Published March 29, 2011
Fidelity and Evergreen Solar may have moved jobs out of state, but that hasn’t spared the companies’ executives from a grilling at the State House.
Lawmakers incensed by the outflow of jobs despite tax breaks and other benefits have scheduled a hearing today and asked top executives to appear. Evergreen Solar announced in January that it was closing its Devens plant and laying off 800 workers. Fidelity plans to move over 1,000 workers — most of them out of state — when it closes its plant in Marlborough.
Huge loopholes in the fund that covers health care for poor, uninsured Massachusetts residents have led to millions of dollars in care for out-of-staters, according to the Herald. The overcharging includes payment to addresses out of state and even out of the country, and over $17 million for more than 60,000 “medically unlikely” or “medically unnecessary” claims, with Mass. taxpayers footing the bill.
A group of retired lay employees of the Archdiocese of Boston said the church is pressuring them to take a lower retirement payment than the one they’re owed. The church defended itself and maintains changes must be made in order to pay its retirement obligations.
If you’re still sending letters, you know how interminable the wait for delivery feels in this day of email and instant messaging. A letter sent from Hyde Park, N.Y., in 1945 finally arrived in Gloucester last week. Calling it “Snail Mail” would be an insult to escargot. As the Globe said, “A common garden snail could have made the 173-mile journey in 6 1/2 years. Instead it took 66.”
A giant 200-year-old elm tree is coming down tomorrow. Today is the last full day for admirers to bid the beloved Olmsted Elm, beside the historic home of urban designer Frederick Law Olmsted, adieu.
What we’re following: We’ll continue to report on the abuse of the state’s free health care system, layoffs at UMass Medical School and the Fidelity-Evergreen Solar hearing. Radio Boston will discuss teen texting and its sometimes disastrous consequences.