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| Articles about Massachusetts |
| Massachusetts Makes Strides in Expanding Health-Insurance Coverage | | 2008-08-27 09:09:21 | | By Dena Rifkin, MDI have to give a gold star to my home state this week. Massachusetts just announced an impressive increase in the number of residents with health insurance. Since the June 2006 launch of a program aimed to extend health-care coverage to every resident, more than 400,000 people have joined the ranks of the insured. You can read about the ongoing health-care reform efforts at the official state site or in the Wall Street Journal’s health blog. There is continuing debate about how the financial side of this will work out, and it’s clear that everyone is watching Massachusetts to see how this experiment goes. One fact stood out to me in the reports though: The Boston Globe says that visits by the uninsured to community health centers and hospitals dropped by 37% from July 2007 to September 2007 compared with the same time period the year before. Read More | | By: DrEddyClinic -project - Complementary and alternat | | |
| | A weekend of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts | | 2008-08-05 12:57:27 | | It was 4 PM, and we were standing beside our car on the lawn in front of Amy’s dorm at Heifetz. We were eating doughnuts.
My mom and I had traveled over nine hours from Ithaca to Wolfeboro– including an unintended hour-long detour to Saratoga (”Hey, it’s Lake Luzerne!”)– Amy had been waiting for us nearly [...] | | By: Circadian Rhythms | | |
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| cheap Motel for sale - sturbridge,Massachusetts | | 2008-07-12 02:42:00 | | Cheap Motel for sale - sturbridge,MassachusettsPrice:unknownRooms:17This property is located just minutes from Wells State Park, Worchester Centrum, near the Basketball Hall of Fame, Brimfield Antique Show and Old Sturbridge Village.There are 17 Rooms with four Bed Rooms , two shower , 1 Bath , living Room Kitchen and a small office.Contact:172 Main st ,Sturbridge,MA 01566Ph :- 508 347 9673Fax:- 508 347 2475Em:neekenpatel@neeken.com | | By: Cheap hotel motel and Hotel Motel for sale. | | |
| | Massachusetts Income Tax Repeal to Appear on November Ballot | | 2008-07-09 23:00:00 | | The Massachusetts Secretary of State announced today that an initiative to repeal the state income tax has qualified for the November ballot, as "Question 1." A previous income tax repeal initiative appeared on the 2002 ballot, and received 45% of the vote (885,000 votes) even though every major state newspaper and many elected officials opposed the effort.The effort has been launched by the Committee for Small Government, which gathered 123,000 signatures to put the initiative on the ballot. One of its organizers, Carla Howell, spoke to me a few minutes ago and believes that the 2008 effort will be much stronger than the 2002 effort, with vocal endorsements and activist support. She argued that repealing the income tax will improve economic growth in Massachusetts while cutting wasteful spending.The state income tax currently tops out at 5.3 percent, and brings in $12 billion in revenue (out of a $28 billion state budget, not including "off-budget" expenditures and | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | 2009 Infiniti FX50 & FX35 Massachusetts Arrival | | 2008-07-08 10:42:00 | | Massachusetts Infiniti dealer announces the arrival of the all new 2009 Infiniti FX35 and Infiniti FX50 just in time for the summer driving season. Infiniti of Norwood has the new 2009 FX cars in stock and ready for a test drive.The Infiniti FX50 and FX35 are the first 2009 models released to Infiniti car dealers in Massachusetts. As part of the initial launch of the 2009 FX model cars, Infiniti created special June price incentives for existing Infiniti car owners.The all-new second-generation Infiniti FX is designed to offer exceptional levels of power, refinement, safety and driving exhilaration.Consumers can visit http://www.infinitimassachusetts.com to see all the colors and option packages available on the 2009 FX models. Massachusetts Infiniti car shoppers are encouraged to call Infiniti of Norwood and setup a test drive for the 2009 FX50 or FX35.The 2009 FX cars were created as a fusion of sports car and SUV, with breathtaking styling, sports car-like proportions and an adv | | By: Autos Space | | |
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| | Massachusetts Raises Cigarette Tax $1.00 a Pack | | 2008-07-02 18:50:41 | | As you can read here Massachusetts’ Governor Deval Patrick has signed a bill that will increase the tax on cigarettes by $1.00 a pack to a total of $2.51 a pack. Once again a tax is being imposed on a group of politically incorrect people to help to pay for the government’s penchant for overspending.
