Government & Politics

Department of Mental Health case managers continue to face job uncertainty, after budget negotiators opted against explicitly staving off the massive layoffs that Gov. Maura Healey had proposed in January.

As Central Massachusetts grapples with an ongoing mental health crisis, nine Worcester County organizations have split nearly $1.5 million in state funding to make the road to becoming a behavioral health clinician more accessible for the area’s student population.  

The House budget committee polled its members Monday morning on a $7.5 billion interim budget (H 4237) to pay the state's bills and fund accounts while Gov. Maura Healey takes her constitutionally allotted time to review the annual budget they're planning to deliver to her desk later in the day.

Driven by a passion for their own pets, Steve and Greta Hager opened Dogtopia of North Worcester after relocating from Texas.

The DPH has stated the Worcester healthcare system violated a regulatory requirement with its rushed closure, yet the regulators have denied the union's request to hold a public hearing.  

The state-level protections come as congressional Republicans advance a reconciliation bill that could reduce abortion care access across the country.

Many of the reforms -- some of which have been already embraced on a more informal basis in recent months -- are in part inspired by the chaotic end to last session as well as the heightened pressure on the House and Senate amid Auditor Diana DiZoglio's voter-backed campaign to probe their operations.

As turmoil engulfed a federal vaccine advisory panel earlier this month, Massachusetts Department of Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein urged his own set of advisors to stay open-minded while also hinting at the possibility of disentangling state policy from the Trump administration.

In his order, Carter outlined the difficult life circumstances many Job Corps students are attempting to overcome as they work to gain skills in industries like construction and manufacturing.

Labor unions rallied at the State House on Tuesday against legislation that would usher driverless cars into Massachusetts as industry voices touted the vehicles' safety and efficiency just hours later.