Tagged: massachusetts

Massachusetts has spent over $300 million in the last four years to boost the life sciences industry with administration officials insisting the initiative has been a great success.  WAMC’s Paul Tuthill reports.

           Patrick administration officials say the life sciences initiative has so far lured dozens of new companies to the state, and led existing ones to expand.   Brian Jamele of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center says the public money that was spent leveraged almost $1 billion in private investment.

The unemployment rate in Massachusetts fell to six percent in May, down from 6.3 percent in April.  WAMC’s Paul Tuthill reports.

A bill that would expand Massachusetts’ recycling laws to include a five-cent deposit for plastic containers for noncarbonated beverages has again failed to pass a committee vote to enter legislative debate, drawing criticism from proponents. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

Weighing in at more than 265,000 words,  the novel Ulysses by James Joyce is, to say the least, a literary challenge to those who attempt to read it. The book, published in 1904, has 18 episodes, extending over 700 pages, and has been called dirty, blasphemous and unreadable. It is often a college assignment, but for some students in western Massachusetts seeking their GED, or high school equivalency degree, Ulysses is on the reading list.

New York Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos says he expects a deal to be announced soon to maintain a price break for beer, which has helped New York's craft brewers grow. WAMC’s Dave Lucas reports…

A Belchertown, Massachusetts brewer had successfully sued to eliminate the price break for its New York competitors.

        The state's top elections official wants a stronger system of monitoring the hefty sums of cash likely to be spent on influencing future local casino votes in Massachusetts.  WAMC’S Paul Tuthill reports.

        Secretary of State William Galvin urged a legislative panel on Wednesday to support a bill that would require all campaign expenditures made on casino referendums to be reported to the state office of Campaign and Political Finance.

       Currently, spending on local ballot issues must only be reported to the clerk's office in that community.