Free Republic

Ten years since Massachusetts passed an education reform bill known as the Massachusetts Education Reform Act (MERA), Phoenix Academies has tried to bridge the gap for those who drop out of school or those who underperform. According to 2006 statistics, almost 11,000 students dropped out of high school, and by 2015, that number was 5,000 dropouts. Graduation rates in 2015 did not go beyond 72% and in one immigrant-heavy part of Massachusetts known as Chelsea, the graduation rate was 63% in 2015. According to the Pioneer Institute, "between 2008 and 2011…In all but one of those years, 100 percent of...

A new state law that prohibits discrimination against transgender people in public restrooms is “punishing” the protected religious speech of churches and pastors, a conservative Christian organization claims in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday. Alliance Defending Freedom, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, said it sued on behalf of four Massachusetts churches to protect their right to operate their facilities “in a manner that doesn’t violate their core religious beliefs.” The lawsuit names Democratic state Attorney General Maura Healey and members of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination as defendants. The law, which was signed by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker in July and...

As of 2008 we are now at 1000 posts for Mainestategop, the blog of those of us who are refugees of New England Socialism and the voice of the New Hampshire based New England Alliance for Liberty and Free Markets. We've come a long way I think and I am just ecstatic. Eight years of fighting liberalism and saving America from liberal failure. I love it. Thank you to all for your continued support.  Now, with that said I want to discuss political issues concerning elections in New England. There's not much to be said, we are voting straight GOP...

A heartbroken son remembered his murdered 95-year-old father as an adventurer beloved by all who knew him as the two suspects held in connection with his slaying in Orange are set to appear before a judge in Virginia. “He had a great personality, forever an optimist,” Thomas Harty, 64, told the Herald about his late father, also named Thomas. “He lived by the theory of Henry Ford. He said, ‘If you believe you can do something, or you believe you can’t, you’ll be right.’ “He always thought he could,” Harty said.

In 2016, holding to biological truths in America might get you in legal hot water – religious liberty, freedom of speech, and common sense notwithstanding.On Saturday, a Massachusetts law that could throw pastors in jail for using biologically correct pronouns took effect.But you wouldn’t know that from The Associated Press’ article on the matter. Quoting in part: Advocates for transgender people in Massachusetts say they can no longer be legally discriminated against in public places.A new law taking effect on Saturday bars discrimination on the basis of gender identity in public accommodations. Among other things, the statute allows transgender people...

Braintree Police Chief Russell Jenkins will retire Oct. 7 as head of the troubled department, which has been rocked by revelations that guns, drugs, and cash vanished from the evidence room, according to an announcement from the town. “It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as Chief of the Braintree Police Department these last four years,” said Jenkins, in a letter to the mayor. The department has come under fire after an audit revealed that more than $400,000 in cash, between 60 and 70 guns, and thousands of drug samples, had gone missing from the evidence room....

NEW BEDFORD — An illegal immigrant twice kicked out of the country — and sporting a “Kiss My Ass” tattoo on his neck — vowed to see his teenage daughter “in hell” as he shot her in the face and pumped her back full of bullets for snubbing him on Father’s Day, authorities said. “It is disturbing that he’d been deported and came back into the country illegally, but he’s here,” Bristol District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said yesterday after Walter Gomes Da­Silva, a 45-year-old Brazilian, grinned widely as he pleaded not guilty to murder and firearm charges. “This...

Freshmen at a college orientation event have been told not to address other students with the phrase 'you guys' because it could be interpreted as excluding women. Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, has hired a chief diversity officer, Sheree Marlowe, who has directed students on how to avoid subtle insults known as 'microaggressions'. The trained lawyer who is 'committed to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education' recently told freshmen at Clark they should avoid asking a black student if he plays basketball. Freshmen at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, have been given advice on how to avoid 'microaggressions'

Teenage boys rushed into an Apple store in Hingham on Monday evening and stole more than 20 phones, police said. Ten to 12 boys went into the store in the Derby Street Shoppes about 5:40 p.m. and stole 22 phones before fleeing, Hingham police said in a Twitter posting. Police said the teenagers were all wearing sweatshirts with their hoods on. Hingham Police Sergeant Steven Dearth said a witness saw some of the boys leaving in what looked like a white Ford Taurus with the license plates covered up. The witness lost sight of another group of boys once they...

