Adam Frenier

At UMass Amherst, prospective first-year students will have the option not to submit scores from tests like the SAT for the next three years when they apply to the university.

Some city clerks in western Massachusetts say they're ready to deal with an influx of mail-in voting applications and — eventually — ballots.

An advocate for clergy sexual abuse survivors said he's filed a complaint against the Springfield Roman Catholic bishop, accusing Mitchell Rozanski of trying to cover up allegations against priests.

Some UMass Amherst students say they have concerns about the reopening plan announced this week for the fall semester as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Updated at 8:22 p.m.

Lawmakers, officials and others weighed in Wednesday on findings of an independent report that said leadership at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home made "substantial errors and failures" in handling a deadly COVID-19 outbreak. 

A group calling for major renovations to the Holyoke Soldiers' Home held its first of several planned demonstrations Tuesday afternoon. Seventy-six veterans living at the state-run facility who tested positive for COVID-19 have died in recent months.

Amtrak said service reductions on the Hartford Line and Valley Flyer instituted because of the pandemic could remain in place going forward.

Five Springfield police officers who are currently indicted on perjury charges are once again suspended, two months after the police commissioner reinstated them. The officers are accused of trying to cover up a 2015 fight outside Nathan Bill's bar between off-duty police officers and four black men.

The Springfield City Council Tuesday will hold a special meeting to consider whether to retain outside legal counsel. This is the latest step in an ongoing dispute with the mayor over bringing back the city's police commission.

Springfield Roman Catholic Bishop Mitchell Rozanski is leaving western Massachusetts to become the Archbishop of St. Louis.  The announcement was made by the Vatican on Wednesday.

Officials at UMass Amherst have released a preliminary report, outlining what college life might look like for the fall semester, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Phase Two of reopening the Massachusetts economy amid COVID-19 could start as soon as next week. In an executive order released this week by Governor Charlie Baker, many types of businesses could operate, with restrictions, and others would be allowed to expand operations.

Health officials in Springfield say they're seeing COVID-19 related data continuing to head in the right direction.

The unemployment rate in Massachusetts topped 15% last month. But businesses say some workers who were laid off because of the pandemic are choosing to stay off the job.

With a $600 federal boost to benefits, they’re actually making more collecting unemployment. 

The Springfield Roman Catholic Diocese is forming a new panel tasked with looking at how the church deals with clergy sexual abuse.

The attorney for suspended Holyoke Soldiers' Home Superintendent Bennett Walsh has released 19 documents that he claims proves his client did not try to cover up a deadly COVID-19 outbreak. Seventy-six veterans who were residents at the state-run facility have died while testing positive for the virus.

There's mixed reaction from some western Massachusetts lawmakers and local officials to Governor Charlie Baker's plan to reopen the state's economy, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has said he'll unveil a reopening plan next week for the state's economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, a special election for a state Senate seat covering 11 western Massachusetts communities will be held next week. Democratic State Rep. John Velis and businessman John Cain, a Republican, are on the ballot.

The operators of MGM Springfield are warning Massachusetts labor officials they may have to layoff up to almost 1,900 employees amid the COVID-19 pandemic.