Author: Leo Young

What many had hoped would be a rosy spring home-buying season ended as a thorny challenge for many prospective home buyers already demoralized by a frustrating market. Yet, even as sales stalled amid elevated mortgage rates and home prices, one silver lining emerged—more resale inventory entered the market, which has begun to put some downward pressure on the pace of home price growth. Other good news for home shoppers is the decline in the median price for a new home—now below the median resale home price—even as builders continue offering incentives to lure buyers. Nonetheless, experts say the housing market…

The 1902nd regular meeting of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Student Government Association was called to order in the Student Union Cape Cod Lounge on Wednesday, Nov. 29. The senate appointed an associate speaker and associate justice and were presented with the planned FY25 SGA budget and approved two funding requests. The meeting began with announcements made by student representatives of MASSPIRG, who encouraged students to show their support for the organization in their Hunger Free Campus Initiative. The initiative seeks to establish SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) vendors on campus, while maximizing student access to food pantries on and…

Eight aging dams in central and western Massachusetts will be removed as part of a $25 million initiative announced Friday by state environmental officials. The structures to be dismantled include the abandoned high-hazard Bel Air Dam in Pittsfield. Removing the dams will restore fish and other wildlife habitats, increase biodiversity, improve water quality, promote climate resiliency and make communities safer, officials said. “This summer, we saw firsthand the catastrophic impacts of severe flooding and the stress and pressure it puts on our dams,” Gov. Maura Healey said. Source : NBC

People can find information about abortion laws and how to access reproductive health services on a new website after Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill into law Tuesday requiring the online resource. “At a moment when far-right extremists across the country are waging a war on reproductive freedoms, it has never been more important for our citizens to be armed with the facts and resources they need to make informed decisions about their health,” Murphy said at the bill signing event at Glen Rock’s borough hall. The website includes information on state and federal reproductive abortion rights and reproductive health…

ep. George Santos, the embattled freshman Republican known for fabricating large portions of his resume, was charged Tuesday on 10 new criminal counts, including conspiracy, falsification of records, aggravated identity theft and credit card fraud. Federal prosecutors filed a 23-count superseding indictment that comes after Santos pleaded not guilty to 13 charges from the Justice Department in May, which included fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and false statements. “As alleged, Santos is charged with stealing people’s identities and making charges on his own donors’ credit cards without their authorization, lying to the FEC and, by extension, the public…

he Connecticut State Board of Education in the US has initiated a move to include Sikhism in its new social studies standards. These new standards, the first ever in the state, will give approximately 5,14,000 students in Connecticut, the opportunity to learn about the Sikh community. Over the past year, Sikhs have been pushing for this. “These new standards will provide students the opportunity to learn about the Sikh community at all three levels of their education,” said Norwich City Councilman Swaranjit Singh. “Classroom instruction about Sikh history and contributions from an early age are critical in creating a safe…

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Rajasthan High Court order which termed as “illegal” government surveillance of phones and phone-tapping. The court also issued notice to original petitioner Shashikant Joshi who questioned the surveillance and sought his reply. In July, the high court had issued the order to the principal secretary (home) and instructed the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) to destroy all recorded messages and recordings, preventing them from using the same in pending criminal cases. The Supreme Court’s direction has come in the special leave petition (SLP) filed by the state government against the high court order. “The top…

The Biden administration is asking Congress for an additional $4 billion to replenish the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund, pointing to what it says is a particularly brutal stretch of natural disasters across the nation. Friday’s request – which is in addition to one made last month for $12 billion – comes a day after President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass more relief funds for FEMA during remarks on Hurricane Idalia, which made landfall in Florida earlier this week and has caused damage in several states. “Given the intensity of disaster activity around the nation – including…

Representatives from the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences were among those on hand at the Farm Progress Show this week. They include staff from the University of Illinois Extension and 4-H, who are present with information about various organizations, topics and more at the U of I booth. While the University is there to share what they are doing, they also know it’s important to be there so they can also learn. “One of the things that’s really important to us is just understanding what the needs are of the community,” said Jennifer Larson, Assistant…

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency Tuesday, citing an influx of migrants seeking shelter at a time when the cost of housing — already in short supply — continues to rise. There are nearly 5,600 families or more than 20,000 people – many of whom are migrants — currently living in state shelters, including infants, young children and pregnant women. That is up from around 3,100 families a year ago, about an 80% increase, Healey said. Many of the migrants are arriving by plane from other states. In the past 48 hours alone, she said, 50 migrant…