Saturday, May 11, 2013
Results from a recent executive survey ranked Massachusetts 47th for business.
A CEO magazine ranks Massachusetts as one of the worst states in the nation for business. Chief Executive Magazine ranked Massachusetts 47th based on a survey of corporate leaders. Survey respondents reported the Bay State is one of the worst for taxation and regulation. The state Republican Party is pointing to the survey and saying that Gov. Deval Patrick and the Democratic-led Legislature are bad for the economy and business. What do you think about Massachusetts’ business climate? Is this a good state in which to do business?
Recap and analysis of the week in state government.
Massachusetts' problem is now Virginia's. After a macabre, around-the-clock stakeout of a Worcester funeral home this week by frenzied reporters and furious protestors, the remains of alleged Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev were secreted out of central Massachusetts and buried in a small Muslim cemetery in rural Virginia. No cemetery in Massachusetts, or public official for that matter, wanted Tsarnaev's body. And Gov. Deval Patrick just seemed relieved the tense standoff was over. "No. I have enough to do," Patrick said, when asked if he wished he had gotten involved to end the theatrics sooner. The April 15 attacks on the finish line of the Boston Marathon threw Beacon Hill policymakers off stride, quieting the raging debate …
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Tour the Green Line Extension Team's new office, get updates about the project and ask questions at an open house in downtown Boston.
The Green Line Extension Team has a new office in downtown Boston, and the public is invited to check it out at an open house Thursday evening. The office, at 100 Summer St., will be home to MBTA staff, members of the HDR/Gilbane program management team, members of the design team, and representatives from the construction management/general contractor team—in short, all the folks who collaborate on the Green Line Extension project. According to an announcement from the Green Line Extension Team, members of the public are invited to tour the new office, meet staff, get updates about the project and ask questions. The open house is from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and there's a project update presentation at 6 p.m., the announcement says.
42.35354
-71.05771
100 Summer St, Boston, MA
/articles/tonight-green-line-extension-open-house
/locations/9367938
Congressman leads Gabriel Gomez by 17 points.
A new Suffolk University/7NEWS (WHDH) poll shows a strong lead for Democratic U.S. Congressman Edward Markey over Republican businessman and former U.S. Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez in the race for the U.S. Senate special election. The poll of 500 likely voters has Markey at 52 percent and Gomez at 35 percent. Eleven percent of voters in the poll were undecided. A third-party candidate, Richard Heos of the Twelve Visions Party, got 1 percent and another 1 percent refused to respond. David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston, said along with the announcement of the poll that Markey has "a large lead over his Republican opponent who voters are unsure about." Indeed, 32 percent of those polled said …
The custom of allowing resigning aldermen to handpick their replacements could be coming to an end.
The Somerville Board of Aldermen is drafting new methods for filling vacancies on the Board in the event a member resigns. The issue has been in the public's eye with the recent resignations of two aldermen: William Roche (Ward 1) and Sean O'Donovan (Ward 5). In both cases, the women those aldermen handpicked to replace them, Maureen Bastardi and Courtney O'Keefe, had their nominations quickly approved by the Board. Bastardi was voted onto the Board of Aldermen the same night Roche resigned, and O'Keefe was voted onto the Board of Alderman at the Board's subsequent meeting. If an alderman resigns with more than a year before the next election, the city holds a special election to fill the vacancy. When an alderman resigns with less than a …
42.38671
-71.09836
Somerville City Hall
93 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA
/articles/no-more-handpicking-replacements-says-proposed-rule-changes-for-aldermen
787420
/locations/9365391
A technical advisory committee includes elected officials, residents, city staffers and a Teele Square business owner.
