WBUR News

In the early 1900s a female artist dreamed of creating a museum for her Massachusetts hometown. Now the Fitchburg Art Museum is shining a light on its founder's legacy for its 100th anniversary. And to celebrate, they're offering free admission through 2029.

"Sometimes I had to be my brother's arms, legs, eyes and voice," writes Brian Trapp. "It often didn't feel like a burden, more like an alternative way of moving through the world."

James Ware was dying of cancer when he he was granted medical parole and was supposed to be released. But two months later, the lack of an adequate medical plan and bureaucratic hurdles meant he died as an inmate.

Nina Froes, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, served alongside 19 judges at the immigration court in Chelmsford. That court now has just five permanent and two temporary judges.

Before reggae became a global phenomenon, record store owner Leroy Webb helped foster a home for the genre in Boston.

Produced by the Harvard ArtLab and artist-researcher Jacek Smolicki, the Walking Festival of Sound features a lineup of 19 soundwalks, listening sessions and talks from local artists and practitioners. The events are free and open to the public.

While new grads always find the market daunting, added pressures on the employment landscape mean the current crop have their work cut out for them. And college seniors in Massachusetts are feeling that stress.

Over the last few years, shoe technology has advanced tremendously. And it's changing the sport of running for everyone from the elite athletes breaking the tape in Copley Square to the first-time marathoners who might spend four or more hours on their feet Marathon Monday.

An album and podcast from the Silkroad Ensemble and Rhiannon Giddens was inspired by the Black and immigrant labor that built America's railroads. In Boston, Black sleeping car porters unionized for better wages and humane hours.

The wealthy former biotech executive identifies as a "born again" Catholic who would bring CEO-style management to the state as a “new kind of governor.”

People in Lawrence want to know: how many private conversations were recorded in City Hall, over what period of time, and who is responsible?

The Red Sox are back at Fenway Park for the first time this season to take on the Padres in a weekend series.

The program, known as the Massachusetts Access to Counsel Initiative, provides pro bono legal assistance to low-income immigrants facing removal.

Boston parents have long complained about delayed or no-show buses, but some say the problem has never been worse than it is now. And according to data provided to WBUR from the start of the school year through January, the district's bus operator is falling short of benchmarks for on-time service.

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.