Politics

Colin A. Young State House News Service Nearly 1.5 million people in Massachusetts are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and almost 3 million vaccine doses have been administered here, but a potentially more contagious mutant form of the virus first identified in Brazil is now spreading through the state. The …

The following was posted to New Bedford Mayor John Mitchell’s Facebook page: “Since I took office nine years ago, I’ve had a standing weekly appearance on WBSM, in which I take questions from the host and the listening audience about the issues facing the city and region. For the last …

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and FEMA announce today a partnership to expand access to the COVID-19 vaccine by bringing 6,000 federal doses daily to the Hynes Convention Center vaccination site, for a total of 7,000 doses per day when combined with the state’s current allocation. This Community Vaccination Center (CVC) …

Colin A. Young State House News Service Citing powers it can use when the president declares a disaster, the Department of Revenue on Friday unilaterally moved the Massachusetts tax filing deadline to conform with the postponed federal deadline of May 17. DOR said Massachusetts individual personal income tax returns and …

By Matt Murphy State House News Service In an escalating battle over vaccinations and a full-time return to the classroom, Gov. Charlie Baker and the state’s largest teachers’ unions butted heads Thursday over the unions’ request to allow teachers to be vaccinated in schools, with the administration refusing to divert …

By Colin A. Young State House News Service The state’s cybersecurity chief warned municipal leaders of a high-risk threat to a common email system over the weekend as federal officials urge businesses and governments to protect themselves against what the White House said is “a significant vulnerability that could have …

Michael P. Norton State House News Service Legislative Democrats this session have been touting rules reforms to boost transparency but they’ve also shown an early aversion to holding public hearings on key bills before passing them. The omnibus carbon emissions and energy bill (S 9) whisked to Gov. Charlie Baker’s …

By Colin A. Young State House News Service For some people, Massachusetts is well behind the pack and cannot legalize sports wagering soon enough. But others say lawmakers should pump the brakes, learn from research conducted in mature gambling markets and take the time to ensure that as many of …

Colin A. Young State House News Service More than 44,000 employees from 107 municipal governments and public school systems across Massachusetts will be trained to better defend their organizations from cyber threats as part of the state’s Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Grant Program. “Cyber threats continue to evolve, making cyber awareness …

The Baker-Polito Administration today announced $4.9 million in grants awarded to six agencies, including hospitals and treatment and behavioral health centers, for the creation of evidence-based and data-driven co-occurring substance use disorder/mental health response teams embedded in high schools in ten communities to offer intervention and treatment services, and provide …