By Line search: By SAM DRYSDALE
By SAM DRYSDALE
BOSTON — The astronomical cost of housing for Massachusetts households across the income spectrum and a bleak outlook for the new units needed over the next decade underscore the focus of the Healey administration’s new housing plan for the next five years — more production.
By SAM DRYSDALE
BOSTON — Invoking Emily Dickinson, Phillis Wheatley, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Sam Cornish and Robert Frost, Gov. Maura Healey recently signed an executive order creating a position of poet laureate in Massachusetts for the first time.
By SAM DRYSDALE
BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey intends to run for reelection in 2026, she said Friday.
By SAM DRYSDALE
BOSTON — Accessory dwelling units are now allowed by right in single-family zoning districts across most of Massachusetts, under a law Gov. Maura Healey signed in August. The rule went into effect on Sunday.
By SAM DRYSDALE
Any selective criteria used to admit students to vocational technical schools must be actually essential to the success of the school, per new regulations the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is drafting for their board’s review in February.
By SAM DRYSDALE
BOSTON — Attorney General Andrea Campbell wants to stop students from using cellphones in schools, but education regulators seem unsure how far they should go — especially when that power lies not in the state’s hands, but with local school districts.
By SAM DRYSDALE
BOSTON — Though Gov. Maura Healey maintains that she is not raising taxes, the budget she rolled out Wednesday could apply existing taxes to some purchases, or decrease how much residents are able to write off on their tax returns.
By SAM DRYSDALE
BOSTON — Fresh off winning another term leading the Massachusetts Senate, President Karen Spilka quickly set her sights on a combination of new and old priorities, including one that will have significant interest in the Pioneer Valley — reexamining...
By SAM DRYSDALE
BOSTON — The head of the state’s K-12 education board expects the state will be sued for failing to assure there’s adequate and equitable learning taking place in schools, after voters overwhelmingly supported a new law this November that got rid of...
By SAM DRYSDALE
BOSTON — After a $2.78 billion settlement that will allow colleges to pay their athletes got preliminary approval earlier this week, NCAA president and former Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker was in Boston on Thursday touting the deal as “[solving]...
By SAM DRYSDALE
The program meant to give students a head start on their college enrollment is expanding, which officials say will save students money, make them more likely to attend college than their peers and increase lifelong earning potential.University of...
By SAM DRYSDALE
BOSTON — A commission tasked with considering the structure and sustainability of the state’s beleaguered emergency family shelter system is up against a quickly approaching deadline, with still broad disagreement amongst its members about what...
By SAM DRYSDALE
Students with cognitive disabilities and English language learners could stand to benefit the most from a ballot initiative that would “greatly diminish the state’s role as a gatekeeper to high school graduation,” and lower the stakes of statewide...
By SAM DRYSDALE
BOSTON — As Gov. Maura Healey and lawmakers celebrated what they called “historic” housing legislation getting signed into law Tuesday, some of the advocates credited with influencing the bill say it is “underwhelming” and watered down, with a number...
By SAM DRYSDALE
House and Senate negotiators sent an agreement on a policy-filled $5.16 billion housing bond bill to Gov. Maura Healey on Thursday, potentially salvaging a priority for the House, Senate and governor.A number of policies sponsored by both branches...
By SAM DRYSDALE
BOSTON — The Massachusetts House was split along party lines Wednesday night in voting to support climate and energy legislation that would “help accelerate the green transition,” according to the bill’s lead architect.“The bill before you continues...
By SAM DRYSDALE
The Senate will dig into a massive economic development package Thursday after top Democrats on Monday morning released their own vision for how Massachusetts should pursue job and economic growth opportunities.The Senate’s bill (S 2856) authorizes...
By SAM DRYSDALE
BOSTON — Leyla Connolly’s battery-powered wheelchair has been broken for more than a year. As she waits for it to be fixed, she is consigned to her Dorchester apartment, where she feels trapped without a safe way to leave to get groceries, go to...
By SAM DRYSDALE
BOSTON — Two powerful lawmakers are trying to push a widely supported bill to ban toxic “forever chemicals” over the finish line before the looming end of session, but neither said Tuesday that the issue is a priority for their branch.House Speaker...
By SAM DRYSDALE
BOSTON — Massachusetts is now the 49th state to prohibit revenge pornography, with Gov. Maura Healey signing a bill late last week that also cracks down on sexual harassment and coercive control by domestic abusers.The bill closes a legal loophole to...
By SAM DRYSDALE
BOSTON — Musicians hauling three drums, two trombones, a saxophone and a tuba played their way up Park Street to the corner of Beacon Street on Tuesday, blocking traffic and leading dozens of rally attendees to celebrate that app-based drivers who...
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