Massachusetts

Whole Foods employees in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and two other states have filed a class action discrimination lawsuit against the grocery chain for disciplining workers who wore Black Lives Matter masks during their shift. The suit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Boston, seeks a preliminary injunction prohibiting further retaliation against employees choosing to wear the masks at...

The father of DJ Henry, a young Black man killed by police 10 years ago, said Thursday he hopes a renewed call for justice from celebrities like Jay-Z and Rihanna will help spur prosecutors to reopen his son’s case. “We’re looking for willing hearts. People get it, conceptually, in their heads. They might even sort of feel emotionally connected...

Democratic attorneys general in more than 20 states have sued Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, seeking to repeal her overhaul of a student loan forgiveness program.

Boston officials announced Tuesday night that a controversial statue featuring President Abraham Lincoln with a freed Black man on his knees will be removed. A petition to remove “The Emancipation Group,” a replica of a statue in Washington, accrued 12,000 signatures, the office of Mayor Marty Walsh said. “This is not about Lincoln, this is about the figure that’s supposed…

More than a dozen workers at a Massachusetts Whole Foods Market say they were sent home for showing support for Black Lives Matter. Seven workers at the store on River Street in Cambridge were sent home Wednesday for wearing “Black Lives Matter” face masks, and 14 were sent home Thursday. “When I first got into the job and applied, they…

An independent investigation into the deadly coronavirus outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home released Wednesday said the facility’s leadership team made “substantial errors” in responding to the outbreak that resulted in the deaths of at least 76 veterans and the infection of an additional 84 veterans and over 80 staff members. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker hired former federal prosecutor Mark…

A mural honoring George Floyd in Woburn, Massachusetts, has been vandalized for the second time in less than two weeks. The tribute to Floyd, located in the Tri-Community Greenway on the Woburn-Stoneham Line, was found covered with red paint this weekend. After the painting was defaced the first time, the artist, 42-year-old Esben Rey, vowed to repaint it. The Jamaica…

Boston’s mayor is considering the fate of a public statue depicting former President Abraham Lincoln standing before a freed black man after a petition called for its removal.

Advocates for nursing homes are calling on the federal government to investigate its own program to distribute critically needed personal protective equipment to facilities across the country. They say shipments have fallen short of what was promised during a White House press briefing at the end of April. Some local nursing homes got shipments of supplies from the federal government…

Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, have agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in connection with the college admissions scandal, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Both will serve time in prison under the terms of their plea agreements. Loughlin, who played Aunt Becky on the sitcom “Full House,” and Giannulli, were scheduled to go on...

It was in early March that Michelle Shabo began feeling the symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

A popular Cape Cod ice cream shop that reopened just in time for Mother’s Day weekend was forced to scale back to appointment-only, the owner says, after some customers refused to practice social distancing and harassed a teenage girl working at the company. Polar Cave Ice Cream in Mashpee, Massachusetts, is a Cape Cod classic, but it had been...

Two men lied about their businesses in loan applications under the new Paycheck Protection Program, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday, saying they are the first to be charged with fraud in connection with the multibillion-dollar loan initiative in the United States. The two men were been charged in Rhode Island with filing fraudulent bank loan applications seeking $438,000 from the Small…

Nearly 70 residents sickened with the coronavirus have died at a Massachusetts home for aging veterans, as state and federal officials try to figure out what went wrong in the deadliest known outbreak at a long-term care facility in the U.S.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is taking action to support health care workers in Massachusetts and New York amid the coronavirus crisis. Kraft purchased more than 1.7 million N95 masks and used the Patriots’ team plane to fly the critical supplies from China to Boston overnight in order to help hospitals in both states combat the ongoing, nationwide shortage…

The coronavirus pandemic has prompted shutdowns of schools, businesses and events across the U.S. Here are how some states are responding to the outbreak.

Eleven veterans are dead after an outbreak of coronavirus at a facility in Holyoke, Massachusetts, according to NBC affiliate WWLP.

Massachusetts native and actor/director John Krasinski has started a new chapter of his career, as a news anchor on “Some Good News.” Krasinski on Sunday launched “Some Good News,” a new YouTube series he created focusing entirely on good news. In preparation, the star took to Twitter on Wednesday asking people for stories that made them feel good to...

Two rare, endangered blue whales were spotted by researchers in New England waters, about 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod earlier this month. Researchers Orla O’Brien and Amy Warren from the New England Aquarium surveyed the vast Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument to document the region’s biodiversity and count the number of animals living and feeding in...

The Baypath Humane Society in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, takes a specialized approach to helping each pet find the right home. Volunteer Kim Melanson says it’s not about a pet’s physical appearance, it’s about their personality and the shelter works hard to match each dog or cat with the right family.