Daily Dose: Obama's Visit to Boston, How to Tell Your Marathon Story & More

President Obama gave a touching speech in Boston's South End regarding the Boston Marathon on Thursday. If you have a story from the Marathon you'd like to share, we'll tell you how.

1. Here is your Wednesday weather forecast, courtesy of WHDH Weather:  More clouds than sun, a strong southerly breezy. Spotty spinkle. Highs 70-75, except low to mid 60s Buzzards Bay and Cape. Rain arrives at night. 2. President Barack Obama stirred a solemn crowd in Boston's South End on Thursday with a speech that highlighted the display of strength of a close-knit city and especially the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.  3. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is warning against scams in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings.  4. We are looking for Canton residents to weigh in on the Boston Marathon tragedy from earlier this week. If you'd like to tell your story, please post a blog to Sharon Patch.  5. Today …

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Dunkin' Brands Takes Stand Against Obamacare

The Canton-based company is lobbying the White House to changes its definition of full-time work from 30 hours a week to 40 or more per week, according to reports.

Canton-based Dunkin' Brands has joined the fight against Obamacare.  The coffee and baked goods company is working to overturn a major provision of Obamacare, according to a Newsmax.com report this week. Specifically, Dunkin' is lobbying the White House to change its definition of full-time work from at least 30 hours a week to 40 or more per week, CEO Nigel Travis told the Financial Times, according to The Huffington Post. The change would leave Dunkin', as well as other companies, with fewer workers to insure under the health care reform law, which requires large employers to provide health coverage to all full-time workers and their dependents. Those companies who fail to provide coverage could face a penalty of $2,000 per worker. The …

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PHOTOS: Democratic Town Committees Gathered at the Suffolk Grille to watch the Inauguration

Locals gathered on Monday to view the second inauguration of President Barack Obama.

The Sharon Democratic Town Committee, together with the Democratic Town Committees of Stoughton, Canton and Easton, gathered at the Suffolk Grille in Canton on Monday to view President Barack Obama's second inauguration. 

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Third, Final Presidential Debate: Who Won?

The debates are now over - who do you think finished strongest?

Holding their third and final debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida Monday night, President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney both took one last opportunity convince voters why they should support either candidate. The topic of Monday night's debate focused on Foreign Policy. Tuesday morning, Patch will have flash survey results from Massachusetts political activists and leaders, both Republican and Democratic. But now, with the third and final debate now over, what do you think? Who would you say 'won' this third presidential debate? Tell us in the comments sections below.

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Counsel Corner

Regarding the Second Presidential Debate

Sharon attorney Paul Izzo discusses Tuesday's debate and what will be the focus in the closing days of the Presidential campaign.

In Tuesday night’s town hall debate, President Obama clearly raised his energy level. He was well prepared and made every effort to fire up the base of his party. Challenger Mitt Romney performed well also. It is clear now that the challenger’s strategy is to keep reminding voters that despite the President’s personal popularity, his economic policies have failed to energize the economy and make a serious dent in the nation’s unemployment ranks. At several points on Tuesday night, Romney made this case forcefully. I agree with Washington Post columnist George Will that it was the most entertaining presidential debate in history. I've seen them all, including the four Nixon-Kennedy face offs from 1960 (all of which are available on line) …

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Counsel Corner

Thoughts on Polls and the Presidential Campagin

Paul Izzo muses on whether poll results are misleading in the current election race.

If you follow the Presidential campaign, you will hear a lot said about who has the lead at any one time.  A growing number of mainly conservative voices, however, are making the claim that the poll results being widely publicized are misleading.  Are they right? Well, let’s lay out some basic facts about Presidential polling. To get an accurate reading of how a large group of citizens feel about a particular subject, whether it is a television program, potato chip or candidate for President of the United States, a pollster must contact a sufficiently large number of people. If the number is too small, of course, the likelihood of error increases.  The biggest flaw in Presidential polling cited by conservative critics is not that pollsters…

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Counsel Corner

Arizona Immigration Law Case Likely a Hot Presidential Campaign Issue

U.S. Supreme Court ruling likely later this month.

In April, the United States Supreme Court heard argument in a highly publicized case that likely will be decided later this month – the so-called Arizona immigration law case. Like the much anticipated ruling in the Obamacare case, the decision in the Arizona case no doubt will play a significant role in the upcoming presidential campaign. Critics of the Arizona statute claim that the law encourages so-called "racial profiling," mainly of persons of Hispanic origin. It is important to note at the outset, however, that the matter before the high court does not actually involve a challenge to law on those grounds. Four provisions of the Arizona law are before the court. One, that part of the law that requires police to check the immigration …

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College Costs Add 8.3 Percent

Reports on college prices, student aid, are released today.

In-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges have added an average of $631 compared to last fall, the Huffington Post reports today. The 8.3 percent increase comes as states are cutting budgets, according to the report. "Nationally, the cost of a full credit load has passed $8,000, an all-time high. Throw in room and board, and the average list price for a state school now runs more than $17,000 a year, according to the twin annual reports on college costs and student aid published Wednesday by the College Board," the Huffington Post reports. President Barack Obama plans to announce today measures to provide student loan debt relief.

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