The initial plan for the BU Bridge project was a carnival of wasteful police details, with a budget of $2 million. After a Globe inquiry, the state reviewed the plan and reduced the budget estimate. It should continue to look for savings. Public support for important infrastructure improvements requires faith that projects are cost-efficient.
It’s a staple of the American judicial system that everyone deserves a defense. So Liz Cheney’s campaign to determine the names of lawyers who represent alleged terrorism suspects, and then to question whether those lawyers are sympathetic to terrorists, is a sad form of demagoguery.
The Supreme Court has changed the traditional interpretation of the Clean Water Act, sharply limiting the number of bodies of water subject to EPA enforcement. Congress should restore the original interpretation.
One Boston-area college has learned how to recruit black and Hispanic faculty. When the Globe surveyed major Boston institutions, Wheelock College stood out with 23 percent black and Hispanic faculty. It’s success, based on a strong diversity officer, could be emulated by other institutions.
The Tea Partiers are right. There is socialism in the United States. It’s called the National Football League. Now the league’s corporate socialism, which has enriched players and owners alike, is in jeopardy because both groups are threatening to behave like rational market actors.
The con artists who concocted a fake bridal show preyed on a large a captive crowd. Their plot was clever and particularly mean. Wedding planning can be costly and stressful, but it’s also a time of joyful anticipation and family togetherness.
Scott Brown’s committee assignments — Armed Services, Homeland Security, Veteran’s Affairs — are mixed news, at best, for Massachusetts. The state’s many defense-related industries will benefit. But with Massachusetts’ other senator, John Kerry, focused on his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Bay State’s Senate delegation is tilting too far overseas.
The inquest into Seth Bishop’s death is a welcome event, but Judge Mark Coven will have his hands full. There are so many layers of deceit and incompetence among the Braintree Police, State Police, and Norfolk District Attorney’s office that Coven has his work cut out for him.
The two recent suicides of students who were bullied, along with statistics showing that as many as one in four students report being victimized, is a crisis on par with the H1N1 outbreak, but given far less attention. Anti-bullying legislation, though necessary, can’t solve the whole problem. Schools must work to create a culture of respect and tolerance.
The growing crisis in municipal health costs should compel action on Beacon Hill. In particular, the state should require cities and towns to move retirees onto Medicare, halt some of the most egregious giveaways of lifetime health benefits to people who serve on town boards, and give towns the ability to craft their own plans, without union approval, so long as municipal workers receive comparable benefits to state employees.