![Rep. Maria Robinson of Framingham. [Sam Doran/SHNS/File 2019]](https://www.statehousenews.com/content/frontpage_photo/2019/12-03_Robinson.jpg "Rep. Maria Robinson of Framingham. [Sam Doran/SHNS/File 2019]")
President Joe Biden announced plans late Wednesday to nominate Rep. Maria Robinson of Framingham to join his administration in the U.S. Department of Energy.
Eyeing a way to get back to face-to-face dealmaking in the midst of an ongoing pandemic, House leaders on Thursday will ask lawmakers to approve a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all members and staff who want to work from the State House, brushing off the concerns of some legislators who believe it's a step too far.
Appearing before the Governor's Council to seek elevation to the Superior Court, District Court Judge Cathleen Campbell on Wednesday applauded coverage of the recent push to commute a Brockton man's prison sentence, and knocked a proposed new women's prison.
The elected panel that votes on Gov. Charlie Baker's judicial nominees reactivated its public livestream Wednesday, after live video of meetings in the shuttered State House was abruptly disabled last week.
The position has not been fully funded or filled since it was established, but Rep. Ken Gordon on Wednesday made a case for moving the office of the state climatologist out of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs secretariat and giving it independence.
A number of state boards and commissions would need their memberships to better reflect the state's population based on gender, race, and ethnicity under legislation that advocates say would balance out the makeup of high-profile public bodies.
Nearly eight out of 10 people with disabilities served by the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission last year were white, a higher rate than the statewide population makeup that prompted the agency's head to call for a renewed focus on reaching people of all races and ethnicities.
!["What do you think, is this a pretty good place for wind, yes or no?" Gov. Charlie Baker said as he pretended to be blown away by the breeze during a Wednesday visit to an offshore wind workforce training site at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal. [Screenshot]](https://www.statehousenews.com/content/frontpage_photo/2021/09-22_Baker_New_Bedford.jpg "\"What do you think, is this a pretty good place for wind, yes or no?\" Gov. Charlie Baker said as he pretended to be blown away by the breeze during a Wednesday visit to an offshore wind workforce training site at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal. [Screenshot]")
A partnership among higher education institutions in southeastern Massachusetts focused on the offshore wind sector will soon expand to involve twice as many schools, the head of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy said Wednesday.
Location, location, location. While federal and state officials eagerly pursue a rapid and significant deployment of offshore wind turbines to generate cleaner power along the East Coast, scientists and advocates on Wednesday unveiled a new mapping tool designed to give developers, regulators and the public a better sense of the natural resources below the surface in the neighborhood of proposed wind projects.
House leaders introduced an order on Wednesday to require vaccines for all members and staff working out of the State House, and scheduled a debate on the "reopening" plan for Thursday. House Rules Committee Chairman William Galvin also filed and the House adopted an order giving legislators until 5 p.m. to file amendments to the reopening plan ahead of Thursday's session. - Matt Murphy
A dedicated bus lane on the heavily traveled Tobin Bridge has produced "pretty significant improvements" for commuters on one of MBTA's most popular routes since it launched in December, slicing the typical rider's morning travel time across the bridge by more than half, the state's top transportation official said Tuesday.
University of Massachusetts Amherst students since last weekend have been protesting in connection with allegations of a sexual assault at a fraternity, and county prosecutors on Wednesday outlined the different ways that criminal investigations into alleged sexual assaults are initiated.
Gov. Charlie Baker announced more than $10 million in grant money Tuesday to aid local parks and conservation land in 37 municipalities and six conservation districts, spread across the map from the Provincetown Greenway to the Pittsfield-based Berkshire Conservation District.
Describing the situation at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard in Boston as a "humanitarian crisis," Gov. Charlie Baker said his administration has had a "number of conversations" with city officials about ways the state might be able to help.
![Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy Committee House Chair Jeff Roy speaks during a legislative boat trip to the Block Island Wind Farm off Rhode Island. [Chris Van Buskirk/SHNS]](https://www.statehousenews.com/content/frontpage_photo/2021/09-21_Wind_Turbine_Jeff_Roy_1.jpg "Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy Committee House Chair Jeff Roy speaks during a legislative boat trip to the Block Island Wind Farm off Rhode Island. [Chris Van Buskirk/SHNS]")
Hoping to expand the universe of developers that bid on the offshore wind projects that will be key to the next several decades of Massachusetts energy policy, House leaders said Tuesday they are preparing legislation to change the bid requirements, including eliminating the price cap that has been in place for the first three procurement rounds.
Attorney General Maura Healey is suing American Airlines and JetBlue, joining the federal government and five other states in a complaint that alleges the airlines are harming travelers by consolidating operations in Boston and New York City.
In the eyes of the Republican lawmaker who participated in a working group's deliberations about reopening the State House, the proposal to bring people back into the building in four undated phases is "too vague in some key areas."
![Education Secretary Jim Peyser talks to a fellow evacuee on Bowdoin Street after an emergency alarm interrupted Tuesday's Board of Education meeting in the McCormack State Office Building. [Sam Doran/SHNS]](https://www.statehousenews.com/content/frontpage_photo/2021/09-21_Peyser_fire_alarm.jpg "Education Secretary Jim Peyser talks to a fellow evacuee on Bowdoin Street after an emergency alarm interrupted Tuesday's Board of Education meeting in the McCormack State Office Building. [Sam Doran/SHNS]")
The first MCAS tests administered in the COVID-19 era featured drops in scores "across the board," the state's education commissioner said Tuesday, saying the results show "everyone is going to have to step forward" to address kids' mental health and academic needs.
Members of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education signed off Tuesday on salary increases for Commissioner Jeff Riley, setting him up to receive pay bumps both retroactively and going forward.
The MBTA will take steps to fire the Green Line operator who investigators say accelerated a trolley to three times the speed limit before crashing into another train from behind, officials announced Tuesday.