11:00am House Session, Informal Session

11:00am Senate Session, Informal Session

How 9 governors are handling the next coronavirus wave » Politico South Dakota has one of the highest rates of cases per capita in the entire country, according to CDC data — a fact Noem didn’t acknowledge in a press conference last week. It’s one of just seve…

The Legislature’s ‘black box’ committees » Commonwealth Magazine Bills dealing with police reform, transportation funding, health care, and economic development went into conference committees in July. A climate change conference committee was appointed in early Au…

A database of 10 years of Boston Police disciplinary action » Boston Globe The City of Boston does not provide a comprehensive, transparent system that allows residents to keep tabs on its police. So, the Globe decided to amass public records, cross reference the data, and c…

Rep. Katherine Clark On Her New Role, What Lies Ahead For Congress, And Divided Democrats » WGBH When Rep. Katherine Clark was elected Assistant Speaker of the House last week, she became the second most-powerful Democratic woman ever in Congress.…

Trump Races to Weaken Environmental and Worker Protections, and Implement Other Last-Minute Policies, Before Jan. 20 » ProPublica The Trump administration is rushing to approve dozens of eleventh-hour policy changes. Among them: The Justice Department is fast-tracking a rule that could reintroduce firing squads and electrocution…

NJ: Christie’s attempt to talk Trump off the ledge » NJ.com At a moment when most Republican leaders are disgracing themselves by supporting Trump as he spreads his poison, or remaining as silent as scared mice, our former governor is speaking with characteris…

FL: Marco Rubio Gets Ripped For Criticizing Biden’s ‘Ivy League’ Foreign Policy Team » HUFFPOST Rubio’s dig also ignores the notable fact that Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be the first U.S. president and vice president in 40 years to not have Ivy League degrees themselves.…

What if Trump won’t leave the White House? A hostage negotiator, an animal-control officer, and a toddler whisperer have advice » Boston Globe Give him a five-minute warning, use food as a lure, remind him he has something to live for.…

‘I’ve never seen anything like this kind of need’: Food pantries struggle to keep up with surge in demand » Boston Globe With so many unemployed, sick, or otherwise in need as a result of the pandemic, the calls for help have grown so much that food pantries have struggled to keep pace.…

Long Search For OCPF Chief Likely to Spill Into 2021 » State House News Service The finalists to become the next director of the OCPF were House counsel James Kennedy, Woburn City Clerk William Campbell, OCPF Director of Communications and Education Jason Tait, OCPF Director of A…

Staffing, not beds, is biggest threat for hospitals as Covid-19 admissions skyrocket » BuffaloNews He pointed out that both the Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic Midwest facilities have recently each reported more than 900 staffers out with Covid-19.…

COVID Can’t Stop a 277-Year-Old Town Hall Tradition » Governing The citizens of Pelham, Mass., filed into their new meeting house for the first time on April 19, 1743. They have continued to do so, at least once annually, uninterrupted, for the next 277 years. Sti…

Trump vows he’s not giving up fight, but allows transition to proceed » Boston Herald President Trump insisted Tuesday that he is not giving up his fight to overturn the election results, but across the federal government, preparations were beginning in earnest to support President-ele…

‘America is back’: Biden pushes past Trump era with nominees » Boston Herald Declaring “America is back,” President-elect Joe Biden introduced his national security team on Tuesday, his first substantive offering of how he’ll shift from Trump-era “America First” poli…

Opinion: Will Biden bail out ‘George Washington of Kosovo’? » Boston Herald The man Joe Biden once hailed as “the George Washington of Kosovo” now sits in a detention cell in The Hague charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.…

Howie Carr: Jet-setting John Kerry will no doubt burn up the miles as climate czar » Boston Herald For John Forbes Kerry, it’s all about the plane. Like Tattoo on Fantasy Island, Liveshot looks to the sky, sees the jet and begins ringing the bell and yelling, “De plane! De plane!”…

Biden Says It Would Be 'Difficult' To Lose Sanders Or Warren From Senate For Admin. » WGBH Looking ahead to his remaining administration appointments, President-elect Joe Biden says he is open to including Republicans as well as progressive former rivals Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth W…

Opinion: The Iran nuclear deal is dead. Let it stay that way » Boston Globe Americans always had their doubts about the Iran nuclear deal.…

Trump is said to plan pardon of former national security adviser Michael Flynn » Boston Globe President Donald Trump has told aides that he plans to issue a pardon to his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, according to a person familiar with the discussions.…

Biden’s national security team offers a sharp turn. But in which direction? » Boston Globe President-elect Joe Biden formally introduced a national security team on Tuesday custom-designed to repudiate President Donald Trump’s nationalistic isolationism.…

