BOSTON — A federal grand jury indicted three former Massachusetts probation officials on Friday. They are accused of favoring politically connected candidates for probation jobs over those who were more qualified.

Former Probation Commissioner John O’Brien and two top deputies — William Burke and Elizabeth Tavarez — were charged with racketeering and mail fraud.

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said they set up a phony hiring process involving multiple rounds of interviews and scoring sheets … even though they had selected ahead of time the people who would get the jobs based on their ties to Beacon Hill.
 
“It was a part of the conspiracy that in order to conceal the true nature of the hiring decisions, the defendants created a sham hiring system which included, among other things, the posting of employment and promotion opportunities on the internet on the probation department website and over the telephone, inviting prospective candidates to apply," said Ortiz.

The jobs went to people sponsored by state lawmakers, including  Senate President Therese Murray, former House Speaker Tom Finneran and former House Speaker Sal DiMasi.

Other state legislators and members of the judiciary are referenced in the indictment, but not by name.  

The prosecutor said that just because state lawmakers got jobs for unqualified people, doesn’t mean they broke the law.

"There's a lot of patronage that's clearly going on. But patronage in and of itself is not illegal, and so people may come to certain assumptions. it may be very unseemly, it may be unethical and it may be criminal under certain circumstances, but in and of itself, it's not," Ortiz said.

Gov. Patrick weighed in, saying "The public deserves a probation department they can have confidence in. And anyone who has done anything of a criminal nature, that takes away from that public confidence, deserves to be held accountable."

So far no lawmakers have had charges brought against them. But Ortiz said the investigation is ongoing. O'Brien, Tavares and Burke have all pleaded not guilty and were released on bail.
 

 
BOSTON — State lawmakers are weighing a bill that would make it illegal for a pet owners to leave their dogs tied up outside for more than 8 hours at a time, no matter whether the animal is tied to a tree, a pole or a doghouse. The bill also bans dogs from being left outside overnight.
 
Kara Holmquist, director of advocacy at the MSPCA, said the bill is necessary not only to protect dogs but to protect the public.
 
"Dogs who are tethered, according to the CDC, are 2.8 times more likely to bite," she said. "They’re territorial, they can’t escape when they feel threatened, they can be harmed by other animals, by people … so it really has implications beyond just the health and welfare of that individual animal."
 
Penalties would range from $100 for the first offense to up to $300 and the potential loss of the dog for the third offense.
 
> > MSPCA: Current legislation
 

BOSTON — Mayor Kevin White's four-term tenure as mayor spanned a time of tumultuous race relations in Boston. These exclusive videos from the WGBH archives show key moments from the 1970s, when White presided over court-ordered desegregation in Boston public schools. 

Mayor White and James Brown, April 5, 1968

Three Days Before Busing, Sept. 1974

Day 3 of Desegregation, Sept. 16, 1974

White spoke at a press conference at City Hall on the third day of desegregation of Boston public schools. He fielded questions about the enforcement of busing in South Boston and the school boycott by South Boston resident.

This Year It Must Be Different,’ Sept. 3, 1975

White appeared on WGBH's "The Ten O'Clock News" to call for a safe start to the school year after the uproar of the year before and detail measures in place to ensure it.

WORCESTER — A year ago this month, former Massachusetts Gov. Paul Cellucci went public with the fact that he is suffering from ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He’s been maintaining a full work schedule while at the same time spearheading a $10 million fundraising drive at UMass Medical School aimed at research into ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases.
 
Cellucci deftly operates a wheelchair at the school. While he has lost some control in his arms and legs, his hands are still agile.

 
"I feel terrific," he says. "Not a lot has changed. My arms and legs have gotten a little weaker but everything else is OK. I continue to do my work every day."
 
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis strikes the body’s motor neurons. As the neurons shut down one by one, ALS patients lose the ability to control their muscles. No one knows the cause.
 
The disease is also unpredictable. "For most cases like mine, it’s sporadic. Very healthy people are all the sudden, you know, get a little weakness in a finger or in a leg and then it just develops from there," Cellucci says. For him, "I would be reading the newspaper and I had tremors in my arm."
 
Cellucci does not focus on the things he cannot do, like driving and playing golf, but rather the things he can, like spending time with his three grandchildren. And he really believes a cure may be near.
 
"I’m optimistic because I know they’re getting close to significant breakthroughs and that’s why I wanted to help UMass Medical School," he says.
 
The fundraising effort is aimed at creating a research endowment focusing on ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases. Cellucci sees his part as continuing his long career trajectory. "I was in public service for 35 years — 31 years as an elected official, 4 years as the ambassador to Canada — and I got a lot of satisfaction from helping people and advancing good public policy, decisions and causes," he says.
 
