THE STATE HOUSE — The reviews of the annual St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast in South Boston were mostly negative. Apparently not wanting to offend anybody, the speakers were mostly polite to one another. At the end of the week, anti-bullying efforts moved forward.

BOSTON — Despite appeals from fellow Democratic legislators, an Oval Office session with President Obama and a meeting with the widow of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Rep. Stephen Lynch on Friday staunchly defended his intention to vote against the president’s health care overhaul.

BOSTON — With just over three months to go in Massachusetts’ current fiscal year, there are new warnings from the Patrick administration regarding a potential budget shortfall of up to $295 million.

BOSTON — If congressional Democrats win passage of a national health care overhaul, they will do so without the vote of one Massachusetts Democrat — Rep. Stephen Lynch.

BOSTON — Federal disaster officials are touring parts of Massachusetts Wednesday to assess damage from last weekend’s torrential rains and winds as part of the state’s effort to make its case for federal disaster assistance.

THE STATE HOUSE — St. Patrick’s Day is also Evacuation Day, one of two holidays in Massachusetts — along with June’s Bunker Hill Day — observed in only Suffolk County. Efforts to repeal the two holidays are active at the State House.

BOSTON — The political team that helped Sen. Scott Brown stage a stunning electoral victory is hoping to apply that strategy in other races this year — beginning with another former Kennedy seat in Rhode Island. Politico’s Mike Allen joined WBUR to discuss whether the so-called “Brown model” can be applied successfully elsewhere.

BOSTON — Sen. Scott Brown’s win in January’s special general election sent tremors through the electoral landscape in Massachusetts. The election also led to the launching of the politics Web site, MassBeacon.com. Its creator, Conor Yunits, joined WBUR Monday to handicap many of the upcoming races for the state legislature.

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — For the first time in 20 years, Republicans believe that they can have impact on the state legislature. But even if they double their current number of seats, will that be enough to make real change on Beacon Hill?

BOSTON — Two Republicans – newly elected Sen. Scott Brown and gubernatorial candidate Charles Baker – were easy targets Sunday as the heavily Democratic Massachusetts political establishment gathered in South Boston for its annual St. Patrick’s Day roast.

WASHINGTON — Massachusetts Republican Sen. Scott Brown accused President Obama and Democrats on Saturday of a “bitter, destructive and endless” drive to pass health overhaul legislation that Brown warned would be disastrous.

THE STATE HOUSE — Every once in a while in government, just when the eyes start to glaze over and loll backwards at yammering about the consumer price index and biannual open enrollment periods for health insurance, a policy door opens. Enter Deval Patrick.

THE STATE HOUSE — It was 69 years ago Friday that Massachusetts made March 17 — St. Patrick’s Day — a legal holiday in Suffolk County. And though the law is said to formally recognize the day the British evacuated Boston in 1776, the conspicuous coincidence of the calendar certainly did not go unnoticed: The governor signed the bill in green ink.

BOSTON — What do artists like Alicia Keys have to do with the casino debate in Massachusetts? Well, if you run one of the dozens of live performance venues in the state, resort-style casinos mean competition. Now venue managers and others in the entertainment business are taking their concerns to Beacon Hill.

BOSTON — After a surprising comment made by the project’s developer, Mayor Thomas M. Menino is threatening action on the former Filene’s site at Downtown Crossing. To get a sense of how some business owners are responding to the latest news in their neighborhood and how the stalled Filene’s project is affecting their business, WBUR headed to Downtown Crossing to hear firsthand.