Another push to give the governor a home of our own

By James V. Horrigan 0 Comments Aug 1, 2005

Would the Hancock house have made the best governor’s mansion? What does Massachusetts have in common with Idaho? Hint: the same thing Arizona has with Vermont, and Rhode Island with California. The distinction is a governor’s mansion – or rather, the lack thereof, despite efforts over the years to establish one in Dedham, Roxbury, and(...)

Economy

Growing pains

By Ian Bowles Housing 0 Comments Aug 1, 2005

A long about June, the “housing bubble” became big news nationally. In the same week, a cover story in Time (HOME $WEET HOME) focused attention on the “blistering” US real estate market and a New York Times Week in Review piece took the story global, noting the run-up of housing prices in coastal cities and(...)

Education/ Opinion

Future teachers need more liberal arts fewer courses in education

By Sandra Stotsky 0 Comments Aug 1, 2005

Two different kinds of problems point to the urgent need to rethink our entire system of teacher education in Massachusetts, and in the country as a whole. On one hand, the system supplies far too many teachers whose academic background in the subjects they are licensed to teach is inadequate. When one school district central-office(...)

Uncategorized

Florida dreaming

Is the Creative Class coming or going?

By Robert David Sullivan Immigration 0 Comments Aug 1, 2005

Illustrations by Elizabeth Rock In The Rise of the Creative Class, economist Richard Florida wrote that gays are good for a region’s economy. In his new book, The Flight of the Creative Class, he tells us that immigrants are even better — and America is in danger of getting a lot fewer of them. The(...)

Uncategorized

Letters

By CommonWealth Staff 0 Comments Aug 1, 2005

I wish you had also addressed the tuition costs (and, of course, fees) at our state university in comparison with other states (“Is it higher-ed’s turn?” CW, Spring ’05). Perhaps then we might examine how much money it would take to help make the schools more accessible and affordable. We might also undertake the ugly(...)

Uncategorized

Ted Kennedy takes up immigration reform

By Shawn Zeller Immigration 0 Comments Aug 1, 2005

It isn’t a typical day in Washington when that liberal lion Sen. Edward Kennedy joins forces with a conservative Republican from Idaho, especially to take up a cause of prime importance to farmers. But that was the scene in April, as Kennedy and Sen. Larry Craig proposed an amendment to a defense spending bill that(...)

Criminal Justice

Approaching Re-entry

By Robert Keough 0 Comments Aug 1, 2005

As candidate for governor in 1990, Bill Weld put it in the most stark terms – pledging to “reacquaint felons with the joys of busting rocks” – but the general sentiment was widely shared here and across the country: Rampant urban crime in the 1980s and early ’90s called for an approach to criminal justice(...)

Politics

Walpole tackles football bleachers and the Patriot Act

By Ray Hainer Municipal Government 0 Comments Aug 1, 2005

WALPOLE – “I know some people don’t want to hear this, but I just don’t see the greater benefit to the entire population of the town,” says Lee Ann Bruno, a lifelong Walpole resident and a thirtysomething mother of two, on a Tuesday evening in early May. She’s talking about new bleachers for Walpole High(...)

Economy/ Education

Job training initiatives should begin with realistic expectations about employers and employees

By Erin Flynn Employment, Higher Education and Adult Learning 0 Comments Aug 1, 2005

The Commonwealth has an impending workforce crisis on its hands, but it’s one that’s paradoxical. As a percentage of population, Massachusetts has more college-educated residents than any other state in the country. At the same time, with a slow-growing workforce fueled largely by foreign immigrants, a larger and larger share of our adult population is(...)

Politics

Lynnfield tries to add town meeting attendees by reducing its quorum

By Eric Wagner Municipal Government 0 Comments Aug 1, 2005

LYNNFIELD – It’s Monday, May 2, the second night of town meeting, and residents are gathered in the auditorium of Lynnfield Middle School to consider two articles left over from the previous week. Things are supposed to start at 7:30 p.m., but 10 minutes later there are only 139 people in the room, far short(...)

Summer 2005

Is the Creative Class coming or going?