COURTS

The nominations come after some lawmakers wrote to Gov. Maura Healey last month saying there were too many judicial vacancies in the region.

Edward Wright was found guilty in the killing of his friend Penny Anderson and has been incarcerated ever since.

The slow start of the new term in the Judicial Nominating Commission and Governor's Council could be the cause of the delayed appointments.

In a letter sent to Governor Maura Healey, the legislators said four of the 11 Superior Court judge positions in western Mass. are vacant, and that a District Court position in the Berkshires is also unfilled, all of which is causing delays in legal proceedings.

Massachusetts Auditor Diana DiZoglio in a scathing new report called the executive branch's handling of employment settlements "dysfunctional" and "chaotic," saying agencies failed to operate with explicit policies for those agreements under the Patrick and Baker administrations.

President Donald Trump's executive order attempting to redefine birthright citizenship drew an immediate lawsuit from immigrants' rights groups, including the ACLU of Massachusetts, and another subsequent complaint from Attorney General Andrea Campbell and more than a dozen of her peers.

After 14 years on the job Franklin County Sheriff Christopher Donelan announced this week he will retire at the end of the month. Donelan, who turned 60 in December, would have been up for a third term reelection in 2028.

The rules, to go into effect in February, will require courts to hold so-called payment hearings to assure that low-income people aren't agreeing to give up legally protected income like social security to creditors.

During a classroom discussion, a teacher at Elms College asked students to assess the credibility of two sexual assault lawsuits filed against another student, the college and college administrators, according to amended complaints filed in federal court.

The scope of his charges make it one of the most striking serial rape cases in western Massachusetts in recent years.