region, news, mass

Mass. to get $318M, keep 2 claims open

AP Wire — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

BOSTON - Massachusetts will receive nearly $318 million from a national settlement announced Thursday with mortgage lenders over abusive foreclosure practices, Attorney General Martha Coakley said.

Priest sounds alarm on parish consolidations

AP Wire — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

BOSTON - The Boston Archdiocese's proposal to cut costs by organizing its 290 parishes into 125 groups that share resources could crush its pastors, who now face a bleak future after sustaining the church through the abuse scandal, a veteran priest wrote in a letter to Cardinal Sean O'Malley obtained by The Associated Press.

MGM to gauge support for casino in Brimfield

AP Wire — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

BRIMFIELD (AP) - A major Las Vegas casino company says it wants to get a sense from Brimfield residents if they back a resort-style casino in town.

MGM Resorts International said Thursday it has filed a petition to have a non-binding casino question put on the May 21 town meeting warrant.

Massachusetts man charged in online teen porn case

AP Wire — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

WOBURN, Mass. (AP) - A 20-year-old Massachusetts youth volunteer has pleaded not guilty to charges he enticed a 13-year-old Arizona boy into sex acts that he watched on an Internet video connection.

Massachusetts House approves forensic testing bill

AP Wire — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

BOSTON (AP) - The Massachusetts House has unanimously approved a bill that gives those convicted of a crime the right to request that the courts order new forensic tests of the evidence used to convict them.

Under the legislation, anyone requesting the new scientific analysis must show that the testing has the potential to result in evidence that could change their conviction.

Health officials warn of Super Bowl measles case

AP Wire — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts health officials are warning that people who visited the Super Bowl village outdoor festival in Indianapolis last Friday may have been exposed to measles.

US gives Mass. waiver from No Child Left Behind

AP Wire — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

BOSTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's decision to free Massachusetts from some requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law was a vote of confidence for a system the state designed to assess the performance of public schools, top state education officials said Thursday.