New England Public Radio

Voters from across Western Mass. hit the polls for Election Day on Nov. 3, 2015.
(Photo Credit: John Suchocki for The Republican)

The Short List: Lower Drinking Age, Democrats Return Donations, Local Election Hotspots

NEPR's Week In Review

What made The Short List this week?

  • Whether or not the drinking age for beer and wine in Massachusetts should be lowered to 19 is being asked on a non-binding ballot question in a legislative district that just so happens to include the campus of UMass Amherst.
  • The Boston Globe‘s spotlight team broke a story about Boston-based Thornton Law firm that was paying employees bonuses roughly equal to the amount’s contributed to political campaigns. Democrats including New Hampshire Governor and U.S. Senate candidate Maggie Hassan and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren are saying they’ll return the money.
  • Local contests of interest and the panelists weigh-in on ballot question prospects.

Click the audio player above to hear New England Public Radio’s Susan Kaplan explore these issues with Greenfield Recorder columnist Chris Collins and Matt Szafranski from Western Mass Politics & Insight.