Opinion: Biden takes his cue from Muhammad Ali as he copes with a dope » Boston Globe Reality has finally penetrated the fortified redoubts of the Trump kakistocracy. On Monday, Emily Murphy, Trump’s undistinguished head of the General Services Administration, finally declared Joe Bi…

As threats of second restaurant shutdown loom in Massachusetts, owners push back at ‘bad policy’ » Boston Herald Restaurant owners are fighting back against misinformation and “bad policy” as a surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations threatens to trigger a second restaurant shutdown — something the…

Boston Sports Club Disregarded Consumer Laws, Suit Alleges » State House News Service Boston Sports Clubs gyms showed "total disregard" for members during the COVID-19 pandemic by continuing to charge fees to customers who tried to cancel, Attorney General Maura Healey alleged Tuesday …

It may look more crowded at the supermarket, but stores say they’re still playing it safe » Boston Globe Early on in the pandemic, many people went grocery shopping as infrequently as possible, lining up outside stores on a mission to stock up like they were preparing for the apocalypse. Workers, meanwhi…

Retailers Scramble To Fill Early Demand For Christmas Trees » WGBH On 112 acres of rolling hills in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, Dan Pierce and his wife grow thousands of Fraser firs, balsam firs and blue spruces. He expects to sell more 2,000 of them this Christmas sea…

AG Maura Healey Sues Boston Sports Clubs For Charging Members During Pandemic » CBS Boston Attorney General Maura Healey Office’s announced Tuesday that it would be suing Boston Sports Clubs for the way it treated members during the coronavirus pandemic. All BSC locations closed on March …

Easthampton eyes zone change for marijuana complex » Gazette Net The city is considering amending its bylaws to allow for marijuana cultivation and manufacturing in new buildings in the highway business district, a change being floated at the request of a developer…

State Looks to Put MCAS Back on Track in Pandemic » State House News Service State officials are exploring the possibility of administering some MCAS tests in a take-home format in the spring and are looking into options for exams scheduled for this winter, Elementary and Seco…

Massachusetts education officials considering at-home MCAS testing in the spring during COVID pandemic » The Republican With the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System scheduled to be administered this winter and spring during the coronavirus pandemic, one teacher said it will be a “logistical nightmare” for…

'Weirdly Empty, But Also It Feels The Same': Inside A High School In A High-Risk Community » WBUR It's been more than two months since students at New Bedford Public Schools began returning to school buildings for in-person classes.…

State: Public School Enrollment Dropped By 37,000 » State House News Service About 37,000 fewer students are enrolled in Massachusetts schools this year, representing a steep decline that far exceeds the usual churn, though the stat…

Brookline lost 11% of its student population » Commonwealth Magazine MASSACHUSETTS school districts lost 3.9 percent of their students this year, amid a pandemic-related public school exodus, but those students are not spread evenly across the state. The districts that…

HCC eyes pay cuts for adjunct faculty » Gazette Net Adjunct faculty members at Holyoke Community College could soon receive lower pay for classes that do not have at least 12 students enrolled, though a faculty and professional staff union is urging th…

Gov. Baker putting more pressure on Massachusetts schools to reopen » WCVB The governor of Massachusetts and a top pediatrician in the state are making the case that children should be learning in person, despite a rise in COVID-19 cases.…

Prodded by Racial Reckoning, Colleges Aim To Increase Minority Contracting. Will They Succeed? » WGBH As the first chief procurement officer of the University of Massachusetts, David Cho centralized spending across the system's five campuses, giving him the opportunity to analyze the diversity of its …

Enrollment in Massachusetts public schools has dropped by 37,000 students during COVID pandemic; more than half of students now ‘high needs’ » The Republican Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, schools in Massachusetts have seen a decline in enrollment by more than 37,000 students, education officials said Tuesday.…

Harvard gets its first Black, elected student body president » Boston Globe A 20-year-old from Mississippi has become the first Black, elected student body president at Harvard University. Noah Harris, of Hattiesburg, was elected president of Harvard’s Undergraduate Council…

Gordon W. Mitchell School’s Tori Cameron named Massachusetts STEM Teacher of the Year » Wicked Local Gordon W. Mitchell School’s Tori Cameron was named the Patriots Hall of Fame presented by Raytheon Technologies Massachusetts STEM Teacher of the Year.…

Public school enrollment plummets statewide amid coronavirus pandemic » Boston Globe Public school enrollment across Massachusetts dropped by nearly 4 percent this fall, a significant decrease that largely reflects a wave of families who have pulled their children out of public school…

Back-to-Back Earthquakes Are a Reminder: Massachusetts Is on Shaky Ground » Boston Magazine If you’re the average Massachusetts resident, earthquakes are probably about the millionth thing on your mind—especially, you know, right now. But after a pair of them shook the South Shore this m…

