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By Chris Lisinski

BOSTON — Legalizing online lottery sales and giving expected wagering revenue to child care providers, significant spending on environmental agencies, and major new investments in education and transportation headline the $56.2 billion state budget...

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 2024 budget proposal, the Massachusetts Association of School Committees is still...

By Sam Drysdale and Michael P. Norton

BOSTON — Senior care and health workforce advocates say increased pay for care workers included in a priority bill on Beacon Hill would help address the staffing shortages that have plagued the state’s nursing homes in recent years and led to a...

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 STEVE PFARRER

NORTHAMPTON — A University of Massachusetts professor and a filmmaker who grew up in Amherst are among eight people in Massachusetts who have won Guggenheim Fellowships.Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina, who teaches English at UMass and is a specialist on the...

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 SYDNEY KO

Architects and lawmakers are advocating for a change in the state building code to allow gender-neutral bathrooms in new construction and renovations of buildings, calling it a further affirmation of a gender-inclusive and respectful...

By Bob Katzen

THE HOUSE AND SENATE: Beacon Hill Roll Call records local senators’ votes on the only roll call from the week of March 27-31. There were no roll calls in the House last week. $350 MILLION FOR ROADS AND BRIDGES (S 2375) — Senate 40-0, approved a bill...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — A sizable majority of Massachusetts voters would prefer for Beacon Hill to deploy its budget surplus toward reducing taxes rather than increasing overall spending, according to a new poll.Three-quarters of the voters surveyed by polling and...

By SAM DRYSDALE

Even though he is planning on getting into the technology field after graduation, taking an Advanced Placement language class this year has shown Aiden Costa the power of harnessing language to communicate more effectively, he said.The high school...

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 COLIN A. YOUNG

As more police departments adopt officer-worn cameras and body cam footage becomes a more regular piece of evidence in court cases, district attorneys are finding that their statewide network that handles the footage is overloaded, leading to...

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 — Two Newton lawmakers are hoping to begin to stamp out abusive coaching practices and the toxic culture of some middle and high school sports teams with a piece of legislation that would help districts emphasize self-awareness, self-control,...

By Sydney Ko

BOSTON — During her second pregnancy, Lorenza Holt, co-leader of the Massachusetts Doula Coalition, decided to go through childbirth at home with a midwife. When she realized she would have to unnecessarily advocate for her decision at a hospital, her...

By RENEE SEACOR and JOHN MAGURANIS

City dwellers take many forms. In Boston and cities across Massachusetts, hundreds of different species call our cities home, including foxes, raccoons, bald eagles and coyotes.It’s surprising for most urban dwellers to learn that species such as...

By EMILY THURLOW

AMHERST — After months of searching for a home for a Craig’s Doors shelter guest who uses state rental vouchers, Jack Myers was excited to find an available unit and set up a tour.However, when Myers arrived to tour the rental unit, the guest was...

By Bob Katzen

THE HOUSE AND SENATE: Beacon Hill Roll Call records local representatives’ and senators’ votes on roll calls from the week of March 20-24. $388.6 MILLION FISCAL 2023 SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET (H 3548) House 153-0, Senate 39-0, approved and sent to Gov....

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 Sam Drysdale

An increasing reliance on travel nurses is contributing to high turnover rates among nurses in Massachusetts, as health care remains strapped by labor shortages here and around the country, according to a Health Policy Commission report. The issue has...