Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is sporting a new look these days. As Statehouse News Service reports, Baker joined hundreds of others last week in getting a serious buzz cut as part of a fundraiser for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Quincy. The gov was a little apprehensive at first, saying he...

Try as we might to avoid it, time always marches on. And so it has for Pam Schofield, who State House News Service reports retired a few weeks ago after 32 years on the job as reference librarian for the Massachusetts State Library in Boston. During that time, Schofield saw the full impact of budget...

We’ve all seen road signs warning us to slow down, pay attention or just knock off whatever stupid thing we might be doing behind the wheel. Or better said we’ve ignored them. But now Utah officials are taking a new approach. As Governing magazine reports, the Beehive State is turning to...

But now we have the gubernatorial seal of approval! Yes, as the State House News Service reports, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker took the ongoing Ice Bucket Challenge – a charity thing in which people raise money for ALS research by getting a bucket of ice cold water dumped on their head –...

Love them or hate them – and there is no real in-between – the New England Patriots are the rulers of the professional football world. And no amount of teeth gnashing over their incessant cheating and bending of rules – sorry, alleged cheating – can change that. So when Indiana...

If being sworn into office is fun, why not do it twice? That’s what new Massachusetts state Sen. Michael Brady did a few weeks ago. As Statehouse News reports, Brady believed he was to be sworn in at 1:00pm on the 10 th . Alas, Gov. Charlie Baker, who by law must be present for the ceremony, understood...

Speaking of Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker enjoyed his recent brief foray into presidential politics, when he went to New Hampshire to observe the primaries up close and personal. He was in fact so enthralled, reports State House News , he “may decide four years from now to spend a little more...

When it comes to curtailing jaywalking, Massachusetts Senate Majority Leader Harriette Chandler says it’s time to talk softly and start wielding a big stick. Prompted by recent pedestrian deaths, Chandler wants to raise the Bay State penalty for jaywalking from its currently paltry $1 to $25 for...

By all accounts, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is a nice guy and certainly among the most moderate members of his state’s GOP. But that didn’t stop him from recently feeling the wrath of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, which un-invited him from being honored at its...

Budgets often contain lots of pet projects or other things not likely to get through the legislature on their own. A prime sampling this year comes from Massachusetts, where, as the Boston Globe reports , tucked away into the recently signed $39 billion budget bill was an amendment that allows all 75...

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is one loyal dude. For the last 18 months, he has shown unwavering support for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who has been dueling with the NFL over a ball tampering scandal from the 2015 AFC championship game. At numerous events during that time Baker has...

Speaking of elections plagued by a bloviating blowhard – no, not that one – we hear that former major league pitcher Curt Schilling is planning to challenge U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in 2018. For non-sports fans, Schilling was one of the greatest pitchers of his era,...

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said he stuck to his plan to not cast a vote for president last week. As the Boston Herald reports, it was a first for Baker, which he noted left him “disappointed.” Here’s guessing it wasn’t half the disappointment felt by folks who cast a ballot...

Rare is the day some lawmaker somewhere doesn’t invoke their religion as cause for opposing or supporting a bill. But as my religious friends will tell you, if you have God then you also have to have Satan, and Old Ned is definitely looking to make his presence felt in statehouses this year. I...

For a lot of folks a Harvard degree might seem the epitome of achievement. That would seem especially true if said degree helps you go on to become governor. But not so for Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, who reiterated last month his feeling that attending Harvard was not necessarily his fondest memory...

It isn’t surprising that Massachusetts companies with large numbers of workers who get their health care coverage through the Bay State’s version of Medicaid might not want that info getting around. Be that as it may, they may be about to be outed. As the Boston Globe reports , the Senate...

Hey, you want to be become a member of the Brookline Massachusetts Board of Selectmen? Sorry, too late! That’s because, as the Boston Globe reports , the town has dropped the name in favor of calling its elected leaders the Select Board. Members will no longer be called selectmen, but rather just...

You make a lemon pie! At least that’s what you do if you want to make Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker a happy man. Yes, as MassLive reports , Baker visited a new outlet of the legendary Worcester pie shop Table Talk last week, where he revealed his preference for the shop’s lemon pie over...

In normal times, when the vice president comes to town the governor is sure to be there for a good old fashioned grip-and-grin for the news photographers. And if he is from your own party? Done deal, right? Wrong! Or so it was last week for Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, who was AWOL when Vice President...

In spite of some tragic failures, the slow movement toward autonomous cars is rolling forward. The latest proof comes from Massachusetts, where State House News Service reports that Gov. Charlie Baker (R) recently signed off on an agreement to allow testing some driverless vehicles around the Boston...

With the session winding down last month, Massachusetts lawmakers passed a bill extending authorization of the Bay State horse racing industry. But with the hour late and everyone exhausted, lawmakers neglected to send it to Gov. Charlie Baker, inadvertently allowing the authorization to lapse and forcing...

It’s traditional come World Series time for mayors of the cities of the teams involved to make a showy bet on the outcome. But don’t tell that to Boston Mayor Mary Walsh. As the Los Angeles Times reports , Walsh just said no to making a bet with LA mayor Eric Garcetti last month, citing a...

When Massachusetts state Sen. Joan Lovely needed a mascot for the diaper donation drive she and a few fellow lawmakers were putting on last week, she knew the perfect fit. As State House News Service reports, Lovely brought in Drake, one of her four pet ducks, to do the honors. Lovely settled on Drake...

Riders on the Boston subway might have done a double take last week at the site of the tall, distinguished guy who looked a lot like the governor. But why would he be on the T? Doesn’t he have a car and a driver to shuttle him about town? Yes, he does. But that didn’t stop Gov. Charlie Baker...

If you think political language has become coarser and less dignified over the last few years, you’re right. But what about out there in the real world? An argument could certainly be made that things have always been a little vulgar out on the mean streets, but maybe a little less so if a bill...