Pundit's Boston Bread Buttered on Both Sides

Massachusetts' Executive Office of Environmental Affairs "awarded a $10,000 contract to a Boston Herald op-ed columnist to promote the governor's environmental policies." The contract involves writing op-ed pieces and internal documents "to promote education, awareness, and acceptance of major policy initiatives." Three days after the columnist, Charles Chieppo, applied for the position, he filed a column praising Governor Mitt Romney's mass-transit plan, which was designed by "the person who oversees the Environmental Affairs office that now employs Chieppo." A Boston Herald spokesperson said their editorial page editor "decided to allow [Cieppo] to continue writing his weekly column as long as he refrains from writing about 'those topics he's consulting on.'"