The 2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season is heating up. Two tropical systems are taking aim at the United States. Tropical Depression Eight (Hermine) is expected to brush the Outer Banks of NC. Tropical Depression Nine (Ian) is in the Gulf of Mexico, anticipated to affect the Florida coast. Public Advisories: Ian(TD 9) Hermine (TD 8)Discussions: Ian (TD9) Hermine (TD 8)

GUN OWNERS’ ACTION LEAGUE (GOAL) FILES FOIA REQUEST FOR DOCUMENTS RELATED TO ATTORNEY GENERAL HEALEY’S NEW INTERPRETATION OF MASSACHUSETTS GUN LAWS Northborough, Massachusetts – September 2, 2016 – GOAL seeks all public records pertaining to Healey’s politically motivated attack on law abiding gun owners. This morning the Gun Owners’ Action League (GOAL) of Massachusetts announced that they have filed a FOIA request for all public records pertaining to Attorney General Maura Healey’s controversial new interpretation of Massachusetts gun laws she announced announced on July 20, 2016. “Since 1994 everyone understood the laws and abided by them. The federal government (BATFE),...

A Massachusetts mom is firing back on social media after a stranger insulted her son for wearing a tutu at the park. 3-year-old Roo loves his purple tutu. His mom, Jen Anderson Shattuck, says he wears it everywhere - which she says, has been fine until a run-in at the park with a grown man who took issue with Roo and his tutu. In fact, the stranger compared the fact that he was allowed to wear it to child abuse. Shattuck posted about the encounter on her Facebook page. She says while extremely invasive and upsetting, she and her wife...

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is investigating possible safety problems with guns manufactured by at least two companies. The Boston Globe reports that Remington Arms Co. and Glock Inc. have filed lawsuits to fight Healey’s efforts. […] Healey says Glock firearms are “prone to accidental discharge” and says in court papers she is concerned the company may have been warned about the problem and failed to act. …

A Massachusetts McDonald’s worker with Down syndrome is finally retiring after more than three decades at the restaurant, according to WBZ-TV. After 32 years working at the fry station, Freia David’s face is a familiar one for many of the customers. “She is one of the most beautiful and upbeat people you could ever hope to know and I know,” wrote loyal patron Christopher Sheehan on Facebook — Sheehan grew up with David and the two are still close. His post inspired a stream of memories in the comment section from other Needham residents who met David over the years....

On this day in 1902, pioneering cookbook author Fannie Farmer, who changed the way Americans prepare food by advocating the use of standardized measurements in recipes, opens Miss Farmer’s School of Cookery in Boston. In addition to teaching women about cooking, Farmer later educated medical professionals about the importance of proper nutrition for the sick.

Hillary Clinton dropped by the resort island of Martha’s Vineyard over the weekend to pick up more than $1 million in campaign contributions during an elegant party at the summer home of one of her most devoted supporters. Thirty people contributed $50,000 apiece to attend the Saturday night function at the home of Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a wealthy investment manager so committed to Clinton that she couldn’t bring herself to vote for then-Sen. Barack Obama after he defeated her candidate in 2008. President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were on the island at the time of the Saturday...

Attended a county seniors' picnic today as a staff member helping serve over 1,200 lunches. Toward the end of the lunch the MC asked the audience whether they would vote for Clinton or Trump. Clinton voters were in the clear majority. Disappointing from people who should know better.

Citing concerns about the impact on drivers in Western Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday vetoed a pilot program to test a mileage-based tax on drivers. "I worry a lot about the consequences of this for everybody from Worcester west," Baker said. "It feels to me like it falls into a category of something people really ought to know a lot more about before they head down this road." The Massachusetts Legislature sent Baker a road and bridge funding bill with a provision directing the administration to apply for federal funding to test a new tax on drivers based on...