Massachusetts House Democrats unveiled an economic development package yesterday they say will spur momentum in the state’s strengthening recovery without breaking the bank. Put forward by House Speaker Robert DeLeo, the multipart proposal largely extends or provides funding for a number of existing programs that foster workforce training and assist research at state universities. The bill would set up a program that matches stipends for interns at technology startups. “This is an excellent bill that does a lot with a little — the speaker was very cognizant of that,” said Dan O’Connell, Continue reading >>>

Positioning job creation at the top of his “to-do-list” with just over two months remaining on the legislative calendar, House Speaker Robert DeLeo and top House Democrats outlined a bill Monday afternoon that DeLeo said would allow the state to “directly compete with and outshine many of our closest rivals.” The bill includes a new $50 million innovation investment fund to support research and development at universities and research centers where House leaders say the state’s economic strengths lie. Projects would need to secure at least $3 for every $1 of state funding provided Continue reading >>>

Officials are expected to gather in Fall River on Wednesday for a momentous occasion: The groundbreaking for a new $28 million University of Massachusetts Dartmouth bio-manufacturing center. The facility, called the Massachusetts Accelerator for Bio-manufacturing, is believed to be the first facility of its kind in the United States. The center allows startup companies to conduct research, test and scale-up their products or partner with other startups. The unique nature of the facility is expected to be a big draw to the SouthCoast Life Science and Technology Park at Fall River. The facility Continue reading >>>

By Matt Byrne, Town Correspondent Beginning next month, the City of Somerville's governmental cable TV station will switch its broadcast to channel 22 for Comcast subscribers, the city said last week. Programming will change over June 5. The Federal Communications Commission, which oversees broadcast technology and policy, ordered the shift to accommodate an unrelated but legally required channel reshuffle. The change will effect other access channels in the greater Boston TV market, said Tom Champion, city spokesman. Customers of RCN will see no change to their channel lineup, Champion said. Continue reading >>>

5/14/2012 8:58 AM ET (RTTNews) - Golf Town, Canada-based specialty golf retailer, will acquire GolfSmith International Holdings Inc. (GOLF: News ) for $6.10 per share in cash, the two companies said Monday. The companies noted that the transaction will create the world's largest specialty golf retailer. The offer price represents a 29.5 percent premium to Golfsmith's closing stock price on Friday of $4.71. The boards of directors of both Golf Town and Golfsmith have approved the transaction. Golf Town, owned by Omers Private Equity, operates 54 stores across Canada and 7 stores in the greater Continue reading >>>

Here's what I found leafing through the real estate records of Banker Tradesman. If you are looking for small town living under $200,000, your best bet is to start driving around some of the little-known hamlets scattered across Central and Southeastern Massachusetts. OK, if you work in Boston or even in an outlying suburb, you may be in for a long haul each morning. But there are a bunch of towns under this threshold, which is not necessarily all that cheap given you need to be pulling down roughly $70,000 a year to buy a $200,000 home. By contrast, if you want to get closer into Boston under Continue reading >>>

An Irish adage says: “When you come to a wall that is too high to climb, throw your hat over the wall, and then go get your hat.” That’s what Massachusetts started with its 2006 law requiring just about everyone to get coverage and arranging to make that coverage affordable. Now, it’s time to get the hat. Legislation to contain costs is the necessary sequel. Reducing costs won’t just rescue health care; it will also help rescue our schools, our roads, our museums, our wages, and the competitiveness of our corporations; that’s because every additional Continue reading >>>

Newton: The 23d annual Project Manna Concert, a fund-raiser for the soup kitchen and food pantry at Massachusetts Avenue Baptist Church in Cambridge, will feature the church’s choir along with the Boston Pops Gospel Choir, Love Tones from the Myrtle Baptist Church, New England Conservatory Gospel Choir (below), and choirs from Temple Emanuel, Gann Academy, and Temple Aliyah in Needham at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Temple Emanuel, 385 Ward St. $20, $15 students and seniors. 617-558-8100, www.templeemanuel.com. Continue reading >>>

In 1890, Ameen Esperh Hamawi was born a Christian Arab, in Damascus, when it was part of the Ottoman Empire, then enclosing most of the Mediterranean, Adriatic, Red and Black Seas within its boundaries. At that time Tripoli, Damascus and Beirut were all subject to Turkish Islamic rule, which was harsh for “non-believers” and in 1906, Ameen joined a steady flow of Christian immigrants to the west. He arrived with his two cousins and his oldest brother in Boston via the White Star steamship line. They lived together, in the city with his cousins’ mother, who had immigrated about two years Continue reading >>>