Massachusetts

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In One Massachusetts Town, a Goal: Be Happier

Somerville works to create a happiness index

(Newser) - Somerville, Mass., is famous for being the hometown of Marshmallow Fluff. It would like to be famous for something else, too: exceptionally happy residents. It was inspired, exotically enough, by Bhutan , which decided to put happiness ahead of its gross domestic product in terms of important measures, and has used...

Massachusetts' New Political Party: Pirates
 Massachusetts' New 
 Political Party: Pirates 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Mar 12, 2011 7:00 PM CST

Massachusetts' New Political Party: Pirates

Pirate Party now accepted as a political designation

(Newser) - Avast there, Massachusetts voters! A’fore ye register f’r some lilly-livered party like the “Democrats” or “Republicans,” ye might want to consider signin’ on with the state’s newest crew: the Massachusetts Pirate Party. That’s right, the Massachusetts Election Division has officially approved the swashbuckling...

Which States Have Nation's Smartest Kids?

Massachusetts' students test best; Mississippi? Not so much

(Newser) - Massachusetts can boast the top students in the nation, at least according to the Daily Beast . Each year, the National Assessment of Education Progress tests all the fourth and eighth graders in America in reading and math. The Daily Beast measured the percentage of kids who performed at or above...

Phony Hospital Valet Steals Pregnant Woman's Car

Woman with labor pains gave keys to uniformed man

(Newser) - In her rush to get to the emergency room, a pregnant woman gave her keys to a uniformed man who claimed to be a hospital valet—and he drove off with her car. When the woman, battling labor pains, entered the Massachusetts hospital at 3 am, she learned they had...

Connecticut Could Get 30-Plus Inches of Snow

New England pummeled by latest snowpocalypse

(Newser) - A winter storm crashed down on New England today, delivering as much as two feet of snow to parts of Connecticut, with more falling every minute. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a 30+ inch report,” says one WTHN meteorologist. Police in the state have responded...

US Approves 2nd Human Trial of Stem Cells

Mass. company will try to treat progressive blindness

(Newser) - The FDA has approved the second stem-cell trial on humans: Advanced Cell Technology will test the effects of stem-cell treatments on 12 patients with Stargardt’s macular dystrophy, a disease that causes progressive blindness, Reuters reports. The currently untreatable disease causes degeneration of eye tissue beginning as early as age...

Mass. Voters Reject Topless Proposal
Massachusetts Voters Reject Topless Proposal
UNUSUAL BALLOT MEASURES
Nov 4, 2010 3:43 AM CDT

Massachusetts Voters Reject Topless Proposal

Keep you shirt on, say people of Pittsfield

(Newser) - Massachusetts voters in Pittsfield don't want the town's women walking around topless. A ballot measure pushing for women's right to go topless in public anywhere that males can was defeated by a margin of more than 2 to 1, the Boston Globe reports. Voters speaking to the Berkshire Eagle on...

Teen Suspended for Bringing Horse to School

Superintendent praises creativity, but no animals allowed on school grounds

(Newser) - Good idea: Dressing up as a knight to celebrate your school’s spirit week. Bad idea: Riding an actual horse to school as part of the costume. Dan DePaolis, 17, was suspended from his Massachusetts high school when school officials found him in the parking lot on the horse; a...

Police Fatally Shoot Pace Univ. Football Player

Danroy Henry drove into two cops outside bar fight

(Newser) - Police shot and killed a Pace University football player after he drove his car into two officers outside a bar where customers were fighting early yesterday morning, the New York Daily News reports. Danroy Henry and two friends were parked in a fire lane outside the bar; after police responding...

Middle School Mosque Field Trip Sparks Outrage

Video shows kids participating in prayers

(Newser) - A Massachusetts school district apologized today, after a video surfaced showing students praying during a class field trip to the Islamic Society of Community Center. The video was shot in May by a parent chaperoning the trip, and then handed over to a group that has long been critical of...