The [...] | | By: Wake Up America | | |
| | 17 Massachusetts Students “Deliver” on Vow of Pregnancy | | 2008-06-19 17:27:52 | | I have written a few posts on the subject of schools giving out birth control, in some cases without the parent’s approval and in some cases to children as young as eleven years old. Inevitably the argument is always made that kids are going to have sex anyway so why not make it safe? [...] | | By: Wake Up America | | |
| | Will we decriminalize marijuana in Massachusetts? | | 2008-06-15 13:24:22 | | This November, Massachusetts voters will have a chance to vote on a proposal to decriminalize possession of an ounce or less of marijuana, turning it instead into a civil offense punishable by a fine.If our state mirrors the national average, then probably a third of Massachusetts residents have smoked marijuana. Nationally, 97 million Americans admit to have tried it. I myself have smoked with a number of people whose names would be well-known in the region. Of course, this was in the late 70's and early 80's, before the War on Drugs had reached the extreme proportions that it has now.The number of people who are being incarcerated for drug offenses in this country continues to rise. 43.9 percent of the nearly two million arrests for drug abuse violations in 2006 were for marijuana offenses. Of these, 738,916 people were arrested for possession alone.Besides the impact of incarceration on those incarcerated, the War on Drugs costs an astounding amount of money and is responsible | | By: Michaelann Land | | |
| | Massachusetts Food Stamp Program | | 2008-06-13 00:01:00 | | Food stamps began in the United States in the late 1930's to help people buy and eat nutritious food, be stronger, and make up a more productive society. In 1971, the Food Stamp Program became a nationwide entitlement program. That means that as long as you meet the rules for food stamps, you have a legal right to get them. Eligibility for food stamp benefits depends on the number of people in your household and how much income you have. To get food stamp benefits, households must meet certain t | | By: us food stamps | | |
| | Patient Safety Act passes the Massachusetts House | | 2008-05-24 10:22:28 | | Last February I wrote about why we need the Patient Safety Act, which would require a certain ratio of nurses to patients. Hey, we go into the hospital hopefully to get better, not to catch a hospital-related infection or get an overdose of a drug-- or the wrong drug entirely!Naturally, hospitals oppose such legislation-- just like the drug companies are opposing legislation prohibiting them from giving gifts to doctors and nursing homes are opposing legislation requiring a 50/50 split of state money with home care providers.Looks like institutional power may be giving way to common sense, at least as far as the Patient Safety Act goes. The legislation has been passed by the House and is now going to the Senate.You can find out your senator and his/her phone number here. There's a new bill number-- HB 4714. Let them know you want to be safe in the hospital. You can get more infromation at the Mass. Nurses Association website.Atom
| | By: Michaelann Land | | |
| | Massachusetts Town Considers Local Lottery | | 2008-05-20 23:00:00 | | We have pointed out the flaws of state-run lotteries many, many times: they impose taxes paid disproportionately by the poor; they're not transparent, or honestly labeled as taxes; the revenue is often not spent as promised; they impose an unfairly high implicit tax rate on one particular consumer good; and they unnecessarily increase the overall complexity of a state's tax system. There's also a question of whether running a gambling enterprise, as a monopoly business, is an appropriate activity for a state government. We have repeated these arguments again and again in various forms: op-eds, studies, blog posts, commentaries, amicus briefs, and legislative testimony. But now, after all that work, it looks like we might have to start all over again and repeat these same arguments, but with the word "local" instead or "state"—at least if one Worcester, MA, city council member has his way.From the Worcester Telegram & Gazette:As municipal off | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Massachusetts One Ups New Hampshire With Cigarette Tax Hike | | 2008-05-10 13:27:39 | | This has just been kind of interesting to watch. Massachusetts has approved another $1.00 a pack tax on cigarettes, a tax burden that unfairly affects the poor and disadvantaged at a disproportionate level by the way. A tax that preys on a person’s weakness seems like an extremely vile tax to me in the first place.
