FRIDAY’S ATTACK ON PARIS felt like an attack that happened in our backyard despite it having taken place an ocean away. The reason for that is the attackers didn’t target governmental or economic symbols, instead they went after concert venues, sports events, and cafes. They declared war on civilians. They declared war on public gatherings. […]
Joseph Curtatone
Posted inOpinion
“Black Lives Matter” more than a slogan
A BLACK LIVES MATTER banner hangs on the front of Somerville City Hall. We put it up this week. We shouldn’t have to. We shouldn’t have to put a banner up that says we are against police violence based on discrimination involving black people. It shouldn’t be newsworthy when a government body says that it […]
Posted inGambling, Opinion
Healey is right about Wynn casino
THE VOTERS HAVE SPOKEN and, agree or disagree—and everyone knows I disagree—casinos are a reality in the Commonwealth. But that doesn’t mean casino operators, and those who regulate them, get to skirt the law or continuously adapt regulations to fit their needs and own timelines, as we have seen time and time again in the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
Lessons from Ferguson
FOR MONTHS WE’VE all watched the travesty in Ferguson, Missouri, unfold from the death of Michael Brown, to the militarized police response to public protest, to the Department of Justice report detailing the Ferguson Police Department’s racist attitudes and policies. The temptation is to treat it like someone else’s problem, as if a similar situation […]
Posted inOpinion, The Back Story, Transportation
Five takes on the T
EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT the collapse of the T and wondering whether, to borrow a phrase from departing GM Beverly Scott, even God Jr. could get the trains running on time again. The stakes are incredibly high for Greater Boston and the state as a whole, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of people who […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Everything is riding on the T
THE SYSTEM-WIDE MBTA failures during the recent snowstorms should serve as a call to arms for everyone in Massachusetts. Quite literally, our prosperity is on the line. I’m not talking about just the prosperity of metro Boston or the eastern portion of the state. I’m talking about the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The reliable operation […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Olympics a regional effort
AS ORGANIZERS AND community leaders work to put together an Olympics bid for metro Boston we need to cast our thoughts to 2124, not 2024. I support bringing the Olympics to Boston. If done right I believe it could create an opportunity to deliver civic benefits to our region. We should not be planning to […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
The lessons behind Somerville’s new T stop
On Tuesday I had the privilege of cutting the ribbon on the first new MBTA rail station to open in 27 years. Thanks to the new Orange Line T stop in Assembly Square, officially called Assembly Station, we’re building more than 2 million square feet of office space, a half-million square feet of retail space, […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
On immigrant children, we’re failing a moral test
The lingering question with the thousands of children detained along the US-Mexico border is are we still a nation that takes action or have we become paralyzed by our politics? What’s at stake is the United States’ claim to greatness. We view ourselves as the one indispensable nation, a beacon of hope and liberty to […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Cancel their bill
it’s an issue that has received only limited media attention, so it may come as a surprise to most Massachusetts residents that a single telecommunications corporation — Verizon — has slipped a special interest bill (S1531) into the current legislative session. But it’s true. As state and local governments struggle to cope with a perilous […]