Amherst-Pelham Regional School District receives electric school bus grant funding
The Healey-Driscoll administration is awarding over $9 million to electrify public school buses through an initiative led by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and funded by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP).
These western Massachusetts cities awarded funding to boost protection against cyberattacks
This is the third round of awards distributed through this program, going to several school districts and private transportation providers across the Commonwealth. This includes Highland Electric, which supports the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District.
'Transitioning to electric school buses is a meaningful investment in the well-being of our students and the future of our communities,' said Massachusetts Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler. 'This program showcases what's possible when we prioritize sustainability and equity in our investments, and I'm grateful to our partners at MassCEC and MassDEP for leading this important work.'
As part of the School Bus Deployment Program, MassCEC and MassDEP say this will help improve public health across the state. Highland Electric received $500,000 in funding through the program, with other districts receiving up to nearly $2 million.
MassCEC is now accepting applicants for the fourth round of the program. For those looking to submit proposals or to find more information, visit masscec.com.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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3 days ago
- Boston Globe
Amid unsettled times in Washington, Mass. collects $2b more in tax revenue than expected thanks to millionaires tax
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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Mass. Legislature sends $259M funding bill, with raises for bar advocates, to Gov. Healey
Massachusetts lawmakers moved to clear a logjam in the state court system on Thursday, sending a $259 million funding bill to Gov. Maura Healey that includes raises for private attorneys who represent indigent defendants. The vote, which came before the state House and Senate, were slated to start an August recess, provides a solution to a vexing issue that had resulted in scores of cases being dismissed and some people released from custody. But it did not come without objections from those lawyers, known as 'bar advocates,' who had accused lawmakers of trying to lowball them. The 'supplemental budget' that's now winging its way to Democrat Healey boosts the advocates' pay by $20 an hour over the next two years, an increase of more than 30% over current district court rates. The bill cleared the Senate on a voice vote on Thursday, according to State House News Service. The House approved it on a 150-6 vote, the wire service reported. Starting Aug. 1, the annual pay rate for private bar counsel would range from $150,000 to $260,000, rising to $170,000 to $280,000 starting on Aug. 1, 2026. The bill also provides a $40 million infusion to the Committee for Public Counsel Services, which will allow the agency to hire more lawyers and reduce the state's reliance on private practice attorneys, legislative leaders said. The Committee for Public Counsel Services is the state's public defender agency. It represents about 20% of defendants who can't afford to hire lawyers. And as a hedge against further work disruptions, the language now under consideration would require bar advocates to enter into contracts that would have to be renewed every two years. The spending plan lawmakers sent to Healey on Thursday "addresses timely issues through key, targeted investments," state House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, said in a statement. 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Politico
6 days ago
- Politico
Healey's Cali cash dash
FOLLOW THE MONEY — Gov. Maura Healey has been steadily padding her campaign coffers ahead of next year's election. With two well-funded Republicans already gearing up to challenge her (and potentially more on the way), Healey's heading to California next week to cash in on the deep-pocketed donors in San Francisco's suburbs, according to invitations to the events. Healey has events in Mill Valley, Palo Alto and San Francisco's 'NoPa' neighborhood set for next Thursday and Friday. Requested donations for the events range from $1,000 (for the NoPa and Palo Alto fundraisers) to between $500 and $5,000 (for the one in Mill Valley). Healey's office didn't respond to an inquiry about the trip. Her campaign declined to comment. In the past few weeks, Healey raised money for her campaign at fundraisers on Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod, and she's regularly tapping into the deep-pocketed Democratic donor base in the Boston area. 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Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announces businesses that have been selected to participate in the Supplying Capital and Leveraging Education Program at 12:30 p.m. in Roxbury and joins the Boston Police Department for 'National Night Out' starting at 3:10 p.m. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Drop me a line: kgarrity@ DATELINE BEACON HILL — Gov. Maura Healey received written warning about surge of migrants in transition document by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: 'Gov. Charlie Baker's administration offered a written warning to Gov. Maura Healey about a surge of migrants and dwindling state shelter capacity in November 2022, or months before she took office, according to a transition document approved by Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Kennealy when he was secretary of state. The heads-up largely focused on the need to expand shelter capacity and provide more funding to the emergency assistance program. It also painted a bleak picture of a struggle to build enough housing as the cost of living was putting Massachusetts at a 'significant disadvantage.'' — National lawmakers zero in on political violence, anger in electorate by Chris Lisinski, State House News Service: 'A national summit of state lawmakers from around the country opened Monday with a somber tone as hosts reflected on the June assassination of Minnesota Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and cautioned about the growing threat of political polarization. Legislative leaders from Minnesota paid tribute to Hortman as a beacon of leadership who was unafraid to reach across the aisle, and they urged attendees to honor her by working to counteract increasingly inflammatory political rhetoric. The topic became a consistent theme throughout the opening session to