Anyway, [...] | | By: Wake Up America | | |
| | How Massachusetts are you? | | 2008-05-08 15:10:42 | | Take this little quiz over at GoToQuiz and find out how Massachusetts you are. Not too many questions yet, but the author plans to expand. If you have good ideas for additional questions, you can leave them in the Comments section.Sample questions:Do you know what a packie is? A beater car A young camper The local liquor store Sure, and I can tell you which ones sell nightcrawlers too! Who is "Whitey" and why is he so famous? A well-known Irish pub owner in Southie who has twelve kids A well-known firefighter from Worcester that grew up with Denis Leary Former Boston mafioso and on the FBI's 10-Most-Wanted since '95 Brother of former UMass President Billy BulgerAtom
| | By: Michaelann Land | | |
| | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Unlocking Knowledge | | 2008-05-08 12:14:16 | | Free lecture notes, exams, and videos from MIT. No registration required.
MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. OCW is open and available to the world and is a permanent MIT activity.
What is MIT OpenCourseWare?
MIT OpenCourseWare is a free publication of MIT course materials that reflects almost all the undergraduate [...] | | By: Free 4 All | | |
| | Possible Ethics Violation by Massachusetts Speaker of the House | | 2008-05-03 06:20:43 | | There seems to be a trend in Massachusetts. Sal Dimasi, the Massachusetts speaker of the house, charges are beginning to surface about possible ethics charges. This would be the third straight Massachusetts speaker of the house to face an ethics probe. Three times a charm. The last speaker of the house, Tom Finneran, pled [...] | | By: Wake Up America | | |
| | Cigarette Taxes and Smuggling in Massachusetts | | 2008-04-27 23:00:00 | | Tax Foundation Chief Economist Patrick Fleenor has written an op-ed in the Boston Globe on cigarette taxes and smuggling:Massachusetts is awash in bootleg cigarettes.High state cigarette taxes have turned packs of cigarettes into pots of gold for criminals, spawning a massive black market supplied by both smugglers and thieves who can quickly unload stolen cigarettes for cash.[...]Backers of the current hike argue that it will raise needed revenue while discouraging smoking. The first claim is myopic, since the tax imposes costs on society in terms of lawlessness. The widespread availability of cheap cigarettes via the black market also undermines the second.Read the entire op-ed here. Read more about cigarette taxes here and here. | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Stop school bus idling in Massachusetts; breathe better! | | 2008-04-16 12:51:06 | | I remember walking my granddaughter to Rebecca Johnson School in Springfield and smelling the clouds of diesel exhaust a block before we got there. Picking her up after school, the whole circular entrance would be filled with school busses idling as they waited for kids to come out of school and get on board. The air was pretty unbreathable for me as a (short) adult, and I can just imagine what it was like for kids a foot lower to the ground.Sen. Benjamin Downing, D-Pittsfield, introduced a bill to bring school bus idling to an end. The bill has passed the Senate and is now in the House of Representatives.We have a huge asthma epidemic in this country, with significant health costs. Children's lungs are still developing and they are more affected by poor air quality than adults. But an anti-idling law for vehicles at schools would not only improve the air we and our children have to breathe, it would save each school district money at a time when every penny counts.I talked to Firs | | By: Michaelann Land | | |
| | Massachusetts House Approves Massive Tax Increase | | 2008-04-11 19:47:38 | | Who didn’t see this coming when Deval Patrick became governor of Massachusetts? Liberals get upset when you call them tax and spend Democrats, yet they prove it time and time again. Governor Patrick ran on the promise of property tax relief. Shortly after taking the oath of office he informed Massachusetts voters that he couldn’t come [...] | | By: Wake Up America | | |
| | Live in Massachusetts? Thinking about changing doctors? Think twice | | 2008-04-06 09:26:11 | | I wrote a bit last week about why Massachusetts' universal health care program was a budget-buster for this state, currently facing with a $1.3 billion budget deficit. Don't get me wrong-- I'm all in favor of universal health care, but not on a state by state level and not the one we have in Massachusetts.Now the New York Times reports that the Massachusetts system is struggling with the increased patient load It's not so much that there are fewer doctors (although that's true with primary care) but that more people are now seeking long-delayed care and treatment-- an additional 340,000 just in the last year. The average wait for a new patient to see an internist has gone from 33 days in 2006 to 52 days in 2007. Specialties fare no better. For the first time in my life, I have private health care; my primary care doctor scheduled a visit with an endocrinologist for me-- and it's six months away!Other problems with Massachusetts' system are emerging, some outlined in the NYTimes ar | | By: Michaelann Land | | |
