It’s been roughly a month since the highly publicized collapse of Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios, and while a recent Boston magazine feature pieced together a startling story of an overconfident and underprepared company owner, there is plenty of blame to go around for the shuttering of a business that left hundreds of people out of work and the state of Rhode Island holding a very large bill.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who in 2010 ran part of his campaign in opposition to the 38 Studios deal, found himself just a few months later in the position of working to keep the company solvent. But, according to Schilling, Chafee made several public statements which scared off last-minute investors. Chafee, in turn, had plenty of criticism for 38 Studios’ fiscal management, which oversaw the expenditure of $133 million from 2006 to 2011.  “This was just not a startup atmosphere in the company, where you really hunker down and have macaroni and cheese — that’s what most companies do,” Chafee told WPRI on Tuesday.

Even officials at the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, charged with overseeing the $75 million loan award, did not come out unscathed. Documents released to the Providence Journal this week depict warnings of a lack of information about Schilling’s company that went unheeded at the state agency. And earlier this month, the AP reported that mere weeks after the EDC approved the 38 Studios loan, then-managing director of financial services J. Michael Saul wrote to 38 Studios officials asking for a job.

Missing from the puzzle is a clearer picture of what prompted such strong initial bipartisan support from Republican Governor Donald Carcieri and the mostly Democratic Rhode Island legislature, especially after Massachusetts officials said they wanted no part of the company. The bill that enlarged the fund from which Schilling drew his loan received nearly unanimous support in the General Assembly. Carcieri, who ran for governor in 2002 on his business expertise, remains conspicuously silent as the company goes through the bankruptcy process. 

                                                                                                                                                               –CHRISTINA PRIGNANO 

BEACON HILL

The Legislature goes down to the wire on health care cost proposals. A compromise bill should be issued next week, according to Sen. Bruce Tarr, a Gloucester Republican. The Berkshire Eagle wants lawmakers to level the playing field for hospitals that receive lower insurance payments than their Boston counterparts. Meanwhile, Gov. Deval Patrick tosses a cost-containment hat in the ring.

The House voted to extend the statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse to sue for civil damages — but advocates are angry that the measure didn’t remove the limits altogether.

Of the 155 Democrats in the Legislature, just 42 will face a Republican opponent in the fall, the Globe reports.

The state’s formula for distributing education aid isn’t adding up, CommonWealth reports.

The Massachusetts House passes a foreclosure bill, the State House News Service reports (via WBUR). The Patriot Ledger focuses on the failure of a mediation requirement to make it into the bill.

Bottle bill supporters and opponents rally on Beacon Hill, NECN’s Broadside reports. The Patriot Ledger argues that after 14 years, it’s time to bring the measure to the House floor for a vote.

The Herald editorializes in support of a public records bill. The editorial comes as the Herald loses its bid to access State House parking garage logs.

The Phoenix’s Chris Faraone examines the rampant theft of art and artifacts from the State House.

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

Pittsfield considers whether to hire a fence viewer to resolve disputes between neighbors over the placement of fences.

Boston city councilors Bill Linehan and Charles Yancey tussle over minority representation in new voting districts, but it appears that a new map will have few changes.

Leominster’s police chief recommends that the officer who directed a racial slur at Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford be fired.

NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON

The US Senate votes to extend tax breaks for people making less than $250,000 a year, The Hill reports.

ELECTION 2012

US Rep. John Tierney wants to reinstate the federal ban on assault weapons. His Republican challenger, Richard Tisei, treads more cautiously, saying some assault weapons should be banned. The Salem News examines their positions.

The MetroWest Daily News weighs in on the three November ballot questions: the right-to-die, medicinal marijuana, and the right-to-repair. Meanwhile, state prosecutors are not organizing to defeat the medicinal marijuana bill as they did in 2008.

Mitt Romney says stricter gun laws are not necessary.  He also said, in an interview with NBC News, that many of the weapons used in the Aurora shootings were illegal, but National Journal says multiple news outlets have reported that the guns and ammunition used in the massacre were obtained legally.

The presidential election continues to be nasty and negative, and voters are tuning out.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Boston’s fabulously successful Liberty Wharf is for sale.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is taking a venture capitalist approach to handing out economic development aid, Governing reports.

Gail Collins visits the North Dakota town with a 1 percent unemployment rate, so you don’t have to.

EDUCATION

Trying to break an impasse with the Boston Teachers Union, Superintendent Carol Johnson says she will use existing power to extend the school day by two hours, but only at select struggling schools, WBUR reports.  The Globe account is here. In Chicago, meanwhile, 477 new teachers are hired to extend the school day, Governing reports.

Education agents do whatever it takes to get Chinese students into American universities, Time reports.

HEALTH CARE

Greater Boston discusses the South Shore’s drug overdose problem in the wake of a Patriot Ledger series on the issue.

TRANSPORTATION

Lynn residents say new sidewalks, paid for with state money, need to be redone because of design problems, the Item reports.

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

A state-supported initiative to boost solar energy spreads to 17 more towns, CommonWealth reports.

When it comes to cleaning up the mess at Medfield State Hospital, can the state police itself? asks CommonWealth.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

The corrections officer who drove a cruiser into a tree in Billerica may have accidentally shot himself in the head, the Lowell Sun reports.

Two internet cafes, shut down after they were found to be involved in illegal gambling, agree to pay $750,000 to the state, the New Bedford Standard Times reports.  

MEDIA

A new study finds benefits from opinionated reporting, TechCrunch reports.

Newsweek is preparing for a shift to an online-only existence, Bloomberg reports.

Dan Kennedy weighs in on Mayor Tom Menino’s now infamous letter to Chik-fil-A.