WASHINGTON – An atheist group dropped its attempt to block state funding of faith-based groups' work with ex-convicts in Florida.
The New York-based group, the Center for Inquiry, declined to appeal a Florida county court ruling on Jan. 20 that let the state fund work by Lamb of God Ministries and Prisoners of Christ. The Christian groups have provided housing, food and job assistance to former prisoners to help reduce recidivism in the Sunshine State for more than two decades.
BOSTON – Haverhill Republican Ann Wofford has pulled nomination papers to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas, a Lowell Democrat, in the third congressional district this fall, according to the secretary of state's office.
The campaign would mark Wofford's second attempt at knocking off Tsongas. The widow of former U.S. Sen. Paul Tsongas, she has held the seat ever since she won a special election in 2007 following then-Rep. Marty Meehan's decision to resign from Congress to become the University of Massachusetts – Lowell's chancellor.