| | Has Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick Quit on His State? | | 2008-04-03 21:03:24 | | Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has learned the same lesson that his predecessor, Mitt Romney, had learned. That lesson is that the governorship of Massachusetts is nothing but a figurehead. The entrenched corrupt legislators are the ones who control the agenda and it doesn’t matter who the governor is. The speaker of the house, Sal DiMasi, [...] | | By: Wake Up America | | |
| | Massachusetts fails former welfare recipients | | 2008-04-03 07:55:11 | | Welfare benefits have never been high, but once upon a time, if you were really careful, you could raise your family with some dignity. Of course, in 1987, the year I mustered up my courage to get off welfare and take a job for the princely sum of $10,000 a year, the average apartment rent was $400, gasoline was under a dollar a gallon, and a dozen eggs only sixty-five cents. Welfare benefits then were 37% below the Federal poverty level, about what they are now. But things cost less in 1987.But change was written on the wall. Reagan had launched his "Welfare Queen" propaganda and by the time Clinton came along the idea of welfare reform was in full swing. Not that welfare didn't need to be reformed, but what Clinton version we njicknamed "welfare deform."In the thirteen years since welfare reform was instituted nationally, the number of welfare recipients in Massachusetts has fallen by more than half, to about 46,000. The Commonwealth has saved more than $680 million. But pover | | By: Michaelann Land | | |
| | Massachusetts vs. Florida: NIT Basketball Tournament Picks | | 2008-04-01 10:36:39 | | Massachusetts @ Florida o154.0 (-110)
Tue Apr 1 ‘08 7:00p - Click Here for Basketball Odds
The Massachusetts Minutemen are one of the highest scoring teams in the country, and the Florida Gators do not mind running the floor either, so we look for an entertaining high scoring game in this NIT semifinal.
The Minutemen are averaging [...] | | By: Touthouse Free Sports Picks | | |
| | Why Massachusetts' health care plan is doomed to fail | | 2008-03-29 16:49:17 | | Romney thought he'd use the creation of a mandated health insurance plan for all uninsured residents to launch his bid for president. His campaign failed and the failure of the state plan may be only a couple of years behind. Even the lowest co-pays are out of reach of many, but if you don't choose a plan, you lose your state income tax refund. The Nation has a good breakdown of why this failure is inevitable.Atom
| | By: Michaelann Land | | |
| | The state is investigating a November auction of foreclosed Massachusetts homes | | 2008-03-28 15:43:00 | | The Massachusetts Division of Standards, which licenses auctioneers, also sent a letter to four of the company's employees warning them against including such homes in a second Boston auction scheduled for tomorrow.The letter from Charles Carroll, the division's deputy director, warns that the employees could lose their state licenses if they auction properties prematurely.The California company plans to auction about 170 Massachusetts homes at the Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center. The company's November auction included about 300 properties.
| | By: Boston real estate news | | |
| | 52,000 FOR WOMEN IN MASSACHUSETTS | | 2008-03-27 12:22:00 | | Open to women who have lived in Massachusetts for at least five years. For graduate study in specific fields which change each year. Letter of endorsement from president of your local Women's Club is required. They also have a $600 scholarship program available for undergraduate women attending Mt. Ida College or Fisher College. Contact your local club or write to address below for complete information. Enclose selfaddressed stamped envelope.Contact General Federation Of Women's Clubs Of Massa | | By: FREE GOVERNMENT GRANT MONEY INFORMATION|WOMEN SCHO | | |
| | Behold the most expensive home sold on the Massachusetts mainland last year | | 2008-03-18 15:27:00 | | The 4.5 acre property includes a "tea house" about the size of the average American home, a private beach and a deep-water dock -- which is no small matter in a town where the wait for a mooring permit is about a decade. The main home includes about eight bedrooms, depending on how you count, two kitchens, a conservatory and an indoor waterfall, according to a write-up in the Gloucester Daily News.The buyers, Mark and Becky Levin, are part of the new Boston elite: He's the former chief executive of a Millennium Pharmaceuticals; she runs Levin and Co., an executive search firm that works with biotech companies.
