This week, Radio Boston takes a look at the local impact of the national foreclosure crisis. Our goal is to understand how it occured, what is currently happening, and measuring the impact on our individual and collective futures.

One organization based in Jamaica Plain, Cty Life Vida Urbana (CLVU), takes dramatic steps to keep homeowners in their homes.

This Friday, we talk to some of these homeowners and learn what CLVU does for them.

WBUR’s Bianca Vasquez-Toness spoke with a different set of homeowners back in January.  Click HERE to listen to their story.

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Newly relaxed laws on marijuana were passed by ballot initiative on election day. We’ll take a look at these new rules, and at the changing rules for tobacco sales and use. We’ll also re-examine the arcane way liquor licenses are awarded in Boston.

This Tuesday is perhaps one of the most historic elections of our time.  Polls show the country may be on the verge of electing the first ever African American President.  We’ll use this election as a backdrop for a look at the changing face of minority politics in and around Boston.

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With the Republican National Party likely facing a difficult election day on Tuesday, November 4th, we’re going to take some time to look at the state of the GOP in New England.  Once a powerful player in Yankee politics, now widely marginalized throughout the region.  Let us know what you think about the GOP in Massachusetts and beyond.

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Dianne Wilkerson, the only African American in the State Senate, was stunned by her Democratic primary loss to Sonia Chang-Diaz.  Wilkerson has launched a sticker campaign to try to hold onto the seat.  The Chang-Diaz campaign says its time for a change in leadership, and that she will best represent the diverse district.  Radio Boston will take a look at Wilkerson’s record in the Senate, the challenges of running a sticker campaign, and the role of race in politics, this Friday.  To comment, click on the “more” link below.

A question on this November’s ballot asks Massachusetts voters if they want to phase out the state’s income tax.

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Some thoughts for this week’s show on the Greenway. Perhaps you’ll have a chance to walk it over the Columbus Day weekend and see what you think.

How often does 27 acres become available open space in a mile long stretch in the heart of the city? Not often. But that’s what 14.6  billion dollars– 22 billion if you include interest payment– bought us at the end of the Big Dig.�

Massachusetts State Treasurer, Tim Cahill, says the state is having trouble borrowing the cash it needs to pay its operating expenses, and BU’s President Robert Brown announced a hiring freeze because of the widening financial crisis.

What started on Wall Street and spread to Washington, is now hitting State Street and downtown Boston.  Are you being hit by the crisis?  Have you applied for a car or home loan recently?  Do you think taxpayers should bail out the system?  Radio Boston was planning to talk about the grand opening of the Rose Kennedy Greenway this week, but because of the growning economic crisis, we’ve decided to change gears and take a look at the local effects of the crisis.  Let us know your thoughts.

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Mayor Lisa Wong inherited a big job when she won Fitchburg’s mayoral election last year. An old mill town with closed factories, a crime problem and a record number of foreclosures are just some of her worries.

The 28-year old Wong has a plan and Radio Boston heads to Fitchburg to find out what it is.

This week we explore the various accents of Eastern Massachusetts. Do you have an accent? Tell us about it and your experience outside of your hometown. Send us a comment or email about what you hear on the streets of Boston and other towns.

Check out the International Dialect of English Archive’s compilation of Massachusetts dialects.

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