Springfield-based supermarket chain Big Y is planning to eliminate thin-film plastic bags from all its approximately 80 stores in Massachusetts and Connecticut starting Thursday, August 1 – and plans to start charging customers 10 cents apiece for paper bags.
The company is trying to nudge customers into buying reusable shopping bags, which may be made of cotton, bamboo, hemp, polypropylene, nylon, or polyester, and is recommending that customers not only remember to bring them to the store each time they go shopping but maintain them, as well.
A bill before the Massachusetts Legislature would establish a legislative commission to study communities "underserved by local journalism" and "review all aspects of local journalism" including "the adequacy of press coverage of cities and towns."
Massachusetts Senate Bill 80 calls for the proposed commission to come up with "strategies to improve local news access, public policy solutions to improve the sustainability of local press business models and private and nonprofit solutions, and identifying career pathways and existing or potential professional development opportunities for aspiring journalists in Massachusetts."
