STATE HOUSE — A sticking point in the D.C. donnybrook that led to a 2013 government shutdown, the national debt ceiling has become a perennial catalyst for political brinkmanship in Washington.
But Massachusetts has had its own debt ceiling since 1989, and the state is on track to hit it in the next fiscal year for the first time in the memories of state officials, according to the Executive Office of Administration and Finance and the state Treasury.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Army Capt. Simratpal Singh reported to his new post sporting a very different look Monday afternoon. During leave, he'd grown a beard and reportedly made himself a camouflaged turban, and last week he won an exception to Army rules, letting him keep his beard and wear his turban on duty, as required by his Sikh faith.
So he reported to Fort Belvoir in suburban Fairfax County, Virginia, as a visibly observant Sikh.
