Massachusetts

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Mass. Senate Race Becomes Referendum on Health Bill

Candidates to succeed Kennedy cast selves as deciding vote

(Newser) - The race to succeed the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has turned into a proxy battle over the fate of President Obama's health care overhaul. The contest between Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican Scott Brown has coarsened with a week to go, as the two have cast themselves as custodians...

Obamacare's Real Architect? GOP's Romney

Too bad it's political suicide for him to say so now

(Newser) - Though no Republicans voted for the health-reform bill that just passed the Senate, one GOP star could claim a large chunk of credit for it. The plan has many of the same features as the successful plan Mitt Romney brought to Massachusetts as governor, Timothy Egan writes—but, though Romney...

GOP Won't Win Kennedy Seat—But It'll Be Close

Loss of 'Bush shield' will rattle Dems

(Newser) - The Republicans won't be able to pull off a stunning upset in the Massachusetts special election for Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, but it'll be close enough to scare Democrats, predicts Steve Kornacki. State attorney General Martha Coakley should be able to muster enough resources to narrowly fend off challenger Scott...

Dems Should Worry About Kennedy Seat
 Dems Should Worry 
 About Kennedy Seat 
nate silver

Dems Should Worry About Kennedy Seat

Democrat Coakley will probably win, but it's not a given

(Newser) - A new Rasmussen poll says the special election to fill Ted Kennedy's Senate seat is surprisingly close: It has Democrat Martha Coakley leading Republican Scott Brown 50-41 ahead of the Jan. 19 vote. Nate Silver thinks the poll is flawed and figures Coakley's lead is probably closer to 15 points....

High School Hockey Player Sinks to Ice, Dies

Team captain collapses during huddle

(Newser) - A 17-year-old Massachusetts hockey player suddenly collapsed on the ice during a practice huddle and died. Pentucket Regional High School team captain Matthew McCarthy had just finished non-contact skating drills and was listening to his coach when he crumpled to the ice. He was rushed to a local hospital where...

South the Big Winner in New Census
South the Big Winner in
New Census

South the Big Winner in New Census

Northeast, Midwest would lose seats if today's census was used

(Newser) - The South is gaining population and power at the expense of the Northeast and Midwest, according to Census Bureau estimates released yesterday. If House seats were distributed based on the estimates, which are believed to be a strong predictor of the 2010 census results, Texas would be the big winner,...

Florida, Nevada Shed People; Texas Gains
 Florida, Nevada Shed 
 People; Texas Gains 
census figures

Florida, Nevada Shed People; Texas Gains

Magnet states in West, South lose residents; Texas gains the most

(Newser) - The recession has turned migration patterns on their heads in the last year. So-called magnet states in the West and South aren't so magnetic anymore, with Florida and Nevada starkly illustrating the trend. Earlier this decade, they both topped the growth charts, but now see more people on the way...

Few Voters Go to Polls in Primary for Kennedy's Seat

Martha Coakley favored in less-than-energetic race

(Newser) - A handful of voters have been trickling into polls around Massachusetts today for the special election that will almost certainly determine Ted Kennedy’s successor. As few as 300,000 to 500,000 may vote in the Democratic primary, the winner of which is expected to trounce Republican Scott Brown....

Coakley Leads Fight to Fill Kennedy's Shoes
 Coakley Leads Fight 
 to Fill Kennedy's Shoes 
THE SENATOR FROM MASS.?

Coakley Leads Fight to Fill Kennedy's Shoes

Four vie for Democratic nomination, with AG out front

(Newser) - Massachusetts voters probably won’t let whoever takes Ted Kennedy’s seat be too far removed from the late senator’s ideals, but being too close appears to be a hindrance. With less than a week to go until the Democratic primary that will likely decide the January special election,...

Fed-Up Principal Bans Word 'Meep'

He thwarts a planned meep-a-thon

(Newser) - A Massachusetts principal has banned an unlikely word from school grounds: meep. The nonsensical word—it's from the character Beaker on The Muppet Show—has for inexplicable reasons gone viral. Meep was such an epidemic at Danvers High—where students were using Facebook to plan a mass meeping—that principal...