| | By: Boston real estate news | | |
| | Wolf found in Western Massachusetts; assault continues elsewhere | | 2008-03-05 10:17:00 | | Genetic tests have confirmed that the first wolf in more than 160 years was found in Massachusetts in October, the Boston Globe reported March 4. The last confirmed sign of any wolf in New England was in 1992 east of Bangor, Maine. Are wolves on their way back in the Northeast?Wolves had been hunted to regional extinction in Massachusetts by the mid-1800's, at about the same time that coyotes began to increase. Coyotes are often considered to be urban and rural pests; studies in Yellowstone National Park have shown that after wolves were reintroduced there in 1995, the coyote population was reduced by 50%.The nearest wolf population to New England is in Southern Quebec, according to the Maine Wolf Coalition,which promotes wolf restoration in Maine. Although the U.S. Dept. of the Interior had been dragging its feet in implementing a 2003 wolf restoration law, a recent ruling by the U.S. District Court in Vermont has ordered the government to get on with the business of restoratio | | By: Michaelann Land | | |
| | | League of Women Voters of Massachusetts Essay Contest | | 2008-02-25 08:05:00 | | The League of Women Voters of Massachusetts Essay Contest is available to Massachusetts residents and students attending school in Massachusetts. You must be between the ages of 18 and 24. To be eligible for this award, you must submit an essay of less than 750 words on questions relating to the election process for the U.S. President.Awards : Varies (equal to $1000)Deadline : March 04, 2008Contest details at : http://www.lwvma.org/EssayContest/Main%20Contest%20Page.shtml | | By: American scholarship Information | | |
| | Gay, Addicted to Crystal Meth and Living in Boston, Massachusetts | | 2008-02-14 07:01:36 | | I tried to find an addiction recovery center in Boston, Massachusetts that understood the needs of the gay man and and could provide effective crystal meth addiction treatment. While Boston is a great city it didn’t have many addiction recovery centers, especially recovery centers that understood the needs of the gay man or woman. This caused me to look outside of Massachusetts for addiction treatment and there seemed to be more addiction recovery centers that understood gay issues and could provide treatment for crystal meth addiction in Florida.
The addiction recovery center I found in Florida was called Freedom Rings , in Jacksonville, Florida and in addition to being a gay friendly recovery program and able to treat crystal meth addiction, the weather was great and the facility was beautiful. While the Florida recovery center in Jacksonville was great and Florida was a wonderful place to go for a recovery program, I still wanted to return to Boston after addiction treatment. | | By: LGBT Drug Treatment | | |
| | | Cheap Massachusetts Car Insurance May Be Found With Deregulation | | 2008-01-28 22:28:54 | | The Massachusetts car insurance industry took a turn for the better for drivers in the state with the deregulation of rates. Now's the time for policyholders to take advantage of this change to get cheaper auto insurance.Massachusetts was one of the few states in the country where the insurance commissioner was responsible for establishing car insurance rates. Critics say that this system reduced competition and caused the state to have some of the highest auto insurance rates in the nation.As soon as the bill was passed, most of the companies doing business in the state amended their rate filings. For consumers, this could mean as much as a seven percent deduction in rates. The new regulatory system officially takes place April 1, 2008 and companies will start issuing news of rate reductions (to good drivers of course) soon.This is also the perfect time to take advantage of this new competitive environment. How? Make the insurance companies compete for your business by shopping around for quotes. Compare your current policy and premium with at least three other companies.This is easy to do online. You can have your policy in front of you and request quotes from different company Web sites. Make sure you provide the same information regarding your limits of liability, deductibles and other coverages in order to get an accurate comparison. Many people find it easier to visit a comparison Web site, where you can enter your information once and get several quotes back.It's a good idea to take a few notes about each company, such as how fast they returned your quote and what their financial rating is (you can find this online at A.M. Best or ask them directly). You can also check with the Massachusetts Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation department to see if any complaints have been filed.Of course, you can further reduce your insurance costs by increasing your deductibles and getting all of the discounts you are eligible for.Justin Scott is a free-lance insuranc | | By: Auto News: Car Reviews, Car News, Car Shows | | |
| | Massachusetts Bans Patriotic Signs on Highway Overpasses | | 2007-12-04 18:54:38 | | Cross posted on Grizzly Groundswell
Massachusetts residents who wish to keep the tributes to the troops that they have hung on bridge overpasses have until the end of the week to take them down, or they will be trashed.