New Drug-Resistant Superbug Hits 3 States

New gene makes bacteria resistant to virtually all antibiotics

(Newser) - People in three states have fallen prey to a new breed of superbugs, bacteria carrying a gene that makes them impervious to virtually any antibiotic. All three patients had recently received medical treatment in India, where the gene was first discovered, and has become widespread, the AP reports. “It’...

Mass. Catholic School Dean Loses Job After Gay Marriage

Diocese cans official after 12 years

(Newser) - The dean of students at a Massachusetts Catholic high school says she was forced out of her job after marrying her same-sex partner. “I was given a choice of termination or resignation,” Christine Judd tells the Republican . Judd, who worked for Cathedral High School since 1998 and also...

Massachusetts 'Shark' a Hoax
 Massachusetts 'Shark' a Hoax 
Aug 26, 2010 3:20 PM CDT

Massachusetts 'Shark' a Hoax

Joker makes a fin with styrofoam, duct tape

(Newser) - About 50 people watched a shark in a cove that runs between two Massachusetts towns—until they realized they were the victims of a practical joke, the Herald News reports. The first 911 call came in about 7pm last night, attracting police and a large group of onlookers. And no...

Be a Good American: Eat This Fish

The lionfish may ruin us if you don't!

(Newser) - How to make Uncle Sam proud: Buy American, fly a flag, eat...lionfish? That third one is, indeed, what one government agency would like you to do. The voracious, aggressively invasive lionfish is wreaking havoc in the Caribbean, off the Florida Keys, and along the Atlantic as far north as...

John Kerry in Hot Water Over Taxes on $7M Yacht

Senator berths luxury boat in Rhode Island, not Massachusetts

(Newser) - John Kerry says there's "nothing more to say about" the PR disaster surrounding his decision to save $500,000 in taxes by keeping his new $7 million yacht in Rhode Island rather than cash-strapped Massachusetts—but taxpayers in the senator's home state think otherwise. "Do as I say,...

Backers Push Good Samaritan Law to Save Drug Users

911 callers don't risk arrest themselves

(Newser) - Good Samaritan laws are designed to make sure people who OD on drugs get help. The idea is to shield callers to 911 who report someone in trouble from getting arrested themselves, Newsweek reports in a look at the push for the laws. So far, Washington state and New Mexico...

Dems Cave to Scott Brown, Kill Bank Tax

$19B tax ditched in favor of $11B in TARP funds

(Newser) - Scott Brown's threat to vote against the financial regulatory overhaul bill unless Democrats met his demands yesterday succeeded in killing the part of the bill Brown had opposed: a $19 billion tax on big banks and hedge funds. Conceding to Brown and ending a dramatic few days of negotiation, lawmakers...

Kagan: 'I Will Listen Hard'
 Kagan: 'I Will 
 Listen Hard'  
UPDATED
Jun 28, 2010 3:05 PM CDT

Kagan: 'I Will Listen Hard'

Supreme Court nominee treads lightly in opening statement

(Newser) - The first day of Elena Kagan's confirmation hearings has concluded, as expected, without any fireworks. "I will listen hard, to every party before the court and to each of my colleagues. I will work hard," the Supreme Court nominee and current solicitor general said. " And I will...

Great White Sighting Won't Close Mass. Beaches

Predator no threat to public safety, officials say

(Newser) - Dun-dun, dun-dun: Massachusetts isn't about to let a measly 200-pound juvenile great white shark close its beaches. The beast was caught and released 20 miles offshore, and "we don’t believe it is a threat to public safety,'' a top environmental official tells the Boston Globe . "White...

Scott Brown: the GOP's New Go-to Guy

Massachusetts senator milking fame, growing influence

(Newser) - It's not every day that sitting presidents schedule a sit-down with freshman senators from the other party, but then, Politico notes, Scott Brown isn't your average freshman senator. In his brief time in the Senate, he’s become one of the most recognizable influential Republicans, and the party’s “...

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