When Marine General John Kelly gave the keynote speech at the inaugural event of Massachusetts Fallen Heroes in Boston six years ago, he left out an important detail: the death of his son in combat in Afghanistan three weeks before.
Colleagues and friends say it's just like Kelly, who is President-elect Donald Trump's pick to head the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, not to call attention to himself.
Pastors from four Massachusetts churches are hailing a recent settlement in a federal case pitting their right to religious freedom against the state's interpretation of the new transgender public accommodations law, lauding the agreement as a victory.
"I'm happy to say on Monday of this week the churches moved to dismiss their case because both (Attorney General Maura Healey) and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination revised their controversial guidance to specifically recognize the First Amendment rights of these organizations," said Andrew Beckwith, president of the conservative Massachusetts Family Institute, in a recent press conference. "In short, we accomplished what we set out to do."