the three-day National Conference of State Legislatures annual summit.' FROM THE HUB — Councilor Ed Flynn wants Boston to declare a public safety and public health emergency over Mass. and Cass by Niki Griswold, The Boston Globe: 'The Boston City Council on Wednesday is set to consider a resolution filed by Councilor Ed Flynn to declare a public safety and public health emergency over open drug use and dealing around the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, known as Mass. and Cass. The area has long been the epicenter of the intertwining crises of homelessness and substance abuse in the city. But in recent months, frustration over the issue has reached a breaking point among South End residents, who say that public drug use and dealing have migrated from Mass. and Cass into their neighborhoods.' MAKING THEIR PITCH — The drawn-out battle between Boston and the Kraft Group over a plans for a new stadium along the Mystic River in Everett escalated Monday, as Boston Mayor Michelle Wu gathered with Boston-area electeds across from the Everett site Monday to call on the Kraft Group to agree to do more to mitigate the impact the yet-to-be-built stadium will have on neighboring Charlestown. Hours later, New England Revolution President Brian Bilello and Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria defended the process at their own press conference on the other side of the river. Hanging over it all: The mayoral election, where Josh Kraft is challenging Wu. More from The Boston Globe's Jon Chesto. — Injured teen from Gaza arrives in Boston for medical treatment by Yasmin Amer, WBUR. SPOTTED — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu meeting with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker after his lunchtime speech at NCSL. The duo cut a video Wu posted to Bluesky where Pritzker called her 'one of my very favorite people in the Democratic Party.' THE RACE FOR CITY HALL MONEY RACE — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu ended July with a significant cash advantage over her chief rival, Josh Kraft, according to the latest filings with the state's Office of Campaign and Political Finance. Wu raised about $247,000 last month and ended July with close to $2.5 million on hand. While Kraft raised more than $127,000 during the same period, he spent big in July — paying $1,886,000 to cover a variety of campaign-related costs. That leaves him with under $150,000 heading into the final full month of campaigning before the Sept. 9 preliminary election. 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At least two of those politicians have now asked the Kraft campaign to stop using their names and likenesses in the email fund-raising solicitations.' — It's not just Wu and Kraft: Meet the Boston mayoral candidates not in the spotlight by Eve Zuckoff, WBUR: 'On a steamy Tuesday night in Dorchester, a man trying to replace Michelle Wu as mayor of Boston worked up a sweat over a charcoal grill. Around him, music blasted from a DJ station, kids lined up at the Boston Police Department's ice cream truck and dozens playing basketball worked up an appetite. It wasn't Josh Kraft.' FROM HARVARD YARD — Harvard isn't close to a deal with Trump administration, sources say by Kirk Carapezza, GBH News: 'Harvard is not ready to accept a deal with the Trump administration, according to sources familiar with internal conversations on the matter. The federal government has cut research funding to numerous universities, launched investigations into those it accused of enabling antisemitic behavior, and demanded changes to school processes around race and gender. Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania and Brown University all recently announced settlements with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations.' WARREN REPORT — Warren boosts Mamdani as model for Democratic victory by Emily Ngo, POLITICO: 'Elizabeth Warren doesn't have a problem with Zohran Mamdani being the face of the Democrats. In fact, she wants the rest of the party to follow his example on affordability. The progressive senator from Massachusetts swung by New York City on Monday to pay homage to Mamdani, who overwhelmingly won the Democratic nomination for mayor in June — but still hasn't secured endorsements from many of New York's party leaders.' FROM THE 413 — Making Chicopee 'a destination': City councilor aims to renew proposal to revitalize corridor by Namu Sampath, MassLive: 'Memorial Drive in Chicopee is a bustling, multi-lane corridor that connects the city to several surrounding towns. The 3.7-mile stretch is a 'goldmine,' according to Ward 6 Councilor Sam Shumsky, who'd like to make it safer for pedestrians and drivers alike and create more opportunities for economic development in his ward. He's proposed a related order that the City Council will take up at its meeting Tuesday.' — State throws weight behind regional affordable housing projects by Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette: 'Nearly 200 new apartments to be constructed in Easthampton, Hadley and Holyoke, almost all of which will be set aside for low- and moderate-income residents, are moving forward as part of $182 million in low-income housing credits and subsidies supporting 21 developments statewide approved by the Healey-Driscoll Administration.' THE LOCAL ANGLE — How much committee work gets done by New Bedford's legislative delegation? by Abigail Pritchard, The New Bedford Light: 'New Bedford's legislators sit across 23 committees. So far, just 11 of those committees have reported bills out with recommendations, seven don't have any bills assigned to them, and four haven't held any hearings.' — Taunton state official looking to change controversial MBTA housing mandate by Daniel Schemer, The Taunton Daily Gazette: ''I've always been pro-development, but this one-size-fits-all mandate doesn't work for some of my smaller communities,' said Kelly Dooner, state senator for 3rd Bristol district, who testified against the MBTA Communities Act at a recent Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government.' HEARD 'ROUND THE BUBBLAH TRANSITIONS — Joe Hale is joining the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate as chief development officer. He most recently served as president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. — Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia is a finalist for the Northeast Renewable Energy Coalition's 'Mayor of the Year Award.' HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to former ambassador Rufus Gifford, Christina Pacheco, Crooked Media's Matt Berg and the Boston Globe's Jim Puzzanghera. Happy belated to Republican gubernatorial hopeful Brian Shortsleeve, who celebrated Monday.
