New England News

    Massachusetts is getting a $300,000 grant to support nursing education. WAMC’s Paul Tuthill reports.

Lawyers for former Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi say federal prosecutors failed to prove at trial that he agreed to accept payments in exchange for official acts. WAMC’s Lucas Willard reports…

In a lengthy appeal filed on Tuesday with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, DiMasi's legal team also argues that the eight-year prison sentence imposed on the Boston Democrat was "substantively unreasonable" and in effect punished him for the past crimes of other Massachusetts politicians.

State education officials say most Massachusetts school districts are expected to miss a deadline to implement a new teacher evaluation system, putting federal funding in jeopardy. WAMC’s Lucas Willard has details…

Districts are required to approve the system that puts greater emphasis on student achievement by Sept. 1 or risk losing Race to the Top money.

  The Patrick administration in Massachusetts is taking steps to address the growing problem of senior dementia. A new program at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke is helping veterans and their families cope with Alzheimer’s disease.  WAMC”s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.

   Bill McGill of Montgomery said he was stressed out a few years ago, when he realized his father..now 90…had been wondering off and might have Alzheimer’s disease. Having  him live at  the state run Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke has brought peace of mind.

A major retailer and state and local officials are weighing proposals to fix a traffic-clogged interchange in Colchester, Vermont.

Costco, which has a store at the U.S. 7-Interstate 89 interchange, has offered to add a turning lane, rearrange pavement striping and create other improvements as it seeks approval for gas pumps.

The company said its proposal would serve as a stopgap solution until the state Agency of Transportation comes in with its proposed "double crossover diamond," a complicated highway exchange to lessen traffic.

The Vermont town of Williston has a new police chief.

Chief Todd Shepard was sworn in Monday as the chief in the Chittenden County town of about 7,650 people. The police department has an authorized strength of 15 officers.

Williston is one of the commercial centers of northwestern Vermont.

The 48-year-old Shepard from Milton had been the deputy police chief in neighboring South Burlington.

Shepard succeeded interim police chief Douglas Hoyt, the retired chief of the Montpelier Police Department.

A panel of Vermont lawmakers is giving its blessing to a plan for a privately-owned rest area and visitors' center off Interstate-89 in Randolph.

Developer Sam Sammis detailed his proposal for the visitor's center and Vermont products showcase Tuesday to the legislature's Joint Transportation Oversight Committee.

Administration Secretary Jeb Spaulding says the state closed the northbound rest area in Randolph several years ago and the southbound rest is likely to be closed within the next couple of years.

Five elementary schools in urban areas around Connecticut have been chosen for a program to boost the literacy of students from kindergarten through third grade. WAMC’s Lucas Willard has more…

The education reform bill that passed earlier this year budgets money for each of the five schools to receive five reading specialists.

The chosen schools announced on Tuesday are in East Hartford, Hartford, Meriden, New Haven and Windham.