Last year Massachusetts tried this same bullshit but caved under the pressure from military families. Instead they passed an [...] | | By: Wake Up America | | |
| | Audio: Interview With the Man Who Would Ban Spanking in Massachusetts | | 2007-11-28 17:47:25 | | Cross posted at Grizzly Groundswell
Today, Michael Graham, a Boston talk show host had an interview with Jay Kaufman, the man that introduced a bill that would ban spanking in Massachusetts. Here is the link to the audio. Hopefully that works.
The audio is just under 11 minutes long and is great radio, the last question asked [...] | | By: Wake Up America | | |
| | Massachusetts to Debate Spanking Ban | | 2007-11-27 16:55:45 | | Cross posted on Grizzly Groundswell
There is a new bill in Massachusetts that the legislature will start debating tomorrow, a bill that would make it a crime to spank your children.
Parents who spank their kids - even in their own homes - would be slapped by the long arm of the law under an Arlington nurse’s [...] | | By: Wake Up America | | |
| | Massachusetts May Become First State to Ban Spanking | | 2007-11-27 14:32:49 | | As you can imagine I do not believe in corporal punishment ESPECIALLY as it pertains to minor children and so I am behind this particular nurse who is trying to make it against the law.
There are many anti-violent methods to guide our children along the rocky road to adulthood. Want to see in further detail what I am referring to by this? Great! I thought you would never ask. :)
The NO Spanking Page
Discipline at Home (End Physical Punishment of Children - USA)
Why Do We Hurt Our Children? By James Kimmel, Ph.D.
READ ABOUT THIS HEREPractice non-violence in your lives. You will be leaving your children a beautiful legacy. | | By: Marilyn's Non-Violent Planet Newspage | | |
| | Massachusetts’ State Immigration Policy- Catch and Release | | 2007-11-25 06:41:32 | | One of the last thinks that Mitt Romney did before leaving office in Massachusetts was tell state troopers they could arrest illegal aliens for……being illegal aliens. I know, it sounds radical and irrational. Can you imagine the nerve of arresting people for being here illegally? To be honest with you, when Mitt instituted the policy [...] | | By: Wake Up America | | |
| | New Hampshire Union Leader Survey: Is New Hampshire Turning into Massachusetts? | | 2007-10-14 15:31:20 | | Cross-posted at Grizzly Groundswell
Last Sunday the New Hampshire Union Leader started an on-line survey that ran all week. Today the results were released, and to my surprise they are extremely exciting. The survey was called “The Massification of New Hampshire, is New Hampshire Becoming too much like Massachusetts?”
Nearly nine of 10 readers who participated in an online [...] | | By: Wake Up America | | |
| | The Western Massachusetts real estate market has a new driving force | | 2007-09-05 20:06:00 | | This weekend when house hunters set out to look at homes for sale or rent, they'll be armed with a customized route map. A quick visit to masslive.com/realestate provides all the tools and information a potential buyer or renter needs to locate available homes and plan a road trip to see them. Visit MassLive.com's new real estate section for your Western Michigan Real Estate needs. masslive.com/realestate can provide you with a customized map of homes for sale, as well as tools and information to help you find houses for rent and new homes in Western Massachusetts.
| | By: Boston real estate news | | |
| | Home prices in Massachusetts fell for the 15th straight month | | 2007-08-22 20:30:00 | | The median price for a single-family home has dropped 4.6 percent, to $323,000, since July 2006, Warren Group, a Boston real estate and publishing firm, said yesterday. July's sales volume increased 1.5 percent from a year ago, but analysts said it was a short-term rise brought on by a surge of parents buying homes prior to the new school year in September. The median price for a condominium rose less than 1 percent, to $280,000,"People who are ready, willing, and able to buy a house can't do it because they can't find a mortgage," said Timothy Warren Jr., Warren Group's chief executive. "That's got to be bad."