He hasn’t lost his interest in politics either. He’s with Mitt Romney all the way, even though he supported Rudy Giuliani instead of Romney four years ago. As for one of Romney's rivals, Cellucci says, "I kind of agree with Peggy Noonan: Newt Gingrich is the guy in the room with the hand grenade with the pin out and I just don’t think that’s the person we want to put up as our nominee."
 
Paul Cellucci is just 64 — and he has a matter-of-fact determination that despite his disease — he’s got a lot of living left to do.

BOSTON — On Tuesday, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum released the final 45 hours of White House recordings from the end of the president's life. The tapes, which have been digitized and can be downloaded in full, cover topics including the war in Vietnam, relations with the Soviet Union ... and Kennedy's never-to-be-realized re-election campaign. WGBH News' Jordan Weinstein talked to JFK Library declassification archivist Maura Porter about the historical significance.

A few excerpts from the recordings:

On Nov. 12, 1963, the president meets with a team of political advisors for several hours to discuss details of the 1964 convention and the issues that might define the upcoming campaign.

Undersecretary of state George Ball tells Kennedy, "We don't want to be bogged down in Southeast Asia forever."

In the final seconds of taping, on Nov. 20, Kennedy talks about his plans for after he returns from Dallas.

>> Hear more recordings.

> > Read the complete address.

In the 25-minute speech, Patrick also renewed his support for the Legislature's three strikes bill, which would eliminate parole for individuals convicted three times of violent felonies like kidnapping, rape or murder. But he said at the same time, non violent drug offenders should be eligible for parole sooner.
 
Patrick also urged lawmakers to pass his bill dramatically changing the health care payment system. He said the current fee-for-service mode — where doctors and hospitals get paid for each test and procedure they order — just isn’t working.
 
After the speech, Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, said lawmakers have been working on a health care cost containment bill that she hopes will go to the governor's desk this year.
 
Republicans lawmakers faulted the governor for not spending enough time talking about how to improve the business climate in Massachusetts, which they said is the best way to create new jobs.
  
Patrick is set to release more details about his community college plan when he presents his budget proposal for the next fiscal year on Wednesday.

 
On Dec. 12, President Barack Obama held a press conference to announce the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of the month. The announcement means that returning soldiers will be looking for jobs once they're back — a process that can be arduous, as former infantryman (and Occupy Boston protester) Jason Mazoula told WGBH News’ Phillip Martin this November.

Mass. Lt. Gov. Tim Murray said on “The Callie Crossley Show” on Dec. 12 that Bay State employers should make hiring these vets their top priority.
 
For one, he said, it’s good for business: “You get quality people who know how to get things done, who can work as teams [and] understand deadlines in pressure situations.”
 
Murray, who chairs the Governor's Advisory Council on Veterans' Services, said that private sector companies, nonprofits and the state's many colleges and university are well poised to employ and further develop the skills of these returning veterans.

MANCHESTER, N.H. — For the past year, the race for the Republican presidential nomination has followed a predictable pattern. A Mitt Romney rival surges in the polls, can’t stand the spotlight and fades into obscurity — replaced by another rival who does exactly the same thing.
 
But the latest anti-Romney, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, seems to have a bit more staying power. And he’s raising new doubts about the inevitability of Romney landing the nomination — even in the former Mass. governor’s stronghold of New Hampshire.

Hit the ground running
 
Gingrich’s New Hampshire headquarters looks unlived in. That’s because it is. In contrast to Romney, who opened his New Hampshire headquarters in May, Gingrich’s, on Elm Street in Manchester, N.H., has been open for less than a month.
 
Andrew Hemingway, Gingrich’s New Hampshire campaign director, freely admitted that his candidate got a late start.
 
“Most of the other campaigns have been here for probably over a year, and they’re established. They’ve got everything moving,” Hemingway said.
 
Still, Gingrich has been chipping away at Romney’s once-vast lead in the Granite State. A recent poll by Rasmussen Reports put Romney’s cushion at just 10 points.
 
Hemingway predicted that down the home stretch, the Gingrich campaign’s lack of structure will provide a jolt of grassroots energy.
 
“It’s forcing us to run a campaign that’s completely decentralized, completely based on people willing to come on board who are willing who to help us, who are willing to push it,” he said. “Our organization literally depends on our volunteers.”

"He has great ideas"
 
In other words, it depends on people like Jonathan and Jean White of Amherst, N.H. After picking up some Newt 2012 yard signs, the Whites explained why they think Gingrich is the best of the GOP bunch.
 
