News around the state is unbelievably, overwhelmingly depressing: a year-old boy drowning in a pool in Taunton; a 14-year-old suffering life-threatening injuries after being run over on his bicycle in Lowell; a 15-year-old shot to death in Brockton; three dead from apparent heroin overdoses in New Bedford; an eight-year-old Fitchburg girl battling a lethal staph infection at Franciscan Children's; a 16-year-old drowning in the Westfield River

--So, GOP, you were hoping to make it through this election cycle without any major officeholder indictments, huh? Not so fast!

--Stevens is not the only powerful Alaska Republican sweating in the klieg lights these days.

--If you've found yourself missing the sight of Kerry Healey, you can catch her stumping for her fellow Republicans in the state: Aug.

"Willard" asks:

Why are right wing bloggers and commenters of the MA political blogosphere generally so inarticulate, unoriginal, sloppy, dull, obtuse, dense, and devoid of critical thought?

I have ruminated on this very topic in the past, and I actually have a theory about it which I will now present in vastly oversimplified sweeping generalizations:

"Rick Ross" asks:

If [Michael] Flaherty runs [for mayor], then a seat is vacant at large. With [Felix] Arroyo gone do you see any new or old progressive candidates capable stepping into the race? What about the district seats, do you think those are static?

Lastly, if Menino wins again will he bow out mid-way Flynn style and leave the office to the President?

In response to my call for questions, "Andy" starts us off with a tough one, asking:

Will 1913 be repealed before the end of the legislative session?

I homestly don't know; my best guess is that yes, the House will get it to the floor for a winning vote next week. But I don't get any sense of confidence from insiders on it. If it doesn't, I suspect it will zip through next year.

Keep the questions coming!

--Todd Domke writes what I've been saying recently, but with more clarity and wit: Romney is at best a highly problematic VP choice. In particular, I agree that only out-of-touch pundits think that Romney helps McCain with the economy. (For what it's worth, pretty much the only people who voted solidly for Romney in the primaries were not those who cited the economy as the number-one issue, but those who cited illegal immigration.

Congratulations are due to Bob Neer, one of Blue Mass Group's founders, for the publication of his first book: "Barack Obama for Beginners: An Essential Guide." It is a tidy, quick-reading 70-page bio from Steerforth Press in New Hampshire. I had a few issues with some of the decisions about what to include or focus on, but I am clearly not its intended audience.

Campaign for America's Future has released results of a "straw poll" it conducted (with Democracy Corps) at the recent Netroots Nation convention in Austin. The press release declares that "Economic and Energy Issues, Ending War In Iraq Top Netroots' Concerns."

Well, not exactly. Actually, the poll bizzarely failed to even include the economy as one of the 14 options for the respondents.

Greater Boston's Jeff Keating recently solicited VP predictions from, in his words, "three of the smartest political commentators around": me, Joe Sciacca of the Boston Herald, and Jon Keller of WBZ (and former Phoenix reporter). Our responses are on the GB blog. Just how wicked smart the three of us really are, I'll leave to you all to judge.

In this week's issue of the Boston Phoenix -- out tomorrow, online now -- I reveal just how low the public's opinion of the Boston Police Department plummeted as gun violence tore through the city.

In the fall of 2006 -- shortly before Commissioner Ed Davis took over the BPD -- the department conducted a city-wide survey of residents' opinions about crime and police.

Geez Bernstein, dontcha ever blog anymore?

--Looks like the state government will finally get around to repealing the law that, in effect, restricts Massachusetts from marrying out-of-state gay couples. I'm all for that, but what's with the way gay-marriage advocates always refer to the statute as "1913," the year it dates from? It hardly seems relevant (how often do news stories normally refer to the passage date of laws under discussion?), but presumably is intended to emphasize how ancient, anachronistic and out-of-date it is.

"Chauncy" asks:

do you think kennedy will attempt to appoint a successor from his family, or do you think he'll stay out of the race to succeed him?

I wrote about these rumors a few weeks ago. My best guess right now is that it depends on who in the family wants it. If his wife wants it, as is much rumored, he'd probably try to arrange that by force.

"Brian" asks:

I got a phone survey from Mike Flaherty's campaign last Wednesday night, it was 15 minutes long.

When do you think that race will start off, and barring a Menino blunder, does Flaherty have any real shot? How did he fare in november compared to the 3 other at-large guys?

I currently make it a 70% chance that Flaherty runs for Mayor, 30% that he doesn't.