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By MICHAEL CASEY

BOSTON — Two current and two former Massachusetts State Police troopers were among six people charged Tuesday in a scheme to allegedly take bribes including a new snowblower and driveway in exchange for giving passing scores on commercial driving...

By CHELSEA GAZILLO

When farmland owners die without a will, their heirs are often faced with an unequal division of property. Under current law, a single heir, or a speculator who buys out the interest of just one heir, can file a partition action in court and force a...

By MADDIE FABIAN

Less than a month after it began enforcing a longstanding policy restricting the use of anesthesia during colonoscopies and other procedures, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is pausing that action after physicians statewide lobbied the insurer...

By MADDIE FABIAN

EASTHAMPTON — With two years left in office as mayor of Easthampton, Nicole LaChapelle will head the Massachusetts Mayors’ Association, leading efforts around climate change, housing and other issues she has engaged in on a city level at a wider...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Senate Democrats rolled out a wide-ranging gun reform bill Thursday, targeting a vote in one week on a police-endorsed measure that is likely to generate considerable opposition among firearm owners.After months of closed-door talks between...

By BELLA LEVAVI

On snowy weekends in the winter, groups of snowmobilers can be found at the tops of mountains and along the vast networks of forest trails connecting towns throughout Massachusetts and beyond. “To be outside in the winter doing something; that is the...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — The second annual state budget bill from Gov. Maura Healey proposes $58.15 billion in total spending, suggesting comparably modest growth over prior years, and a bevy of cost-control maneuvers in an attempt to navigate an increasingly...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

Gov. Maura Healey joined eight counterparts from other states in a new plea for federal immigration action, including funding to support states that have spent billions of dollars placing new migrant arrivals into emergency shelters.Nine governors,...

By ALISON KUZNITZ

BOSTON — Days before unveiling her fiscal year 2025 budget plan and with state tax collections weakening, Gov. Maura Healey announced her intention to boost state aid to cities and towns and give municipalities the ability to raise certain taxes.The...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Last month’s Boston Tea Party anniversary celebration was “just the tip of the iceberg” as Massachusetts prepares to leverage a series of upcoming historical anniversaries to market the state and draw in millions of tourists, the state’s top...

By MADDIE FABIAN

As the state considers the governor’s proposed $4.1 billion Affordable Homes Act, a comprehensive roadmap for affordable housing, a group of 16 western Massachusetts legislators are advocating for amendments to meet housing needs in their region.In a...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — The Healey administration’s plan to supercharge housing production with billions of dollars of investment won some degree of praise from almost every corner of the state this week, but influential voices are at odds over some of the more...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Beleaguered public transit, K-12 education, and the growing climate and clean energy technology sector would all get major boosts in state funding under Gov. Maura Healey’s vision for the year ahead.In a State of the Commonwealth speech...

By CHRIS LARABEE

Local child and family care providers are hailing the Healey-Driscoll administration’s recent boost of reimbursement rates for child care services as a “welcome change.” Last week the Board of Early Education and Care approved Gov. Maura Healey’s...

By MADDIE FABIAN

As coyotes become more active during their mating season, spanning January through March, pet owners are urged to stay vigilant.The eastern coyote — which resembles a medium-size dog, but has pointed ears and denser fur — can be found in almost every...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey will press forward in her annual state budget with major investments into early education and child care despite her administration’s own forecast of limited revenue growth.Healey announced Tuesday that she will propose...

By MICHAEL P. NORTON

Home sales across Massachusetts sank to a 12-year low in 2023, the first year in office for Gov. Maura Healey, whose road to the corner office was paved with promises to boldly tackle the state’s housing crisis.The Warren Group reported Tuesday that...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — The climate crisis is fueling a steady growth in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather, and Massachusetts cities and towns face an increasingly common conundrum trying to respond to those crises.Many of the disasters that have hit...

By STELLA TANNENBAUM

Slowly but surely — and not without opposition — age-old efforts to change images of Native Americans that many view as offensive have gained new momentum across Massachusetts, sparking conversations about history, representation and what it means to...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Senate President Karen Spilka advises to “keep your eyes peeled” for free community college funding in the Senate’s version of the fiscal year 2025 budget.Making community college free for every Massachusetts resident could cost the state...