James Paleologopoulos

A special collaboration in Western Massachusetts is giving college students valuable work experience while providing housing for a couple in Holyoke.

Residents and housing advocates from western Massachusetts took a trip to Beacon Hill this week, looking to make their voices heard on housing issues in the Pioneer Valley. Before taking the trip, some spoke with WAMC.

A suspect shot by police after he allegedly pulled a gun and fired it at the Holyoke Mall was arraigned this week, all while activity at the shopping center resumes with an increased police presence.

Wednesday, July 30, marks 60 years since Medicaid and Medicare were signed into law – major amendments to the Social Security Act of 1935. A Massachusetts congressman is using the anniversary to call for undoing cuts to Medicaid recently signed into law by President Trump.

A shopping center in Holyoke, Mass. was evacuated Friday night after a shooting left a juvenile suspect wounded.

Some two years after a school guidance counselor in Amherst, Mass., was ousted amid transphobia accusations, an arbitrator has ruled she must be reinstated. Community members upset by the ruling made their voices heard this week.

Multiple state lawmakers in Massachusetts are looking to ramp up regulations on drones, claiming limited federal rules leave state airfields and schools vulnerable. A half dozen bills dealing with drones got a hearing this week – bills that give pause to drone-flying professionals.

In the world of tech startups, crafting a pitch to investors can be as intense and crucial as coming up with a product to begin with. The stakes are high and much-needed capital is on the line. It’s the sort of thing where practice can make all of the different – that’s what groups of college students recently got plenty of in western Massachusetts.

Massachusetts lawmakers are once again pushing bills to protect books and librarians in the face of ongoing “book challenges.” The bills have previously gone before committees and fell short, but as advocates point out, changes in Washington and Supreme Court decisions bring new urgency.

Throughout the opioid epidemic, Western Massachusetts has long been one of the hardest hit regions in the state, with Hampden County having one of the highest opioid overdose rates in the commonwealth. Numbers are still high, but local officials are reporting progress and touting a special team that’s been making inroads.