JOHN ROSENTHAL’S BLACKBERRY lit up. Media requests poured in from NECN, WCVB, and WBUR. MSNBC wanted to talk. Even the Arabic-language network Al Jazeera found its way to his door. The crush of attention was not a pleasant development. News outlets call Rosenthal when terrible things happen, and a very terrible thing indeed had happened. […]
Politics
Posted inPolitics
Only some opinions count
PUBLIC OPINION SURVEYS, done well, offer people an opportunity to speak to their leaders in an organized way. But the hunt for Electoral College votes tends to put all the focus of presidential campaigns on the opinions of residents in a handful of contested states, leaving no opportunity for residents of less […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Police misconduct
Outside the Area C police station in the Fields Corner section of Dorchester. Photo by J. Cappuccio. ON APRIL 22, 2009, CHRISTOPHER KNIGHT and his girlfriend were driving in Boston when they got into a fender-bender. The couple called police after the other driver refused to exchange insurance information and Officer Gerald L. Cofield Jr. […]
Posted inPolitics
Mixed grade for Obama’s first term
BARACK OBAMA’S FIRST TERM was marked by daunting political realities. Upon entering office, he faced an economic crisis unmatched since the Great Depression. The banking system teetered on the verge of collapse. The automobile industry in Detroit was tanking. The nation was hemorrhaging 70,000 jobs each month. Despite all this, some said there were reasons […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Harboring ambition
Photographs by Mark Morelli HALLOWEEN IS A WORKING HOLIDAY for Kim Driscoll, so she comes to City Hall as herself. Clad in a simple dark business suit, she meets up with Police Chief Paul Tucker at her office to head down to the Essex Street pedestrian mall to check in with police posted around the […]
Posted inPolitics
Senate president showdown coming
THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE SENATE has had firm term limits for its leaders on the books for nearly 20 years. William Bulger put the limits in place (prospectively) as a way of quelling dissent during his long hold on the Senate gavel. It’s only now, two decades after the Senate enacted an eight-year limit on the […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion, Politics
Keeping the public in parks
FUNDING PARKS has long been a low priority of state government. While the state budget has increased by 3.7 percent since 2001, the share devoted to environmental programs, including parks, has decreased from 1 percent to 0.57 percent. How much lower, one has to ask, is bearable? Gov. Patrick may now give us an answer […]
Posted inPolitics
Vendors outside Fenway being phased out
THE CITY OF BOSTON is slowly phasing out the street vendors around Fenway Park, claiming that the 18 small business people selling grilled chicken sandwiches, sausage sandwiches, peanuts, and baseball caps represent a safety concern. The vendors will be allowed to continue to operate until they die or retire, but their operating permits will not […]
Posted inPolitics
Root of the problem
“RICH” AND “POWERFUL” go together so naturally that they seem to be not just partners but synonyms. When it comes to the workings of our democracy, however, Lawrence Lessig says that bond has never been as tight as it is today. Wealth may always have a larger claim on power, but Lessig says money and […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, Politics
UMass football thrown for loss
THERE WEREN’T MANY bright spots last year as the University of Massachusetts Amherst stepped up to the top level of college football, the Football Bowl Subdivision. The team went 1-11, playing in the Mid-America Athletic Conference, and was outscored by an average of 40-13. Even more disappointing was the lackluster attendance at the team’s […]