Who will get the first coronavirus shots? » Boston Globe A panel of experts that advises the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is pondering a recommendation that health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities get coronavirus vacc…

Nurses’ union: Healthcare workers still ‘exhausted and traumatized’ from first surge » Boston.com With the second surge of COVID-19 bearing down on Massachusetts, the largest nurses’ union in the state, representing thousands of nurses and healthcare workers, has voiced concern over workers bein…

'At Home in Pittsfield' loan program overcomes earlier City Council opposition » Berkshire Eagle Nearly two years after she proposed it, Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer won support Tuesday for a plan to help residents fix up the outsides of their homes through use of potentially forgivable loans.…

Planned residential development in Dracut gets boost » Lowell Sun A proposed 60-unit apartment complex for low-to-moderate income seniors is one step closer to reality thanks to a grant from the state’s MassWorks Infrastructure Grant Program.…

‘I’ve never seen anything like this kind of need’: Food pantries struggle to keep up with surge in demand » Boston Globe They’ve come in heavy rain and waited in long lines in the morning cold, some in tears, sharing stories of desperation, of lost jobs, sick relatives, empty bank accounts, a pervading sense of hopele…

Emergency homeless shelter to open at First Churches of Northampton » Gazette Net Two days before Thanksgiving, the Rev. Todd Weir, co-pastor at First Churches of Northampton, was sitting near the altar in his church, talking about people in the city with no place to sleep.…

'We've Never Seen These Orders Issued Before': New Deadlines In Immigration Court Have Attorneys Scrambling » WBUR Immigration attorneys in Boston say new filing deadlines could, in some cases, mean the difference between their clients being able to stay in the U.S. or being ordered removed from the country.…

MassHealth Enrollment Up, Private Insurance Down In Pandemic » WBUR The number of people with MassHealth as their primary health insurance grew by about 10% from March through September, a spike a state agency attributes largely to federal COVID-19 legislation.…

US jobless claims increase to 778,000 ahead of Thanksgiving as the pandemic worsens » Boston Globe The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose last week to 778,000 as a rise in coronavirus cases continues to take a toll on the economy’s recovery from the pandemic.…

'I Have To Risk It': Working At Logan Airport Amid A Growing Outbreak » WBUR For most people, Boston Logan International Airport is a place you pass through — a temporary stop on the way to some other destination, like a Thanksgiving family gathering.…

Sen. Ed Markey pledges to fight for better severance packages, protections for laid off Boston Marriott Copley workers » The Republican Sen. Ed Markey on Tuesday pledged to fight for laid off workers of Boston Marriott Copley Place, arguing employees have been left in the cold with sudden terminations, no insurance and unexpectedly re…

Lelling To Hire Unemployment Insurance Fraud Prosecutor » WBUR A day after Gov. Charlie Baker spoke about the "tremendous amount of sort of bot-based fraud going on around [unemployment insurance]," U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling announced that his office has been …

Oliveira Set to Join Legislature After Harrington Drops Recount » State House News Service The last outstanding Massachusetts legislative race came to a full close last week when Republican candidate James "Chip" Harrington dropped his recount push.…

Mayor encourages Taunton residents to shop locally on Small Business Weekend » Taunton Gazette Mayor Shaunna O'Connell encourages all Taunton residents to show their support for small businesses by shopping locally on Small Business Weekend, Nov. 28 and 29.…

Property tax bills may increase $127 for average Brockton homeowner next year » The Enterprise It's never easy to hear about property taxes going up, as they usually do each year in Brockton. But this time, amid a coronavirus pandemic that has crippled some industries and has led to high unempl…

Lowell City Council pledges action in wake of fatal fire » Lowell Sun The Lowell fire engine stationed closest to an early Thursday morning fire on Market Street that claimed a man’s life was out of service at the time — potentially delaying firefighters’ efforts …

In Northampton, fifth graders lobby for consistent use of ‘Indigenous Peoples Day’ by city » Gazette Net “People always say that Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas and how he was a hero and gave us this land,” one Jackson Street School fifth grader wrote in a recent letter to the city.…

Baker Bill Authorizes Mail-In, Early Voting in Newton » State House News Service Offering another vote of confidence in new voting options, Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday filed a bill to let the city of Newton use mail-in, early and expanded absentee voting next year.…

State Senate Agrees to Sen. DiZoglio Amendment for $200,000 for Methuen Youth Center » WHAV The state Senate has agreed to put $200,000 in the current state budget toward a Methuen Youth and Community Center.…

Poll shows Republicans favor Donald Trump over 2024 primary contenders, including Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker » The Republican President Donald Trump, who is reportedly considering another White House run in 2024, would command a majority of Republican support according to an early poll that included Massachusetts Gov. Charli…