| | By: Boston real estate news | | |
| | Freeholders to OK contract for Massachusetts Ave. upgrades | | 2007-07-29 01:09:00 | | TOMS RIVER — Widening and other improvements to Massachusetts Avenue across the Toms River-Lakewood boundary should start late this summer, with the Ocean County Board of Freeholders set to award a $1.67 million contract next week.The more-than-a-mile stretch between Cross Street in Lakewood and Route 70 will include new turn lanes at entrances to two adult communities to ease congestion and improve safety in an area that's seeing ongoing population growth, county officials said Wednesday as the freeholders met to review their agenda for next week.The project also will include improvements over a one-fifth mile section of Honey Locust Drive, Assistant County Engineer Frank S. Scarantino said.Lucas Brothers Inc. of Morganville won the bid, which came in under the $2.5 million originally budgeted for the project, according to county officials. They expect the improvements will be complete by the end of the year.Meanwhile, municipal officials in Plumsted will contribute $785,000 they h | | By: Boston real estate news | | |
| | Massachusetts residential real estate has become a game of survival | | 2007-07-11 00:38:00 | | "Agents who have gotten into the business (recently) have never seen anything like this market now," Rosseland said, noting there's been a 30 to 40 percent decrease in the number of agents versus two years ago in some places. Particularly hard hit, according to Rosseland, are newer agents. Peter Certo, manager at Keller Williams Realty in Worcester, said the median wage for agents is being held back by agents who fail to adapt to the current residential market or who aren't being pushed to produce. Instead, some of those agents find themselves competing with, or ignored by, independent brokers who are selling just to keep the office doors open, Certo said.
| | By: Boston real estate news | | |
| | Massachusetts Foreclosure Homes | | 2007-07-09 01:29:00 | | Massachusetts Foreclosure Homes by Bob SmithAt the time when your parents bought their Massachusetts home, real estate was a reality for working-class American families. It seemed it was always possible to purchase a family home on a blue-collar salary, especially in a State as practical seeming as Massachusetts.Unfortunately, times have changed. Buying a Massachusetts three-bedroom home in the suburbs seems to be a privilege reserved only for the wealthy. If this unfortunate turn of events seems unfair to you, you are not alone. Many Americans are struggling to purchase even a tiny home or piece of property in Massachusetts in which to raise their families.With the recent real estate boom there has been an inevitable fall. Many people who purchased Massachusetts properties at inflated prices five and ten years ago are finding that they were in over their heads. Many of these Massachusetts properties are now being sold for a fraction of their original prices through foreclosure auctions. Foreclosure auctions occur when a property or homeowner fails to pay off their home loan. The lending institution then takes on the property and sells it to recover their losses. This means that, as the previous owners have paid off some portion of their loan, the property need only be sold for a portion of its value.One of the major differences between purchasing a foreclosure home and purchasing a home on the regular market is the seller. Normally, when you purchase a home, the seller, your real estate agent and their real estate agent are all vying for your money. Each person takes a cut and each is rallying for the property to be sold at the highest price possible. When you purchase a foreclosure home, the situation is completely different. The homeowner is not involved in the sale, and neither are any agents. The sale takes place between you and the bank. The lender's primary interest is not maximizing the price of the property, but getting rid of it quickly.Whereas a regular | | By: United States Realty | | |
| | Massachusetts housing market may be in the doldrums | | 2007-07-05 11:10:00 | | Still, both April and May saw strong sales and pricing, though much more modestly, according to numbers obtained by the Herald.In April, the average downtown condo sold for $639,856, up 20 percent over the year prior, according to preliminary figures. In May, it sold for $615,000, up 2 percent.In all, condo sales volume for April, May and June was up by about 2.3 percent, to 1,101 condos, compared to the same period last year.
| | By: Boston real estate news | | |
| | Award from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society - Christopher DeRosa | | 2007-06-25 07:00:00 | | Gloucester timesHe's not the world's fastest runner or its highest jumper, but longtime Rockport resident Christopher DeRosa has won a gold medal.
