THE VERDICT IS in: Joe Biden is the clear choice for president. So, at least, say the editorial pages today of the New York Times and Boston Globe. Add in the recent Biden backing from the Washington Post and the Democratic nominee has hit the trifecta among the three biggest editorial voices along Amtrak’s […]
CommonWealth Staff
Posted inThe Download
Mass. tax collections continue to roll along
DESPITE ALL THE gloom and doom among budget officials on Beacon Hill, Massachusetts tax collections continue to roll along surprisingly well. The state Department of Revenue said on Monday that tax revenues in September were down 1.4 percent compared to the same month last year, but overall through the first three months of fiscal 2021 […]
Posted inThe Download
Campbell says Boston is primed for change
For Andrea Campbell, action is what distinguishes her platform and ideas from Mayor Marty Walsh. Campbell, a Black District 4 city councilor, announced her run for the city’s top office on September 24. The 38-year-old Mattapan resident believes that the country and city are “in a unique moment” where people are seeking more than just […]
Posted inThe Download
Trump contracts COVID-19
IT’S THE DEFINITION of irony. After months of downplaying the pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 Americans, President Trump and first lady Melania Trump say they have tested positive for coronavirus and are in isolation. The death two weeks ago of Ruth Bader Ginsburg seemed to upend the presidential race by suddenly thrusting a […]
Posted inThe Download
Where is the $1.1b in federal funds going?
The Legislature may control the purse strings – but Gov. Charlie Baker holds the purse. That Beacon Hill truism was on display clearly in a report Secretary of Administration and Finance Michael Heffernan wrote to the chairs of the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees on Wednesday. The report, required by statute, detailed how […]
Posted inThe Download
Debate is the latest norm Trump shatters
It was the real mistake by the lake. Donald Trump and Joe Biden did everything but bolt from the debate hall and go roll in the mud on the banks of the Cuyahoga River. The first of three scheduled presidential debates quickly descended into an incoherent brawl that made for tough viewing by anyone looking […]
Posted inThe Download
COVID-19 crimes may be tough to prove
“Utterly baffling” was how Mark Pearlstein, the attorney retained by Gov. Charlie Baker to investigate what went wrong at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, described the decision to combine 42 veterans with dementia – some of them infected with COVID-19 – into a single unit with a capacity to hold 25. Attorney General Maura Healey on […]
Posted inThe Download
Michelle Wu’s personal path to politics
Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu confirmed earlier this month what had been widely speculated for more than a year — she will run for mayor next year. Wu has, in very short order, become a political force to be reckoned with in the city. She placed second in the at-large council race in her first […]
Posted inThe Download
Kraft will not be tried for soliciting prostitution
Florida prosecutors on Thursday announced they were dropping misdemeanor charges against Kraft for soliciting prostitution, after a court ruled that the video evidence against him could not be used. The case raises legal issues about privacy rights and policing at a time when police conduct is coming under increased scrutiny. But it is also feeding […]
Posted inThe Download
Campbell run in sync with racial reckoning
IT IS PERHAPS fitting that Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell announced her candidacy for mayor the morning after protests erupted across US cities, including Boston, over the news that none of the three officers involved in Breonna Taylor’s death were charged with her killing. Campbell, 38, is cementing her campaign platform on a racial equity agenda, […]