What made The Short List this week?
- On the heels of MGM’s Springfield casino plan scraping a towering skyscraper and instead building a six story hotel, MGM now says it’s reducing the casinos footprint by about 14 percent. This drew the ire of Mayor Sarno and concern from the City Council.
- Massachusetts prohibits texting while driving, while Connecticut only allows hands-free devices. A new study from AAA finds even hands free-devices can dangerously distract drivers.
- Western Massachusetts — as a whole — is shrinking and getting older. The young people who do stick around or return do so for traditional reasons like raising families and caring for ailing parents. Part of the problem is a dearth of good jobs.
Click the audio player above to hear New England Public Radio’s Susan Kaplan explore these issues with The Reminder’s Mike Dobbs and Western Mass Politics and Insight’s Matt Szerfranski.