skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

A Recurring Story: Towns Shutting the Book on Libraries

play audio
Play

Tuesday, June 12, 2007   



Saugus, MA - It's no fairy tale ending for some libraries in Massachusetts. In some towns, it's come down to either a tax increase or no library.

Saugus is one town facing this dilemma. After four years of funding cuts, the fate of the library came to an up or down vote -- they chose no library. Library director Mary Rose Quinn shut the doors two weeks ago, and the town also lost its borrowing privileges from other area libraries. She says most nearby libraries in their former network are struggling with their own problems, and are not obligated to serve Saugus residents.

“It would be as if I was paying a water bill and decided I didn't want to pay my water bill anymore. If I went to my neighbor and said, ‘I don't want to pay my water bill this year, would you mind if I used your water, and you paid, because I don't want to?.”

Quinn says students who stopped by every day to finish homework now have to find somewhere else to go, and they won't have free books available for their summer reading programs. She still hopes they can find the resources to keep the library open for limited hours in the future.

In Randolph, faced with a similar situation, the library story ended differently. The town gathered about 4,000 signatures, and at a town meeting voted to keep the library open. But Director Charles Michaud says it's still not the funding he'd like.

“We'll be decertified for the coming year because we weren't open the required number of hours last year, yet from what I've seen we're the only success story in Eastern Massachusetts this spring.”

The library community is asking for the 2008 state budget to include increases in library funding.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …


Organizations fighting wage theft said it harms affected workers and surrounding communities because the money withheld is not being circulated through the local economy. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021