The city has announced the formation of an advisory committee that will review six development proposals for the Power House Community School site near Teele Square. The school closed in 2004, and the city issued a request for proposals on Dec. 26, 2012, seeking development pitches for the 1.85-acre plot of land. See a summary of the six development proposals. The Powder House Community School Technical Advisory Committee will review the six proposals and make a recommendation to the mayor's office about which one is best. Here's the list of people on the committee: Somerville residents: Somerville City staff: What Developers Want to Build at the Powder House School Six Developers Submit Powder House School Proposals City Officially Seeks …
42.40227
-71.1249
1060 Broadway, Somerville, MA
/articles/16-people-who-will-influence-powder-house-school-redevelopment
/locations/9365519
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
The practice particularly affects workers in the restaurant and construction industries, and immigrants are especially vulnerable, activists said.
"It's a major problem in the 21st century, and what happened at Diva is happening every day in America and all too often right here in Somerville," said Rand Wilson, a labor organizer, speaking to the Somerville Board of Aldermen Tuesday night at a public hearing. Wilson was speaking about so-called wage theft, where employers cheat employees out of payment. Patrick McDermott, a workers rights organizer with Somerville-based Centro Presente, said workers are cheated out of pay in a number of ways. Sometimes employers, particularly in the restaurant and construction industries, will hire someone for week, then fire them on Friday without providing a paycheck. Sometimes employers issue checks without suficcient funds to honor them. Often …
42.395376
-71.121875
Diva Indian Bistro
248 Elm St, Somerville, MA
/articles/wage-theft-is-rife-in-somerville-say-activists
787254
/locations/9364006
42.3809
-71.081224
Centro Presente
17 Innerbelt Rd, Somerville, MA
/articles/wage-theft-is-rife-in-somerville-say-activists
788138
/locations/9364007
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Activists say immigrant workers are more at vulnerable to wage theft.
The Somerville Board of Aldermen is set to hold a public hearing Tuesday on wage theft. The public hearing was scheduled after a number of activists, organized by Centro Presente, collected over 190 signatures calling for a public discussion about the matter. Activists have said that immigrant workers are particularly vulnerable to wage theft, in which employers withhold pay from employees. Centro Presente has helped workers file a lawsuit against One World Cuisine, which runs Diva Indian Bistro in Davis Square. The suit alleges the restaurant group did not pay workers over $183,000 in wages and has violated minimum wage and overtime laws. Activists say over $20,000 of those unpaid wages were for work conduced at Diva Indian Bistro. In …
42.38671
-71.09836
Somerville City Hall
93 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA
/articles/somerville-to-probe-wage-theft-at-public-hearing-tuesday
787420
/locations/9355913
Saturday, May 4, 2013
The two will face off on June 25 in the U.S. Senate special election.
After months of campaigning we now know who is going head to head in the June 25 special U.S. Senate election. Democratic Congressman Edward Markey (D-Malden) took the Democratic vote in the Tuesday election over fellow Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-South Boston). Political newcomer and former U.S. Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez of Cohasset came out on top of a field of Republican candidates - including more seasoned opponents former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan and State Rep. Dan Winslow of Norfolk. With a month and a half of campaigning still to come we wanted to stop and ask you this question. If the Special Election were today - who would you vote for right now? Markey or Gomez? Tell us in our comments section below.
Recap and analysis of the week in state government.
In case voters weren't paying attention, and turnout suggested many weren't, his name is Gabriel Gomez. And now only Ed Markey stands between him and the United States Senate. "My name is Gabriel Gomez, and I'm a proud Republican," Gomez said, reciting his full name for the second time during a five-minute chat with reporters outside the new go-to, post-election Broadway T stop in South Boston Wednesday morning. The reporters already knew who he was, but part of Gomez's strategy now is to make sure everybody else does too. The newly minted face of the Republican Party captured the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate on Tuesday by defeating two better known names in Massachusetts Republican politics. Former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan …
Chris Noonan Funnell
7:14 am on Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Great talk was given on this topic last night at Greater Boston Tea Party/Medford. See my blog post "New Jobs for Massachusetts" on the Medford Patch more ›