“He balanced the budget for four years in a row while he was speaker of the House,” said John White. “He’s a tremendous intellect. He has great ideas.”
 
“I’m a Catholic and I think he’s living out his faith,” Jean White added. “That’s part of who he is and that’s part of what’s guiding him.”
 
Romney's counter-attack

For his part, Romney wants voters to see Gingrich and think “Washington insider.” During a recent interview on WTPL-FM, “New Hampshire Today” host Jack Heath asked Romney to describe the main differences between him and Gingrich.
 
“If the people of America are looking for folks that have a background in Washington,” Romney said, “who’ve spent a lifetime in Washington, who’ve worked in government affairs or lobbying — why, there are a lot of people to choose from.”
 
But with his poll numbers dropping, Romney may have to be more aggressive, especially since Gingrich has some traits that New Hampshire voters tend to prize.
 
“He’s less packaged, he’s not perfect, he’s a little disheveled,” Heath said of Gingrich. “He’s got that college professor look, versus Mitt Romney, who looks like he’s gotten the Academy Award role to play the president if Michael Douglas isn’t available.”
 
Heath agreed with Hemingway that Gingrich’s late start in New Hampshire won’t hurt him.
 
“[Gingrich] hasn’t lost anything from it,” Heath said. “He’s doing well and if he spends more time here and presses the flesh, goes to coffee shops, he’s going to have the national media horde and the local regional media. So I think he got lucky.”

If Newt, then what?
 
As of Dec. 2, Heath predicted that Romney would win New Hampshire by just three to five percentage points — an outcome that could reinforce the perception that Romney is fading and Gingrich surging. Heath thought there was a legitimate chance that Gingrich would win New Hampshire outright.
 
Since losing New Hampshire could doom Romney’s presidential hopes, his campaign will do everything possible to keep it from happening. But Hemingway claimed the passion was on Gingrich’s side.
 
“It’s a woman from Pennsylvania who emails me or writes a handwritten letter and says, ‘Hey, I’m disabled, I can’t do much, but I just rented a hotel room across the street and I’m going to be living in New Hampshire for five weeks because I want to be involved in the Newt Gingrich campaign,’” Hemingway said, smiling broadly.
 
In the end, that energy may not be enough to defeat Romney. But it’s already enough to make him sweat. 

BOSTON — Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank's announcement that he will not seek reelection has led many to reflect on his political legacy.
 
Sue O'Connell, publisher of the New England LGBT newspaper “Bay Windows,” lauded Frank’s work for the LGBT community. In particular, she thought he set an example because he was open about his sexual orientation but it wasn't his defining feature.
 
“He’s emblematic to a lot of folks, even the younger — and I mean younger, sort of newbie, elected officials who are gay or lesbian — that you can fight for gay rights and not be labeled as ‘the gay Congressman.’ That's the second or third or fourth thing about him,” she said on "The Callie Crossley Show" on Dec. 2.
 
O’Connell thought Frank would be best remembered instead for his strong defense of the fishing industry and his efforts to repeal the US military's “don't ask, don't tell” policy.
 
In 1987, Frank became the first Congressman to voluntarily come out of the closet. On Nov. 28, he told WGBH News “I do not think it would have been possible to have gotten elected to Congress… If I’d come out too much earlier.”

BOSTON — Many are speculating on Barney Frank’s true motivations on leaving Congress. To put Frank's decision into perspective, WGBH News took a critical look at the changing political landscape on Nov. 29 with former Mass. Gov. and past presidential candidate Michael Dukakis.

Excerpts from the conversation:
 
WGBH NEWS: Does the departure of so many senior Massachusetts congressmen and senators diminish the influence of the state’s D.C. delegation?
 
DUKAKIS: We happen to have a very effective and very skilled congressional delegation, and although we’ve lost some giants — no question Tip [O’Neill], Senator Kennedy, now Barney, had enormous influence, outsized influence — I don’t think we’re going to be diminished that much. I mean obviously other people have to come along and insert themselves but we’ve got one of the best delegations in Congress and they know what they’re doing, they do it well and we’re the beneficiaries of that. So I’m not worried about a waning of Massachusetts influence.
 
WGBH NEWS: What is underlying the severe gridlock these days that seems to prevent even the simplest compromises from being forged?
 
DUKAKIS: We now have folks who literally take a pledge that under no circumstances will they vote for anything to raise revenue. If you’re dealing with those kinds of folks, it’s very difficult to get anything done and that’s what the 2012 election is going to be all about. The people in the United States have got to decide what kind of a government they want and what kind of political leadership they want.
 
WGBH NEWS: Has the presence of corporate money in Washington loosened the public’s control of the political system?
 
