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By COLIN A. YOUNG

With no significant jackpots at stake last month, sales at the Massachusetts Lottery were down nearly $34 million compared to last January, the agency’s head reported to the Lottery Commission on Tuesday.Executive Director Mark William Bracken said...

By Alison Kuznitz

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey will recommend reauthorizing the state’s life sciences initiative for another decade in a sprawling economic development bill she plans to file this week, she told hundreds of business leaders Tuesday morning. The bill will...

By TANISHA BHAT

While many communities have made progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, many experts believe the next big step statewide will involve electrifying home heating systems, a process the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — From the edge of the Atlantic Ocean in Lynn to the state’s western border in Richmond, people in Massachusetts are letting the state know how they feel about wallet-busting energy bills.“I struggle to pay my bills, my electric runs $250 a...

By SAM DRYSDALE

Senators this week are expected to vote again on a bill to update the state’s sex education guidelines, something the chamber has already approved four times without getting buy-in from the House.The Senate Committee on Ways and Means polled the...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Although they would not explicitly commit to fulfilling a funding request for Head Start, two of the most powerful players at the State House indicated Wednesday that funding the early education program is at the top of their priority list in...

By WENDY BERG and MARK REYNOLDS

The magnitude of global climate change has come home to us in Massachusetts. Last summer, flooding caused by intensive storms washed away roads and other critical infrastructure, destroying the crops on many local farms and in our community...

By ALISON KUZNITZ

BOSTON — A recently expanded state financial aid program has yet to make a major impact on high school seniors evaluating their college options, a leader of an educational nonprofit warned Tuesday.The MASSGrant Plus expansion program, supported by a...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Massachusetts voters may get the chance to cast ballots to legalize access to some psychedelic substances this fall. And though advocates say the Oregon psilocybin therapy program that would be used as a model for Massachusetts is beneficial...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey has signed an executive order to create a task force meant to study artificial intelligence and to advise her administration on the state’s role in implementing and encouraging private sector use of the new technology.The...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey’s proposal to give cities and towns new tax-hike authority would provide “game-changers” at the local level, especially for less populated areas, one mayor said Tuesday.A bill Healey filed last month would offer...

By MARIA JOSÉ BOTELHO, DEB PATTERSON and CAMILLE CAMMACK

In December, Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley made a proposal that the Legislature mandate that schools use “high-quality” reading curriculum across Massachusetts to “fix the literacy crisis.” Gov. Maura Healey’s recent release of her Literacy...

It is with the most heartfelt gratitude that The Salvation Army of Massachusetts thanks all those who contributed to the 2023 Red Kettle Campaign. Throughout the holidays your donations, regardless of size, contributed to aiding so many families...

By MARKELLE SMITH and RAE ETTENGER

This July, in the Connecticut River watershed, from northern Vermont and New Hampshire downstream to western Massachusetts, heavy rains brought intense flooding that swelled rivers, turned backyards into ponds, and ravaged agricultural fields....

By COLIN A. YOUNG

Immigrants who settle and find work in Massachusetts provide “a direct economic benefit to the region in which they are working in both the value of work produced and in added local spending power,” according to a new report that lands as...

By ROB MOIR

With climate change, a 1% increase in watts per square meter of heat energy is warming the ocean, causing seawater to swell, currents to flow stronger, and greater storms to rage. Ancient Greeks believed Oceanus, the ocean river, separated the known...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

Massachusetts businesses kicked off the new year with a sunny disposition.Business confidence among employers surveyed by Associated Industries of Massachusetts rose in January to an 11-month high. The business trade group attributed the boost to...

By SAM DORAN

As part of her push to boost housing supply, Gov. Maura Healey swore in around 30 members of two panels late last month, bringing together groups like developers and builders, advocates for the homeless and people with disabilities, and local...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON – Make it seven months.Having already made mid-year budget cuts and dimmed the outlook for tax collections through June based on six consecutive months of underwhelming receipts, the state reported Monday that tax revenue came in below even...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — A wide-ranging, police-endorsed gun reform bill rolled out by Senate Democrats late last week could be headed for a vote as soon as Thursday. The measure is likely to generate considerable opposition among firearm owners.After months of...