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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
Minors whose sexual activities put them at risk of getting the Human Immunodeficiency Virus could get pre-exposure medications without the permission of their parents under a bill approved by the Massachusetts Legislature. Governor Charlie Baker is considering the measure, which the legislature returned to him after he proposed amendments designed
Around New England
One of the three blades on a 492-foot-high wind turbine in Gloucester fell off, closing access to an industrial park road. A neighbor said it happened at 1:05 a.m. Sunday, July 31.
News
The Massachusetts Legislature has abandoned proposed tax cuts, wrapping up the two-year formal legislative session early Monday morning with no vote on a bill that would have provided them. Lawmakers were talking about having the state government send out $250 rebate checks to taxpayers. But the bill died with no
News
Wind-generated electricity won't provide nearly enough power for Massachusetts in the future and must be augmented by other sources, Governor Charlie Baker said in a message proposing amendments to the state legislature's climate change bill. The governor's amendments — described in 19 pages – throw doubt
Around New England
A mall in western Massachusetts that once housed a Sears and a Macy's is slated for indoor marijuana growing. A lawyer who describes himself as a "a pretty risk-averse guy by nature" is leading the venture to turn the former Berkshire Mall in Lanesborough into what
Around New England
A social worker running for sheriff of Essex County says the job is not about law enforcement but rather about rehabilitation. "The job of the sheriff is to be the chief rehabilitation officer in the county," said Virginia Leigh, of Lynn, a licensed clinical social worker, during a
Around New England
A gender consultant who "never imagined … working with children" has been leading weekly sessions for teen-agers who identify as homosexual, transgender, or questioning, according to WickedLocal.com. "It's a fascinating age, a time of pushing boundaries and of figuring themselves out," the leader of
Around New England
Reparations supporters in Amherst are considering draft language for a bill in the state legislature that would allow town officials to give individual African-Americans money from town funds. Reparations is a proposal to use public funds for black people to make up for slavery and discrimination.