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

The maverick

By Bruce Mohl State Government 0 Comments Jan 20, 2009

Bristol County SheriffThomas Hodgson is in a showdown with the governor. Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson is headed for a high-noon showdown with Gov. Deval Patrick. The Patrick administration is trying to rein in Hodgson and the state’s other elected sheriffs in an effort to consolidate control over an overcrowded state and county corrections system(...)

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(...)

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

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(...)

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(...)

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(...)

Politics

Frank, Syron, and the blame game

By Shawn Zeller 0 Comments Jan 20, 2009

Two Massachusetts guys, Richard Syron and Barney Frank, are among those at the center of the blame game going on in Washington concerning the root causes of the country’s worst financial disaster since the Great Depression. Syron, the former chief executive of mortgage giant Freddie Mac, lost not only his job but also his reputation(...)

Economy

Broken homes

By Michael Jonas Housing 0 Comments Jan 20, 2009

Helen Williams, of Dorchester, thought she was getting “a good deal”but is now facing foreclosure. Helen Williams certainly doesn’t know anything about credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations, or mortgage-backed securities. It turns out there is a lot she didn’t even understand about the $395,000 mortgage she got to refinance the three-family house she owns(...)

Politics

Ending the one-party state

By Alison Lobron State Government 0 Comments Jan 20, 2009

Winter 2009

The Christian Science Monitor reinvents itself for the digital age