In a state with some of the toughest gun control laws in the US, Gov. Deval Patrick tried to make them even stronger. In 2009, Patrick introduced a menu of gun control reforms aimed at curbing availability and the flow of illegal guns into the state. The centerpiece was a measure that would have limited […]
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Posted inEnvironment, The Download
Greenway director heading west
The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy has had a tough year. The nonprofit that oversees 1.3 miles of Big Dig parkland was roughed up by the Boston Herald. It had its finances thrown into turmoil. Its state lease is up next year, but it has said it can’t meet the conditions the state has set for […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
Now what?
Friday’s massacre of 20 first graders and seven staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School came the day after decisive action on guns in two state capitals: Legislators in Michigan and Ohio voted on Thursday to loosen gun rules. In Michigan, remarkably, the vote was to allow concealed weapons in schools, while Ohio lawmakers voted […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Patrick in a firing mood
When scandal nears his office, Gov. Deval Patrick has learned to take decisive action. He quickly abandoned former Sen. Marian Walsh when emails surfaced that exposed his scheme to give her a $175,000-a-year job. He sacked the parole board after a criminal on parole killed a Woburn cop. He dumped Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Cahill mistrial all about perspective
And on the seventh day, they rested. The Christmas gift that jurors gave Tim Cahill in his corruption trial is looking to be the equivalent of 12 days of worth of presents to pundits around the state. The Suffolk County jury, which had acquitted Cahill’s former chief of staff Scott Campbell on Tuesday, was unable […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Hitting the paywall
Information may want to be free, but journalists want to get paid. The trickle of newspapers and magazines that have erected some type of paywall is likely to grow next year as publications finally decide that charging readers for content, even along some sort of sliding scale (home page, free; columnists, Visa, MasterCard, American Express) […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Amazon tax nice for state, little help for stores
Gov. Deval Patrick has finally sealed the deal with Amazon.com. After months of negotiations, Patrick announced today that the online retailing giant will begin collecting the state sales tax from its Massachusetts customers. The state’s agreement with Amazon comes with a joint commitment to push for a federally mandated collection of sales taxes for online […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Shoot-out in the GOP lifeboat
The battle now underway for the top slot in the Massachusetts Republican Party calls to mind Henry Kissinger’s often cited commentary on the pitched battles in the ivory towers of academia: The politics are vicious because the stakes are so small. Clamoring to lead the Massachusetts GOP these days looks a bit like fighting for […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, State House News Service, The Download
Child sex abuse case renews focus on offender law
A Level 1 sex offender from Wakefield was indicted for raping and abusing at least 13 children at an unlicensed day care service run by his wife. The boys and girls from Reading, Stoneham, Melrose, and Wakefield ranged in age from just eight days to 3 1/2 years old. Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone said […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Mass. lagging in keeping people off their butts
When Massachusetts voters approved a 25-cent tax on cigarettes to fund anti-smoking programs 20 years ago, the state became a leader in efforts to reduce tobacco use among all its residents, especially youth. And in 1998, when the historic $246 billion settlement with tobacco companies started pouring money into states’ coffers, Massachusetts once again lighted […]