Spare Change News

Category: Political

  • Chelsea is the tip of a corrupt iceberg

    James Shearer Spare Change News Hello boys and girls, when last we spoke I told you a little about the corrupt Chelsea Housing Authority Executive Director who was making a tad too much moola that the state didn’t even know about. As I said then, it seemed that no one is minding the store. But…

  • Thoughts On Occupy Wall Street

    AARON JAMES Spare Change News I am obviously included in the 99 percent. I am not rich, so I guess that means I should be marching with Occupy. A movement I tipped my cap to at the beginning, but now… I am living day-to-day like the 17.2 percent of Americans who are either underemployed or…

  • Editorial: The Need For Public Records Reform

    While Massachusetts lawmakers continue to dawdle instead of passing the first substantial update to the state’s public records laws since 1973, news stories continue to expose state and local officeholders thwarting the public’s right to know how government works. One example is the recent disclosure that in the final weeks of Mitt Romney’s term as…

  • The 99% And The Politics Of Hope

    The 99% And The Politics Of Hope By Marc D. Goldfinger I remember when I was young and we had an insulated metal box out in front of our house for the milkman. He would come about every other day, take the empty bottles to be sterilized and refilled and drop off fresh milk topped…

  • Cuts Extract Mass Health Dental Benefits From Budget

    As part of Governor Deval Patrick’s broad, expansive plan to cut more than $800 million from next years state budget, Mass Health dental benefits for adults is no longer being provided. The cuts to the Mass Dental program will eliminate fillings, treatment for gum disease, and dentures. This last measure is particularly troublesome for low-income…

  • Cambridge Farmers Markets

    Cambridge, the home of two of America’s top universities, Harvard and MIT, is also the central location for six farmers markets. These farmers markets are open six days a week Monday through Sunday with the exception of Wednesday. Each Farmers Market is a diversified food focused urban marketplace that serves the community of greater Cambridge…

  • Are Peace and Love Dead in San Francisco?

    When San Franciscans head to the polls in November, they will be facing a measure that may redefine the city’s social makeup and alter its identity as a free-loving, interestingly offbeat cultural hub. In a city where homelessness is just as much a part of the landscape as the steep streets and trolley cars, Mayor…

  • Who is Homeless? The HUD Annual Report to Congress and Homelessness Pulse Project

    Counting and categorizing the homeless is a difficult task, both practically and theoretically. Every year or so, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) prepares a report for the Congress—called the Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR)—on the state of homelessness in the country. It attempts to do just that: demograph the homeless…