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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.
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Members of a legislative committee got an earful this week from opponents of a bill that would force community college students in Massachusetts to get vaccinated for coronavirus. The bill, originally filed in May, may be moot, because state community colleges announced September 21 that they plan to require students
Around New England
The state commission that studies problems that homosexuals and transgender people encounter while aging would like to change its name to be more inclusive, but the process is harder than members were initially hoping. "The opinion came back that it would actually take an act of legislation to change
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Supporters of a born-alive initiative petition are appealing the Massachusetts Attorney General's rejection of their petition to the state's highest court. A lawyer representing the Massachusetts Newborn Protection Coalition and 10 signers of the petition filed a complaint in court on Tuesday, September 7.
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Supporters of a ballot petition seeking to scuttle a proposed carbon fee on fuel can bring the question before Massachusetts voters if they get enough signatures, the state Attorney General said. The petition, called "An Act Preserving Consumer Access To Gasoline and Other Motor Fuels," seeks to defeat
Around New England
Left-wingers should stop acting defensive when they are called socialists and should embrace the label, a columnist for a western Massachusetts newspaper said. "Let's stop romanticizing capitalism as an ideal. In its most extreme form, it works about as well as extreme patriarchy or white supremacy; in
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An Obama-appointed federal judge has denied a request from two University of Massachusetts students for exemptions from school rules requiring they get vaccinated for coronavirus. The ruling, issued Friday, August 27, sets up a possible appeal that could make it to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Around New England
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has been too hesitant to try to force people to get the coronavirus vaccine and wear masks, a former mayor of Worcester said. "We've waited patiently, hoping to convince the unvaccinated to step up. We tried gifts, scholarships, and cash. We said '
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A state board has authorized the state's education commissioner to require masks for all public school staff and students ages 5 and up in Massachusetts through at least October 1. The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted 9-1 Tuesday morning in favor of the policy, proposed