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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

An Unhappy New Year for Some Local Libraries

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Monday, December 31, 2007   

Bridgewater, MA - Employees and patrons of state libraries in Massachusetts are crossing their fingers, hoping for a much happier new year. Many of them are in danger of shutting down completely in 2008, as a result of budget wrangling.

For instance, Bridgewater's public library now struggles to stay open 15 hours a week with less than half of its staff. The library's director, Elizabeth Gregg, says if they can't get the money to increase the hours of operation, the library is in danger of losing its certification. That means a loss of state funding and sharing privileges with other libraries.

"We've had people calling or emailing the Selectmen, saying how important it is to them to have a library. We're a community center; we're a very busy place; we're a cultural center for the town, and right now we're just maintaining."

The libraries in Saugus and Randolph face similar problems, and are hoping to find support now before the decertification process begins. The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners however, says it's impossible to know before January which libraries will be decertified.

Although Bridgewater hasn't heard anything from the town about next year's budget, Gregg is quick to point out they aren't giving up.

"It's very difficult and stressful, but we just felt that we needed to be here, at least some of us, so that we would have our foot in the door. Then there would be someone, the staff and the trustees, to fight to try to get additional money."



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