DUKAKIS: I thought the Supreme Court decision on campaign finance was one of the worst decisions the Supreme Court ever made in the history of this country…. The notion that money is speech — I mean, I don’t know where that is found in the Constitution. As Senator McCain in his better days once said, if that’s the case then 99 percent of us are disenfranchised because we couldn’t possibly come up with the money to deal with these millions in corporate contributions.
 
WGBH NEWS: Looking back, what would you have done differently in your 1988 presidential campaign?
 
DUKAKIS: I made a big mistake in ’88 in taking the position I wasn’t going to respond to the Bush attack ads and it’s pretty obvious you can’t do that. I mean, you’ve got to be ready for them, you’ve got to have a strategy to deal with them — preferably one that, frankly, turns the attack ads into a character issue on the guy that’s doing it. And so I just badly messed that up. Bill Clinton never made that mistake. In fact he had a small unit in his campaign that they used to call the "Defense Department" which did nothing but deal with those attacks. And that’s frankly what you have to do.

At the Nov. 15 press conference, Republican Rep. Marc Lombardo of Billerica said the bill would be bad for business.

"In other states, similar legislation as the transgender rights bill in front of us today have resulted in expensive discrimination lawsuits against small businesses," Lombardo said.
 
Or consider this scenario, he said: “Let’s say you own a women's-only gym — we know we have those in Massachusetts — and today, a male is identifying himself as a female. Your female customers who chose your gym because of the women-only atmosphere, now they take their business elsewhere because they no longer feel comfortable."
 
The Nov. 15 vote followed an hour-long debate. Lawmakers had earlier agreed to cut off debate at 8:50 p.m., meaning many proposed amendments could not be considered.

The bill has been languishing in the Legislature for 6 years. It now moves on to the Senate. Gov. Deval Patrick has said he would sign the bill.

Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.

BOSTON — Senior citizens and labor advocates took center stage at the Wang Theatre in downtown Boston on Nov. 9 to rally against the Congressional supercommittee’s proposed cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
 
The 12-member bipartisan committee is considering a $112 billion cut to Social Security by changing how the cost-of-living adjustment is calculated, reducing benefits and raising the age of Medicare eligibility from 65 to 67.
 
A fired-up crowd of 3000 filled the Wang, with seniors bussed in from cities and towns all over Mass. and others coming from as far as New York.
 
Arthur Alexander, vice president of the Boston chapter of the Mass. Senior Action Council, thought the proposed cuts were wrong. “I don’t think it’s fair and I don’t appreciate it because I worked all my life and I’ve got grandkids who are doing the same thing — they’re working and paying their fair share into Social Security,” he said.
 
Alexander added that cutting Social Security made no sense to him as it would have no impact on the deficit: “People have to realize it’s a trust fund, not a part of the budget, it doesn’t add to the deficit, and I wish they’d stop lying about that.”
 
Health care workers, teachers and tradesmen were all united on this stage.
 
Brian, a pipefitter of 23 years with Local 537, said other items should be cut before social programs go on the chopping block. He was open, however, to the idea of extending the age to receive Medicare benefits. “If that¹s what it takes to make sure Social Security stays solvent, then that’s what we need to lean towards,” he said.
 
Protesters left the Wang Theatre not with playbills but with postcards — and they headed to the offices of Sens. Kerry and Brown with a final encore and message: Stop the cuts.

BOSTON — After the votes were tallied in Tuesday's municipal elections, there was a big surprise in the Boston City Council race. Conventional wisdom said incumbent Ayanna Pressley wouldn’t make it. Instead, she topped the ticket. Pressley will now be the only woman of color — and the only woman — on the council.
 
Marvin Venay, the executive director of the Mass. Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, said on “The Callie Crossley Show” that Pressley’s strong showing was a “game-changer.”
 
“It really showed that the people, when they surround you, and they support you, they will come out for you. We looked at the numbers throughout the day. There was a concern that communities of color weren’t coming out and there was a concern that there was a possibility that the votes were dwindling in some areas. But lo and behold… all the pre-written articles had to be changed,” Venay said.
 
“The exact vulnerabilities that they said she had in fact were her strengths," said Kelly Bates, executive director of the Access Strategies Fund. "She showed the city, and the city has changed, that you can elect somebody if they are impressive, if they are qualified and they are a black woman.”
 
Venay thought the election results offered a moment of clarity for Boston's communities of color.
 
“Minorities now have an opportunity to reclaim the voice that they've had. And they have to realize now — or I should say we have to start realizing now — that we have more power than we prescribe that we do,” he said. “This is the opportunity where you can really make a difference.”
 
He hoped city and state candidates would recognize the change and engage with Boston's minority communities ahead of the 2012 general election.

