1+ hour, 30+ min ago (446+ words) Gov. Maura Healey on Tuesday named Tara Goodhue, a science teacher at Lowell High School, as the 2026 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. Goodhue is Lowell Public School's first teacher to win the annual award since its creation in 1960. "I am incredibly humbled and overwhelmed by this," Goodhue said. "I really attribute this honor to the fact that I teach the best students in the state." The Teacher of the Year Award is given to educators who have created a positive learning environment, built strong relationships with students and the district community and provides high quality instruction, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Goodhue was chosen from 200 nominees across the state and automatically becomes the state's candidate for the National Teacher of the Year Award. She said she credits her win to her students' help during the application…...

1+ week, 12+ hour ago (560+ words) The state is losing more workers than it's attracting, with more than 27,000 people leaving in 2024 alone, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation's latest Competitiveness Index shows. And the state ranks last in the nation in private employer growth. Businesses cite high costs of living, employer-paid healthcare costs and energy prices that run well above the national average. Arun Rath: When you look at the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation's latest data, what do you see as the clearest signs that Massachusetts is becoming less competitive? And what's fueling this decline? Doug Howgate: Well, let me take a step back. The goal of this index is not to say, "Oh, gosh. Massachusetts is no longer competitive." It's to say, "Hey, what are the areas that we think we need to focus on to make sure that people can live here, invest here and create jobs…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago (348+ words) The Thanksgiving travel rush is here and expected to be worse than ever. According to AAA, a record-high 81.8 million people across the nation are set to hit the roads for the holiday this week. In Massachusetts, transportation officials are expecting more than 1.8 million people to travel by car for Thanksgiving. MassDOT officials warned Monday morning that major throughways were already beginning to see backups " and the worst is yet to come. The agency said the largest number of travelers are expected to hit the road Tuesday. "We are projecting that 2025 traffic congestion will be heavier, it will be earlier in the day, and it will especially be heavy on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday this year," said Jonathan Gulliver, Massachusetts" undersecretary of transportation and highway administrator. Gulliver said the Massachusetts Turnpike, I-93, I-95, I-84 and State Route 3 will likely see the worst backups, and…...

3+ week, 5+ day ago (601+ words) Massachusetts officials have unveiled a new report that lays out recommendations for ways the state can protect coastal communities as sea level rise worsens. "What the plan does is it really lays out a foundation for how the state can carve out a leadership role and support and accelerate local and regional coastal resilience efforts up and down the coastline between now and the 2070s," said Deanna Moran, chief coastal resilience officer at the state's Office of Coastal Zone Management. Officials began working on the initiative in 2023, and received input from stakeholders in seaside communities along the 1,500 miles of Massachusetts coastline. Gov. Maura Healey noted that it's critical Massachusetts strengthen infrastructure now in order to prevent costly damage in the future. Officials pointed to research showing that every dollar put into resilience can yield about $13 in benefits and avoided recovery costs....

4+ week, 1+ day ago (866+ words) In Somerville, Massachusetts just outside of Boston, everyone has a horror story about the rats. Adaline Lining says they ruined Christmas for her last year. She had received a delivery of Bartlett pears. "They were on my porch for two hours," she says. "And then my neighbor texted me a picture and was like, 'You probably don't want these anymore.' No, I don't want them anymore because there were rats inside the box feasting on my Christmas pears. They are directly responsible for ruining Christmas," she says. Then there's Donine Williams who says that a couple years back, rats got under her deck, chewed through the subfloor, and nested in the insulation. "I could smell the urine and their poo," she says. "I can still smell it." And Andrew Jefferies can't un-remember the noises he heard at his last apartment....

1+ mon, 2+ day ago (732+ words) About 40 people sat in rows of chairs in a tightly packed room at Bread and Roses Community Kitchen and Food Pantry in Lawrence on Wednesday, waiting to be called up to get a box of groceries for their families. Among them was Inocencia Rosa de Jimenez, who was there to get food for herself and her two grandchildren. As she spoke in Spanish about the looming pause in federal SNAP benefits, Helen Gabin of Bread and Roses translated for her. "She is afraid of, you know, what's coming up next month," Gabin said. "She depends on those food stamps. There's nothing else. There's no other way for her to support herself. So, she's always scared about what's going to happen next month." De Jimenez said food pantries would be her only option to get by. At 41%, the city of Lawrence…...

1+ mon, 4+ day ago (438+ words) Massachusetts is the historical home of the gerrymander. A historical marker in downtown Boston commemorates the salamander-shaped district drawn in 1812 to give an advantage to then-Gov. Elbridge Gerry's political party. Today, the contours of Massachusetts' electoral districts are again in the spotlight amid unusual mid-decade redistricting efforts first in Texas and then in California. National GOP figures like former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Vice President JD Vance have been pointing to the maps in Massachusetts and saying gerrymandering is the reason the Bay State hasn't sent a Republican to Congress in decades. "There are plenty of Republicans in Massachusetts and there's plenty of people who voted for Donald Trump, but they are a minority overall in the state and they're distributed more or less evenly across the state," Brownsberger told GBH News. "Not absolutely evenly, but evenly enough that…...

1+ mon, 1+ week ago (169+ words) T-G-I-F! It's mostly sunny with some isolated showers and a high of 60. Sunset is at 5:48 p.m. It's day 24 of the federal government shutdown. All this week, we've been looking at vaccination rates across Massachusetts as part of our Connecting the Commonwealth series, Unraveling Immunity. And we asked you: what conversations have you had about vaccines in your family or community? If you haven't had a chance to respond just yet, reply to this email or send a note to [email protected] and we might include your thoughts in a future newsletter. According to the company, the specialty beer is bottled in individually numbered ceramic vessels. Described as "ruby-black in color," the new Utopias brew claims to have tasting notes of caramel, oak, dried fruit, subtle smoke and citrus. And before you offer to buy the first round, you'll want to check the…...

1+ mon, 2+ week ago (649+ words) Days after the Worcester Regional Research Bureau recommended civilian oversight of the city's police department to strengthen accountability and rebuild public trust, Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty expressed skepticism of the idea. Petty made the comments during a Worcester mayoral debate hosted by GBH News on Thursday evening. Petty's challengers, City Council Vice Chair Khrystian King and local business owner Owura Sarkodieh, both said they support creating a civilian oversight board to monitor police operations. Petty, who is currently serving his 14th term as mayor of New England's second largest city, said while he has asked for the council to discuss the recommendation at their next meeting, he has questions about how effective a civilian oversight body might be. "In the past I've voted against this because it undermines the chief of police and what he wants to do here in the…...

2+ mon, 6+ hour ago (298+ words) Sen. Edward Kennedy, a fourth-term Democrat from Lowell, has died, Senate President Karen Spilka informed senators early Thursday afternoon. He was 74. Congress told us to go fund ourselves. State Sen. Edward Kennedy of Lowell dies at 74 Sen. Edward Kennedy, a fourth-term Democrat from Lowell, has died, Senate President Karen Spilka informed senators early Thursday afternoon. He was 74. A longtime member of the Lowell City Council before he was elected in 2018 to the Massachusetts Senate, Kennedy had been serving this session as Senate chairman of the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets and Senate vice chair of the Joint Committee on Higher Education. "He was a valued member of the Senate and passionate advocate for the people of the First Middlesex district. Ed was a champion for education, environmental sustainability, cultural development and, of course, his beloved hometown…...