Bad News First, then.... The new Speaker of the Mass House has screwed replaced Dan Bosley as House Chair of the Economic Development and Emerging Technologies Committee. This appears to simply be about casinos. Speaker DeLeo has two failing race tracks in his district that are petitioning for slot machines as their saving grace, and DeLeo has made it clear that he likes the idea of his constituents obsessively pumping quarters into a rigged game.

In the other chamber....

Ben Downing has been named chair of the Revenue Committee. Impressive, but a seriously challenging responsibility during a recession. Good Luck Ben! You're going to need it.  ¶ 5:05 PM