College for sale?

Friday, May 7, 2010 By Ben Forman and Samantha Vidal MassINC’s recent report, Planning for College: A Consumer Approach to the Higher Education Marketplace, described the challenges families face getting the most from their investment in a college degree and argued for more transparency and consumer protection. This week Frontline took a critical look at

Salem mayor says health care impasse may require ballot solution

Thursday, May 6, 2010 By Gabrielle Gurley Unless more immediate steps are taken to rein in accelerating health care and pension costs, municipal officials will continue to triage community services to pay for employee benefits, local municipal leaders and policymakers warned a Boston Foundation forum audience Wednesday. Mayor Kimberley Driscoll of Salem said cities and

Playing the ‘comment’ game

1 Thursday, May 6, 2010 The reader comments at the end of online newspaper stories are apparently becoming a battle ground in the fight over a proposed high-rise tower along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. Tom Palmer, a former Boston Globe development reporter who now does public affairs consulting for Harbor Towers residents opposed to

Newspaper endorsements still matter

I’ve been on the “ed board” circuit lately—tromping around the state and attending meetings with newspaper editorial boards. The goal is for my clients to wow the opinion-makers with their acumen and insight, and win an endorsement for their candidacy or cause. Some may ask, in this era of declining newspaper readership, if the effort

MassINC at the GOP Convention

Monday, May 3, 2010 By Christina Prignano MassINC staffers were out in full force last month at the Republican Nominating Convention, held at the DCU Center in Worcester where we collected business cards and handed out issues of CommonWealth magazine. We spent the morning speaking to candidates and delegates from across the state about how

Board of Higher Education launches effort to build support for public colleges and universities

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 Richard Freeland, the state’s commissioner of higher education, recently visited the MassINC offices to discuss the Vision Project, a new initiative he has launched to build greater support for public higher education by improving the system’s quality.  The following Q&A provides an overview of the of the Vision Project. Q. During this

Policy groups to explore housing crisis in upcoming forum

Friday, April 23, 2010 Join the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Research Department and its New England Public Policy Center, and Harvard Kennedy School’s Taubman Center for State and Local Government on Wednesday, May 5th for­ Understanding the Housing Collapse: What is to Blame and What Can Be Done?

Ethics complaint against Ethics Commission

Jack Authelet, the retired managing editor of the Foxboro Reporter weekly newspaper, filed a complaint with the State Ethics Commission after what he said were inappropriate remarks by a commission representative during a presentation to Foxboro town employees. Here is his complaint and a response from Judge Charles Swartwood, executive director of the ethics commission.

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