Worcester

Municipalities want to create programs to provide cheaper, greener power for their residents, and are backing a bill to cut through regulatory red tape and would allow them to get approval more quickly and easily.

Massachusetts is going to run out of places to shelter newly arriving immigrants and other families without housing "very, very soon," leaving the one state in the country that has a legal obligation to shelter unhoused families in a position where "there is not going to be literally any room at the inn," Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said Thursday morning.

UMass Chan Medical School and UMass Lowell have received $8.9 million from the National Institutes of Health in support for their development of home care technology.

Legislation that would offer families financial assistance with the cost of early education and child care and address the stability of the industry would lead to huge increases in the percentage of young kids in such programs and would dramatically reduce the cost burden for families.

Two new faculty scientists at UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine.

The Ballpark Commission, which oversees certain aspects of Polar Park programming, will remain in place, following an 8-1 vote in favor of keeping it at a Worcester city council meeting.

A bill from Reps. Jessica Giannino and Carol Doherty (H 1882) would make it illegal for employers to engage in psychological abuse and requires them to install safeguards to ensure a safe working environment.

Ascentria Care Alliance, a Worcester human services nonprofit that operates throughout New England, has appointed Kristine Hanscom to the position of chief financial officer.

The Central Massachusetts Business Confidence Index fell into pessimistic territory in September after a positive July and August.

While the wait continues for a housing bond bill, the Healey administration's housing production vision is slowly coming into view, and it will feature more than 20 policy changes designed to drive up the state's lowest-in-the-nation vacancy rate, according to the state's housing secretary.