New England News

Congressman Joe Kennedy campaigned in Pittsfield, Massachusetts this morning in his Democratic primary battle against incumbent Senator Ed Markey.

The largest school district in western Massachusetts will hold a virtual town hall about back-to-school plans. 

Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey campaigned in Berkshire County Friday as he looks to defend his seat against Congressman Joe Kennedy in the September 1st Democratic primary.

The Burlington Police Department has released an arrest data report that shows racial disparities continuing. Black people were arrested in Vermont’s largest city nearly four times more often than white people last year.

This week, Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington announced that she is instating a formal Brady disclosure policy for her office. The new guidelines will establish how prosecutors turn over exculpatory evidence favorable to the accused over to the defense. It also creates a team to review the process, as well as requesting that county law enforcement provide findings of bias and racial profiling, and more. Harrington tells WAMC that the new policy is meant to increase her office’s transparency and strengthen community faith in the criminal justice system.

    A barbershop, a diner, and an auto shop are among 13 small businesses in the Indian Orchard neighborhood of Springfield, Massachusetts to receive some financial help this week to recover from the pandemic-induced shutdowns.

People in Massachusetts who have not yet responded to the 2020 U.S. Census could soon get a knock on their door.

When the coronavirus pandemic forced colleges to close and send students home, the University of Vermont asked:  Who would take care of the school’s herd of dairy cows that had been tended to by students?

A new report finds that Black people were arrested in Burlington nearly four times more often than white people last year.

Vermont is reporting its first new death from the coronavirus in 43 days.

The Vermont State College system faces a budget shortfall that could run between $30 and $46 million dollars in fiscal year 2021.  The Vermont Senate Pro Tem met this week with officials of the college system, which has 20 locations in 13 of the state’s 14 counties, for an update on actions being taken to address its future.

The North Adams, Massachusetts city council is preparing to fill the seat of former councilor Robert Moulton, who resigned this week after making inflammatory comments about Black Lives Matter and COVID-19.

A congressional committee examining oversight of state veterans’ homes during the pandemic heard today from a former superintendent of the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home—site of one of the deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks in the country.

Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse, who is challenging Congressman Richard Neal in the Democratic primary in the 1st Massachusetts House district, spoke in Berkshire County Tuesday. Morse is opposing a cleanup plan mediated between communities along the Housatonic River and General Electric by the EPA. The plan, announced in February, will be the latest cleanup effort on the waterway and a 13-year, multimillion dollar undertaking. GE dumped chemicals into the river for decades from a Pittsfield plant in the mid-20th century. Neal supports the plan. Morse tells WAMC why he’s joining locals in protesting the creation of a new landfill for hazardous chemicals in the county.

     The hard-hit tourism industry in western Massachusetts is getting a $250,000 boost.

During Vermont’s regular COVID-19 update today, Governor Phil Scott announced that he will delay the opening of schools to September 8th so that school districts have time to implement fall plans.

Mayor Miro Weinberger has sent a default letter to the developers of a stalled redevelopment project in the center of downtown Burlington, threatening legal action.

Citing the pandemic, officials in the largest city in western Massachusetts have announced a crackdown on unsanctioned events. 

Pittsfield, Massachusetts City Councilor Helen Moon is no longer an employee in the Berkshire County District Attorney’s office.

    Among the many non-profit organizations struggling financially because of the COVID-19-related shutdowns and restrictions is the Zoo at Forest Park in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The Vermont court system is studying ways to resume jury trials safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company that was providing health care to Vermont inmates when a Black inmate died in November of what the interim head of the Corrections Department said was an undiagnosed tumor in his airway said it stands by its “record of service” in Vermont.

  An outbreak of COVID-19 has occurred inside the largest hospital in western Massachusetts.

Public school superintendents around Berkshire County are working around the clock to prepare contingency plans for the fall semester.

North Adams, Massachusetts City Councilor Robert Moulton has resigned. The two-time mayoral candidate faced outcry after claiming last week that Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization and that the threat of COVID-19 has been exaggerated by politicians.

Three North Adams, Massachusetts city councilors will present a motion to censure a colleague after he described Black Lives Matter as a terrorist organization and diminished the threat of COVID-19 last week.

With high temperatures in the forecast, the Burlington, Vermont Electric Department has issued a peak alert for Monday and is asking customers to reduce energy usage.