DeRosa, 56, the owner of New England Bamboo Co., knows how to grow some of the strongest bamboo in North America. It's just one of a laundry list of horticultural achievements that earned the father of three the award from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society last night... | | By: The Flower Expert - Flowers Encyclopedia | | |
| | "Inevitable Gambling Expansion in Massachusetts? | | 2007-06-15 07:00:00 | | Massachusetts is the most recent in a long line of states to consider increasing gambling revenue (casino taxes and implicit lottery taxes) to fill state coffers. From an Associated Press article titled "State Auditor says casino gambling in Mass. may be inevitable":The state's auditor is the latest high-ranking official to get behind the idea of expanded gambling in Massachusetts. Joe DeNucci tells the Boston Herald that he thinks the state should move ahead immediately with allowing slot machines at Massachusetts racetracks. He also predicts a full-scale casino will be up and running here in the next three to five years. The auditor says without slots the racetracks will not survive.Recently state officials have also been considering selling the lottery, a proposal that is not without problems, but would be a better option than casinos and slots at racetracks. State-run gambling enterprises such as lotteries and video lottery terminals at racetracks exemplify poor tax p | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Gay Marriage Ban Blocked by Massachusetts Voters | | 2007-06-14 22:35:00 | | Massachusetts state Governor, Deval Patrick is the kind of person more states in the U.S.A. should have sitting behind the Governor's desk!
On the opposite side of the seesaw, we have Presidential hopeful former Gov. of this same state, Mitt Romney, who has called the vote "a regrettable setback" and said it makes it more important now to pass a national amendment banning gay marriage.
I would love to know what Mitt Romney is so afraid of, that would cause him to even make such a bigoted statement like the one he has made.
Me, I believe the definition of marriage should be amended nationally so that it would allow both heterosexual AND homosexual adults to be able to legalize their precious love if they so chose to.
READ ABOUT THIS HEREPractice non-violence in your lives. You will be leaving your children a beautiful legacy. | | By: Marilyn's Non-Violent Planet Newspage | | |
| | Massachusetts Mandated Health Insurance Law | | 2007-06-02 21:21:30 | | An Act Providing Access to Affordable, Quality, Accountable Health Care, St. 2006, c.58. The New Health Insurance Law. Key provisions of the law include subsidized health insurance for residents earning less than 300% of the Federal Poverty Level , and low-cost insurance for all other residents who are not eligible for insurance through their employers. As of July 1, 2007 all residents will be required to maintain health insurance. More details are available in:
Health Care Access and Affordibility Conference Committee Report Summary
Conference Committee Report Section-by-Section Summary
Conference Committee's Joint Caucus for House Members April 3, 2006 Prensentation.
Affordable Health Insurance Quotes Side By Side
| | By: Insurance news | | |
| | | Every day in Massachusetts, 43 new incidents of alleged elder abuse are reported. | | 2007-05-17 14:50:00 | | Massachusetts, This year, almost 16,000 of these reports will surface. In our 16 community service areas, including this community, our agency received over 500 reports of elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation last year.Unfortunately, abuse of the elderly is on the rise — in part because we now have agencies that investigate these complaints, and a state law that mandates certain professionals to report such abuse.Nobody wants to read a headline about an elderly person who has been abused. But if we don't fund this program adequately, some cases this coming year will not even be investigated, due to lack of caseworkers. Sometimes a simple report of abuse is our first warning of life-or-death situations. We cannot afford to turn our back to these problems and hope they will go away.We at Minuteman Senior Services urge our state senators to make sure the protective services program is adequately funded, and to not leave elders vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.Joan Butler | | By: Elder Abuse | | |
| | Wedding at Massachusetts Horticultural Society show | | 2007-03-19 06:00:00 | | BostonAn easy friendship blossomed between McDaniel and Ela, as they worked the 1982 New England Spring Flower Show together, but they eventually married others and each had two children. Still, their paths crossed every year at the show and they saw each other socially.
A Valentine's Day date two years ago brought their romance into full bloom. Saturday, Ela and McDaniel will be the first couple to be married at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society show in its 136-year history, according to show officials... | | By: The Flower Expert - Flowers Encyclopedia | | |
| | Massachusetts cranberries | | 2007-02-20 07:00:00 | | whdhThere are mounting piles of cranberry skins left over from
Ocean Spray's juice processing facility in Middleborough.
The scientists realized the shredded skins -- called pomace -- have a lot in common with
peat moss. After composting the pink sawdust-like material into an earthy brown substance
that smells like dirt and has the consistency of pipe tobacco, the researchers began adding
it in place of peat moss to potting mixtures for petunias, poinsettias and mums... | | By: The Flower Expert - Flowers Encyclopedia | | |
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