If you go to Boston.com you can find examples of behavior prohibited by colonial-era blue laws that are still on the books in Massachusetts – among them, kissing in public, wearing gold buttons worth more than 200 British pounds, and being an idle "tobacco taker."
One blue law of much more recent origin compels retail businesses utilizing at least seven workers to pay Sunday and holiday wages that are one-and-a-half what they pay on normal weekdays. No other state, except Rhode Island, mandates this sort of Sunday premium wage. The Massachusetts Sunday premium wage is motivated, not by Puritanical values, but by a union-driven campaign to drive up worker costs as high as the legislature will allow.
Brewster Selectman Ben deRuyter is withdrawing from the race for the open Cape and Islands Senate seat, saying he wants to spend more time with his family.
"I value the experiences gained throughout this campaign. I'm grateful to my supporters, whom I know will continue to be activists for our region," he said in a statement. He said he plans to make an endorsement soon, with Julian Cyr, Sheila Lyons, and Rep. Brian Mannal running for the party's nomination in the race to find a successor to outgoing Sen. Dan Wolf of Harwich.
