Flying without a PILOT

Don't call UMass Lowell's groundbreaking pact with the city a PILOT

By Jack Sullivan Colleges/Universities, Higher education, Municipal Government, State Government, Taxes and Budget Issues, Town/Gown, UMass Lowell 0 Comments Oct 10, 2017

Photo by Frank Curran Lowell and UMass Lowell signed a master agreement in August, committing the university to providing nearly $8 million in cash and in-kind contributions for the community over the next 20 years. The agreement includes new funds for repair and upkeep of the city-owned minor league baseball field and a commitment to(...)

Economy

Panera Cares, but for how long?

Compassionate café not making ends meet

By Natasha Ishak Charity, Economy, homeless 1 Comment Oct 10, 2017

FOUR YEARS AFTER the Panera Cares community café opened at Center Plaza in Boston, it’s still in business. But the restaurant’s unorthodox approach to addressing hunger isn’t working out exactly as planned. The concept is simple. Customers walk into the café, pick their food, and pay whatever they can afford. The hope is that enough(...)

Economy/ Gambling/ Technology

Watching the games people play

State keeps real-time track of every slot machine

By Jack Sullivan Casinos, MA Gaming Commission, Slot machines, Video games 0 Comments Oct 10, 2017

SECRETED ON THE 12th floor of 101 Federal Street in Boston’s Financial District is a windowless command center, manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Keycard entry is so restricted and the information so sensitive that even top level managers don’t have access. Four big-screen monitors are mounted on the wall with information(...)

Plugging In/ Energy/ Environment/ Opinion

Time to put pedal to the metal

Utilities are the key to electric vehicle expansion

By John DeVillars Electricity, Energy 1 Comment Oct 9, 2017

WE GENERALLY THINK of Eversource, National Grid, and other utilities as the providers of the electricity we need to keep the lights on. That they are, but over the next 20 years they will also increasingly become the folks we rely on to power our cars, buses, autonomous vehicles, and pretty much all other means(...)

Housing/ Opinion

Are homes only for the upper-class?

Reduction in middle-class homeowners is threat to Mass. economy

By Tim Sullivan Growth and Development, Housing 0 Comments Oct 9, 2017

HOMEOWNERSHIP HAS TRADITIONALLY been a marker of middle-class life, and a tool for vaulting families solidly into the middle class. Sustainable homeownership builds family wealth, and helps stabilize neighborhoods. But over the past decade, the nature of homeownership in Massachusetts has shifted drastically. Middle-class families in Massa-chusetts are increasingly struggling to access homeownership—especially in greater(...)

Tracking Transportation/ Politics/ Transportation/ Opinion

A new breed of advocacy

These advocates are driven by data rather than ideology

By Bruce Mohl State Government, Transportation 0 Comments Oct 9, 2017

THIS ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS a new breed of advocacy that appears to be emerging here in Massachusetts, an advocacy driven more by data than ideology. Our Conversation introduces you to Marc Ebuña, Ari Ofsevit, and Andy Monat. You’ve probably never heard of these three relatively young men from a group called TransitMatters. They aren’t quoted regularly(...)

Politics/ Opinion

Pushing ranked choice with beer (and pie)

A recipe to revive democracy in Massachusetts elections

By Adam Friedman Ethics and Open Government, Massachusetts Legislature, State Government 0 Comments Oct 9, 2017

AMERICANS ARE ALL too familiar with the divisive saga of the 2016 presidential contest, but few are aware of the quiet revolution that blossomed in Maine and is now taking flight in Massachusetts. On November 8 last year, Maine voters enacted Question 5, making Maine the first state in US history to upgrade its voting system(...)

Politics

Challenging DeLeo

House speaker facing a revolt from the outside

By Michael Jonas Massachusetts Legislature, Massachusetts politics, Robert DeLeo 0 Comments Oct 9, 2017

HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DELEO has a challenger—but it’s not a member of the chamber he oversees. The insurgency is coming instead from a 27-year-old Franklin resident who says he’s grown weary of the consolidation of House power in the office of one man. “We don’t think the speaker should have the amount of power he(...)