BOSTON — The preliminary Mass. State Police report on Lt. Gov. Tim Murray's Wednesday-morning crash backed up Murray's claim that ice caused him to lose control of the car

Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Tim Murray totaled his state-issued Crown Victoria at around 5:00 a.m. Wednesday on Interstate 190 In Sterling. “I’m OK. There was damage to the vehicle. People need to be careful, myself included,” he said at a press conference that morning.

According to the police report, the investigating officer nearly fell when he got out of his cruiser "due to icy road conditions in the area of the crash." That officer also witnessed a near-crash due to the conditions.

Murray told reporters he was out getting a paper and surveying storm damage when the accident happened. 

When reporters asked him why he was looking at storm damage in the dark, Murray said he’s always been an early riser: “I was driving up in the area seeing what was going on up in Route 190, and going back. As I drive around routinely, I think people around the city, people around Central Mass., get constituent work from me at different times.”

Murray said he requested an alcohol sobriety test at the scene and passed. This was not addressed in the preliminary report. A state spokeswoman said in an email that the full report would be available Thursday.

Murray Car Crash Preliminary Police Report, 11/2/11

BOSTON — Just last week, Congressman John Olver, 75, was out raising money in Holyoke, Mass. But on Wednesday, Olver announced he would retire at the end of his current term. 

Boston.com political editor Glen Johnson and Tufts University professor Jeffrey Berry discussed Olver's change of heart in an October 27 conversation with Jared Bowen, guest host of "The Emily Rooney Show."

In Johnson's analysis, "A lot of things came together that I think made it very easy for [Olver] to make this decision where it seemed once impossible for him to make."

(Johnson wasn't surprised by the seeming turnaround, saying, "It’s smart politics for any politician to always indicate that they’re seeking re-election. As soon as you give any indication that that may be a question, you almost immediately become a lame duck.")

For one, Olver's wife is undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer. On top of that, the Massachusetts Legislature Special Joint Committee on Redistricting is expected to release its new Congressional map in the next week, Johnson said — and politics-watchers expect it will combine Olver's district with the Worcester-centered district currently represented by James McGovern. 

"He could foresee a strong challenge," Johnson said. "There was a very strong chance that he was going to end in a runoff with Jim McGovern."

Berry agreed that Olver would have faced an uphill road to re-election. “He was being thrown into a district that’s really based in Worcester," Berry said. "it was likely, very likely he was going to lose.”

McGovern praised Olver after the announcement: "The country is a better place because of his keen intellect, impeccable integrity, and fierce commitment to economic and social justice," he said in a statement. "I am honored to call him my colleague, and proud to call him my friend. I look forward to working with him over the next year in Congress and will continue to champion those causes we both hold dear.”

Johnson also thought that Olver might have taken one for the team. With this decision, the 75-year-old had the opportunity "to help spare all his colleagues, potentially, some of their own redistricting pain," Johnson said. It's much easier for politicians to cut the state's Congressional districts from 10 to nine when one of the current 10 officeholders subtracts himself from the picture.

As for Alan Khazei, who dropped his bid this week for the U.S. Senate seat held by Scott Brown, he didn't have a chance of being elected, Berry thought. "This is a Warren-Brown Senate race. The Democratic primary is a formality," he said.

BOSTON — Bay State resident Jill Stein is seeking the Green Party's nomination for president of the United States. The Lexington physician and former candidate for governor is hoping to tap into voter disenchantment on the left.

Kicking off her campaign on the steps of the State House, Stein said President Barack Obama has outrageously betrayed his base.

  She laid into him, criticizing his  handling of the wars, his willingness to cut social security and Medicare benefits during debt-ceiling talks and his decision to scrap stricter smog regulations.

"We do not want to give a mandate to four more years of the Bush-Obama recession. Of the Bush-Obama expanding war plan. The Bush-Obama health care disaster."

  Stein hopes to be on the ballot in at least 45 states. The Green party will choose a nominee at its convention next summer. The only other candidate so far is Dr. Kent Mesplay, a Green Party leader in California. 

  Marc Landy, a political science professor at Boston College, says Stein won’t win, but she could get some traction and even pull votes away from Obama in states like Oregon and Wisconsin, where he says there’s a strong left wing to the Democratic party.

  "I would think that the radical left who still want to be in the electoral process might well rally around her. She’s not the worst candidate in the world," Landy said.

  But others say Stein doesn’t have the name recognition to pose a real threat to Obama.  Meanwhile, consumer advocate Ralph Nader and scholar Cornel West have been looking for someone to mount a primary challenge to Obama from within the democratic party. So far, no one has stepped forward.