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By STEVE LeBLANC

BOSTON — The highest court in Massachusetts ruled Thursday to raise from 18 to 21 the minimum age at which a person can be sentenced to mandatory life without parole — a narrow 4-3 ruling that juvenile justice advocates are hailing as progress.The...

By SAM DORAN

As towns and cities see a rise in natural disasters that require greater emergency response than their local resources can support alone, two western Massachusetts lawmakers renewed their call Tuesday to divert a portion of excess capital gains tax...

By EDEN MOR

Opponents of using the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) test as a high school graduation requirement suggest there are better ways to measure student achievement, should voters get an opportunity to remove the requirement in...

By BELLA LEVAVI

The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) has released the long-awaited Climate Forestry Committee’s report, which contains a slew of recommendations for forest management practices in Massachusetts with a key focus on climate...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

After filing legal challenges in several other states to bar Donald Trump from ballot eligibility in this year’s primaries, a Massachusetts-incorporated advocacy group has now done so in its home state.Free Speech for People, a nonprofit led by...

By JAIMEE FRANCIS

Heat pumps, which use electricity rather than directly burning fossil fuel, are a key piece of Massachusetts’ goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. But the state has hit only 1% of its installation target, in large part because...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Utility regulators want to hear from Massachusetts residents who grapple each month to make choices between paying utility bills and covering other essential costs.The Department of Public Utilities on Thursday launched an official “inquiry”...

By MADDIE FABIAN

Editor’s note: This is the fourth and final article from the Western Massachusetts Solar Forum series. The first three forums took place in September, and another series of forums is in the works for this spring. AMHERST — Most experts agree solar...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

A permanent disaster relief fund to assist farmers devastated by acts of nature, and providing farmers more flexibility for using their properties once they are protected in the Agricultural Preservation Restriction program, are among the bills the...

By MADDIE FABIAN

Ask almost any conservationist about an Endangered Species Act (ESA) success story and they will tell you about the bald eagle.“Growing up, I would have never seen a bald eagle in western Massachusetts,” said Jeff Collins, senior director of...

By DON STEWART

As an inquisitive boy growing up in Amsterdam, he kept a menagerie of snails and toads and other small woodland fauna in his room, populating the glass terrariums he’d filled with mosses and ferns. Influenced by one uncle, an architect, and two others...

By EMILY THURLOW

A woman dressed in pajamas walks into a Cottage Street bar and challenges a random stranger to an arm-wrestling match.The circumstances sound like the set-up of a joke. It’s not.The woman is Rose Lynch of Easthampton, and over the next few weeks...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — A Bernardston woman is starting 2024 with a nest egg after winning $1 million on a Massachusetts State Lottery ticket she bought at the Greenfield Lodge of Elks 1296 on Christmas Eve.Vicki Sumner purchased a Billion Dollar Extravaganza...

By MARY BYRNE

GREENFIELD — A Greenfield Community College professor is one of three Massachusetts educators featured in a new television ad urging lawmakers to pass the CHERISH Act, which seeks to provide a more affordable path to a college degree for students and...

By BELLA LEVAVI

HAWLEY — The efforts behind the creation of the town’s new website are being recognized as the nonprofit Massachusetts Municipal Association has deemed Hawley to have the best website for a Massachusetts town with fewer than 5,000 residents.The new...

By SAM DRYSDALE AND CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Her first year in office is winding down, and Gov. Maura Healey is enthusiastic to point out where she thinks she has succeeded: signing into law a billion-dollar tax relief package, overseeing a hiring blitz at the MBTA, and creating a...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Massachusetts will fail to hit a major emissions reduction requirement in 2030 unless Beacon Hill passes significant legislation to accelerate progress, leaders of a top advocacy group warned this week.As plans begin to take shape for the...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren threw her weight behind Gov. Maura Healey’s housing plan this week, and said the federal government will need to “step up” to help the state address its housing affordability and availability crisis.As many as...

By ALISON KUZNITZ

BOSTON — Seeking to remove more barriers to voting, the House approved legislation last week allowing employees to take paid time off on Election Day to cast their ballots in person.Without discussion, lawmakers passed the bill (H 4217) during an...

By SHEL HOROWITZ

Remember when the previous administration tore babies and children from their families’ arms and locked them in little cages? Bad news: Republicans in Congress and far-right activists, including that former president, are heating up even worse...