The Senate this week will debate legislation to lift the cap on charter school enrollment in some school districts, entertaining a bill that is significant different from a bill that has passed the House and which includes a measure to tie a cap lift to state reimbursement funding.  Read more

Capping a nearly $10 billion increase in state spending under his tenure, Gov. Deval Patrick on Friday signed a $36.5 billion budget for fiscal year 2015, slashing $16.1 million with his veto pen and asking lawmakers to give him the power to make unilateral spending cuts if necessary.  Read more

MBTA Lot: Roughly two dozen vehicles were parked in the T’s Mattapan lot early Monday afternoon. Lauren Dezenski photo

A Hyde Park-based charter school is in talks to buy an MBTA parking lot in Mattapan Square and build a new school next to the T trolley and bus station along River Street. While the $1.5 million sale to Boston Preparatory Charter Public School, if executed, would fill the space at an often half-empty parking lot with a new building, it would also squelch earlier hopes for using the state-owned land as the anchor for a mixed-use, transit-oriented development – something that state lawmakers say should remain the top priority for the site.  Read more

Bridge replacement work to shut section Aug 8-17

For ten days next month – from Aug. 8 to Aug. 17 – the well-traveled section of Morton Street above the railroad tracks and near the Norfolk Street intersection will be closed to traffic as the state lays in place a new Morton Street bridge. While rerouting plans for buses are known, transportation officials will present the detour details for all residents, businesses, and travelers at a meeting tonight (July 10) at 6 o’clock at the Economy Plumbing site at 875 Morton St.  Read more

Ventura Park’s playground equipment and baseball field are about to get a major upgrade, thanks to a $250,000 shot of state funding promoted by two Dorchester legislators.  Read more

Beaches in South Boston and East Boston had significantly less bacteria in 2013 than years past, while improper sewage hookups and other pollutants continue to mar the waters at Lynn, Swampscott, Dorchester and Quincy swimming spots, according to Save the Harbor Save the Bay’s third annual report card.  Read more

Charter school advocates rallied on Beacon Hill Monday for expansion legislation that has already cleared the House, pressing the importance of tackling the issue by the end of July and reminding lawmakers that the bill does more than simply lift the cap on enrollment.  Read more

Charlotte Golar RichieCharlotte Golar Richie, a Dorchester Democrat who finished third in last year’s race for mayor of Boston, will be appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick to serve as a commissioner on the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the News Service has confirmed.

Golar Richie, who once worked as a senior advisor to the governor and executive director of his re-election committee, will fill one of three commissioner positions at MCAD, which works to advance civil rights through law enforcement, outreach and training and processes workplace, housing and public accommodation discrimination complaints.  Read more

The most elusive candidate in last year’s mayoral race is back on the ballot, this time vying for state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz’s seat in the 2nd Suffolk district. David James Wyatt collected enough signatures in the spring to make the Nov. 4 ballot, but since then, he has been tough to track down, with no publicized campaign appearances, no office, no events, no media presence save for a website with a short, outdated message on a single page.  Read more

Throwing the landscape for casinos in Massachusetts into chaos, the state Supreme Judicial Court ruled on Tuesday that an initiative petition repealing the 2011 casino law is eligible for placement on the November ballot.  Read more