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By JAMES BUCKSER

It’s cold in Massachusetts, and as the cost of living rises, some families will have trouble paying to keep their homes warm. One option they may not have considered is the Home Energy Assistance Program.

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey filed a supplemental spending bill Monday, seeking another $425 million from a reserve account to keep the maxed-out emergency assistance shelter program running for the next six months.Healey’s office announced in November...

By ALISON KUZNITZ and SAM DORAN

BOSTON — The three-day countdown for Beacon Hill lawmakers to comply with Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s probe of the Legislature started Monday afternoon, DiZoglio said, with her office now requesting specific records from the House and Senate.Meantime,...

By SAMUEL GELINAS

BOSTON — Pro-immigrant nonprofits, organizers, and politicians from across the state are bracing for a second Trump presidency as they seek to protect the state’s undocumented population — and a letter recently addressed to Gov. Maura Healey may give...

By BOB KATZEN

THE HOUSE AND SENATE: There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week. The 2024 legislative session ended on Jan. 1. There was a flurry of activity on Beacon Hill last week as sponsors of dozens of bills attempted to get final approval on...

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 CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Top Democrats needed a few extra months to reach agreements on major laws this session, but wrapped up business for the term with almost a day to spare and New Year’s Eve plans intact.The House and Senate adjourned their last meetings of the...

By AUSTIN CHEN

Massachusetts has long been at the forefront of providing and protecting access to reproductive health care. Its role in doing so — in a national context — will likely increase once President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.Throughout...

By MOLLIE DOYLE, AMI DEL BENEand MAEVE KEENAN HAFF

NORTHAMPTON — Becca Frank, a clinical social worker at ServiceNet in Springfield, keeps careful boundaries in place to prevent career burnout.“My phone is off at 5, which is why you couldn’t get ahold of me,” Frank says. “And then I have a...

By SAMUEL GELINAS

NORTHAMPTON — Maura Healey, reflecting midway through her first term as governor, noted the many investments she is making in the state, such as access to free college and free school lunches and breakfasts, the results of which aren’t fully known as...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

Just less than half of the roughly 3.5 million voters who cast a ballot in November’s elections here did so in person on Election Day, Secretary of State William Galvin’s office said in a new report on the roughly $8 million costs associated with the...

By ALISON KUZNITZ

Fewer people who gave birth in 2022 received adequate prenatal care compared to the prior year, and more Massachusetts residents used fertility treatment, according to a new report from the Department of Public Health.DPH’s look-back into the 68,579...

By ZICHANG LIU

For decades, Massachusetts’s adoption procedures have been a catalyst for happy endings for families across the state, including out-of-state birth parents who just want their child to be smoothly transferred to a new, welcoming home.However, within...

By COLIN A. YOUNG and SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — At the midway point of her term in office, Gov. Maura Healey said last week she’s comfortable with what she’s gotten done and is more focused on implementing what she sees as “transformational” accomplishments than on pondering her next...

By BOB KATZEN

THE HOUSE AND SENATE: There were no roll call votes in the House or Senate last week. Both branches spent most of their time in session listening to the farewell speeches of legislators who will not be returning to the Legislature next year.The...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Massachusetts school districts have to come up with new processes before the end of the school year to determine if a student has shown competency over state academic standards, as state officials face an onslaught of questions raised by...

By ZICHANG LIU

“Did you smell the barbecue smell in the air?” That was the question many Massachusetts residents frequently asked over the last two months.New England is well-known for its vibrant autumn foliage, especially this fall — when days were mostly bright...

By SAMUEL GELINAS

NORTHAMPTON — Even many in Donald Trump’s circle are unsure whether the president-elect intends to follow through on his often expansive, and some would say, hyperbolic rhetoric — the kind of exaggerated speech that heralded a “big, beautiful wall”...

By SAM DORAN

BOSTON — Lawmakers dropped the controversial idea to pursue so-called safe injection sites in a compromise addiction and substance use disorder bill they filed Tuesday after months of private negotiations.Reps. Alice Peisch and Adrian Madaro and Sen....

By Bob Katzen

THE HOUSE AND SENATE: Beacon Hill Roll Call records local representatives’ votes on roll calls from budget vetoes by Gov. Maura Healey. There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week. $3 MILLION FOR EDUCATION OF EARLY...