- Springfield’s Mayor, Dominic Sarno and the city council continue to wrangle about residency requirements for city workers. The council wants control, but the mayor says he should have the final say. This has resulted in votes, vetoes and overrides.
- The highest court in Massachusetts will now consider whether judges can hand down sentences that are shorter than legislatively mandated minimums. This stems from a case where a judge gave a two and a half instead of the minimum three and a half year sentence. The state is fighting the ruling.
- Massachusetts biologists continue to try to calm fears about a plan that state wildlife officials say will protect endangered rattlesnakes. The hope is to put the snakes on an island at Quabbin Reservoir that’s off limits to visitors. Now state lawmakers are getting in the act.
New England Public Radio’s Susan Kaplan explores these issues with Matt Szafranski of the Western Mass Politics and Insight Blog and Mike Dobbs from the The Reminder Newspapers.