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Plan to Install Electronic Toll Collection

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is considering a plan to install electronic toll collection systems throughout the Massachusetts Turnpike. As WFCR's Bob Paquette reports, the high speed, drive through system would mean the end of human toll takers, and even toll booths on the highway.

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The Springfield City Council was scheduled to vote Monday night on a proposal that would create a new police hearing board with broader authority than Mayor Dominic Sarno proposed last week. But according to the Springfield Republican newspaper, at last night's meeting, the council decided to send the proposal to a committee for further review. WFCR's Kari Njiiri has more on support for - and opposition to - the new board.

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School officials in South Hadley, Massachusetts are reporting new information about bullying incidents that may be connected to last month's suicide of a high school freshman. WFCR's Jill Kaufman reports.

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The future of logging on hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands in Massachusetts will be discussed at public forums in the next few days. WFCR's Bob Paquette reports.

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Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's budget proposal to add juice and water containers to the state's bottle deposit law has some private recycling centers worried. WFCR's Bob Paquette explains.

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Two western Massachusetts lawmakers are pushing a bill that would limit so-called "robocalls" - the automated telephone messages political candidates and their supporters increasingly use as a cheap way to get their message to voters. WFCR's Fred Bever reports.

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Investigators at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant continue to drill new test wells to search for the source of a leak of radioactive tritium. As they test water closer and closer to the plant itself, they are finding higher levels of the substance. WFCR's Fred Bever reports.

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A Western Massachusetts lawmaker wants to change the state's health reform law to exempt some small business owners. WFCR's Bob Paquette reports:

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A new study on hunger finds that the last year has seen a significant increase in the number of Americans seeking emergency food assistance. WFCR's Kari Njiiri reports that the trend is real in Western Massachusetts.

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In South Hadley, Massachusetts, parents, educators and students remain stunned and frustrated three weeks after high school student Phoebe Prince died of an apparent suicide after a series of bullying incidents. WFCR's Fred Bever reports.

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A western Massachusetts lawmaker wants to change the state's health reform law to exempt some small business owners. WFCR's Bob Paquette reports.

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Holyoke Medical Center is hoping a new report by the Massachusetts Attorney General's office will bolster its own lawsuit against the state. WFCR's Karen Brown reports.

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No one under the age of eighteen would be allowed to handle a fully automatic firearm, even with a parent's permission, under proposed legislation that would overhaul Massachusetts' gun laws. WFCR's Fred Bever reports.

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In the wake of an alleged police beating caught on videotape, Springfield Mayor Dominic Sarno has detailed his plans for a new civilian board to review cases of alleged police misconduct. WFCR's Kari Njiiri reports.

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Massachusetts officials are making a bid to become the national leader in reducting energy use. WFCR's Fred Bever reports.

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U.S. Deputy Commerce Secretary Dennis Hightower was in Springfield to discuss local efforts to get what he calls the most complete count of area residents yet for this year's upcoming federal census. WFCR's Kari Njiiri reports.

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Officials at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear plant are reporting more evidence of a radiation leak at the southern Vermont facility, which is located less than 10 miles from the Massachusetts border. And, as WFCR's Fred Bever reports, Western Massachusetts lawmakers are adding their voices to calls to shut the plan down after 2012.

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THE City of Holyoke, Massachusetts has honored its first elected official from the Dominican Republic. WFCR's Karen Brown reports.

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After her loss in the contentious race to replace the late Edward Kennedy in the US Senate, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is back at work as the state's top prosecutor. Her office has issued a flurry of press releases since the election - about an arrest for income tax evasion, a settlement over alleged event ticket-price fixing, and, as WFCR's Fred Bever reports, a new set of anti-fraud regulations.

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Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's proposed budget maintains many of the state's health reform programs - with a few notable exceptions. WFCR's Karen Brown reports.

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