Why All the Shrinkage, Metro?

Adam Reilly notes that the Metro has ended its short and inglorious reign as the second-largest daily in Boston. It did so in style, shedding a whopping 51,000 papers a day from its circulation. That’s a hell of a drop, even for a borderline-illiterate rag that’s better suited for wrapping fish or lining bird cages than reading. So what gives?

The Hill and the Hall Week in Review

(Cross-posted from Boston Daily)

We may be watching the balance of power tip on Beacon Hill. While Gov. Deval Patrick and House Speaker Sal DiMasi go back and forth about casinos and taxes—and whether or not they’re going back and forth at all—Senate President Therese Murray is showing herself to be both smart enough to recognize the power vacuum brought on by the bickering, and strong enough to fill that vacuum with substantive policy proposals.

Urban Renewal Nearly Brings Timothy Leary to the Comm. Ave. Mall

And hello there to you. Not a whole lot of activity on these here internets lately. I know. A light blogging regimen is the sign of a guy with a bunch of work that actually pays.

But who needs rent money when you’ve got totally subversive and unprofessional government memos? That’s what we’ve got here. By all means, please do read on.

The Hill and the Hall Week in Review

(Cross-posted from Boston Daily)

Deval Patrick has got to hate St. Patrick’s week. This time a year ago, House Speaker Sal DiMasi appeared before the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and absolutely brutalized the governor – much to the delight of the assemblage of reporters and rich people in nice suits.

And now, no sooner had the vomit dried on Broadway than the speaker was back before the Chamber, telling everybody that casino gambling “will absolutely cause damage on a grand scale” and ruin lives and everything. If it’s not the end of civilization as we know it, it sounded pretty damn close.

And with that, the great casino death train of 2008 pulled back into the station. In celebration of the occasion, some people jibbered. Others jabbered. Facts, figures, reports and the like were bandied about, and somewhere along the line, the governor’s casino proposal flatlined.

The Hill and the Hall Week in Review

(Cross-posted from Boston Daily)

Word broke early this week that Governor Deval Patrick’s casino bill was dead. House Dean David Flynn told the Taunton Gazette, “The casino bill isn’t going anywhere. I find very little support for it from members of the house,” adding that he expects a roll call vote on his racino bill, while “the casinos won’t,” because Dan Bosley’s committee “will issue an adverse report, preventing the house from voting on the casino bill.”

It’s not how things work – the Speaker’s office has repeatedly said that Patrick’s bill will receive a vote on the House floor before it wraps its budget bill in April, regardless of whether or not it gets a favorable committee report. (PS – it won’t.) But that doesn’t mean that casinos still aren’t headed for a messy demise.

Dept. of Buried Ledes: What the Chamber Study Missed

Hell of a header on this Globe story today – “Casino Study Backs Patrick.” The lede’s even better: “Governor Deval Patrick’s promise of thousands of new jobs and billions of fresh dollars would come true if three state-licensed resort casinos are opened across Massachusetts, according to a long-awaited Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce study released yesterday that largely bolsters the governor’s economic case.”

But, for a better summary of what the Chamber’s much-discussed report actually says, you’d have better luck looking to Dan Kennedy – “Casino Supporters Support Casinos.”

I understand that some of the issues we’re dealing with here are tricky. And I’m a reporter, so math does scare me, too. But you can’t write off the costs just because the Globe editorial board does.

If you chase down half the “opponents say” caveats in today’s front page story, you’ll find a much different scenario at play than all the governor’s promises being fulfilled.

The Hill and the Hall Week in Review

(Cross-posted from Boston Daily)

Hey, guess what, everybody? Governor Deval Patrick wants to build three casinos in Massachusetts. He’s been saying that they’ll bring 30,000 jobs in tow. Turns out, they won’t. Shocking, we know. But it’s this revelation that gripped Beacon Hill this week. All other concerns were crowded out.

Most close observers (depending on whom you read) have known for several months now that the governor’s casino research is compromised and his economic assumptions shaky. And now that the town’s paper of record has spoken on the subject, the fan is really covered in it.

The administration has even stopped citing its 30,000 jobs figure, and taken to speaking of “tens of thousands” of jobs instead.

That’s a significant fact, because it marks the first time in this whole gambling debate that reporting has been able to knock the administration off its talking points.

From the Cutting Room Floor: Mikkeller

I’ve got an interview with Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, co-founder and head brewer of Mikkeller, coming up in next month’s issue of Beer Advocate magazine. In the span of five years, Mikkel hs gone from homebrew rookie to international brewing sensation.

Mikkel’s brewing some amazing beers right now. His Stateside IPA, for one, has a beautiful floral nose that’s balanced expertly by sweet caramel malts. And, at 7%, it doesn’t pull any punches. He brews everything full-throttle – he lays claim to the title of strongest Barleywine and Imperial Stout (17%!) in Denmark. And Heudegoop, a Wheatwine brewed in collaboration with Three Floyds, caused a riot at last month’s Extreme Beer Fest.

He’s also somewhat of an iconoclast.

Archive Awesome Fest 2K8

A quick housekeeping note: They’re finally here. PDFs of old Dig stories. And more are on the way.

Now you can relive the glory of deadlines past. You’ll love it. Maybe.

Since there’s so many of them, I’ve reorganized the clips page, splitting the old Dig section into three new pages, for the calendar years 2005, 2006, and 2007. Hopefully, this’ll make your trip back in time as easily-navigable as possible. Enjoy.