Ending the one-party state

By Alison Lobron Elections, State Government 0 Comments Jan 20, 2009

As a pistol-packing, SUV-driving conservative in liberal St. Paul, Minnesota, David Carlson knew he was fighting an uphill battle. Still, on the day before the 2008 election, the 27-year-old candidate for the state House of Representatives drove through his district of tidy, split-level homes for a final campaign push. He checked the placement of his(...)

Politics

Statistically significant

By Robert David Sullivan Municipal Government 0 Comments Jan 20, 2009

Illustrations by Travis Foster bridgewater’s town meeting bottoms out One of the largest communities in the Bay State that’s still governed by open town meetings may soon make the switch to an elected body. The Bridgewater Independent reported that its namesake town, which has 26,000 residents, will likely vote on a proposal this spring to(...)

Uncategorized

Staying put

By Robert David Sullivan Demographics 0 Comments Jan 20, 2009

With so much attention given to the business of selling houses (and, now, losing houses to banks), it may be easy to forget that few Americans actually change residences in any given year. According to the Census Bureau’s recently expanded American Community Survey (which uses polling data covering three years), 83.5 percent of Americans in(...)

Economy/ Education

Utahs financial literacy requirement

By Gabrielle Gurley Cost of Living and Consumer Affairs, Elementary and Secondary Education 0 Comments Jan 20, 2009

INTRO TEXT States want to be trendsetters, but not all trends are worth bragging about. That was Utah’s predicament from 2002 through 2004, when the Beehive State ranked No. 1 in the country in personal bankruptcy filings (adjusted for population). However, the story behind the numbers was even more disturbing. “We saw a younger demographic(...)

Politics

Second life

The Christian Science Monitor reinvents itself for the digital age

By Dan Kennedy Media and Journalism 0 Comments Jan 20, 2009

Sometime this April, one of New England’s most venerable daily newspapers will cease to be a daily newspaper. The Christian Science Monitor, which marked its 100th anniversary this past November, is beginning its second century as a multi-platform, multimedia news organization. Central to this new identity will be its free website, CSMonitor.com, begun a dozen(...)

Health Care

Safety blanket

By Alison Lobron Demographics 0 Comments Jan 20, 2009

“I would love to do what you’re doing,” a 20-something friend said. “But I need benefits.” She went on to tell me about her dream of starting an interior design company, a dream she’s put on hold until — well, until someday. I heard comments like hers often in the year I spent as a(...)

Economy

Emptied nests

By Robert David Sullivan Housing 0 Comments Jan 20, 2009

Failed mortgages are almost always more common in lower-income areas, but in the current housing crisis, all of the Bay State’s foreclosure hotspots are in communities with relatively low home values (see “Broken Homes”). During the last housing crash, in 1992 and 1993, there were predictably high foreclosure rates in cities like Brockton and Lowell,(...)

Politics/ Opinion

The two-party solution

By Jane Swift and Warren Tolman 0 Comments Jan 20, 2009

Two-party government is critical to the future of Massachusetts, but if it’s to become a reality, Republicans must do a better job of attracting more voters and viable candidates to our ranks. During my time in the State House, a Democratic leader once confided that having a Republican governor was very valuable: It gave him(...)

Politics

A dysfunctional democracy

By Bruce Mohl 0 Comments Jan 20, 2009

The election of Barack Obama was a historic moment for America. Faced with a choice between two very different candidates at a perilous time in the nation’s history, voters turned out in record numbers across the country and in Massachusetts to elect an African-American as president of the United States. It was a shining example(...)

Health Care/ Opinion

Pilot program

By Douglas S. Brown 0 Comments Jan 20, 2009

On a hazy August day in 1983, with about seven miles of visibility, I took my first solo flight in a Piper Cherokee single engine aircraft. I was 20 years old, and it was a moment I will never forget. I had less than 20 hours of flight instruction under my belt. I had just(...)

Winter 2009

The Christian Science Monitor reinvents itself for the digital age