New England News

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission will host a public forum on problem gambling.  WAMC’s Tristan O’Neill reports…

Members of the commission, the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling, Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Debi LaPlante and other research and gaming experts will be on hand for the commission's fourth public forum aimed at educating the commission and the community about issues associated with the introduction of expanding gambling in Massachusetts.

Governor Deval Patrick and education officials are planning to honor Massachusetts' top teachers at a Statehouse ceremony.  WAMC’s Tristan O’Neill reports…

As part of today's event, awards will be presented to the 2012 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year, the 2012 Massachusetts History Teacher of the Year and winners and finalists of the 2011 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

The Adams-Cheshire Regional School District voted this week at a district committee meeting to continue evaluating an online education program called PLATO, as a means to curb the high school’s dropout rate. The PLATO program or Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations was first purchased by the district in 2011 and can be used for test preparation, expanded learning, and credit replacement.

The YMCA of greater Springfield Massachusetts is marking its 160th anniversary. It is the second oldest “Y” in the United States and the 4th oldest in the world.  WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill spoke with Kirk Smith, the president and C-E-O of the Springfield “Y” about programs planned for the summer and an upcoming anniversary gala.

A bank has sued Curt Schilling to recover $2.4 million in loans it made to the former Boston Red Sox pitcher's video game company. WAMC’s Lucas Willard reports…

The Boston Globe reports that RBS Citizens, better known as Citizens Bank, says Schilling personally guaranteed the debt to the bank but has "failed and refused" to pay it.

Schilling's 38 Studios filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection last week. It laid off its entire workforce in May soon after it was late in making a $1.1 million payment to the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp.

Massachusetts has spent over $300 million in the last four years to boost the life sciences industry with administration officials insisting the initiative has been a great success.  WAMC’s Paul Tuthill reports.

           Patrick administration officials say the life sciences initiative has so far lured dozens of new companies to the state, and led existing ones to expand.   Brian Jamele of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center says the public money that was spent leveraged almost $1 billion in private investment.

The unemployment rate in Massachusetts fell to six percent in May, down from 6.3 percent in April.  WAMC’s Paul Tuthill reports.