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By JENNIFER PEDERSON

When was the last time you visited your doctor for a regular check-up? Maybe annually, perhaps even twice a year if you’re diligent. Now, consider this: your drinking water gets checked hundreds, even thousands, of times every single month.

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — The number of antisemitic incidents reported in Massachusetts was essentially unchanged in 2024, though officials with the Anti-Defamation League said the total is “part of a troubling long-term trend” of heightened harassment, vandalism and assault.

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — While Senate Democrats do not have much legislative action ready to launch in response to President Donald Trump, they spent more than two hours Monday ripping into the administration’s immigration crackdown and warning about damage to the rule of law.

By ADITI THUBE

Mike Kennealy didn’t grow up dreaming of politics as a child of middle-class parents in Reading. His father was a steelworker and his mother was a homemaker. From them, he inherited an understanding of the value of hard work and a deep belief in fairness.

By CHINANU OKOLI

Local brewers and farmers market owners range from enthusiastic to disappointed to indifferent to the state’s new provision allowing brewers to sell beer and other craft beverages at farmers markets, fairs and other agricultural events.

By SAMUEL GELINAS

BOSTON — Eight months after she started working in a Holyoke marijuana cultivation facility in 2021, 27-year-old Lorna McMurrey died from an asthma attack after inhaling ground cannabis dust — a death that drew national attention as it was the first to be traced to dust and mold deposits found within marijuana workspaces.

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Senate Democrats announced a bill Monday morning intended to shield reproductive and transgender care in Massachusetts from out-of-state threats, saying it was part of the response effort to the Trump administration.

By ELLA ADAMS

BOSTON — As National Institutes of Health funding cuts loom over research institutions and the overarching outlook for the system of higher education falters under Trump administration actions, industry leaders are attempting to raise alarm and steady the sector’s footing.

By CLAIRE O’CALLAHAN

Visitors and residents alike treasure western Massachusetts for its expansive and undisturbed nature that offers peaceful hikes along forest trails, breathtaking views and the chance to observe wildlife in its natural habitat.

By U.S. SEN. EDWARD J. MARKEY

Western Massachusetts farmers are used to facing and overcoming challenges — from late frosts and damaging storms to droughts and soil erosion, and more. What they’re not accustomed to is the president of the United States standing in their way of earning a living and bolstering our local economies.

By ANDREW MOREHOUSE and CHARLOTTE BONEY

The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts recently received troubling news: the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has canceled a portion of its food deliveries through August — an estimated $440,000 worth of food we were counting on. While this represents only 1% of our total distribution last year, it’s a serious shortfall that will force us to draw on emergency reserves to purchase food. Even more concerning are the proposed federal cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). These cuts would deepen food insecurity across western Massachusetts and further strain our already overburdened food assistance network.

By MAYA MITCHELL

Five years after the first case of what was then a novel coronavirus infection, health care professionals and state legislators worry Massachusetts isn’t ready if another pandemic were to happen.

By ADITI THUBE

Massachusetts gun rights advocates are pushing to overturn a 2024 update of the state’s already tough firearms law, collecting more than 90,000 signatures to place a repeal referendum on the 2026 ballot.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

With all Institute of Museum and Library Services having been placed on administrative leave and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners announcing cuts to services and grants on Wednesday, local librarians are anticipating continued uncertainty heading into fiscal year 2026.

By ALEXA LEWIS

A bill allowing for medical aid in dying once again made it to a hearing before the state Legislature’s Joint Committee on Public Health on Wednesday morning. While versions of this bill have reached this stage before, local proponents are feeling hopeful as this is the earliest in a legislative session it has been brought to this committee’s hearing.

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Most legislative committees are still getting organized and have not yet held their first hearing of the new two-year session. But for House members of the Committee on Public Health, the clock is already ticking on one of the most controversial matters that perennially comes before them.

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — The Northwestern District Attorney’s Anti-Crime Task Force and Greenfield Police arrested Greenfield residents Amber Judd, 38, and Tony Carr, 48, on cocaine trafficking charges following a drug bust at Heather Court and Harrison Avenue Tuesday morning.

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — A pair of western Massachusetts lawmakers made an urgent plea to their colleagues last week to allow smaller farms to access property tax benefits currently available only to their larger peers.

By GABRIEL O’HARA SALINI

The Massachusetts cannabis industry is a billion-dollar enterprise, with over 700 retailers operating across the state. Yet stores are closing, companies are firing their workers and retail and non-retail licenses are being surrendered by former operators as business owners clamor for regulatory changes to transform an industry they see as unsustainable.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Though Massachusetts is not one of at least six states that will lose out on $500 million in food deliveries promised by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the leader of the region’s largest food bank remains concerned about future cuts.

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Two weeks before the policies are set to expire, the House and Senate took the first steps Monday to once again temporarily extend pandemic-era laws allowing remote access for public meetings in Massachusetts.