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By Sam Drysdale

BOSTON — This Earth Week, the Healey administration is revamping what it calls the state’s “flagship climate resilience program” by planning to help 30 cities and towns upgrade their climate resiliency plans through an equity lens.The Municipal...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Though regional school districts could receive more money to pay for student transportation than they’ve gotten in years through Gov. Maura Healey’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposal, the Massachusetts Association of School Committees is still...

By Sydney Ko

Brittainy Simpson grew up in the hearing world but was considered an oral deaf, a person who is born deaf or becomes deaf before they learn how to speak. Despite getting by with a hearing aid and lip-reading, Simpson only learned how to sign at age...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — After a federal judge in Texas suspended FDA approval of abortion pill mifepristone, Gov. Maura Healey issued an executive order on Monday that is meant to clarify that a state law passed last year to protect abortion access from out-of-state...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey said this week that she is looking forward to working with the Legislature on ways to fund free community college for Massachusetts residents over 25, after a representative questioned if the $20 million she earmarked for...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON – Massachusetts state agencies have coordinated with five other Northeast states to create a public-private partnership to attract federal dollars to build a clean hydrogen hub in the region.The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — The population of Massachusetts shrunk by nearly 8,000 people between July 2021 and July 2022, a drop of about 0.1 percent, but the newest estimate released in fresh data from the U.S. Census Bureau puts the state’s population ahead of its...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — From fish being reeled in by anglers in Taunton to the drinking water at an elementary school in New Salem, so-called forever chemicals known as PFAS are everywhere, the questions and comments from lawmakers from various corners of...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — If all 200,000 newly eligible undocumented immigrants apply for a driver’s license next fiscal year, their applications would far exceed the number of first-time license applications the Registry of Motor Vehicles issues every year.On...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — Supporters of enhanced passenger rail service in western Massachusetts packed the Senior Center Tuesday to testify before the legislative commission studying the project’s governance and funding.From as far afield as Greenfield, Palmer...

By ERIN TIERNAN

BOSTON — New polling suggests statewide support for another minimum wage hike and as lawmakers weigh a push to raise the wage floor, an advocacy coalition is now actively pondering a ballot question to “force the issue.”The Change Research survey...

By Taylor Brokesh

The term “urban forest” may sound like an oxymoron, but it actually might be the key to mitigating climate change. A bill proposed in the state Senate aims to create a program that would increase tree canopy cover in cities to combat excessive heat in...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

AMHERST — Educational issues pertaining to schools across western Massachusetts — including transportation, rural inequities and a lack of sufficient state aid — peppered the discussion of a Joint Ways and Means Committee hearing at the University of...

By ALANIS BROUSSARD

Even though child care is an essential need for families in the United States, a history of limited government support prevents many families every day from getting the adequate child care they need.For years, the American child care system has...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — What’s the first step in dealing with an overflowing bathtub?That’s the question MASSPIRG legislative director Deirdre Cummings asks to make her pitch for a sweeping new bill aimed at wrangling the presence of PFAS chemicals in food...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey, who made gun laws a central part of her eight years as attorney general, said Thursday that so-called ghost guns should be banned and that she would support legislation to do that in Massachusetts.Untraceable ghost guns can...

By CHRIS LARABEE

BOSTON — With a background in showing cattle at fairs and working on the family farm in South Deerfield, the state’s new agriculture commissioner has a Franklin County flair to her.South Deerfield native Ashley Randle has been tapped by the...

By SYDNEY KO

BOSTON — Fifteen years ago, Bev Baccelli was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow. After treatment at Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center and Tufts Medical Center, Baccelli continues with her day-to-day life. Yet, over that...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — Thanks to $30,000 from the federal Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program, the Franklin County Community Development Corporation will provide microloans and trainings to business startups, federal officials announced Tuesday.U.S. Rep....

By CHRIS LISINSKI

The $15 minimum wage that kicked into effect Jan. 1 was years in the making and took more than five more years to be implemented. Now, with the new rate just setting in, key power players have set their sights on making Massachusetts the first state...