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STUDY BAY STATE HOSTING OF 2024 OLYMPICS

The House approved a bill creating a commission to study the feasibility of Massachusetts hosting the Summer Olympic Games in 2024. A similar proposal was recently approved by the Senate 38-1. Supporters say this is a great opportunity for the state to shine and should be explored. Opponents said this is a misguided effort that will result in a gigantic boondoggle costing taxpayers millions of dollars. The House version now goes to the Senate for consideration.

ACCUSED KILLERS

The Senate approved and sent to the House a bill that prohibits the next of kin charged with the murder of a spouse or other family member from claiming the body or from acting as executor of the estate. In a hearing earlier this year, Ginny Marcheterre testified that funeral services for her 19-year-old daughter, Heather, were delayed in 2010 for more than a month because Kyle Alleyne, her daughter's husband and alleged killer, refused to release the rights to her body. A court eventually ruled that the mother and family had legal rights to Heather's body. In February, Kyle Alleyne was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The bill was given initial approval by the House in 2011 but never advanced any further.

MORE "REQUIRED" COURSES

These proposals would require the teaching of a specific course in public schools including recycling education (S 230); the history of working people and the labor movement (S 260); the Ukrainian Famine Genocide of 1932-1933 (S 267); civics including the function of the branches of local, state, and federal government, responsibilities and duties as an American citizen, opportunities for voter participation, exposure to current events and identification of government officials (H 330); the Bible and international religions for the purpose of promoting morality and brotherhood (H 382); and genocide including at least two of the following: the genocide of Armenian Christians, the Holocaust and Nazi concentration camps, the slaughter of Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge, and the slaughter of Bosnian Muslims, Rwandan Tutsis and Darfurians (H 420).

MORE "SUGGESTED COURSES"

These proposals would require the state to prepare a curriculum on a specific subject and make it available to schools. These include financial literacy focused on understanding taxes, loans, interest, credit card debt, rights and responsibilities of renting or buying a home, saving, investing and planning for retirement and balancing a checkbook (S 234); media literacy including the knowledge and skills for accessing, analyzing, evaluating, creating and participating in the 21st century media culture (S 213); and civic engagement and the functions of local, state and federal government, the history of social movements, current events and community-based action and service-learning projects.

Groton Herald

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