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Keyword search: Jo Comerford

By CHRIS LISINSKI

Representatives on one legislative committee are not ready to decide whether one of the most controversial proposals on their plate should move forward early in the lawmaking term.

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

BOSTON — Franklin County residents had their voices heard on Beacon Hill this week, telling legislators that Indigenous-themed mascots should not be allowed in Massachusetts public schools.

By CHRIS LARABEE

More funding for the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) may be on the way in fiscal year 2026, as Gov. Maura Healey’s proposed budget, along with those put forward by the Senate and House of Representatives, all request more money than in FY25.

By CHRIS LARABEE

BOSTON — The state Senate’s approved fiscal year 2026 budget could bring more than $1 million in earmarks to western Massachusetts.

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

TURNERS FALLS — An equipment malfunction caused FirstLight Hydro Generating Co.’s Turners Falls dam to leak roughly 300 gallons of hydraulic fluid into the Connecticut River this week, marking the facility’s fourth such incident since 2021.

By CHRIS LARABEE

BOSTON — State Rep. Natalie Blais and Sen. Jo Comerford are urging the Healey-Driscoll administration to reform the payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) formula for state-owned land, which they say “shortchanges” rural counties, while rewarding those in urban and suburban areas.

By ALEXA LEWIS

Western Massachusetts stands to “greatly benefit” from a $1.33 billion spending plan for education and transportation that was adopted by the state Senate last week, thanks in part to a lengthy debate leading up to the vote that sought to reverse an initial proposal that Sen. Jo Comerford called “skewed” and “wildly unfair” to this region.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — Local farms losing funding for efforts to help get produce to schools and protect the environment, and the University of Massachusetts having National Institutes of Health grants stripped away are among the consequences of the Trump administration’s actions, Massachusetts Senate leaders say.

By CHRIS LARABEE

BOSTON — When flooding devastated the Pioneer Valley in summer 2023, it took an extraordinary partnership between the state, nonprofits and private individuals to quickly bring millions of dollars in aid to those affected.

By EMILEE KLEIN, ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL and DOMENIC POLI

Supporting K-12 public education, confronting climate change, and protecting health care and reproductive care are among the priorities this year for the legislative delegation representing Franklin County.

By GREG VINE

Local legislators and members of the area’s congressional delegation say Jimmy Carter, the nation’s 39th president who died Sunday at the age of 100, left a legacy of public service that will live on.In a statement issued Sunday night, U.S. Rep. Jim...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — 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...