Boston City Council

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By | January 01, 0001

For Boston City Council

Re-elect Arroyo, Connolly, Murphy, and Pressley. Vote for Frank, Lee, and Jackson.
Boston city councilors enjoy relatively high political profiles, but in reality they labor under the tight constraints of a strong-mayor system.
By EDITORIAL | October 26, 2011

In the Shadow of Walmart

The Superstore hasn’t touched down yet, but Roxbury is already divided against itself
Only one company on earth summons fevered joy and outrage by merely showing interest in a market.
By CHRIS FARAONE | August 31, 2011

By | January 01, 0001

The new black

Can a new group of leaders help Boston finally shed its reputation as hostile territory for the black professional middle class?
When the Theater District's Cure Lounge ejected a group of black Harvard and Yale alums and grad students last month, many saw it as the latest confirmation of Boston's racist core.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | December 15, 2010

The velvet rope of prejudice?

Race relations
RACE RELATIONS
By G. VALENTINO BALL | December 08, 2010

Wiki paradoxes

Plus, kudos to Council and DeLeo
Trust us: It is only a matter of time before Hollywood brings the saga of WikiLeaks impresario Julian Assange to the big screen.
By EDITORIAL | December 08, 2010

Interview: Boston City Councilor Matt O'Malley

The new kid
Age 31, recently elected Boston City Councilor Matt O'Malley is a member of a new generation of local politicos who are more at home in coffee bars than in smoke-filled rooms.
By PETER KADZIS | December 08, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

L'affaire Olbermann

Why Keith should lay off the campaign cash. Plus, Matt O'Malley for City Council.
Keith Olbermann's brief suspension from MSNBC for giving $2400 to each of three Democratic congressional candidates is an interesting case study.
By EDITORIAL | November 10, 2010

The persecution rests

Turnergate
Charles Dickens believed that the law is an ass. Well, he might have been right: last week's federal-court conviction of six-term Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner on bribery charges certainly seems to support that theory.
By PETER KADZIS AND HARVEY SILVERGLATE | November 05, 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

The Battle of Mission Hill

Town-versus-gown tempers are boiling over near the Northeastern campus, as residents charge the giant school with 'death by incrementalism'
Oftentimes, inner-city dwellers who have to routinely phone police about disorderly neighbors fear retribution from gangbangers or drug dealers.
By CHRIS FARAONE | June 15, 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

Oil, oil, everywhere

BP’s latest eco-crime; City Council Pres. Mike Ross does the right thing; Scott Brown disappoints
It is not enough that British Petroleum’s wounded oil well in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico continues to bleed millions of gallons of viscous crude oil, killing marshes that could offer protection from future hurricanes, destroying habitats for migrating birds, fouling coastal commercial-fishing grounds.
By EDITORIAL | 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

Murph’s Last Grasp?

Can Stephen Murphy rally his troops one last time, or is this stab at higher office his last?
The ever-restless Stephen Murphy is at it again, running anew for state treasurer — just a few months after voters re-elected him to the Boston City Council.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 24, 2010

Taxi turmoil

Plus, controlling local health costs
Taxis are an under-appreciated and often little-considered component in urban mass-transit systems. They fill the gaps left by the MBTA and offer a sort of curb-to-curb, citywide Zipcar service.
By EDITORIAL | March 17, 2010

Difference of opinion

Peter Canellos reinvents Globe ’s editorial page. Plus, Tom Menino’s campaign gets late-breaking help from the Banner and Herald .
It’s been three months since Peter Canellos replaced Renée Loth as editor of the Boston Globe ’s editorial page.
By ADAM REILLY | November 09, 2009

Menino, again

Plus: Latino gains, same-sex defeat, and a buzz for pot
At a time when Americans are racked by anxiety about the uncertain future of a weak economy, Boston voters handily returned Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to an unprecedented fifth term.
By EDITORIAL | November 04, 2009

Fair Share?

Extending Benefits to Domestic Partners
On September 10, Boston City Councilor David Scondras wrote a letter to the city’s group-health-insurance director. “We have a non-discrimination policy in this city which includes people who are gay and lesbian,” wrote the city’s first openly gay city councilor.
By NEIL MILLER | November 19, 2009

For Mayor: Vote Flaherty + Yoon

Boston District City Council: Henriquez, Ross, ciommo, LaMattina
Boston’s mayoral candidates are running campaigns that are variations on a theme.
By EDITORIAL | November 04, 2009

Final four?

The City Council preliminary is seldom a preview of the finish. But this time, it just might be.
Some of Boston's savviest political insiders were confident of one thing going into last week's preliminary election: the top four finishers in the at-large City Council race would not be the same quartet to actually win those four seats in November.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | September 30, 2009

By | January 01, 0001

Preliminary findings

Handicapping the 15-headed horse race that is Boston's at-large City Council election
Even knowledgeable City Hall insiders know they're better off scratching lotto tickets than wagering on Boston politics.
By CHRIS FARAONE | August 12, 2009

The 12th Annual Muzzle Awards

A look at the dishonorable enemies of free speech and personal liberty in New England.
With the era of repression and secrecy fostered by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney finally over, this should be the best of times for freedom of expression, open government, and civil liberties. Yet change comes slowly.
By DAN KENNEDY | July 10, 2009

Dr. Edelin and Dr. Sabath: They've Never Met

Indicted Doctors Talk on Abortion Issues
Last week the Massachusetts House passed a bill outlawing abortions after 19 weeks of pregnancy, except when the mother's life or physical or mental health are endangered — contrary to the Supreme Court ruling last year which allowed abortions through the second trimester or about 26 weeks.
By CONNIE PAIGE | May 28, 2009

Despot for attention

Plus, vote for Passoni
Former vice-president Dick Cheney has taken his torture tour all over the place in the past few weeks, waging an ongoing campaign to defend what the Bush administration called "enhanced interrogation."
By EDITORIAL | May 13, 2009

Blackballed

If Chuck Turner is innocent, why is he aligning himself with a coterie of disreputable African-American leaders?
Turner might want to avoid hitching his fortunes to those of such utterly disreputable pols as former DC mayor Marion Barry, ex-Newark mayor Sharpe James, and Dianne Wilkerson.
By CHRIS FARAONE | March 10, 2009

Youth infusion

The surprisingly diverse leaders of team DeLeo. Plus, do environmentalists have reason to worry?
In DeLeo's restructuring, white, non-Hispanic men older than 45 fell from power in droves.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | February 19, 2009