The yin and yang of Baker

An MBA’s focus and a surprisingly emotional touch make for a strong start for the Republican governor.

By Michael Jonas Charlie Baker 30 Comments Jan 12, 2016

Photographs by Mark Ostow CHARLIE BAKER IS getting worked up about “queueing theory.” He’s sitting at a conference table in his smaller “working office” in the governor’s suite at the Massachusetts State House. The space, last occupied by Deval Patrick’s chief of staff, is where Baker has opted to conduct most business, eschewing the ornate official(...)

Economy/ Politics

Closed doors

Newton supports affordable housing — until it’s time to build it

By Jack Sullivan Affordable housing, Growth and Development, Municipal Government 7 Comments Jan 12, 2016

Photographs by Michael Manning IN NEWTON, WHERE single-family home values are creeping into the million-dollar range, few things trigger more raw emotion than proposals for affordable housing. That emotion was on full display in early December at Newton City Hall as proponents and opponents of a mixed-use development packed the Board of Aldermen meeting(...)

Energy/ Environment

Politics behind the plug

Utilities play key role in energy debate, but who are they looking out for?

By Bruce Mohl Electricity, Energy 5 Comments Jan 12, 2016

THERE IS A PATTERN that runs through the energy debate on Beacon Hill. The Baker administration wants to bring new natural gas pipelines into the region; utilities are tasked with arranging the financing. The Baker administration wants to bring hydroelectricity down from Canada; the job of soliciting bids for that work falls to the utilities.(...)

Tracking Transportation/ Transportation

RTAs taking the wheel

Regional transit authorities want to satisfy growing need

By Gabrielle Gurley Municipal Government, Transportation 0 Comments Jan 12, 2016

Photographs by Meghan Moore WHILE GREATER BOSTON AGONIZES over the multibillion-dollar MBTA project to extend the Green Line a mere five miles, another transit tug-of-war is going on across the rest of the state. The Bay State’s regional transit authorities have their own expansion dreams, albeit modest ones. Their dreams don’t involve complex rail construction(...)

Health Care

Stuart Altman: Health care watchdog

Chair of Health Policy Commission has lots of experience squeezing health costs

By Bruce Mohl State Government 0 Comments Jan 12, 2016

Photographs by Frank Curran STUART ALTMAN IS 78, an age when most people are taking the foot off life’s gas pedal. But Altman isn’t pulling over to the side of the road yet. The economist lectures on health policy at Brandeis University in Waltham and is playing an active role in trying to rein in(...)

Health Care/ Opinion

Setting hospital prices by ballot question

SEIU pushes anti-Partners initiative — but may be looking for a legislative fix

By John E. McDonough Elections 1 Comment Jan 12, 2016

A LOOMING 2016 ballot initiative threatens to upend the foundations of hospital finance in Massachusetts, even if the measure never reaches the voters. The clash involves a fractured hospital community, insurers, a labor union, and state government in a controversy more than 25 years in the making. For decades, savvy Massachusetts policy entrepreneurs have learned to(...)

Health Care/ Opinion

Testing the market-knows-best hypothesis

A boom in in-patient psychiatric hospital beds in Massachusetts is addressing a need without the typical level of government coordination

By Edward M Murphy Health Care 0 Comments Jan 12, 2016

MASSACHUSETTS, HOME OF the world’s most expensive health care system, is in the midst of a boom in the development of in-patient psychiatric hospital beds. Responding to perceived market demand, developers on their own initiative are planning, building, or completing projects around the state that will add more than 500 beds for people who have acute(...)

Arts and Culture/ Education

All together now

Boston Children’s Chorus director Anthony Trecek-King gets young voices to sing out for justice

By Michael Jonas 0 Comments Jan 12, 2016

After 10 years as the artist director of the Boston Children’s Chorus, you’re now taking on the role of president as well. You’ve said you plan to up the organization’s focus on social justice and race and cultural harmony. How so? Now that we’ve built a platform where we feel comfortable with where the growth(...)

Education

Public schools extend their reach

School systems across Massachusetts are boosting their revenue by taking in students from as far away as China

By Jack Sullivan Elementary and Secondary Education, Immigration, Taxes and Budget Issues 0 Comments Jan 12, 2016

SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS AROUND the state, faced with rising costs and stagnant budgets, are turning outside their districts —even outside the country—to attract tuition money from foreign students and students from other communities inside Massachusetts. The money falls into three pots. According to fiscal 2014 figures from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 21 public(...)

Housing/ Opinion

Getting used to the political brushoff

Requiring public housing recipients to work is a policy that most elected officials run away from.

By Raymond V. Mariano State Government 1 Comment Jan 12, 2016

AFTER THE SPEECHES were over at a recent event, I walked over to say hello to one of state’s most prominent elected officials. He’s someone I have known for many years. As I approached, he smiled broadly and reached out his hand, saying, “Mayor, how are you?” After exchanging pleasantries, I asked for an opportunity(...)