Beacon Hill

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Barney's Big Surprise

A working-class hero goes down kvetching. Plus, new hope in the fight against AIDS.
Long before The Sopranos and Jersey Shore introduced the nation to the ripe effusions of the New Jersey personality, voters in and around greater Boston had accepted Barney Frank as one of the more unusual players in the political game.
By EDITORIAL | November 30, 2011

Transgendered rights

The time to act is now
A bill to extend basic legal protections to transgendered people in Massachusetts has languished for years on Beacon Hill. It is time to stop stalling.
By EDITORIAL | September 28, 2011

Boston's last congressman?

Musical chairs dept.
At the moment, neither the Senate president nor the Speaker of the House lives in the city. And in two years, the unthinkable could become reality: Boston might not have a single congressman residing in its borders.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | August 31, 2011

In a job-starved economy, casinos are still a good bet

The issue provoked a rare show of common purpose on Beacon Hill
As Beacon Hill considers — yet again — an expanded gaming proposal, some say that the opportunity has passed. We disagree, and continue to support a carefully crafted plan for bringing resort casinos to Massachusetts.
By EDITORIAL | August 31, 2011

Photos: Protests of Fox News and Verizon

From Beacon Hill to Post Office Square | August 4, 2011
Members of the Boston Media Reform Network (BMRN) protest Fox News at Beacon Hill on August 4, 2011; Verizon field workers and their allies protested Verizon at Post Office Square also on August 4, 2011.
By KELLY DAVIDSON AND TIM KENNEDY | August 10, 2011

By | January 01, 0001

Curbing corruption with a catch-all

Vague Justice?
Sal DiMasi is no saint, but that doesn't mean he's a criminal. His behavior makes us grimace, but it simply doesn't amount to a state or federal felony.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | June 24, 2011

Republicans continue to wage war on women

Plus, Beacon Hill follies, youth violence
The Republican Party's unrelenting war on women is now being waged with such frenzied fury that sane people might well wonder if there is a GOP-wide obsession with punishing an entire gender.
By EDITORIAL | May 11, 2011

Don't shortchange the arts

Plus: DeLeo's welcome health-insurance fix, and bicycles and burritos — only in Boston
Building a state budget in these challenging economic times is a thankless task. So much needs to be done, and there is so little cash with which to do it.
By EDITORIAL | April 27, 2011

By | January 01, 0001

An (almost) A-to-Z guide to Boston

From Ben Affleck to Yawkey Way
Welcome to Boston, college kids.
By LUKE O'NEIL | January 27, 2011

Governor Fuzzy: Has Deval Patrick lost his edge — already?

Plus, Boston City Council president Stephen Murphy.
Some folks — including this newspaper — who supported Governor Deval Patrick's re-election and wish him well as he wrestles with the daunting task of steering Massachusetts through the next four years are scratching their heads.
By EDITORIAL | January 05, 2011

Generation X: Letters to the Boston Phoenix Editor, January 7, 2011

Letters to the Boston editor, January 7, 2010
Your article, “ Gen X Goes to Washington ” (November 26, 2010) was great. I’m glad this topic is finally being discussed.
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | January 06, 2011

Double-Secret Probation: 2010's biggest Boston political scandal

As the previous Beacon Hill scandals wind down, another — a potentially bigger one — emerged this year: political patronage
In a year that started with a former House Speaker under indictment, an open US Senate seat, and a governor seemingly headed to electoral defeat, the biggest political story of 2010 turned out to be the Beacon Hill probation patronage scandal. And, if past is prologue, that ongoing saga promises to continue in 2011.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | December 22, 2010

Can Patrick Hang On?

