The heavy spending by the US Chamber of Commerce in the recent election has prompted at least two local affiliates to crank up their own campaign advocacy while other chamber groups say they are uncomfortable with the overwhelming partisan nature and negative tone of the national group’s advertising. Peter Forman, president of the South Shore […]
Jack Sullivan
Jack Sullivan is now retired. A veteran of the Boston newspaper scene for nearly three decades. Prior to joining CommonWealth, he was editorial page editor of The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, a part of the GateHouse Media chain. Prior to that he was news editor at another GateHouse paper, The Enterprise of Brockton, and also was city edition editor at the Ledger. Jack was an investigative and enterprise reporter and executive city editor at the Boston Herald and a reporter at The Boston Globe.
He has reported stories such as the federal investigation into the Teamsters, the workings of the Yawkey Trust and sale of the Red Sox, organized crime, the church sex abuse scandal and the September 11 terrorist attacks. He has covered the State House, state and local politics, K-16 education, courts, crime, and general assignment.
Jack received the New England Press Association award for investigative reporting for a series on unused properties owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, and shared the association's award for business for his reporting on the sale of the Boston Red Sox. As the Ledger editorial page editor, he won second place in 2007 for editorial writing from the Inland Press Association, the nation's oldest national journalism association of nearly 900 newspapers as members.
At CommonWealth, Jack and editor Bruce Mohl won first place for In-Depth Reporting from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors for a look at special education funding in Massachusetts. The same organization also awarded first place to a unique collaboration between WFXT-TV (FOX25) and CommonWealth for a series of stories on the Boston Redevelopment Authority and city employees getting affordable housing units, written by Jack and Bruce.
Posted inEconomy, Politics
On Beacon Hill, help is easy to find
Massachusetts lawmakers have pared back the size of the legislative staff in the midst of the current recession but the state still ranks as one of the most aide-heavy legislatures in the country. Last year, Bay State lawmakers had 903 year-round staffers to assist them in their day-to-day affairs, according to the most recent data […]
Posted inEducation
False start
Judy Dixon understands equal opportunity—and the lack of it. Dixon was the first person to file a sex discrimination case against a major university under Title IX, the landmark federal legislation that requires gender equity at any educational institution receiving federal funds. In 1975, Dixon sued Yale University, where she was serving as the women’s […]
Posted inEconomy
A ballpark assessment
can you believe it? Fenway Park, America’s most beloved ballpark, home to the Green Monster and Pesky’s Pole, and sacred ground to Red Sox Nation, is worth less than some Boston parking garages. Mercy! The assessed value of Fenway Park has risen dramatically since John Henry’s ownership group bought the Red Sox in 2002 and […]
Posted inPolitics
Legislative pay
many massachusetts legislators say the salary they receive as full-time lawmakers is not enough to live on and raise a family, so the majority—nearly 60 percent—report some form of outside income. But a look at legislative salaries throughout the United States indicates the pay in the Bay State is not half bad. While it certainly […]
Posted inPolitics
Road warriors
when the four gubernatorial candidates were queried at a debate about the cars they drove, Republican Charlie Baker drew some envious chuckles when he said he had a ’66 Mustang. But more than a few people nodded their heads knowingly because they, too, are driving old cars, many out of necessity. According to the Registry […]
Posted inTransportation
Time on T’s side
The MBTA and Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail Company publish “report cards” showing the commuter rail’s performance and, by all accounts, the trains arrive when they are supposed to 95 percent of the time. Except they don’t. The two agencies tout the “adjusted” on-time performance of the commuter rail lines, which excludes incidents outside the direct […]
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
Picturing what’s next in cutting health costs
By Jack Sullivan Paul Levy, president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, has an insider’s take on an emerging trend in medical imaging that is having an effect on his hospital’s bottom lines and could be spreading to other hospitals as well. In a post earlier this week on his blog “Running a […]
Posted inPolitics
Anger fuels challenge to Senate president
Senate President Therese Murray says she’s as angry as anyone at the chaos and bickering that passes for governing in Washington. The problem for Murray is voters are just as angry – perhaps more so — at Beacon Hill, where she is part of the three-headed power structure. “The federal government is not listening,” the […]
Posted inPolitics
A campaign car wreck
“(Bleep) him.” It’s probably the most honest utterance to date in the increasingly toxic battle for the governor’s office, which is starting to look more like a barroom brawl than a political campaign. John Weaver, one of the paid consultants who abandoned Tim Cahill’s campaign along with Cahill’s running mate Paul Loscocco, wrote the entertaining […]