Healthcare Bill Boosts Pay for Prayer

Insurance firms urged to cover praying healers

(Newser) - A little-noticed provision in a Senate version of the pending health care bill would require insurance companies to consider paying for prayer as a medical expense. The addition was inserted by Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch and backed by Democrats John Kerry and Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, the home state...

Mass. Terror Suspect an 'Incompetent Wannabe'

Mehanna and accomplice were turned away from training in Yemen, Pakistan

(Newser) - The Massachusetts man arrested yesterday for plotting to shoot up a mall, kill US troops fighting overseas, and assassinate US officials didn’t really have a chance. Tarek Mehanna traveled to Yemen in search of terrorism training but couldn't find a camp. His alleged accomplice was turned away from Pakistani...

Obama Haters Carve Swastika on 18th Hole

Link to President Obama on country club green stumps police

(Newser) - The Obama-equals-Hitler folks have left us a puzzle. Vandals carved "I swastika Obama"—with the swastika facing the wrong way—on, of all places, the 18th hole of a country club golf course 40 miles north of Boston. It's unclear who did it or even when, but a...

Autopsy Shows 100-Year-Old Was Murdered

Nursing home resident Elizabeth Barrow found strangled

(Newser) - A Massachusetts medical examiner has ruled the death of a 100-year-old nursing home patient a homicide by strangulation. Elizabeth Barrow was found dead in her room Sept. 24, with a plastic bag over her head and no obvious signs of struggle, a law enforcement source tells the Standard-Times of New...

Gay Divorce OK, Texas Judge Rules
Gay Divorce
OK, Texas
Judge Rules

Gay Divorce OK, Texas Judge Rules

Ban on same-sex marriage violates equal-protection law

(Newser) - Though same-sex marriage isn’t legal in Texas, two men married in Massachusetts can get a divorce there, a judge said today in a ruling that finds the state’s ban in violation of federal equal-protection laws. “This is huge news. We’re ecstatic,” the lawyer representing one...

Health Foes Fight Mandatory Insurance at State Level

Efforts, mainly GOP-led, appear more symbolic, but could result in court battles

(Newser) - Efforts are afoot in more than a dozen states to outlaw mandatory health insurance, a preemptive strike against federal health reform that, though mainly symbolic and constitutionally dubious, could provoke a court battle that would be costly and delay any plan passed by Congress. “I just don’t want...

Independents Threaten Dems in 2010
Independents Threaten Dems in 2010

Independents Threaten Dems in 2010

Gubernatorial races will be 3-way tangos in half-dozen states

(Newser) - Independent candidates figure to play a major role in at least six states next year, threatening Democrats in an election where they already must defend 21 of their 28 governorships. In New Jersey, for example, independent Chris Daggett is trailing well behind Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine and Republican Tom Kean,...

Dukakis Is Gracious on Senate Snub
Dukakis Is Gracious on Senate Snub

Dukakis Is Gracious on Senate Snub

But allies say he was passed over due to Kennedy pressure

(Newser) - For a while it looked as if Michael Dukakis would be headed to the Senate to fill Ted Kennedy's seat, but the former Massachusetts governor says he's fine with being passed over. "Hey, after you've run for the presidency of the United States..." the 1988 candidate told the...

Hey, Kennedys! 'Enough With the Entitlement'

Dukakis would have been a better choice for Mass. and Patrick

(Newser) - Ted Kennedy’s seat “is not a Kennedy seat anymore.” His wife could have run. Or his nephew Joe. They chose not to. So why did Massachusetts' governor bow to the wishes of a now-defunct dynasty when choosing a replacement for the late senator? “Enough, finally, with...

Ex-DNC Chair Kirk to Replace Kennedy

Family friend, former staffer was emcee at Teddy's memorial

(Newser) - Deval Patrick has chosen former Democratic Party national chairman Paul Kirk to replace Ted Kennedy in the Senate, giving Barack Obama the 60th vote he needs to pass health care reform. The 71-year-old Kirk is a former Kennedy staffer, and was such close friends with the senator that he served...

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