Paul Tuthill

A son of Columbian immigrants and a first time candidate has won the Republican nomination to run in the Massachusetts special election for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by John Kerry.

Turnout is said to be light in Massachusetts as voters take the first step toward electing the Senate successor to Secretary of State John Kerry.

   There is typically low voter interest when it comes to special primary elections, says Tim Vercellotti, political science professor at Western New England University. Plus  this election campaign was disrupted by the Boston Marathon bombings.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno has chosen MGM Resorts International to develop an $800 million casino project in the city’s downtown. It puts MGM one step closer to competing for the lone casino license available in western Massachusett.

   Springfield would receive more than $25 million annually in taxes and other payments from MGM Resorts if it is successful in building the resort casino, under the terms of a comprehensive development agreement announced Tuesday by Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno.

Construction work is expected to start this summer  to turn an old mill building in Easthampton Massachusetts into affordable housing. 

   A $15 million dollar project will turn a  more than century old former textile factory into 50 units of housing for families that meet income guidelines.  The project is being financed by federal and state tax credits.   Easthampton Mayor Michael Tautznik said turning old industrial buildings into housing is part of a strategy to revitalize downtown.

There has been a big drop in the number of homeless families staying in motels at taxpayer expense in Massachusetts.  The state’s top housing official is confident a goal can be met to completely end the controversial practice.

The Great American Clean Up, the nation’s largest community improvement project, is taking place today  in several places, including Springfield Massachusetts. Hundreds of volunteers will pick up trash and small debris in parks, school yards and other public ways.  One of the organizers is Mike Cass, an employee in the city’s Office of Housing. His specialty is graffiti removal. Cass is so good at it that his official business card identifies him as “The Eraser.”   Cass spoke with WAMC’s Paul Tuthill.

A formal inauguration ceremony will be held Saturday for the chancellor of  UMass Amherst.

   Kumble Subbaswamy, took office back in July, but his formal inauguration as chancellor was delayed until this week to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the founding of the flagship campus. In an earlier interview, Subbaswamy talked about his plans for improving UMass Amherst

   More than 50 colleges, universities, honor societies and professional organizations from across the US and Canada will be represented at Saturday’s ceremony

People in several cities will take part this weekend in the nation’s largest community improvement project.

   The Keep America Beautiful organization promotes the Great American Clean-up on weekends in April to encourage people to pick up trash, and remove small debris from parks, school yards and other public ways.  Melvin Edwards of Keep Springfield Beautiful says more than one million tons of trash has been collected over the last six years.

   Volunteers can go to one of four locations to pick up free bags, gloves and bottled water.

The Massachusetts economy outpaced the  nations as a whole during the first  three months of this year.  

   The U.S. gross domestic product grew at a rate of 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013. By contrast, the state’s economy grew by 3.9 percent, according to MassBenchmarks, the UMass economic journal.  Robert Nakosteen, a UMass Amherst economics professor said the Massachusetts economy was bolstered by a strong technology sector, growth in construction, and a stunning  jump in personal income.

A new exhibit opens to the public Saturday at the natural history museum at Amherst College. It is one of only two skeletons of a particular dinosaur species on display in the world.