When the state rolled the dice in 2011 and decided to join the casino bandwagon, it was certain that stories would eventually surface of lives ruined by the lure of legalized gambling. But House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who pushed hard for passage of the state’s casino law, clearly never expected that a member of his leadership team would become the first prominent example of that.

State Rep. David Nangle, one of DeLeo’s four “floor division leaders” and a member of the House Ethics Committee, now stands as Exhibit A of the downsides of legalized gambling, facing a multi-count federal indictment charging him with using campaign donations to fund trips to casinos, filing false federal tax returns and bank statements, and getting free work from a contractor who later won a lucrative state contract.

The federal indictment says Nangle, who entered a not guilty plea yesterday to all charges, was a gambler who piled up huge debts. The indictment says Nangle’s string of criminal activity dates back at least to 2014, so his gambling-fueled problems predate the opening of casinos in Massachusetts.

The case nonetheless casts a harsh spotlight on a problem DeLeo, Gov. Deval Patrick, and other champions of the casino law tried to minimize: While as little as 2 percent of the overall population may suffer from gambling addiction problems, those people account for a far greater portion of the revenue casinos bring in.

One of the most thorough studies of the question, a 2004 report on casino gambling in Ontario, concluded that 35 percent of the Canadian province’s casino revenue came from moderate to severe problem gamblers.

The research suggests problem gamblers aren’t so much an unfortunate side-effect of the casino industry, but an important part of its business model. “This is an industry, like it or not, that is making its money off the sickness of its clients,” Earl Grinols, a Baylor University economics professor who has done extensive research on the casino industry, told CommonWealth in 2005.

The state approved casinos in the face of a crushing recession, with DeLeo going to great lengths to frame the debate as solely about putting people to work.

“The debate over the destination gaming issue is not a philosophical one,” he told House members in a January 2010 speech on the agenda for the coming year. “It is about a fight for job creation.”

The State House News Service reported that Nangle was among those House members who voted against casinos under Speaker Sal DiMasi, who opposed their introduction, but flipped to vote for them under pro-casino DeLeo. In the pliant follow-the-leader ways of the Massachusetts House, that qualifies as an odd form of consistency.

While casinos have clearly led to the creation of thousands of new jobs, far less attention has been paid to the fact that they invariably also cost some people theirs. Usually those losses play out quietly in sad tales of families undone and finances flattened. With yesterday’s high-profile example, casinos may have claimed a job from under the dome where they were welcomed into the state.

MICHAEL JONAS

BEACON HILL

Lowell Rep. David Nangle is charged with using $70,000 in campaign funds to cover personal expenses after he goes deep in debt from gambling. (CommonWealth) House Speaker Robert DeLeo calls the allegations against Nangle “serious and troubling,” but takes no immediate action against him in the House. (CommonWealth)

A bill prompted by a slain Webster woman’s case would extend employment protections for domestic violence victims. (Telegram & Gazette)

A state tax credit for “angel” investors in Massachusetts start-up companies has never been put in place, despite being signed into law two years ago. (Boston Globe)

Critics say Gov. Charlie Baker’s 2021 budget proposal shortchanges districts that were supposed to see big state education aid increases based on their large number of low-income students. (Boston Globe)

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

Quincy has spent $400,000 fighting the rebuilding of the Long Island Bridge, and the city council will be asked to approve more. (Patriot Ledger)

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh tries to dispel coronavirus fears with a lunch in Chinatown. (WBUR)

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

President Trump granted clemency to a slew of high-profile offenders, including former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, in cases that carry strong echoes of the type of corruption former Trump aides Michael Flynn and Roger Stone currently face sentencing on. (Washington Post)

Trump continued to lash out at prosecutors, the judge, and jury forewoman in the Stone case amid reports that Attorney General William Barr, who last week complained about Trump commenting on judicial matters, is considering resigning. (New York Times)

HUD pumps more money into public housing projects in Massachusetts. (The Salem News)

The Utah Senate passes a bill decriminalizing polygamy. (Salt Lake Tribune)

ELECTIONS

In the first debate between Ed Markey and Joe Kennedy III, Kennedy has difficulty clearly articulating his rationale for challenging the incumbent. (CommonWealth) The two candidates  fought over experience. (MassLive)

US Rep. Seth Moulton holds the lead in fundraising over his Republican and Democratic challengers. (Salem News)

Thomas Shack III, the former state comptroller, jumps into the crowded race to replace Joe Kennedy in Congress. (Boston Globe)

Columnist Peter Lucas paints a fairly complicated connect-the-dots picture to argue that US Rep. Lori Trahan could face some redistricting headaches when the Legislature redraws congressional district lines for the 2022 election because she’s aligned herself with House Speaker Robert DeLeo nemesis Sen. Diana DiZoglio. (Boston Herald)

IMMIGRATION

Immigration and Customs Enforcement takes aim at Brockton District Court for letting “immigration fugitives” walk free during the pendency of criminal cases against them. (The Enterprise)

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Springfield’s budget chief says MGM money helps balance the budget, but not lower property taxes. (MassLive)

The Telegram & Gazette questions whether the Boy Scouts’ bankruptcy will affect local councils.

Wendy’s will pay a $400,000 settlement over child labor violations. (MassLive)

EDUCATION

Washington Post editor Marty Baron, who helmed the Globe during its Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of the Catholic church clergy sex abuse scandal, will deliver the commencement address at Harvard this spring. (Boston Globe)

HEALTH/HEALTH CARE

Brockton Visiting Nurse Association expands hospice care across southeastern Massachusetts. (The Enterprise)

ARTS/CULTURE

An exhibition at the New Bedford Whaling Museum features artwork by the student winners of the international Ocean Awareness Contest run by Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit. (Standard-TImes)

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

Vineyard Wind is facing a lot of hurdles in the wake of the Trump administration’s decision to put off a final decision on its environmental review until December, more than 16 months after the company originally expected it. (CommonWealth)

Opposition surfaces to the agreement on cleaning up the Housatonic River between General Electric and towns along the waterway. (Berkshire Eagle)

The operator of the region’s power grid secures future electricity production commitments at a record low price. One of those  commitments goes to one of the last remaining coal plants in New England. (CommonWealth)

Wellfleet town officials are exploring two options for improving the town’s water system, including one that would support a proposed affordable housing development. (Cape Cod Times)

UMass Amherst researchers develop a device capable of converting humidity in the air into electricity. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

CASINOS

Casino revenues dip a bit at Encore Boston Harbor but bounce back at MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park. (WBUR)

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

A juror in the federal trial of Whitey Bulger has regrets after learning Bulger was an unwitting participant in a covert CIA experiment with LSD. (AP)

MEDIA

MassLive eliminates online comments on its website, citing the “negative tone” of many commenters. (MassLive) MLive, a sister publication in Michigan owned by the same Advance Publications chain, does the same. (MLive)

Rock station WAAF of Westborough is being sold and converted to a Christian contemporary format. (MetroWest Daily News)