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By GREG VINE

ATHOL – Members of the Energy Committee met Tuesday afternoon with Paul DeMaria and Joseph Duquette, representatives of Worcester-based Commonwealth Electrical Technologies, to discuss the installation of new electric vehicle charging stations.

By COLIN A. YOUNG

Gov. Maura Healey announced a plan Tuesday to pump at least $2.5 billion into facilities at the University of Massachusetts, state universities and community colleges by the middle of the 2030s.

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON – As enrollment at community colleges booms under the state’s new free tuition program, the faculty that teach and support the burgeoning population are asking for their first wage equity adjustment in 25 years.

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — The opioid epidemic has affected tens of thousands of people across Massachusetts, and later this year, vehicles on the state’s roads will be able to offer reminders that survivors and grieving families are all around us.

By SYDNEY TOPF

Rosa Hernandez-O’Neil was surrounded by early educators growing up. Her mother ran a child care center in their home and her sisters all worked in the field. So, at 16 years old, Hernandez-O’Neil decided she wanted to join the family business as a teacher’s assistant.

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON – The state’s top education official pledged Tuesday that Massachusetts schools would protect transgender students, even after a federal judge scrapped President Joe Biden’s expanded Title IX protections of LGBTQ students the previous week.

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Drawing from Massachusetts history while also peeking into the future, Gov. Maura Healey on Thursday night took stock of the state’s strengths and challenges in a speech that focused more on following through on past work than on announcing new initiatives.

By JANE KAUFMAN

It looks so benign.

By SAM DRYSDALE

Gov. Maura Healey on Friday discussed an interest in realigning the state’s right-to-shelter law “with its original intent,” opening up a possible area of debate in talks over her shelter spending bill.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

A new bill signed by Gov. Maura Healey on Thursday will ban the practice of declawing cats in Massachusetts, a victory for animal rights activists who view declawing as inhumane.

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Massachusetts has the second-highest family health insurance premiums in the country, according to the Health Policy Commission, and the state Division of Insurance is investigating medical inflation as average premium rates across the individual and small group markets increased by 7.9% over the course of 2024.

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 glimpses into the reality of challenges ahead, which may include lawsuits and jail time for those disregarding federal immigration laws.

By ALISON KUZNITZ

BOSTON – Auditor Diana DiZoglio is returning to old fights in the new year, including reforming the use of non-disclosure agreements in state government, potentially suing the Legislature for defying a new voter law, and accusing top Democrats of retaliation by cutting her office’s role on a health care board.

By MOLLIE DOYLE, AMI DEL BENEand MAEVE KEENAN HAFF

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 life.”Social workers are...

By ALISON KUZNITZ

Concerned about negative public perception of the Legislature, House Speaker Ron Mariano pledged Wednesday at the start of the new session that his chamber will consider a “number of rules reforms” in February.He also warned his colleagues the state...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON – Senate President Karen Spilka won another term leading the chamber with no speedbumps Wednesday and quickly set her sights on a combination of new and old priorities.During her inaugural speech, a newly reelected Spilka previewed some of her...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Expectant mothers prescribed medication for substance use disorders can seek prenatal care without risk of being reported to the state’s Department of Children and Families, under the omnibus opioid bill signed into law this week.That key provision...

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 CHRIS LISINSKI

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 2023-2024...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

Democrats who have been negotiating separate health care industry oversight and pharmaceutical drug reform bills for months announced Friday night that they resolved their differences and plan to put the bills up for votes next week in the final days...