Trump made gains in urban areas of Mass. » Commonwealth Magazine VOTING TRENDS THAT showed shifts in heavily Hispanic communities in Massachusetts toward President Trump in this month’s election are also apparent in other urban areas, including huge swaths of Bos…

Suffolk Law alumnus hopes to become first blind city councilor in Boston » The Suffolk Journal Suffolk Law alumnus and advisor to Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Alex Gray, is running to become the city’s first city councilor who is blind.…

Williams prof disavows own finding of mishandled GOP ballots » Berkshire Eagle A Williams College professor has apologized for a “lack of clarity and due diligence” after his statistical analysis of Pennsylvania mail-in votes was used by conservative lawmakers to push unsubs…

Millions travel for Thanksgiving despite coronavirus, leaving public health experts ‘stunned’ » Boston Herald Tens of millions of Americans are ignoring the advice of public health experts and plan to travel for Thanksgiving, according to the latest updates.…

975 Doses Per Delivery, And Other Coronavirus Vaccine Details For Massachusetts Hospitals » WBUR Doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, the first expected to gain federal approval, could arrive in Massachusetts in mid to late December.…

Mass. reports 2,225 new confirmed coronavirus cases, 20 new deaths » Boston Globe The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Massachusetts rose by 2,225 Tuesday, the state reported. It was the second day in a row that the daily case tally didn’t keep up with the recent pace of …

Tobacco-Free Generation: Brookline passes new restriction aiming to phase out tobacco sales to young smokers » Boston.com Brookline has long been a trailblazer in implementing tobacco bans, increasing restrictions, and pushing for tobacco-free policies in Massachusetts.…

Americans advised to remain cautious even with expected arrival of COVID-19 vaccines » WHDH Despite the expected arrival of COVID-19 vaccines in just a few weeks, health experts say the world is not in the clear yet as they express worry about a potential rise in cases following Thanksgiving…

Study: Lax behaviors of Mass. residents has contributed to second COVID-19 wave » Boston.com As Massachusetts enters the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s one factor that could either help or hurt the spread of cases within the next few weeks: human behavior.…

The Checkup: Tuesday brings 82 new cases in Berkshires; five-day tally is 177 » Berkshire Eagle Berkshire County continues to rack up new confirmed cases, adding 82 on Tuesday. The numbers pushed the total case count since the start of the pandemic to 1,359; the death toll was steady at 52, the …

'Spending time indoors is how virus spreads,' Baker warns ahead of holiday » WCVB Demand for COVID-19 testing continues to grow in the final days before the Thanksgiving holiday, and that is prompting growing concern from state leaders.…

Mass. Reports 2,225 New Coronavirus Cases, 20 More Deaths » NBC Boston There have now been 10,319 confirmed deaths and 204,060 cases, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Another 232 deaths are considered probably linked to COVID-19.…

Attleboro firefighters demonstrate outside City Hall annex over COVID coverage » The Sun Chronicle City firefighters demonstrated Tuesday night in front of the City Hall annex to protest Mayor Paul Heroux’s policy regarding coverage for department personnel who have contracted COVID-19.…

Massachusetts police ‘cautiously optimistic’ that Thanksgiving eve won’t have normal widespread drunken-driving issues » Boston Herald Police are “cautiously optimistic” that Thanksgiving eve, which is usually one of the biggest drinking and drunken driving nights of the year, will be quieter in what would be a rare silver lining…

17% of prisoners at MCI-Shirley have COVID-19 » Commonwealth Magazine THE NUMBER of COVID-19 cases at the medium security state prison in Shirley spiked from five just two weeks ago to 142 as of Tuesday, according to the Department of Correction.…

Massachusetts State Trooper Shooting Should Wake Us Up [OPINION] » WBSM The vacation town of Hyannis on Cape Cod was the site of the attempted murder of a police officer. Thankfully, the state trooper will survive the assassination attempt and, according to the Massachuse…

In lawsuit, public defenders say Springfield is stonewalling requests for police misconduct records » The Republican Massachusetts public defenders are asking the courts to force the city to turn over internal police records regarding a number of officers accused of misconduct or civil rights abuses in recent years.…

Gov. Baker names Sullivan to MBTA fiscal board, Lang to MassDOT board » Progressive Railroading Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker yesterday appointed Tim Sullivan to serve on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) Fiscal and Management Control Board (FMCB), and current FMCB mem…

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GBH News Rep. Katherine Clark On Pres. Trump Allowing Transition To Proceed While Still Refusing To Concede WCVB Channel 5 Boston Gov. Baker putting more pressure on Massachusetts schools to reopen

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