More about how police solicitation of guns and other combat gear is done solely by departments that weigh options and decide on agreements, without any scrutiny from other agencies.
THE PLIGHT OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN BOSTON, ILLUSTRATED
Mass Governor Charlie Baker’s record on public transportation as presented in an easy-to-read yet diligently reported comic feature
FIRE SALE PT. 1
Even for weapons dealers who have flouted state laws, there is major money to be made by selling munitions to police in Massachusetts
BROKEN MEDIA, BROKEN POLITICS
If Mass journalists were doing their jobs, Baker would not be so popular May 1, 2018 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS It’s always funny to hear that Charlie Baker is a very popular governor… The most popular governor in the country at the moment, according to polls. Because Continue Reading
YOUR MOVE, BOSTON
Only a massive protest movement can stop government giveaways to megacorps March, 2018 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Boston politics—in both its state and local variants—seems to consist largely of backroom deals between government officials and major corporations punctuated by rituals of representative democracy that are increasingly put Continue Reading
TOWNIE: MASS REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITIES FACE MAJOR BUDGET CRISIS
Gov. Baker’s proposed cuts throw gasoline on raging policy fire February 21, 2018 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS A quarter-century ago, I lived in Lawrence for a few months. Because it was the closest place to Boston that I could find a cheap apartment on short notice. Unfortunately, Continue Reading
CRISIS AVERTED
MBTA bus mechanics beat back privatization… at a cost February 14, 2018 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Unionized bus mechanics represented by the International Association of Machinists Local 264 won an important victory last week when they agreed to a four-year contract with the MBTA—effectively ending a two-year Continue Reading
WE CAME, WE SAW, WE COVERED (A #FIGHTSUPREMACY COMPOSITE RETROSPECT)
Photo by Derek Kouyoumjian Between the protesters, the counterprotesters, the media, the cops, and a handful of trolls, countless stories unfolded in Boston last weekend. These are several we encountered… PHOTOS, WORDS, AND REPORTING BY SARAH BETANCOURT, BRITNI DE LA CRETAZ, CHRIS FARAONE, KORI FEENER, NATE HOMAN, ZACK HUFFMAN, DEREK Continue Reading
#CONDEMBTA (THE RECAP)
A public conversation about transit infrastructure As regular Dig readers couldn’t have possibly missed, along with the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism (BINJ) we asked ace photographer Derek Kouyoumjian to spend a month snapping pics of utterly dilapidated MBTA tracks, stations, and trains. His images of so much beautiful decay, Continue Reading
CONDEMBTA
A visual essay on public transportation infrastructure and priorities in Greater Boston It’s often noted that the trains which pump through tunnels underneath our feet downtown and barrel over bridges into Cambridge, Quincy, and beyond belong to the most ancient subterranean transit matrix in America. Aside from being a great historical Continue Reading