New England News

Supporters of Physician assisted suicide, or death with dignity,  used a  procedural move to attach the proposal onto a bill banning tanning salons from offering their services to minors.  The entire measure passed the Health and Welfare Committee on a 3 to 2 vote, moving it to the full Senate. A previous effort to move the legislation as its own bill was blocked in committee. Patient Choices Vermont President Dick Walters, who has been working for ten years to get a death with dignity law in Vermont, says there was no other way to move the measure forward.

Massachusetts House leaders are preparing to unveil their version of the state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. 

Federal prosecutors are recommending a 25-year prison sentence for a Massachusetts man convicted of conspiring to help al-Qaida.

The five member Massachusetts Gaming Commission held its first public meeting Tuesday as it set about to bring casino gambling to the state.   WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.

     Declaring  the decades long debate over whether to bring casinos to Massachusetts is over, Stephen Crosby, the chairman of the powerful gaming commission, said he and the other four appointees were ready to get to work to implement the public policy in the best way they can.  He pledged that much of that work would take place in full public view.

The Vermont Clean Energy Investment Summit was hosted by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Governor Peter Shumlin and the state Department of Public Service.   Senator Sanders says it’s part of continuing efforts to make Vermont a leader in sustainable and renewable energy.

  Faced with a major decrease in property tax collections and no
expected increase in state aid, budget writers in Springfield
Massachusetts are proposing scores of fee hikes. But the city's top
finance officer says it still won't be  enough to avoid budget cuts.
WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports..

  Law enforcement is slowly embracing social media as a crime
fighting tool. The latest example was announced Monday in Northampton
Massachusetts, as we hear from WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul
Tuthill.

        The Northwestern District Attorney, David Sullivan announced the
launch of a text-a-tip program designed to help police solve crimes in
the 47 cities and towns in Hampshire and Franklin counties.