WBUR News

The Art Love Club supports LGBTQ students and their allies at a time when the country is divisive and hate is on the rise. This year, the group designed two dozen signs to hang around their school to help kids feel safe and empowered during the school day.

Under the Trump administration, many entrepreneurs working on climate tech, renewable energy or environmental justice have found their grants delayed, threatened or rescinded. The federal headwinds threaten to slow Gov. Maura Healey's plans to make Massachusetts the global hub for climate tech.

Gov. Maura Healey wants to make Massachusetts the climate tech hub for the world. She says the emerging sector could bring tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investment. But while the state excels at fostering innovation, some say it needs to do better at keeping companies in Massachusetts.

City councilors tend to spend most of their campaign funds on things donors expect: consultants, advertising, office costs. They also spend thousands of dollars getting around town, hobnobbing at dinners and clubs, and on donations to nonprofits in their districts. And there's the coffee — lots of coffee.

WBUR found a rise of dark money groups trying to sway local elections and influence policy. The nonprofits can raise and spend unlimited money from undisclosed donors. Watchdogs warn about their growing influence on Massachusetts politics.

More than 100 graduating medical students gathered in a Boston University ballroom Friday morning. It was match day. At noon, they'd learn about the rest of their lives.

New England's largest opera company finally has a place to call home. It's welcoming the public to its newly renovated performance and community studios in Fort Point with an intimate production of a work by Gustav Mahler.

"It's not just passing the technical knowledge, it's passing that relationship," said Leah Hopkins, a member of the Narragansett Indian Tribe who showed community members how maple sugaring works.

Burlington, Massachusetts, residents are sharply divided over immigration enforcement — with some now calling out local companies they say profit from ICE operations. 

Robert Francis is one of 210 people given a second chance after the state's highest court ruled that those under 21 can't be sentenced to life without parole. Over the past six months, he has navigated finding work, using new technology and building a life in a society that he was removed from as a teen.

Warren joined WBUR's All Things Considered to tout her bipartisan housing bill as the best chance to bring more construction to the market, and to help slow the skyrocketing cost of buying a home.

Rising concerns about violence in hospitals and emergency departments has led doctors and nurses to demand stronger legal protections for health care workers — and tougher penalties for those who assault them.

Musicians with the Boston Symphony Orchestra gathered Tuesday on the steps of Symphony Hall to support their embattled music director Andris Nelsons.

The Boston Legacy lost their home opener against defending league champions Gotham FC on Saturday, 1-0. Despite the loss, more than 30,000 fans brought the energy to Gillette Stadium for the team's first-ever game.

With a little help from Oscar-nominated Hollywood movies like "Sinners" and "One Battle After Another" new fans are flocking to theaters with reel-to-reel projectors.

A proposal by Democratic activists in New Hampshire to lower property taxes by imposing a state income tax has prompted death threats on social media by the state's Libertarian Party. While the state's political leaders, including Gov. Kelly Ayotte, have condemned the tax proposal, few have spoken out against the death threats.

The Boston singer-songwriter explores interracial dating and the end of her first real relationship on her sophomore album, “Midnight Feature.”

A federal judge in Boston has ordered the release of a 14-year-old girl detained by federal agents on Tuesday. The girl was transported through the night to a juvenile facility in New York when agents couldn't immediately locate her family — a move the judge said was outside any norm he'd seen in his years on the bench.

As the Trump administration carries out its aggressive deportation agenda, children here and across the country are subject to court proceedings similar to those adults face. The core of these hearings are carried out behind closed doors, with almost no way for the public to know what ruling a judge makes on a child's future.

The war with Iran has sent global oil prices soaring and there's a lot of uncertainty about what comes next. Here in Massachusetts, that turmoil is affecting many residents who rely on fuel oil to heat their homes.

Tokyo-born flutist Kozo Toyota fell for Irish music after hearing fiddle tunes in Tokyo Disneyland. He co-founded a Celtic trio, which marries traditional Irish repertoire with contemporary grooves and inventive arrangements. With Celtic sessions and ceilidhs on the rise in Japan, the band plays Club Passim on Friday.

A report on the Boston Archdiocese was made public in 2003, but the investigation into the dioceses of Worcester, Springfield and Fall River has never been released.

On March 10, 1876 Alexander Graham Bell revolutionized the way we communicate when the first discernible human voice traveled over wire from one person to another.

A Hingham family is back from the Middle East after being stuck there for more than a week due to airports being shut down amid the U.S. war in Iran.

“There are millions of Kurds within Iran ready for this moment,” said Hawreh Haddadi.

Edmonia Lewis virtually vanished from history when she died in 1907. A new exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum teases out the mysteries of Lewis's life while showcasing her marble sculptures.

Cultivated meat has been promised as a solution to the climate impacts of the meat industry for over a decade. The industry has had a few false starts, and thus far has failed to come to market at the scale needed to fulfill its promise to feed our future.

Stacey Schuhwerk and her son got stuck in Qatar on their way home from vacation. They're among at least 3,000 Americans unable to return home from the region due to the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran.

Best Friends Animal Society says if 300 more dogs and cats are adopted this year in Massachusetts, it'll become what the organization refers to as a "no kill" state. That means at least 90% of shelter animals get adopted.

Conservators wanted to return a set of chairs to the original upholstery chosen by the museum's founder. But all they had were some black-and-white photos.

The Framingham school district enrolled 719 fewer students compared to last school year, a "significant drop," said superintendent Bob Tremblay. While there are other factors driving the decline, the downward shift is fueled by families' fears of being detained or deported.

For those Iranians in the U.S., there are an array of opinions on the war President Trump has brought to their home country. And there's no clear indication the Iranian people can replace the Islamic Republic with the kind of secular democracy many are calling for.

"America is exhausted of foreign entanglement. I'm exhausted," said John Deaton, a Marine veteran and Republican challenging Democratic Sen. Ed Markey for Senate. Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Republican Party is backing the war.

WBUR found district attorneys deny requests for case files and updates by saying investigations are still open — even in cases where years have passed with no new suspects or evidence. It's a more common experience for Black and Hispanic families, whose loved ones make up a far higher proportion of unsolved homicides in the state.

The Refugee Orchestra Project, a collection of musicians representing the millions of immigrants and refugees in the U.S., is slated to perform Sunday at Worcester's Mechanics Hall.

Crews have worked to restore power over the course of the week, the situation is increasingly dire for Cape residents. While some in area have taken refuge at overnight shelters, others are clamoring for the few hotel rooms in a region that famously shuts its doors in the offseason.

Boston Globe technology reporter Hiawatha Bray has been testing the real life "exoskeleton" suits that could make cyborgs more of a reality, including one from a local Cambridge company.

Marcelo Gomes da Silva, the Milford teen detained by ICE last year, had high hopes for his visit to Washington, D.C., but was reportedly escorted out of the Capitol chamber after the Department of Homeland Security posted on social media targeting him.

Tuesday marks four years since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began. In Massachusetts, Ukrainian Americans support their homeland with an ancient and traditional folk art form that is a cornerstone of their culture.

Tuesday was a day for digging out in southeast Massachusetts. With widespread power outages, people gathered at fire stations and school gymnasiums to get warm and share their stories.

Marcelo Gomes da Silva was on his way to volleyball practice when ICE grabbed him while looking for his father. He was held at an ICE office in Burlington where conditions were 'inhumane.' He says he'd like to send a message to President Trump.