“It’s not really about whether contraception would be included in insurance coverage,” says Tim LeFever, talking about the approach to including birth control in the plans of religious employers that the Obama administration is selling as a compromise with the Catholic Church. LeFever runs the Capitol Resource Institute, a Focus-on-the-Family-type group, and is a California real estate lawyer. Access to contraception is settled law, he points out, some 50 years after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Griswold v. Connecticut. “It’s that with our country’s tradition of religious Continue reading >>>

BOSTON/Beacon Hill - Over a thousand young people from some of the state’s most distressed urban communities converged on downtown Boston Thursday to highlight youth unemployment and press for state funding of youth jobs programs. Organized by the Youth Jobs Coalition, a statewide alliance of some 60 youth and community groups, the day-long action began with a spirited rally at Tremont Temple Baptist Church, including hip hop and spoken word poetry, and ended at the Massachusetts Statehouse, where teen activists lobbied state representatives face to face. The day-long event pulled in Continue reading >>>

NEWBURYPORT — A year after it was threatened with closure, only to be saved at the last minute through the work of local legislators, the shellfish purification plant on Plum Island is again facing an uncertain future. Now, those same legislators who fought for its survival last year, in partnership with a group of clammers determined to keep the shellfish industry alive in Massachusetts, are once again hoping to ensure the last state-run purification plant in the country doesn't fade into history. Third-generation shellfisherman John "Jack" Grundstrom of Rowley said cutting funding for Continue reading >>>

Saturday night was one to celebrate at Boston College. No, there were no thrilling sports victories to cheer about. Rather, the evening was spent celebrating Philippine culture. Hundreds crowded into the Irish Room in Gasson Hall, where the Philippine Society of Boston College (PSBC) held its 20th annual culture show, dubbed 20 Years of Magic. The spectacle was filled with colors, dancing, and music, serving a generous portion of Asian flavor to the eager audience. Students, relatives, and members of the community packed the room to the point where some of the audience was forced to Continue reading >>>

Linsanity is gripping Greater Boston’s Chinese community less than a week before the sold-out Knicks-Celtics [team stats] showdown at the Garden, where Jeremy Lin will make his Boston debut as a newly minted NBA superstar. “Everybody’s talking about it,” said Lewis Lai, 35, of Quincy, from his cellphone shop in Chinatown. “I know a lot of people, especially girls, who were never into basketball, but they watch it now just for him.” “He’s handsome,” said Joyce Cheung, 24, of Quincy. “I don’t get much excited by Yao Ming. I don’t know why. But I like this guy, Lin,” Continue reading >>>

theMOVE will be hosting the 3rd annual Farm Share Fair on Thursday, March 1, at the Argenziano School, Union Square, 290 Washington St, in Somerville. The fair will bring together more than 20 local farms and meat producers to provide the public with information about their weekly farm share options. The fair allows consumers to meet the farmers who grow their food, and it greatly simplifies the process of finding farm share information, which is otherwise very difficult. Additionally, the fair helps new consumers to sign up for a farm share before they sell out, as many do by early spring. In Continue reading >>>

Inly Players will bring “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” the story of the legendary candy maker, to the stage for their sixth annual musical production. There will be six shows over two weekends: Saturday, Feb. 25, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Sunday, Feb. 26, 2 p.m.; Saturday, March 3, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, March 4, 2 p.m. The shows will take place at Meehan Family Artsbarn at Inly School, 46 Watch Hill Drive, off Route 123, Scituate. For online tickets and show information, see www.inlyschool.org. Two Norwell residents will play adult leading roles: Donna Milani Luther as Grandma Continue reading >>>

02/23/2012 // Watertown, MA, USA // CambridgePRGroup // Toyota of Watertown Although style and power are positive assets for any vehicle, those with the highest perceived quality usually have their dependability to thank. The Toyota Prius and Corolla are the most dependable compact cars on the market, according to the recently released J.D. Power and Associates 2012 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study. Available at Toyota dealerships, the Prius and Corolla took the first- and second-place spots, respectively, in the study’s Compact Car segment. Each year, the J.D. Continue reading >>>

THE HOUSE AND SENATE. There were no roll call votes in the House or Senate last week. Beacon Hill Roll Call has obtained the official list from the state treasurer's office of the "per diem" travel, meals and lodging reimbursements collected by state representatives in 2011. The list reveals that representatives collected a total of $362,981. Beacon Hill Roll Call reported a few weeks ago that state senators in 2011 collected $63,918 in per diems. The combined 2011 total collected by representatives and senators is $426,899. Under state law, per diems are paid by the state to representatives Continue reading >>>

To the list of annual signs that winter is ending in New England - crocuses, robins, and the Red Sox buzz from Fort Myers - add a new one: Hubway’s return. Officially, the bicycle-sharing docks are not supposed to begin reappearing until Thursday and won’t be stocked with bikes until March 15. But some stations on private property have already begun cropping up, in anticipation of Hubway’s first full season. In an abbreviated inaugural run, Boston’s European-style system of biking-as-public-transit recorded 142,155 station-to-station trips, from its debut Continue reading >>>