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Matt McDonald, a Boston-area native, has decades of experience as a reporter, editor, and copy editor. His work has appeared in The Mashpee Messenger, Cape Cod News, and The Norfolk Boomerang.
Around New England
Voters at Town Meeting in Chatham rejected a warrant article proposing to spend $100,000 to build a Jaws II-scenario shark barrier by one vote. Supporters are worried that a great white shark might make its way from Nantucket Sound into Oyster Pond and an area known as Children'
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A property buyer whose commercial building was demolished by the city of Chelsea shortly after he acquired it has no remedy in state law, the Massachusetts Appeals Court has ruled. Rocco Vigorito bought an abandoned gas station from the estate of its previous owner for $100,000 in August 2016,
Around New England
An aide to presidential candidate Bernie Sanders who helped negotiate a union contract for Sanders campaign staff members can't serve as an officer of a labor union until 2026 because his 2013 sentence for embezzling United Steelworkers International Union funds forbids it. When Vermont Digger reported that fact
Around New England
The city council of Bangor, Maine has voted to ban Styrofoam containers widely used to package food and drinks, starting in January 2020. The city council voted 5-3 for the ban Monday night, after rejecting it 6-3 in September 2017.
Around New England
A man charged with animal cruelty who OK'd a five-member jury when one of the jurors left can't take it back now that he was found guilty, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled. Under the state constitution, Richard Bennefield had a right to a trial by
Around New England
Town Meeting voters in Westport have approved a new bylaw that provides a $250 fine for taking rocks and vegetation from town beaches. Sean Leach, a member of the town's Beach Committee, showed during Town Meeting last week photos he took of people taking rocks from a beach
Around New England
The New Hampshire House of Representatives has passed a bill that would allow biological males to compete in girls sports. New Hampshire Senate Bill 263 states:
Around New England
A pastor who allowed a rap video to be shot inside his Catholic church in Worcester is expressing surprise that it includes profanities, drinking, and complaints that God hasn't taken the lives of Laura Ingraham, Tomi Lahren, and President Donald Trump. Monsignor Francis Scollen, the pastor, was away