What Deval needs to do now
Massachusetts has a mixed record of re-electing governors.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | September 29, 2010

Ben Affleck and Rebecca Hall on the Town

Class acts
Ben Affleck and Jeremy Renner, who play Doug and Jem, a pair of Charlestown gangsters in Affleck’s stunning adaptation of local author Chuck Hogan’s novel Prince of Thieves , make for an intense, photogenic screen couple. That is, until Rebecca Hall comes between them.
By PETER KEOUGH | September 15, 2010

A Race Well Run

Beacon Hill and the education establishment overcame narrow self-interest by putting students and schools first
Five months ago, when Massachusetts failed to win a Race to the Top education grant from the federal government, the Phoenix took the legislature and teachers' unions to task for being too timid and politically motivated to do the right thing.
By EDITORIAL | August 26, 2010

Photos: One Night in Boston 2010

Fifteen photographers. Nine hours.
STUFF Magazine presents photos taken in Boston's streets over nine hours on the night of August 22, 2010; here are a few of our favorites
By STUFF BOSTON | August 15, 2010

Same Old Faces

It's an outsider's year for candidates, but the consultants are old Beacon Hill mainstays. Plus, who spent what at the conventions, and Baker goes on TV first.
If you're wondering who the geniuses are behind the political campaigns in Massachusetts this year — the strategists, media firms, ad teams, and fundraisers — well, it's a lot of the same folks who have been behind Massachusetts campaigns for a long time. Candidates may win or lose, but consultants are forever.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | June 24, 2010

Mr. Patrick Goes to Franklin Park

'Deval in the 'Hood' Dept.
As Deval Patrick engaged constituents at the third annual 10,000 Strong Boston barbecue in Franklin Park on Father's Day, it was clear that his support from black voters doesn't derive solely from the luster of his climb from Chicago's hardscrabble streets to the top spot on the Beacon Hill food chain.
By CHRIS FARAONE | June 24, 2010

Trail of jeers

Forget Paul Revere. This summer, treat yourself to a tour of Boston's worst in political corruption.
As summer officially kicks off this weekend, thousands upon thousands of people will be descending on our fair metropolis to get a glimpse of America's most history-drenched city.
By LAWRENCE ''HUGGY'' BERGMAN | June 26, 2010

Weenie Roast!

The Phoenix 's second annual Memorial Day political roast
A year ago, with scandals and embarrassments swirling around Massachusetts state politics, the Phoenix tossed some well-deserving pols on the flames in our first annual Memorial Day political roast. I'm pleased that I've been invited back.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | June 05, 2010

Mexican president flubs it at the Kennedy school

Yo No Tengo Huevos Dept.
Only a day before the Massachusetts Senate showed its true colors by approving a set of anti-immigrant amendments to the state budget — a recent change of heart that would probably not have happened had it not been for the so-called Arizona effect — the Harvard Kennedy School's Class of 2010 hosted Mexican President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa as its commencement speaker.
By MARCELA GARCIA | June 04, 2010

Heck of a Guy

Despite a history of illiberal views and a boorish reputation, Guy Glodis enters the Democratic state convention unscathed
Scott Brown’s stunning victory in January’s special US Senate election continues to reverberate through Massachusetts politics.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 26, 2010

Moneybags Menino

The mayor cuts services, but sits on a stash of cash.
Inside Boston’s political back rooms, there is a growing suspicion that Mayor Thomas Menino is sitting on millions of dollars — tens of millions, maybe as much as $400 million — that could be used to save vital city services, such as, among many examples, four branch libraries and eight community centers that are slated to be shuttered.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 17, 2010

‘There are no rules’

The 11th-hour change
On April 19, the Globe first reported that arbitrators had awarded the Boston firefighters union a 19-percent raise. By the next morning, both the Globe and the Herald were citing Menino administration figures of a $74 million cost.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 12, 2010

Mayor-Select Marie?

Some think that Tom Menino is anointing Marie St. Fleur as his successor, but he might just be serving himself
Tom Menino, just a few months into an unprecedented fifth term as Boston’s mayor, has raised eyebrows by hiring State Representative Marie St. Fleur of Dorchester to the newly created, $120,000-a-year position of chief of advocacy and strategic investment.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 05, 2010

Library woes

Plus, Arizona declares war on immigrants
In an attempt to save four Boston Public Library branches that are slated to close due to budget shortfalls, some state legislators from Boston have threatened to block all state funding the library receives if it shutters any of its 26 branches.
By EDITORIAL | April 28, 2010

Tea Party Progressives?

Outsiders are trying to crash the gates of the state’s Democratic establishment — and are starting to succeed
When Democrat Peter Smulowitz celebrated his victory in the special-election primary for State Senate earlier this month in the back room of Masala Art restaurant in Needham, no bigwigs from his party were in attendance.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 03, 2010