Two years ago, Massachusetts lawmakers passed "an act modernizing firearm laws." The bill was extensive, and it took aim at everything from ghost guns to devices that arguably convert semi-automatic firearms into automatic machine guns. Now, though, voters have a chance to shoot it down. Ballot Question 9 is a referendum on the law, which critics have been calling overkill that overly burdens firearm owners. Advocates, meanwhile, argue the bill modernizes aging gun laws for a new era, while better protecting residents in a state with one of the lowest firearm death rates in the country.

The Massachusetts Health and Human Services secretary was in Pittsfield on Wednesday to hear from healthcare providers about the community’s needs. As WAMC Berkshire Bureau Chief Josh Landes reports, they had a lot to tell him.

A Connecticut woman is facing a slew of charges after she allegedly crashed into a Vermont State Police cruiser while evading law enforcement early Sunday morning.

The top candidates for Massachusetts governor — Democratic incumbent Maura Healey and Republican Mike Minogue — faced off for their first debate Thursday night at Boston television station WBZ CBS Boston. But Western Massachusetts made more than one appearance. WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief James Paleologopoulos broke down the debate on Northeast Notebook Live with WAMC's Sam Dingman and Annie Bennett.

A month after a “cyber incident” forced Springfield Public Schools to close for four days, the district says it’s still on the mend, but making progress.That being said, the number of people who may have had their records compromised is growing.

Voters in Franklin County, Massachusetts, have approved funding for a new technical school building. At the same time, an effort to combine two regional school districts fell short.

Over the weekend, hundreds of members of the Wisconsin-based Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican community made the long trek east to hold a powwow in Lenox, Massachusetts. As WAMC Berkshire Bureau Chief Josh Landes reports, the ongoing return to ancestral homelands comes after centuries of painful waiting.

On Tuesday, Oct. 6, residents in 19 Western Massachusetts towns will decide whether to fund a new home for the county’s vocational technical school.

This week, six towns in rural western Massachusetts will decide whether to merge two regional school districts — citing growing costs and declining enrollment.

In June, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced opioid overdose-related deaths in the Commonwealth had fallen below 1,000 for the first time since 2013. Citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an annual death toll that had risen to almost 2,400 in 2022 was tallied at 978 in 2025. WAMC's Berkshire Bureau Chief Josh Landes visited a Pittsfield support center recently and found a more complicated picture of how addiction is impacting Massachusetts.