CORONAVIRUS

The law — which was passed under a broader economic bill — creates uniform public health standards across 351 munipalities, provides incentives to share resources among towns, and directs the state to fund local public health.

Members of the Iron Workers union joined federal, state and local officials for a "topping off" ceremony at the construction site of the new Holyoke Veterans Home — hoisting the final steel beam and placing it on top of the building. The new building will replace the current facility, which was the site of a deadly COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, when at least 76 residents died.

Baystate Heath has announced that masks will once again be required for all staff and guests as COVID-19 cases spike.

Former superintendent of Holyoke Soldiers Home, Bennett Walsh, and former medical director, Dr. David Clinton, separately changed their pleas from not guilty. They each submitted that there were sufficient facts to warrant a guilty finding. They did not plead guilty, however.

The Massachusetts Senate this week takes its second run in three years at a bill to expand access to early education and fortify that sector's workforce.

A prosecutor who oversees animal mistreatment cases says animal control officers are stretched thin, and there aren't enough shelters to care for animals in police custody.

Chronic absenteeism in Massachusetts public schools grew by 72% between 2019 and 2023, new data from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education show, and the state education commissioner on Tuesday called for an "all hands on deck" approach to address the issue.

The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says manufacturers and distributors prioritized getting out the adult vaccine first, so shipping did not start for pediatric vaccines until much later.

Local author/illustrator Grace Lin joins us to talk about her latest book, Mr. Universe eschews the mexican alien conversation to look at K2-18b instead, and Kaliis has to broadcast from home, which is a bit ironic, considering.

The federal government is no longer paying for vaccines which means pharmacies, clinics and municipalities have to buy them and get reimbursed by insurance or by the government for the uninsured.