Latest news

In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, an aviation boatswain's mate signals an MV-22 Osprey to land on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea on May 17, 2019. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Amber Smalley/U.S. Navy via AP)

Local Coverage

8 hours ago

Mass. lawmakers call on the Pentagon to ground the Osprey again until crash causes are fixed

In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday, Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and Rep. Richard Neal called on the Pentagon to ground the V-22 Osprey aircraft again until the military can fix the root causes of multiple recent accidents. Two Massachusetts service members were killed...

Subscribe

More Boston Headlines

FILE - Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spilka speaks inside the Statehouse, Jan. 3, 2019, in Boston. The Massachusetts Senate unveiled its version of a major housing bill Monday, June 24, 2024, following up on similar proposals by Gov. Maura Healey and the Massachusetts House. Spilka said the Senate bill is designed to a to help spur production and preserve and promote access to housing. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

Spilka calls new budget 'transformational' for Massachusetts

Massachusetts will offer free community college tuition to all state residents as part of its proposed fiscal 2025 budget.

Business

15:317 hours ago

Saxophonist Seventh Sun rehearsing at Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Dorchester. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Jazz saxophonist Seventh Sun releases a bright and blistering collaborative debut

25-year-old saxophonist Seventh Sun has long dreamed of making an album. His just-released debut honors jazz's traditions and collaborative spirit while exploring its infinite possibilities.

Arts & Culture

05:06Jul 19, 2024

The internet's "main characters" and what Jamie Loftus thinks they say about us

Comedian Jamie Loftus' new podcast "Sixteenth Minute (Of Fame)" takes a closer look at the internet's viral "main characters" and the forces that helped them go viral in the first...

Endless Thread

28:55Jul 19, 2024

A mixing board sits on top of a piano in a former studio at the Brighton Sound Museum, which closed in 2023. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

City adds affordable housing to Allston rehearsal space project

At a public meeting, local musicians wrestled with the implications of folding affordable housing into a plan to build music rehearsal space in Allston.

Arts & Culture

Jul 19, 2024

The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Company can't dump nuclear plant wastewater into Cape Cod Bay, Mass. rules

Massachusetts will not allow the company decommissioning the former Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station to discharge radioactive water into Cape Cod Bay.

Local Coverage

Jul 18, 2024

In this May 17, 2019, file photo, a measles vaccination is seen at the Knox County Health Department in Mount Vernon, Ohio. (Paul Vernon/AP file photo)

Mass. confirms first measles case since 2020

The Worcester County adult had recently traveled abroad before getting diagnosed in early July with the highly contagious disease, according to state Department of Public Health officials. Measles can linger...

Health

Jul 18, 2024

A glass tip jar, left, appears next to a point-of-sale payment system screen displaying tip options at a coffee shop in Waitsfield, Vermont. (Carolyn Lessard/AP)

Tipped minimum wage question heads to November ballot after opponents withdraw challenge

The effort to raise the tipped minimum wage in Massachusetts to $15 an hour will be on the November ballot after all, after opponents withdrew their objection to some of...

Local Coverage

Jul 18, 2024

A greenhouse atop Massachusetts General Hospital houses psychoactive plants to be studied by the Center for Neuroscience of Psychedelics. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Atop MGH, psychedelics scientists grow plants that could change your mind

The researchers are using stem cell technology to create what they call "mini brains" and test how psychoactive substances may affect humans. They're hoping to answer profound questions about what...

Health

05:06Jul 18, 2024

Molecular biologist Emanuel Wyler examines wastewater samples for pathogens, including coronavirus, in a laboratory in Berlin, Germany. (Bernd von Jutrczenka/picture alliance via Getty Images)

More immigrants needed in Mass. to boost entrepreneurship, think tank says

A study by the right-leaning Pioneer Institute's study argues restrictive immigration policies are inhibiting economic activity in Massachusetts and across the country.

