Menino (Finally) Discloses City Charity Donors
Menino Discloses City Charity Donors … Finally. The Globe reports: “Donors have given $12.5 million to the city-run charity since Menino took office in 1993, and contributors include large corporations, developers, law firms, contractors, lobbyists, and others with business before the city.” Rick Cohen points out this morning on Nonprofit Quarterly: “In fairness to Menino, Kevin White, the city’s mayor before Menino and his predecessor, Ray Flynn, established this charity, and no one has alleged that Menino has done anything illegal. But secret donations to a charity affiliated with or controlled by politicians are an unfortunately effective way of buying access to and face time with politicians outside of the world of lobbying disclosure.” [Boston.com | NPQ]
Massachusetts Electric Rate is Seventh-Highest in U.S., But The Answer Isn’t Nuclear. The average electric rate in the state is more than 14 cents per kilowatt hour, well above the national average and among the highest in the U.S., not including epic blackouts. The state senate is preparing to unveil a bill today that will help to control those costs — and Nancy Folbre, an economics professor at UMass, Amherst, certainly hopes it doesn’t include the word “nuclear.” [AP | NYT]
Suspicious Smelling Bag Causes Evacuation at Logan. Fifteen TSA workers were evacuated and four were sent to MGH early this morning after a foul-smelling bag caused eye and throat irritation, as well as a severe case of the Mondays for airport security. [WCVB]
Will Riders Say ‘Hell No, We Won’t Go’ To MBTA? Plus the laundry list of other concerns stemming from the MBTA’s slated fare hikes/service cuts. “It’s not so much the fare increase I worry about, it’s the cutback in service,” says Eric Godwin, 68, of Natick. Mantill Williams, of the American Public Transportation Association, says: “Fare increases do have an impact but the bigger impact would be when a system eliminates routes.” It’s good to re-hash this anecdotal evidence every so often. [Milford Daily]
The GOP Has Decided on Mitt Romney. You heard it here first. [The American Prospect]
