Does Boston Have a Drug Crisis?

Does Boston Have a Drug Crisis? Many people seem to disagree with Menino’s latest assessment that Boston doesn’t have a “worse than usual” drug problem. As columnist John Keith writes: “… it’s not just in South Boston — not by a long shot. All the downtown Boston neighborhoods are suffering. You see the effects of drug and alcohol addiction on the Boston Common, in Blackstone Square, in Copley and Andrew squares, at North Station, inside the Boston Public Library, in Downtown Crossing, at South Station, outside the Pine Street Inn and Saint Francis House, and at every Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, CVS, and 7-Eleven.” [Beacon Hill Patch]

How Mitt Romney Closed the Massachusetts Budget Gap by Hiking Fees. While he was governor, Romney approved more and higher fees “on everything from marriage licenses to real estate transactions to gun licenses,” which enabled him to keep his promise of not raising taxes. “It was a grab bag of fee increases across the board to close the budget deficit,” said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a nonpartisan watchdog group. [AP]

Howie Carr Has a Not-So-Nice New Name for Elizabeth Warren. Pocahontas … [Herald]

And Now the Greenway is Open to Funding Itself. The publicly funded nonprofit is conducting a study to figure out whether it can become self-sustaining. “Everything’s on the table. It always has been,” Greenway chairwoman Georgia Murray said. [Herald]

Barney Frank at Suffolk, Larry Lucchino at Bentley, and Nine More Commencement Speakers. It’s shaping up to be a journalism-heavy lineup (Melissa Harris-Perry, David Gregory, Robert Woodruff, Fareed Zakaria), but the speakers also include a few surprises: Colin Powell at Northeastern, and quite literally, a to-be-unveiled speaker at BU. [BostInno]