Local Coverage

Jul 18, 2024

President Joe Biden (R) and Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump participate in the CNN Presidential Debate on June 27, 2024. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Panic over Biden's chances sets in among some N.H. Democrats

A recent poll suggests that New Hampshire, which for five straight presidential elections has been a reliable pickup for Democrats, is suddenly in play. And that has some of party’s...

Local Coverage

05:03Jul 18, 2024

Radio Boston

More

"Dear Summer Vol. 2" is Boston's 2nd official mixtape. (Courtesy Boston.gov)

Boston's new mixtape is a way to bolster local talent

Arts & Culture

16:507 hours ago

New England's oldest comic book shop turns 50

Cambridge's Million Year Picnic is marking five decades in operation this weekend. We preview the festivities and talk about what's next for the shop.

Radio Boston

14:428 hours ago

Yoni Battat singing and playing the oud. (Courtesy of Yoni Battat)

Boston-based musician Yoni Battat on exploring his Jewish and Iraqi heritage

Radio Boston

18:39Jul 18, 2024

Exploring how to make New England's food system more local and resilient

We dig into what it would take to build a more reliable and local food system with Jen Faigel, co-founder and executive director of CommonWealth...

Radio Boston

13:27Jul 18, 2024

More Boston Headlines

Singer Diana Ross poses for a portrait session in 1975. (Photo by Harry Langdon/Getty Images)

In praise of hoops

For people of color, hoops are a visual representation of individuality. Whether they're a delicate gold pair or the cheap ones you buy at the beauty supply store, hoops have...

Arts & Culture

Jul 18, 2024

Massachusetts launches new summer nutrition assistance program

The new federally funded program will give eligible families $120 per child to spend on groceries during the summer months.

Education

Jul 17, 2024

Heat waves distort the view of a work crew as they resurface a road in South Boston. (Chris Christo/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)

Workers struggle to stay cool as summer heat continues to worsen

As summers get hotter, there's growing concern about the impact of excessive heat on workers, especially those who spend a lot of time outdoors.

Business

Jul 17, 2024

The Massachusetts State House. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Beacon Hill negotiators reach deal on gun law reform bill

House and Senate Democrats reached an agreement Wednesday on a massive update to the state's gun laws. The pending new bill reaches across a range of topics, including ghost guns,...

Local Coverage

Jul 17, 2024

Isabella Stewart Gardner in 1888. (Courtesy Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum)

Remembering Isabella Stewart Gardner 100 years after her death

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum director Peggy Fogelman reflects on Boston's famously eccentric resident on the centennial of her death.

Arts & Culture

Jul 17, 2024

Cars crossing the Sagamore Bridge on a foggy day in 2020. (Michael Dwyer/AP)

With funding secured, here's the timeline for the first new Cape Cod bridge

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey says the state will break ground on the new Sagamore Bridge to Cape Cod “by 2027, if not sooner.”

Local Coverage

Jul 17, 2024

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu outlines her approach to solving the crisis at "Mass. and Cass" during a press conference in Roxbury. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Wu defends property tax plan on Beacon Hill

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was on Beacon Hill Tuesday asking legislators to sign off on a plan to increase the property tax share paid by city businesses.

Local Coverage

Jul 16, 2024

Nitazenes, opioids often more potent than fentanyl, emerge as new overdose threat in Mass.

The state says versions of nitazenes up to 25 times stronger than fentanyl have been detected in Massachusetts, raising the overdose risks for people who use drugs. Naloxone or Narcan...

Health

Jul 16, 2024

Mailboxes sit outside of a Morris Plains, NJ post office on Aug. 17, 2020 in Morris Plains, New Jersey. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

Stoughton man pleads guilty to robbing Boston postal workers, including one at knifepoint

A Stoughton man has pleaded guilty to robbing postal workers for the keys to blue curbside mailboxes.

Local Coverage

Jul 16, 2024

A “For Rent” sign outside the front of a house in Cambridge. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Could Mass. make landlords pay most broker's fees? Here's what to know

The Massachusetts Senate passed a bill that would, in most cases, shift the responsibility of paying broker's fees from tenants to landlords. Now what?

Local Coverage

Jul 16, 2024