the ride-hailing industry and its resistance to heightened background checks, including fingerprints. By all accounts, the so-called […]
CommonWealth Staff
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Math and spine test for Boston City Council
Boston’s city charter provides for a strong-mayor system of government. It may, in fact, be one of the strongest city executive structures in the country. That’s why the City Council is often the butt of jokes, with its 13 members derided as the hapless supplicants whose ability to claim victory on an issue depends on […]
Posted inThe Download
Mickey Mouse journalism
Journalism isn’t limited to the front sections of papers or top of the news hour. Features, entertainment, and sports also have trained, quality journalists who take pride in their trade and diligently report matters that transcend the fun and games the sections are dedicated to. But when the parent company of a media outlet loses […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
What’s the endgame for Brian Joyce?
It’s one thing when the local paper runs a series of stories that raise questions about your ethics and actions as a state senator. And maybe there’s a little more heat when you have to enter into an agreement with the State Ethics Commission to settle some of those pesky allegations, though it helps to not […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Black pols look to form Hillary’s firewall
The Massachusetts presidential primary is nearly two weeks off, but the Democratic battle between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders landed in front of the State House Wednesday morning, where minority political leaders were due to hold dueling events. A little past 9 am, a bevy of black leaders assembled to sound their support for Clinton. […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
W. goes after you-know-who
It felt like a scene out of a Harry Potter novel on Monday in South Carolina. Former president George W. Bush tried to give a boost to his little brother’s flagging presidential campaign, delivering a homespun speech to a crowd of more than 1,300 without ever mentioning Jeb!’s nemesis by name. “Americans are angry and […]
Posted inMedia, The Download
Regan’s greatest show
There is a principle of public relations thinking that you want to maximize positive exposure for a client and minimize negative coverage. Then there is the old adage, which had more currency in the early days of PR, that it doesn’t matter what is said about you as long they spell your name right. Put […]
Posted inThe Download
In his own image
Choosing justices for the state’s highest court is one of the most overlooked aspects of a governor’s powers, but is one that could now impact a generation or more. With a mandatory retirement age of 70 for judges, it is usually expected that a Massachusetts governor will have the chance to make several appointments to […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Outsiders are in
New Hampshire voters did not deliver a shocker yesterday as much as they put an exclamation mark on the wacky ways of the 2016 presidential race. Donald Trump’s solid win in the Republican primary and Bernie Sanders’s blowout victory over Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side were the outcomes expected — and predicted by polls. […]
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
Health care pricing regulation gains backing
Slowly but surely the case is being made for some form of state intervention in health care pricing. Attorney General Maura Healey broached the idea in October during a series of hearings hosted by the state’s Health Policy Commission on health care cost trends. She noted that big disparities in prices paid to some health […]