Senate backs effort to restore ‘net neutrality’ rules

From left, Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y., and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., leave a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 16, 2018, after the Senate passed a resolution to reverse the FCC decision to end net neutrality.

US senators oppose closing federal labor relations offices

U.S. Sen. Edward Markey is leading a bipartisan group of senators calling on the Federal Labor Relations Authority to end efforts to close its Boston regional office until Congress can weigh in. The group said that by closing it seven regional offices, the authority would place staff farther away from those who rely on them to safeguard the rights of federal employees.

Trump’s divisive pick to run NASA wins narrow confirmation Source: AP

NASA's latest nail-biting drama was far from orbit as the Senate narrowly confirmed President Donald Trump's choice of a tea party congressman to run the space agency in an unprecedented party-line vote. In a 50-49 vote Thursday, Oklahoma Rep. James Bridenstine, a Navy Reserve pilot, was confirmed as NASA's 13th administrator, an agency that usually is kept away from partisanship.

Worcester forum focuses on preparing for, reacting to, immigration policy

Giovana Ortiz fought back sobs as she told the audience of the uncertainty she experienced as an undocumented immigrant who was brought to the United States when she was 2. She discussed being raised as an American but trying to take the PSATs and SATs without a Social Security number. She detailed how she spiraled into a deep depression as college seemed increasingly out of the question.

Markey: Tax plan an assault on Bay Staters

U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey is slamming the Republican tax plan as a measure that would disproportionately hurt Bay State residents and is sounding off on calls to go after entitlement programs next year. "This Republican tax plan is a direct assault on Massachusetts families and their way of life," Markey said.

Nuke launch order can be refused, nervous US senators told

A retired Air Force general told the Senate on Tuesday that an order from President Donald Trump or any of his successors to launch nuclear weapons can be refused by the top officer at US Strategic Command if that order is determined to be illegal. During testimony before the Foreign Relations Committee, retired General Robert Kehler said the US armed forces are obliged to follow legal orders, not illegal ones.

US Sen. Markey talks opioid crisis, immigration, Trump opposition in Pittsfield visit

Judy Fox of Lenox asks a question of Sen. Edward Markey during a town hall-style meeting at the Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield on Sunday, October 29, 2017. Sen. Edward Markey holds a town hall-style meeting at the Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield on Sunday, October 29, 2017.

‘I’m not disgusted, but I am disappointed,’ by our politicians’ failure, ex-Pa. Congressman says

Last fall, amid the smoldering ruins of the 2016 presidential election, defeats in Congress, statehouses and governor's mansions across the land, Joe Hoeffel had one urge: To put his fellow Democrats on the couch, to diagnose their problems, and to help them find a way out of the wilderness. "I was so disappointed in so much of what's happened lately," said Hoeffel, who represented Montgomery County's 13th Congressional District in Washington for three terms between 1999 and 2004.

Mass. college presidents defend DACA

Public community college officials in Massachusetts are taking a stand in support of a 5-year-old immigration program put in place by President Barack Obama, but on the chopping block under President Donald Trump. Obama signed an executive order in June 2012 and the Department of Homeland Security subsequently began accepting applications for "deferred action" from immigrants who met certain criteria, such as being brought to the country before they turned 16. Under the program, known as DACA, qualifying immigrants, often described as "dreamers," are protected from deportation for at least two years, and become eligible to apply for a work permit.

Nuclear at tack on grid could ‘cripple’ society

An E-4 advanced airborne command post is tested on a electromagnetic pulse simulator. U.S. Air Force photo North Korea has threatened to launch an electromagnetic pulse attack that could shut down the United States' power grid - causing months of blackouts that could bring society to a halt, with rampant crime and social chaos.

Hurricane fuels gas-price hike as reserves tapped

Damage to energy supplies from Hurricane Harvey combined with the traditional increase in Labor Day travel is already leading to higher gas prices in Massachusetts, and U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry is tapping into the nation's strategic reserves as part of the federal government's response to the massive storm. In an interview Thursday, a AAA Northeast official told the News Service she would not be surprised to see a double-digit increase in per-gallon prices when the organization's latest survey is released next Tuesday.

US senators call on FDA to ban sale of menthol cigarettes

U.S. Sen. Edward Markey is calling for a ban on menthol cigarettes, arguing that tobacco companies disproportionately target African-Americans when they market and promote the cigarettes. The Massachusetts Democrat is leading a group of fellow senators in calling on the Food and Drug Administration to prohibit the cigarettes, noting that African-Americans suffer the greatest burden of tobacco-related mortality of any ethnic or racial group in the U.S. The letter to the FDA sent earlier this week was also signed by fellow Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, of Rhode Island, and Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut.

Bill would require used cars with recalled parts be repaired

U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey are pushing legislation that would require used cars that contain recalled, unsafe parts to be repaired before being sold or leased. The Connecticut Democrat said Friday that whenever one of those cars changes hands without being repaired, safety problems are also passed along endangering drivers and passengers.

New crack in one of Greenland’s largest glaciers

The first photographs of a new and ominous crack in Greenland's enormous Petermann Glacier were captured by a NASA airborne mission Friday. NASA's Operation IceBridge, which has been flying over northwest Greenland for the past several days, took the photos after being provided coordinates by Stef Lhermitte, a professor at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, who had spotted the oddly located chasm by examining satellite images.

Proposal for SouthCoast Hyperloop goes to Washington

A super-fast form of transportation involving giant tubes, pods and air pressure would have a stop in SouthCoast if built in the Northeast, among other nationwide locations, should a company making the technology pick a Somerset woman's proposal. Holly McNamara, a Select Board official in Somerset, said she feels one step closer to seeing that become a reality after a visit to Washington, D.C., last week to make her case to a panel of judges.